Karachi situation to improve after SC verdict, says CJ

KARACHI: A special bench of the Supreme Court was hearing the suo motu case on the violence in Karachi on Wednesday, DawnNews reported.

The special bench is headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry and includes Justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Ghulam Rabbani and Amir Hani Muslim.

During the hearing, Chief Justice Iftikhar remarked that after the apex court’s decision on the case, the government would become alert and Karachi’s conditions would improve.

He moreover said that if Karachi’s situation was worse than that of Waziristan, then how could the government be termed as successful.

Also during today’s proceedings, counsel for the federal government, Babar Awan, said that international powers were trying to prove that Pakistan was a failed state and if the court’s judgment was along similar lines then that would have a negative impact.

To that, the court said that a government’s failure was not the failure of the state.(Dawn.com)

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PESHAWAR: Four children killed in Peshawar school bus attack

Express Tribune: Four schoolchildren and a van driver were killed in an ambush by militants in the Mattani area of Peshawar on Tuesday.

The school van was carrying the children back home to Kala Khel when it came under attack in Ghaziabad. The attack killed four on the spot and 17 others sustained injuries.

Police immediately cordoned off the area and the injured were shifted to Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar.

All the school children belong to Kala Khel village, an area where locals have formed a peace militia against militants.

Speaking to the media, police official Sahibzada Sajjad said the attack was an act of revenge against the residents of Kala Khel as they were committed to rooting out militancy from the area.

“Yes, I am sure, Kala Khel people are being targeted due to the Lashkar they have formed against militants”, Sajjad added.

Shoeb, a 10th grade student, said the students were on their way back home when they came under attack.

“We were hardly 15 miles away from our home when we heard a blast and then they started firing upon our vehicle. I received bullet injuries but I don’t know remember anything after that”, Shoeb added.

The vehicle belonged to the private Khyber School, a police official told AFP.

The school told AFP it had taken some precautions but that it had never been openly threatened by militants who have a presence in the area.

“We received no threatening letter,” said deputy head Salman Ahmed.

“We ourselves adopted measures for the safety of the children. We stopped singing classes and the school band playing music during the morning assembly because we know militants are active in the area,” he said.

This is not the first time Kala Khel residents have come under attack.

Earlier, a Kala Khel bound passenger vehicle was blown up at a bus stand in Mattani, killing 8 persons including women and children. The attack was followed by an IED explosion 15 days later, which claimed four lives.

Heavy rains cripple Karachi; businesses, schools closed

KARACHI: Floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains crippled Pakistan's biggest city and commercial hub of Karachi on Tuesday, with few people able to make it to work or school.

In Karachi, the capital of Sindh, rain was forecast through Wednesday at least.
Rains that began Monday evening still continuing in the city. The convoy of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was also stuck.

Many streets were impassable, cars were stuck, several fuel stations were inundated and no visible efforts were underway to drain water.

"We have recorded 50-100 mm (2 to 4 inches) of rain in Karachi and the situation is pretty bad. Many main roads and areas are inundated at the moment and it can turn even worse," said Mohammad Hussain Syed, the city's district coordination officer.

He said no casualties had been recorded.

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) will close at the usual 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, reversing an earlier decision to close at noon because of floods in Pakistan's commercial capital, an exchange official said.

"I thought I would be able to make it to work, but it was a wrong decision. Now I am stuck. My car has broken down and I can't even find anyone for help," said banker Khalid Hussain, standing knee-deep in water. (The News Pk)

UN kicks off relief effort in flood-hit Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations on Monday began a drive to feed half a million people affected by torrential rains in Pakistan where a second year of flooding has killed more than 200, officials said.

The crisis came just weeks after aid agency Oxfam accused the government of failing to invest in prevention measures after floods last year hit 21 million people and cost the economy $10 billion in the country's worst natural disaster.

Pakistan has now seen vast swathes of farmland inundated for a second year in the southern province of Sindh, the nation's breadbasket. One official said the situation there was even worse than last year.

"So far, 209 people have been killed and 5.3 million affected," Zafar Qadir, head of the country's disaster management authority, told reporters.

"Around 1.7 million acres of agricultural land has also been affected by the rains and floods."

The UN food agency said Monday it had started to provide emergency supplies to the first of half a million people, following a weekend appeal from Pakistan, which already relies on billions of dollars of international aid.

World Food Programme (WFP) spokesman Amjad Jamal said that the agency had provided food packages to more than 600 families in Badin, one of the worst affected districts of Sindh.

"This is the first UN food response after Pakistan's government's appeal. We will expand this program to half a million people in coming days," he said.

China, Pakistan's most trusted foreign ally, said it had pledged $4.7 million for urgent humanitarian assistance and its ambassador on Monday handed over a cheque worth $50,000 to the disaster management authority.

The authority said it was working to quantify "huge" losses with cash crops such as sugar cane, banana and cotton now under water.

The government was last year pilloried by flood victims who accused civilian authorities of a delayed and inadequate response to the disaster.

A special parliamentary committee, formed by Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani to coordinate relief efforts this time round, said it was facing huge problems.

"We have provided 80,000 family food packages and 45,000 tents. We have procured 10,000 more tents but there are serious distribution problems," Qamar Zaman Kaira, a member of the committee, told reporters.

"The helicopters are unable to fly in the continuous rains and roads have been flooded. The crisis is worse than last year in Sindh province. There are huge losses."

Gilani has said recent rains in Sindh were nearly two-and-a-half times normal levels, and inundated 4.1 million acres, including 1.7 million acres of crops.

He said 700,000 houses had been damaged, 150,000 people in relief camps needed immediate assistance and that 64,000 livestock had been lost.

The UN children's agency said up to 2.5 million children in southern Pakistan had been affected by the floods. (AFP)

Source: The News Pk

Pakistan must do more in al Qaeda fight, Biden says

(CNN) -- Pakistan has been an unreliable ally of the United States in the war against al Qaeda and other extremist organizations, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden told CNN in an interview set to air in full Monday night.

Biden, who spoke to CNN's John King on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, said Pakistan has failed "on occasion" when forced to choose between the United States and al Qaeda.

The price of Pakistan's choices has been the "loss of life of American soldiers in Afghanistan," the vice president said. Islamabad has "been very helpful in other times," he added. "But it's not sufficient. They have to get better. We need a relationship that is born out of mutual interest. And it's in their interest that they be more cooperative with us."

"We are demanding it," he said.

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in May. Pakistan's government -- which has struggled with significant pro-al Qaeda sentiment within its borders -- was not informed of the attack beforehand.

Pakistani authorities insist they did not know bin Laden's location.

Despite troubles in Pakistan and elsewhere, the United States is "getting close" to bringing about an end to organized, legitimized terrorist activities, Biden said. Read More at CNN

Zardari undergoes tests, angiography

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari underwent a medical check-up in a London hospital on Sunday and his doctors gave him a clean bill of health.
“After carrying out tests the doctors gave a clean bill of health as President Asif Ali Zardari is absolutely fine,” said President’s Spokesman Farhatullah Babar.

He said that according to a medical bulletin issued by Dr Major General Azhar Kiani, personal physician of the president, from London, Mr Zardari underwent a medical check-up in a hospital as planned in advance. “He underwent some routine medical tests and angiography,” the spokesman said.

According to AP, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan said in a statement that Mr Zardari underwent an angiography and some routine medical tests at London’s Royal Brompton Hospital.

He said the angiography was performed by Royal Brompton Hospital’s head of cardiology, Carlo Di Mario, with assistance from leading US cardiologists.

Dr Di Mario was also assisted by Dr Major General Azhar Kiani, Dr Javed Suleman and Dr Samin Sharma.

Mr Babar said the president would stay in London for another three to four days before returning to the country.

Sources close to the president said Mr Zardari took prescribed diet because of some health problems.

Answering a question, the spokesman ruled out the possibility of President Zardari’s meeting Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s chief Altaf Hussain in London.

Meanwhile, an MQM delegation comprising Saleem Shahzad, Raza Haroon and Izhar Ahmed Khan visited the hospital to inquire after the health of President Zardari.

According to an MQM statement issued in Karachi, the Muttahida leaders presented flowers to the president on behalf of party chief Altaf Hussain.(DAWN.COM)

Imran Khan lays blame for Karachi violence on MQM

KARACHI: In a press conference on Sunday, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf Chairman Imran Khan lambasted Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) as “the pioneer of belligerence in Karachi politics by instituting a militant wing,”.

The PTI chairman added that, “the major responsibility of the present situation is on the MQM’s shoulders since the party was the forerunner in organizing and funding land and bhatta mafias. The rest of the political parties followed this trend later on.”

He was addressing a press conference at the Palwal House in DHA phase four which is home to the party’s vice present Najeeb Haroon.

Khan said that the politics of militancy and accusations would ultimately divide this city along ethnic lines.

Expressing his views on the deteriorating law and order situation of the city, the PTI chairman said that major political parties cannot find a way out of the anarchy in Karachi because their armed militant wings are the root cause of the anarchy.

“Name any political party in Karachi that get votes and doesn’t have a militant wing,” Khan posed a question, adding that only a neutral governor rule under a powerful administration can restore peace and stability in the city.

“No PTI militant wing”

Khan said that the PTI took great efforts to curb pressure from inside that the party should establish a militant wing. “It has become a trend now. People can’t think of any political party devoid of a militant wing but PTI can’t compromise on principles,” he added.

Reiterating his stance on military intervention, the PTI chairman said that an army operation in Karachi is not a permanent solution, adding that an unbiased police force under neutral administration could control the law and order situation.

The PTI chairman urged the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to ensure a free and fair probe into the allegations levelled and revelations made by former Sindh senior minister Zulfiqar Mirza against Rehman Malik and the MQM.

He added that the allegations made by Mirza were directly related to the integrity and stability of the country and the President, Prime Minister and Federal Interior Minister should step down.

Khan held President Zardari responsible for target killings, violence and a wave of crime across Pakistan.

“The present government is trying to complete its tenure by providing shelter to terrorists,” Khan said. Read more at Express Tribune

113 detained during search operation in Karachi

KARACHI: Rangers and Police carried out search operation in parts of metropolis, apprehending 113 suspects, Geo News reported.

According to the sources, the operation was carried out in residential buildings on M A Jinnah Road, Jalal Abad area of Nazimabad and Kimari.

Sources said that rangers and police detained 113 suspects during the operation. (The News Pk)

Pakistan reaches out to US on 9/11 anniversary

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK: As a solemn nation observes the 10th anniversary of the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Pakistan made a feeble attempt on Saturday to reach out to the American public, telling them that it was a victim, not perpetrator of terrorism.

In Washington, President Barack Obama said the attacks had made America stronger. “As a resilient nation, we will carry on,” he told Americans on the eve of the anniversary of the attacks.

Nearly 3,000 people died on 9/11 in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. On Sunday, Mr Obama will travel to all three sites to mark the anniversary. Former president George W Bush will join him in New York.

“Yes we face a determined foe, and make no mistake – they will keep trying to hit us again. But as we are showing again this weekend, we remain vigilant,” he said.

Mr Obama also noted that “across the Middle East and North Africa a new generation of citizens is showing that the future belongs to those that want to build, not destroy”.

On Saturday, America’s leaders dedicated a national memorial to the 40 passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Then president Bush, his predecessor Bill Clinton, current Vice President Joe Biden and their spouses joined families of the victims at the dedication.

Several hundred citizens – many in patriotic T-shirts or holding US flags – also paid homage.

Pakistan availed this opportunity to tell the Americans that it was with them in the fight against terrorists “Which country can do more for your peace?” asks an advertisement published in the Wall Street Journal. “Since 2001, a nation of 180 million has been fighting for the future of the world’s 7 billion.”

Pakistan had first offered this ad to The New York Times but they refused to publish it, forcing Pakistani officials to go to a business newspaper with a specialised but influential readership.

The ad informs the American public that since Sept 11, 2001, 21,672 Pakistani civilians have lost their lives or have been seriously injured in an ongoing fight against terror.

The Pakistani Army also has lost 2,795 soldiers while 8,671 soldiers have been wounded. There have been 3,486 bomb blasts and 283 major suicide attacks.

More than 3.5 million have been displaced while the country has lost $68 billion due to terrorism.

The Pakistani nation is “making sacrifices that statistics cannot reflect”, says a caption above a picture of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was also killed by the terrorists. “The promise of our martyrs lives on,” it adds.

Despite these sacrifices, the ad notes, the Pakistan stays engaged in “the war for world peace”, with 200,000 troops deployed at the frontline and 90,000 soldiers fighting on the Afghan border.

“Can any other country do so? Only Pakistan,” says the advertisement published as an official notice from the government of Pakistan. In New York or Washington, officials further tightened security arrangements on Saturday, deploying hundreds of officers at bus and train stations and in shopping malls.

People carrying bags were stopped and searched while some without bags were also frisked. Hundreds of thousands of vehicles entering New York were searched as drivers waited patiently in lines.

The two cities were at the heart of the Sept 11 attacks and are now on high alert this weekend after the US government received a `credible’ tip that Al Qaeda plans to launch an attack on Washington or New York as the nation marks the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

“Al Qaeda possibly planned to carry out attacks…including a possible car bomb attack,” said a joint FBI, Homeland Security Intelligence Bulletin.

Al Qaeda may have sent American terrorists or men carrying US travel documents to launch the attack, it added.

The US media quoted intelligence officials as saying that they believed Al Qaeda had dispatched three men, at least two of whom could be US citizens, to detonate a car bomb in one of the cities. Should that mission prove impossible, the attackers have been told to simply cause as much destruction as they could, the officials said.

The tip came from a CIA informant in Pakistan who said the men had been ordered by new Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on Sunday by attacking Americans inside America.

Although the tip said the would-be attackers are of Arab descent and may speak Arabic as well as English, US security officials were searching all people, including Americans of European descent.

This Article Has Bee Published at Dawn.com

FIA keen on Mark Siegel’s testimony in Benazir case

RAWALPINDI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has decided to present late Benazir Bhutto’s friend and lobbyist Mark Siegel before an anti-terrorism court in the former prime minister’s assassination case.

The FIA’s chief prosecutor, Chaudhry Zulfikar, told Dawn on Saturday that Mr Siegel was ready to appear before the court as a prosecution witness. He said the FIA had even got Mr Siegel’s statement recorded under article 161.

According to Mr Zulfikar, the agency’s additional director, Azad Khan, recorded the statement in the US in which Mr Siegel said former president Pervez Musharraf had threatened Ms Bhutto with dire consequences if she returned home before the 2008 general election.

The statement said Ms Bhutto received a telephone call from Mr Musharraf at a time when she was with Mr Siegel. In the conversation that followed, the general allegedly told Ms Bhutto that he would not be responsible for her security if she returned before the election.

Mr Zulfikar said that one of Ms Bhutto’s emails on the matter and Mr Sigel’s statement would be made part of the court proceedings at “the right time”.

Mr Siegel would also appear before the court to verify the statement.(Dawn.com)

ANP: Altaf has Pashtun blood on his hands

ISLAMABAD / PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) leader Afrasiab Khattak on Saturday said Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain had the blood of Pashtun on his hands.

Responding to Hussan’s allegations of the ANP misleading Pashtuns, Khattak said “aap ka Pashtun-duhsman chehra sab kay samnay hay.” He said the MQM chief should consider what the people think of him looking at the number of Pashtun bodies coming to Khyber-Pashtunkhwa, FATA and Balochistan from Karachi.

“Nobody has killed more Pashtuns than the MQM,” said the ANP leader.

Speaking on the MQM chief’s allegations of US funding of the ANP during elections, Khattak said that the number of assets the MQM and its people owned in the United Kingdom and the letter written to then Prime Minister Tony Blair was something to be questioned.

“Where is the MQM getting the money for all this?”

Khattak said that the ANP would not rest until the killers of May 12 have been arrested.

The ANP leader said that Altaf Hussain had “verbally abused” all political parties during his press conference except for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and this was because the MQM could get “seats” from them.

“ANP does not need a certificate of patriotism from Altaf Hussain”

ANP leader Zahid Khan, speaking to the media earlier in Islamabad, said his part did not need a certificate of patriotism from Altaf Hussain or anyone else.

He said if anyone had any allegations against the ANP they should come to the courts.

Khan said everyone had seen the way Altaf Hussain had acted during the press conference yesterday.

“First he reference the Holy Quran, then he spoke about the Prophet (pbuh). I am a layman, but if the muftis keep quiet on the way he spoke, it will be damaging for the religion and society.”

The ANP leader said there was shadow of fear around Altaf Hussain during the press conference and he acted like “a person who does not know what to say.”

He alleged that the MQM leader had tried to impress the judiciary and had tried to create pressure by saying he would set his workers free in Karachi. Keep Reading at Express Tribune

Heavy rains hit Karachi

KARACHI: Many roads and streets in the city went inundated as heavy rains lashed Karachi on Saturday afternoon.

Inundation of a number of roads was creating problems for motorists.

Areas near flyovers and underpasses were also badly affected.Read more at The New Pk

I might be killed for patriotism: Altaf Hussain

LONDON: During a video conference Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain claimed that if the army, ISI, and MQM joined hands than they could even face a superpower, Geo News reported.

The MQM chief spoke of an international conspiracy to divide Pakistan. He said his life was at risk due to this conspiracy.

Presenting a map in which Punjab along with half of the country was marked as a part of Afghanistan he said, "I fear I may be killed as I am a hurdle in plans of dividing Pakistan."

The map also showed Balochistan as an independent state while some parts of Karachi were also included in Afghanistan.

Hussain said that he was willing to provide all MQM workers to support the army in an effort to thwart international conspiracies to divide the country.

Accusing the present Awami National Party (ANP) leadership of misguiding Pakhtuns, Hussain said, "If I was against Pakhtuns the why was the MQM supported across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa [when they had announced the day of mourning for the victims of violence in Karachi.]"

According to Hussain ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan was given several million dollars by the United States to win the 2008 elections.

Saying history taught in Pakistan was inaccurate, Hussain said, Pakistan today is a far cry from Jinnah's vision of secularism and equality for all.

He said innocent people were tortured and slaughtered by terrorists during the recent wave of violence in Karachi. "If I was not the chief of my party I would have been killed or taken someone's life."

He called on the president, prime minster, chief of army staff and ISI chief to view a video of people from the Urdu-speaking community being tortured. Hussain alleged the video was made by criminals from the Lyari Amn Committee.

He clarified that the MQM was not against the people of Lyari but against criminals whoever they may be.

He said the ANP, Jamaat-e-Islami, Peoples Amn Committee and Haqiqi were involved in terrorist activity in Karachi and if action was not taken than he would withdraw his appeal to MQM workers to remain peaceful.

Speaking about the carnage which took place on May 12, 2007 the MQM chief said his party had not taken out the procession against Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry nor did they shout any slogans against him.

Hussain accused the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) of paying Haqiqi members to fire on an MQM rally during May 12 and fuelling the violence which took place in Karachi that day.

Hussain demanded that action be taken against the JI's militant wing 'Thunder Squad'.

He added that 16 MQM workers were killed while 65 were injured on May 12.

Calling the Charter of Democracy (COD) a "document of false promises", Hussain said both the Peoples Party and Nawaz Sharif had failed to implement its contents.

When asked about accusations made by Zulfiqar Mirza against him and his party, Altaf Hussain said he would not answer them.

yed Mustafa Kamal Press Conference Against the Allegations of Dr. Zulfiqar Mirza

Source: The News Pk

Syed Mustafa Kamal Press Conference

Syed Mustafa Kamal Press Conference Against the Allegations of Dr. Zulfiqar Mirza

International powers conspiring to divide Pakistan: Altaf

LONDON: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Chief Altaf Hussain has said that international powers were hatching conspiracy for the division of Pakistan, Geo News reported.

Addressing an emergency meeting of Rabita Committee in London and Karachi, MQM Chief said that whatever being done in Karachi is a conspiracy against the integrity of Pakistan.

Altaf said that he would accept martyrdom but never compromise on his ideology and mission. He asked the party activists to chalk out future plan under his teachings if former would have been killed.

He told that they know everything about the game being played against them. Altaf further said that Urdu speaking people could not be made slaves forcibly, adding that they are peace loving people and want to live in the same. (The News Pk)

Zardari phones Ban Ki-moon, urges humanitarian help for flood victims

President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday phoned UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and urged the United Nations to launch an international appeal for humanitarian assistance to the flood victims in Pakistan.

Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said that the president had just completed his visit of flood hit areas in Sindh and apprised the United Nations Secretary General of the huge devastation caused by the floods and the untold misery it had heaped on the people.

He said that the damage to crops, particularly to cotton, has been colossal.

The president called for an urgent appeal for international humanitarian assistance by the UN.

Zulfiqar Mirza Talks Bravely Against MQM

Bomb alert forces Pakistan plane to land in Istanbul: agency

A bomb alert forced a Pakistan International airlines (PIA) plane to land at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport on Wednesday, state-run Anatolia news agency reported.

Security officials with sniffer dogs searched the plane, Anatolia said.

The bomb alert, which came as the aircraft was flying over the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, caused panic among passengers, the agency said.

The aircraft, a Boeing 777-300EA carrying 378 passengers, had departed from the British city of Manchester and was bound to Islamabad, the Turkish news channel HaberTurk said.