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While many districts are still inundated, other places are too wet to pitch tents. Also, most people affected by the floods are living in areas which are not accessible by road.

(Read: Floods 2011 – Thousands of villages yet to be reached)

“Unlike the floods which devastated the whole country last year, the situation this year is more challenging in Sindh,” says Qaisar Khan Afridi, spokesperson for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

“Instead of setting up tent cities where thousands of people can be accommodated, we are distributing tents in affected villages,” Afridi said. “We will still do our best to reach out to the scattered population,” he added. The agency has sought $33.2 million from donors to scale up its operations. Currently, the UNHCR is working in Badin, Thatta, Mirpurkhas and Sanghar districts, and will soon start working in Umerkot and Thar.

Separately in Sanghar, a delegation of UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs requested the district administration to identify dry locations for tent cities. Sanghar is the worst affected district,” said Fawad Hussain from the UNOCHA team.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2011.

“Where there is smoke there is fire,” Nawaz Sharif was quoted by some participants as saying while asking Inter-Services Intelligence chief Shuja Pasha for a detailed explanation.

(Read: All Parties Conference – PML-N comes to the party)

The situation is said to have prompted Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani to intervene and assure the PML-N: ‘we will respond to all of your queries’.

Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao proposed that a ‘mechanism’ has to be developed in order to pursue the “peace and reconciliation” with all elements, ostensibly even militants, endeavoured for in the joint resolution. Sherpao, chief of his own political faction known as Pakistan Peoples Party-Sherpao welcomed the initiative saying that the resolution adopted during the APC would “add a new chapter” in our history. “The leadership of the country has shown unity and underlined the need to lead the country towards peace,” he added.

“Every leader expressed his point of view, which has been translated into the resolution,” he added.

He said that there should be people-to-people contacts with Afghanistan, which should run parallel to government-to-government contacts.

While responding to a question regarding implementation of the resolution, he said that, for that purpose, a parliamentary committee would be constituted to monitor progress, since leaders had expressed their reservations on this account.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan had shown resentment over continuous use of the military option without taking any political initiative.

After the meeting, Maulana Samiul Haq said that the political leadership of the country had rejected allegations of the US. He said that the leaders of the country had “put their weight behind the army”.

Haider Abbas Rizvi of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) said that, during the course of the meeting, the internal situation of the country was thoroughly discussed.

“In order to have a firm foreign policy a strong internal policy is needed,” he said.

Rizvi said that it has been decided that we will overcome our shortcomings and peace and reconciliation would be pursued with all the stakeholders. Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri of JUI-F welcomed the initiative saying “it (the resolution) would give a strong message to the world.”

However, he added a stern warning: “If this resolution is not implemented again, then no one would be able to stop a revolution in this country.”

(Read: What the APC should say)

Syed Munawar Hassan of Jamaat-e-Islami also welcomed the initiative.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2011.

The decision to initiate a dialogue process with ‘all stakeholders’ was approved on Thursday at an All Parties Conference, a nine-hour-long marathon meeting which had been convened by the government to demonstrate national unity in the face of what were perceived as threats by the United States (which has since sought to soften its criticism of Pakistan).

“Pakistan must initiate dialogue with a view to negotiate peace with our own people in the tribal areas and a proper mechanism for this be put in place,” said a 13-point joint declaration issued after the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.

(Read: APC concludes marathon session with joint resolution – Full text)

While the statement did not clarify, some of the participants of the meeting told The Express Tribune that the phrase “own people” was a reference to militant groups, including the TTP.

“Personally, I am against talking to terrorists but had to endorse it for the sake of national unity,” said Sahibzada Fazl Karim, the head of the Sunni Ittehad Council, an umbrella organisation for Pakistan’s Barelvi groups which are opposed to the Taliban, who are from the rival Deobandi sect.

A Pakhtun nationalist leader said the proposed dialogue would not be spearheaded either by the government or the military alone but a ‘national institutionalised mechanism’ might be developed for that. He said the new mechanism might be on the pattern of the High Peace Council Afghan President Hamid Karzai set up last year to reach out the insurgents in his country.

The wording of the joint declaration – which appears to inadvertently quote John Lennon of the Beatles – also appeared to endorse the assertion by the two politicians.

“The All Party Conference recognised that there has to be a new direction and policy with a focus on peace and reconciliation. ‘Give peace a chance’ must be the guiding central principle henceforth,” read one of the 13 points in the statement, which was backed by the leaders of close to 60 political parties, the government and the military’s top brass.

The conference had also decided to form a parliamentary committee to oversee the implementation on the declaration.

They who shall not be named

Surprisingly, the carefully and generically-drafted declaration did not mention the United States by name even once.

“The APC rejected the recent assertions and baseless allegations made against Pakistan. Such assertions are without substance and derogatory to a partnership approach,” said the declaration without mentioning the source of accusations.

(Read: APC consensus – ‘Give peace a chance’)

But an inaugural speech by Prime Minister Gilani forcefully rebuffed latest allegations by top US military officials of any links between the Haqqani network and Pakistan’s security establishment.

“The blame game is counter-productive. This should end and Pakistan’s red lines and national interests must be respected,” said the prime minister.

But he immediately said all issues should be discussed and resolved through talks. “Any perceptional differences and issues should best be resolved through a constructive dialogue,” Gilani added.

According to participants, ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha played down the possibility of any direct US military campaign inside the country’s tribal belt, indicating at gradual improvement in ties in past couple of days.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2011.

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ISLAMABAD: The All Parties Conference has reached consensus over a joint resolution which refutes all US allegations regarding the Haqqani network and sought a revisit of Pakistan’s policy towards the war on terror, deciding upon dialogue with the political arm of Haqqani and resolving to protect Pakistan’s sovereignty.

While it is expected that Federal Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan and the Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani would be giving a statement, participants of the meeting revealed the resolutions as they exited PM house.

Awami Pakistan Muslim League leader Sheikh Rashid Ahmed revealed that as per the consensus reached between all political parties and the military leaders, they would revisit Pakistan’s national policy towards the War on Terror, with some participants calling for a return to the pre-9/11 status.

He said that the Jamaat-e-Islami had strong reservations over military action against the Haqqani network and this was taken into consideration. It was resolved that the government would take action against the Haqqani network but only on the decision of the Pakistani government, not at the behest of US.

Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan said that a parliamentary committee would be formed which would oversee the implementation of the resolution.  He also said that all parties agreed that of the two options available to tackle Haqqani network, there was consensus that military action was not the right way, but dialogue and negotiations were the way forward.

Imran Khan also revealed that the Haqqani network had at least three branches, including a militant branch. Khan said that the ISI chief, General Ahmed Shuja Pasha informed the conference that the ISI only maintained contacts with the political arm of Haqqani network.

Earlier the political leadership of Pakistan met for a marathon nine hours in Islamabad today (Thursday) for an all parties conference on the national security situation, which has been called in the wake of serious US allegations against Pakistan.

The outgoing top US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, has accused Pakistan of exporting violent extremism to Afghanistan and called the Haqqani network a “veritable arm” of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency.

Addressing the conference, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said the APC was aimed at forging consensus on important national issues.

“American statements shocked us, and negate our sacrifices and successes in the ongoing war against terror,” Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani told the APC.

“Pakistan cannot be pressurised to do more,” Gilani said. “Our doors are open for dialogue (with the international community),” he added.

The inaugural speech of Gilani was followed by the briefing of Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar. She apprised the participants of her meetings with US government officials during her visit to New York to attend the UN General Assembly session.

Khar said she assertively presented Pakistan’s case during her meetings and highlighted the immense sacrifices rendered by the nation in the war against terrorism.

The Director General ISI Ahmed Shuja Pasha briefed the meeting about the challenges the country was facing at the military front.

Pasha told the meeting to use ‘political, diplomatic and military channels to resolve issues’ between Washington and Islamabad, Reuters reported.

DG ISI said that Pakistan would not allow the situation to get to a “point of no return.”

Pasha, however, reiterated that “American attack on Pakistan in the name of (fighting) extremism is not acceptable.”

The briefings were followed by a question and answer session.     

Express 24/7 correspondent Masror Hausen said Maulana Fazlur Rehman had left the press conference in a hurry. There were reports that Rehman had come to attend the APC despite being unwell.

In today’s meeting at the Prime Minister House, politicians will prepare a coordinated response to the latest allegations levelled by the United States against Pakistan.

Express 24/7 correspondent Sumera Khan earlier reported that a number of politicians had arrived and that a total of 58 political leaders are expected to attend the meeting.

Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML-Q) leader Chaudhry Shujaat, Pakitan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, Awami National Party (ANP) leader Asfandyar Wali, chief of Awami Muslim League (AML) Sheikh Rasheed and other political leaders are currently present at the PM House.

Speaking to the media, Imran Khan said that  he was attending the conference because it was a national cause and that he would try to convince the leadership to “come out of a military option.”

Read the full text of the resolution here.

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ISLAMABAD: An apparent gas explosion at a hotel in a commercial area of Islamabad on Thursday injured six people, rescue officials said.    

While the blast on the Citi Hotel’s fifth floor was still being investigated, senior police official Beni-Amin Khan said the cause was “apparently” a gas leak.

“Apparently, it was caused by a gas leakage,” he said. “There is no smell of explosives and gas is still emitting from one pipe. However, we are still checking.”

Six people were wounded in the blast, but none was seriously injured. The explosion damaged four rooms in the hotel, and video from the scene showed sidewalks littered with shattered glass.

Earlier a powerful explosion at a commercial hotel located in Blue area shook the capital.

According to Express 24/7 correspondent, Sabur Ali Syed said that the blast took place at the six storiedCiti hotel in Blue area of Islamabad.

He said that police had cordoned off the blast site and would be investigating the cause and nature of the blast.

The injured were shifted to PIMS hospital in Islamabad.

LAHORE: Already cursed by floods and suicide bombings, Pakistan now faces a new menace from an unprecedented outbreak of the deadly tropical disease dengue fever.

In less than a month, 126 people have died and more than 12,000 have been diagnosed with the virus, which has spread rapidly among both rich and poor in Pakistan’s cultural capital Lahore.

Dengue affects between 50 and 100 million people in the tropics and subtropics each year, resulting in fever, muscle and joint ache.

But it can also be fatal, developing into haemorrhagic fever and shock syndrome, which is characterised by bleeding and a loss of blood pressure.

Caused by four strains of virus spread by the mosquito Aedes aegypti, there is no vaccine — which is why prevention methods focus on mosquito control.

Pakistani authorities in Lahore have blamed the crisis on prolonged monsoon rains and unusually high seasonal temperatures.

But furious locals say the outbreak is yet another example of government inefficiency, citing a failure to take preventive measures to kill off the mosquitos and lengthy power cuts.

Saad Azeem, 45, is a police officer who should be out spraying the streets with insecticide, but he is laid up at home suffering from the fever and mourning the death of his elderly father.

“My father was 79 years old and a retired deputy superintendent of police. His death due to dengue fever really shocked us,” Azeem told AFP.

“This dengue has become a calamity.”

Of the more than 11,584 people afflicted, 10,244 come from Lahore alone, the provincial capital of Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province and the country’s political heartland.

In northwestern province Khyber Paktunkhwa, at least 130 people have been diagnosed and six have died. Southern province Sindh has seen 400 suspected cases and six deaths.

Banners emblazoned with giant sketches of mosquitos and public warning messages such as “Eliminate dengue, Have peace” are hung across avenues and crossings in Lahore, a city of eight million.

The chief minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, whose party runs the local governing coalition and whose brother Nawaz is Pakistan’s opposition leader, has urged doctors to do more to restore calm.

“You are doing a wonderful job, but we have to bring down the mortality rate so that the people will be calmed,” he said at a workshop this week.

Hospitals are overwhelmed, treating around 1,113 people and having already sent home another 10,000 to recuperate, said Asif Nadeem, a member of a hastily set up anti-dengue task force.

At Lahore General Hospital, where most cases have been reported, the corridors were packed with patients and relatives making it difficult to breathe.

Outside, medics set up large tents to accommodate family members and patients waiting for treatment, offering some shelter in the sweltering heat.

“We have no complaints about the arrangements, but they are not going beyond giving out paracetamol,” Rashid Hameed, 27, an accountant, told AFP.

Doctor Zafar Ikram said the hospital was working beyond capacity to deal with the influx of patients.

“I think more people are coming because there is greater awareness about dengue due to the media spotlight and people are scared, so anyone with a normal fever comes to hospital for the (dengue) test,” Ikram told AFP.

At the Mayo hospital, hundreds of people queued up in front of registration counters, giving blood samples and collecting reports.

Although the Pakistan People’s Party, the main governing party in the federal government, has used the dengue outbreak to try and score points against the Sharifs, local authorities insist they are on top of the menace.

Teams from the World Health Organisation and Sri Lanka are now helping with the efforts. Schools and colleges initially shut have since reopened.

“On the control side a huge effort is going on with a public awareness campaign,” said Punjab provincial health secretary Jahanzeb Khan.

In much of Lahore, known for its rich cultural heritage and popular restaurants, life carries on as normal with some establishments as crowded as ever in the cooler evenings.

Others cannot afford to be ruffled.

Mohammad Naeem, a 50-year-old roadside telephone vendor, said he had no alternative but to brave the risk.

“No sir, we do not apply any lotion. It’s very expensive. We can hardly buy a loaf of bread. They come to our doorsteps to beg for votes, but they do not come to spray,” he complained.

ISLAMABAD/ WASHINGTON: Support is growing in the US Congress for expanding American military action in Pakistan beyond drone strikes already used to target militants in Pakistani territory, a senior Republican US senator says.

The comments by Senator Lindsey Graham, an influential Republican voice on foreign policy and military affairs, follow remarks by the top US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, accusing Pakistan last week of supporting the militant Haqqani network’s September 13 attack on the US Embassy in Kabul.

(Read more: I have been Pakistan’s best friend, says Mullen)

With growing calls for a tougher stance on militants accused of such high-profile attacks, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that Washington was closer to deciding whether to label the Haqqanis a terrorist group.

The United States has long pressed Pakistan to pursue the Haqqani network, one of the most lethal Taliban-allied Afghan groups fighting Western forces in Afghanistan.

The Pakistan-based Haqqani network has been in the spotlight since US officials accused it of mounting this month’s attack on the US Embassy in Kabul with the support of Pakistan’s powerful military spy agency.

Graham said in an interview on Tuesday that US lawmakers might support military options beyond drone strikes that have been going on for years inside Pakistani territory.

Those options may include using US bomber planes within Pakistan. The South Carolina Republican said he did not advocate sending US ground troops into Pakistan.

“I would say when it comes to defending American troops, you don’t want to limit yourself,” Graham said. “This is not a boots-on-the-ground engagement — I’m not talking about that, but we have a lot of assets beyond drones.

“A perfect world … would be Afghan, Pakistan and (US and NATO) coalition forces working jointly on both sides of border to deny safe havens, inside of Afghanistan and on the other side,” in Pakistan’s western tribal regions from which the Haqqani network and other militants are believed to operate, Graham said.

Graham said US lawmakers will think about stepping up the military pressure. “If people believe it’s gotten to the point that that is the only way really to protect our interests, I think there would be a lot of support,” he said.

Safe haven?

The Haqqani network is allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban and is believed to have close links to al Qaeda. It fights US and NATO forces in eastern Afghanistan, operating out of bases in Pakistan’s North Waziristan.

“We are in the final, formal review that has to be undertaken to make a government-wide decision to designate the network as a foreign terrorist organization,” Clinton said in an appearance with Egypt’s visiting foreign minister.

Clinton said Washington already had placed a number of leaders of the Haqqani network on its terrorism blacklist. “We’re going to continue to struggle against terrorism and in particular against those who have taken up safe havens inside Pakistan, and we’re going to continue to work with our Pakistani counterparts to try and root them out,” she said.

A move to name the Haqqanis as a terrorist group would bar US citizens from providing support to the group and freeze any assets it might have in the United States — a symbolic step that might relieve some of the mounting US political pressure to take a harder line with Pakistan.

Pakistan denies it supports the Haqqanis and says its army is too busy battling its own Taliban insurgency to go after the network, which is estimated to have 10,000 to 15,000 fighters. Some analysts have speculated that the State Department has not yet taken that formal step in hopes the Haqqanis could be reconciled as part of Afghan peace talks between the government and insurgents.

Any such talks now seem unlikely at best. US drone aircraft in recent years have targeted mostly al Qaeda figures rather than Haqqani militants. Increased US military action on Pakistani soil, including the idea of US soldiers crossing the porous border from Afghanistan, would be deeply unpopular in Pakistan. Pakistan viewed the US military raid in May that killed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden as a grievous breach of its sovereignty.

The tense ties between Pakistan and the United States worsened last week after Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the Haqqani network as a “veritable arm” of Pakistan’s ISI spy agency.

Graham, known as a hawk, said on Sunday that the United States must consider all options “including defending our troops” in confronting Pakistani support for militant networks active in Afghanistan.

Such remarks from the US Congress, where patience has worn thin with Pakistan, have intensified speculation that the United States might resort to another cross-border raid such as the one that killed bin Laden, intensify drone attacks in Pakistan’s lawless tribal regions or send in bomber planes to attack militant hide-outs.

Lawmakers are proposing to restrict US aid with stricter conditions under which Pakistan, which possesses nuclear arms but is desperately poor, can access US military and economic assistance. The unusually public criticism from Washington has provoked anger among Pakistani leaders who warn that the United States may lose a key ally in an unstable region.

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ISLAMABAD: While the foreign office remains firm in its stance that Pakistan has been forced to retaliate against Afghan militant attacks, a senior official of the defence ministry has claimed that foreign forces in Afghanistan are behind recent cross border attacks in Pakistan.

According to the official, international forces raised a Coalition Special Operation Force (CSOF) to ‘directly and indirectly attack security forces and civilians in the bordering towns of Pakistan’.

He further told The Express Tribune that Islamabad had filed formal complaints with the US and Nato against armed attacks on its security forces in Dir and Chitral. “We are waiting for their reply,” he added while requesting anonymity.

American news website the Long War Journal in a report last week confirmed that the CSOF was fighting against the Taliban in Afganistan’s Nuristan province – an area mostly under the control of the Taliban and other allied fighting groups.

Furthermore, noted strategy expert Brig Shaukat Qadir told The Express Tribune that the CSOF, which, he said, was established by the US to sponsor violence in Pakistan, was used by foreign forces to attack Pakistani bordering towns.

Meanwhile, a senior official in the foreign affairs ministry has confirmed that several rockets were recently fired as ‘retaliatory action’ on militants by Pakistani security forces in the Afghan province of Kunar.

The official made it clear that the attacks were part of retaliatory action against the militants who in the last two months have been constantly attacking Pakistani security forces and defence installations in Dir and Chitral from Kunar.

While the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has repeatedly blamed US and Nato forces in Afghanistan for sponsoring militant attacks on civilian and security forces in Dir and Chitral, the foreign affairs ministry refrains from accusing foreign troops.

“We are aware that a third party is directly involved in anti-Pakistan violence in our tribal regions,” the source said while requesting anonymity.

Ruling out Afghanistan

“Islamabad is aware that the Afghan government is not responsible for the border violations,” the foreign office source said, adding that a militarily fragile country would not attack Pakistan on its own.

He also referred to the recent statement by the Afghan foreign ministry’s spokesman regarding the ongoing tug-of-war between Pakistan and the United States. He said Kabul was perturbed by the development. “The Afghan foreign ministry’s deputy spokesman Dr Faramarz Tamanna said that Afghanistan welcomes any regional and international pressure on Pakistan but believes that a deterioration of relationship between America and Pakistan can’t help regional peace”.

Pakistan’s foreign office believed that peace between Islamabad and Kabul was much more in the interest of Afghanistan. He said that after the recapture of the Waigal district in Nuristan by Afghani Taliban in March this year, foreign forces in Afghanistan sponsored attacks on the Pakistani bordering towns.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th,  2011.

A member of the inquiry committee told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity, that the report recommends that a criminal case be filed against the school administration for negligence.

However, the move could endanger the future of 1,235 students who study at the school.

According to a report presented on Wednesday by a three-member inquiry committee constituted by the Faisalabad DCO, the bus that crashed on the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway on Monday, killing 37 people, including 33 children, had completed its fitness and technical life ten years ago. However, the Road Transport Authority (RTA) had declared the bus unfit for use on a long route.

The report says that according to Faisalabad district’s excise and taxation department, the bus was originally purchased by a federal government department in 1981. “Its fitness certificate expired in 2001 and one year later, the department auctioned it off as scrap to a contractor who reshaped it and rebuilt it privately,” the inquiry report reads. “The Faisalabad excise office registered the bus again on January 3, 2003, and the RTA gave a fitness certificate on May 19, 2003.”

Currently, the bus is owned by a transporter Samiullah from Rahim Yar Khan and was only allowed to be used for inter-city travel.

The inquiry report also found that, contrary to previous claims, the bus could only accommodate 57 passengers, not 72. The school administration had collected Rs700 from each student, totalling Rs70,000, and paid only Rs12,000 to the transport company. The rest was shown as profit earned by the school administration. The school, the inquiry report concluded, had fleeced its students.

The committee has also recommended that a case be registered against the transport company for allowing its vehicle to move without a permit.

Meanwhile, of the 34 injured children, 19 have been discharged and 14 are still under treatment in Allied Hospital, Faisalabad. The hospital’s superintendent, Rana Bashir, said that the condition of the injured children is improving.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th,  2011.

ISLAMABAD: The US recently made it clear that it opposed Pakistan’s decision to import gas from Iran, going so far as to threaten sanctions if Islamabad did not withdraw from the deal.

Despite the pressure, Pakistan, at the highest level, assured Tehran that it was committed to the gas pipeline project and other energy projects with Iran.

The commitment came from President Asif Ali Zardari during his meeting with visiting Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar.

“Pakistan attaches high priority to early completion of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline and 1,000 megawatt Taftan-Quetta power transmission line,” President Zardari was quoted as telling the Iranian delegation on Wednesday.

Pakistan and Iran have envisaged a gas pipeline to meet the former’s growing energy needs, but the US has made it obvious that it opposes the project and has threatened Pakistan with sanctions.

“Promotion of intra-regional and inter-regional connectivity is key to socio-economic development of the people of this area, and Iran has a major role to play, along with Pakistan, due to our geo-strategic locations,” Zardari said, according to his media office.

President Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani both travelled to Iran over the last two months, while the Iranian foreign minister visited Islamabad recently.

During talks at the Presidency, Najjar was accompanied by Iranian Ambassador Mashallah Shakeri, Deputy Interior Minister Mahdi Mohammadifard, Deputy Minister and Head of the Crisis Management Organisation Hasan Ghadami and head of the Red Crescent Society Faghih.

The Pakistani side included Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Secretary General to the President M Salman Faruqui, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, Interior Secretary KM Siddiq Akber and other senior officials.

Zardari said the two countries needed to further deepen cooperation in all areas, particularly trade, energy, security, communication and infrastructure.

He said resource shortages, inadequate trade, smuggling, drug trafficking, border management and security were among the few challenges that the two countries needed to address together.

The president said the afgreement between the two countries to increase bilateral trade to $10 billion was “doable”.

Najjar, during meeting, added that Iran would donate $100 million for the rehabilitation of flood victims.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th,  2011.

The EU will now press ahead with the internal legislative process in the European Parliament as well as the European Council (the EU’s highest decision-making body), said Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, the head of the EU delegation to Pakistan.

In a statement after India announced that it would withdraw its opposition, Wigemark said that the issue would be taken up in next WTO Council for Trade in Goods meeting, scheduled for November 7. However, a formal decision would be possible by the next WTO General Council at the beginning of December. “If all goes well, the preferences could be in place by early 2012,” said Wigemark.

“The European Union welcomes the outcome of the bilateral trade talks between India and Pakistan. It is very positive that India has decided to withdraw the objections to the WTO waiver sought by the EU for granting duty free access for certain goods from Pakistan to the EU market,” the statement reads.

The European Union had originally sought to reduce tariffs on 75 goods for a period of three years, including 67 on which it would reduce to zero. Pakistan currently exports approximately $1.2 billion worth of those goods, a number that the EU expects to increase by about $136 million, or 11.1%, as a result of those concessions.

The EU expects about $108.8 million less in tariff revenues as a result of the trade deal.

The EU had promised the concessions as a means of helping Pakistan in the aftermath of the devastating 2010 summer floods. However, it was unable to move forward with the concessions package largely due to objections raised by India at the WTO, which must approve any such concessions.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2011.

According to State Department officials, members of the group including Sirajuddin, Jalaluddin and Badruddin Haqqani have already been designated as terrorists by the Treasury Department.

State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said that while the US had already made designations against individual members of the Haqqani network, the organisation as a whole was being reviewed. “There are a number of legal things that have to go into making these designations, particularly when you designate a group as a whole, and you put a big blanket over a diverse network. That review is ongoing now and when we have something to say, we will say it.”

If the Haqqani network gets designated as an FTO, Marvin Weinbaum, a former State Department intelligence analyst on Afghanistan and Pakistan says that it will have severe ramifications for Pakistan. “Once you’ve said that Pakistan is, in fact, in league with Haqqani [network], if you make that point, then the next logical step is to say Pakistan is a supporter of non–state terrorism and that opens up all kinds of doors here, to sanctions, by not just the United States, but by the international community.”

What is the FTO designation?

Under the United States law, the Secretary of State, in this case Hillary Clinton, can designate an organisation to be an FTO under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. According to the law, the organisation has to be defined as engaged in terrorist activity, which also threatens the “security of US nationals or the national security of the United States”.

The law also stipulates that no one in the US can provide material support or resources to FTOs, nor can those subject to the US jurisdiction.

International Sanctions

Brian Fishman, Counterterrorism Research Fellow at the New America Foundation, says that by designating the Haqqani network as an FTO, the US is closing the door on reconciliation with them. “We’ve held out hope that the Haqqanis can be reintegrated into the new Afghan government.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2011.

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The powdered chemicals, aluminum perchlorate, were concealed in 10 cylinders, the size and shape of fire extinguishers. Police officials recovered the cylinders from two different cars from the outskirts of the capital.

The cars were later found to be stolen and two suspects arrested were identified as professional carjackers with a criminal record in various police stations in the twin cities.

Police officials interrogating the suspects said some terrorist group was using the explosives and could be planning to bomb some sensitive installation in the twin cities.

“It appears that some people were bringing explosives into the city and were using carjackers to transport them,” said a police officer.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2011.

According to the NICL investigation team, three accused including former state minister for defence production Major (retd) Habibullah Warraich’s wife and two daughters left Pakistan from Karachi airport on September 6, 2011.

The investigators had requested the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) headquarters and the Ministry of Interior to place their names on the ECL, in August 2011.

Earlier, Lahore High Court (LHC) had rejected Warraich’s plea to travel abroad for treatment and the removal of his family members’ names from a watch list.

The LHC then directed the FIA to transfer the accused persons’ names from the watch list to the ECL.

Meanwhile, two main witnesses in the scam, Adil Manzoor and Muhammad Afzal, have mysteriously disappeared from their residences while a third witness, Khadim Rasool, has informed Qureshi, in a statement, that he faces life threat from some influential personalities.

Qureshi forwarded the statement to Inspector General of Police Punjab to ensure Rasool’s security since he is an important prosecution witness in the scam.

“The DG FIA and interior ministry secretary have adopted all sort of delaying tactics … to benefit the accused persons,” Qureshi said in the latest progress report submitted to the Supreme Court.

Two reminders have been sent to DG FIA and Director National Central Bureau Interpol for extradition of three wanted accused Mohsin Warraich, Javed Syed and Amin Qasim Dada but the authorities have neither responded nor have they forwarded it to UK authorities, the report added.

The FIA headquarters has also misplaced the UK’s Serious Organised Crime Agency’s original report regarding Moonis Elahi’s accounts but has yet to take any action to fix the responsibility, despite three reminders, the report said.

The FIA has also sent a reference to the State Bank to take action against Moonis Elahi and his wife on charges of money laundering, said the report.

Meanwhile, more than three reminders have been sent to the interior secretary to register a criminal case against Director FIA Punjab Waqar Haider and Assistant Director FIA Legal Zulifqar Ali Chaudhry for de-freezing Moonis Elahi’s companies – At-Tahur and Agro Tractors – accounts, despite LHC rejecting the plea to do the same earlier.

More than Rs20 million were withdrawn by both companies after de-freezing, while Qureshi was suspended, the report added. 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2011.

Days after chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen’s stirring statement on the ISI supporting the Haqqani network set off a fiery row between Islamabad and Washington, the White House on Wednesday declined to reinforce the top US military officer’s words.

While White House spokesman Jay Carney did again candidly stress that Washington was concerned about links between the network, blamed for attacks on US troops in Afghanistan, and the ISI, he added a disclaimer: “It is not language I would use.”

Carney was responding to a question on whether the US president shared the views Mullen expressed last week.

“It’s a matter of semantics,” said Carney, seeking to ease the row over the comments by noting Pakistan’s close cooperation in the past in the US struggle against Al-Qaeda.

A considerable thaw in Washington’s shrill tone had already begun a little earlier.

On Tuesday, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little had told reporters at the Department of Defence that it is important “that both sides continue the dialogue, and that’s happening”. The Pentagon Press Secretary said that the Defense Department will continue to work through the differences between both countries.

Little said, “We want to maintain a relationship with Pakistan that’s grounded in common interests, to include going after terrorists that threaten both countries.”

Earlier on Wednesday, The Washington Post reported that Pentagon officials believed Adm Mike Mullen’s assertions last week were overstated and contributed to overheated reactions in Pakistan and misperceptions in Washington, according to American officials involved in US policy in the region. The internal criticism by the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to challenge Mullen openly, reflects concern over the accuracy of Mullen’s characterisations.

Mullen’s language “overstates the case,” said a senior Pentagon official with access to classified intelligence files on Pakistan, because there is scant evidence of direction or control. If anything, the official said, the intelligence indicates that Pakistan treads a delicate if duplicitous line, providing support to insurgent groups including the Haqqani network but avoiding actions that would provoke a US response, The Washington Post reported.

“The Pakistani government has been dealing with Haqqani for a long time and still sees strategic value in guiding Haqqani and using them for their purposes,” the Pentagon official said. But “it’s not in their interest to inflame us in a way that an attack on a [US] compound would do.”

US military officials said that Mullen’s testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee has been misinterpreted, and that his remark that the Haqqani network had carried out recent truck-bomb and embassy attacks “with ISI support” was meant to imply broad assistance, but not necessarily direction by the ISI.

Interestingly enough, the peace overtures were also of the literal variety.

Pakistan and the United States set aside an escalating row over proxy warfare for a night of musical fusion by the moonlit shores of a lake, hoping to cement public friendships, and all that jazz.

Hosting a concert by the shores of Rawal Lake on Tuesday, the US embassy brought together America’s “Ari Roland Jazz Quartet” and Pakistani rock band “Fuzon”, capping the night with the “world premiere” of a special friendship song.

“Paint the colours of love in face of hatred. Let’s forget all indignations and traverse all distances separating us,” went the lyrics of the song entitled “no life without friendship.”

The musical pairing was a relative success, if only to a converted audience of hundreds, mostly the country’s Western-educated elite.

By the end of the night, revellers were up dancing, enthused by a rousing mix of patriotic Pakistani anthems such as “Jazba Junoon” and US classics such as Louis Armstrong’s “Wonderful World”.

“What we try to do is look beyond the politics of the moment, look beyond the relationship between our governments and try to make stronger relationships between our people,” US public affairs official Mark Davidson told the crowd.

The friendship song, he said, “will guide us as we go forward… because I believe and I know that when we work together we are far stronger than when we operate separately.”

But in a possible nod to the trials and tribulations of managing the latest diplomatic crisis, Munter did not attend the concert. Plans for him to play piano in a personal show of cultural diplomacy did not materialise. Instead on Tuesday, he met with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari. (WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM WIRES)

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2011.

In their meeting, President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, reviewed the current issues facing the country, presidential spokesperson Farhatullah Babar said late on Wednesday. “The civil and military leadership discussed what they want to achieve from the All Parties Conference. We should all be on one page at this point in time,” sources privy to the meeting said.

The chief of army staff spelled out the stance the military would be taking during the meeting, sources said.

In today’s (Thursday) meeting at the PM House, politicians will prepare a coordinated response to the latest allegations levelled by the United States against Pakistan. However, most leaders appear sceptical of any positive actionable outcome, sources said.

The meeting is likely to trigger questions regarding the government’s reneging of promises, reluctance on implementation of parliamentary resolutions and the recommendations passed by previous such meetings.

According to officials from the PM House, 58 invitations have been extended to leaders from across all political parties, including those who do not have representation in Parliament. Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, who will be returning from the US, will brief the political leadership. In addition, director general (DG) military operation and DG ISI are also likely to brief the high-profile meeting.

While a significant majority of the political leadership will be attending the conference, Balochistan National Party (BNP) President Sardar Akhtar Mengal formally rejected the invitation. Mengal said that the government was responsible for the genocide in Balochistan and he would not sit with “killers” under any pretext.

“We did not get any instruction whether the conference would be an in-camera one or whether media would cover it,” said an official from the PM House.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2011.

KARACHI: The Crime Investigation Department’s Anti-Extremism Cell (AEC) claims to have taken two alleged militants off the streets during a raid in Shah Latif Town on Wednesday. They have also seized explosives, a suicide jacket and weapons from their possession.

Officials say that the suspects, Noman alias Ganja and Asim Mehsud alias Ajmal, are with the banned outfit, Tehreek-e-Taliban, Pakistan, and are experts in preparing suicide bombers. They used to send children to Waziristan for training and were caught after the authorities raided a house in Shah Latif Town on a tip-off.

AEC chief SSP Khan told The Express Tribune that 25 kilogrammes of explosives, a suicide jacket, two detonators, 35 feet of detonating wire and two Kalashnikovs were found with them. They also came across a hit list comprising names of CID officials, police, government and the leaders of political and religious parties.

Khan said that the men had also been associated with the Qari Abid Iqbal Mehsud group of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi before joining TTP Hakeemullah group. During the initial course of interrogation, they confessed to having sent at least nine children – Attaullah, Naeem Afghani, Mohammad Ghazi, Ateeq, Raheem Shah, Najeeb, Sanaullah, Sohail and Saddam – to South Waziristan to be trained as suicide bombers.

The police official said that while one of the boys, Najeeb, has been killed in Afghanistan the remainder are hiding in Karachi and other parts of the country and are wanted by the police. The suicide jacket seized from them was to be used in terrorism in Karachi.

The duo also revealed that their companion, Asadullah alias Arshad, died in Shah Latif in March when the bomb that he was carrying concealed in a milk packet exploded. The bomb was to be delivered to the house of a person named Mubarak Ahmed of the Ahmedi community.

While confessing their crimes, they said that they were responsible for the murder of a Jamia Masjid Ghausia peshimam, Ameer Hussain Shah, in Shah Latif in January 2010. Ghanam Gul and Imran alias Ibrahim also fell victim to these men after they suspected them of being police informants.

The officer said that the suspects had also been involved in the attack on a NATO convoy when they attempted to free about a dozen of their associates from Central Jail, Karachi, on April 2011. The associates were identified as Ataullah, Raheemullah, Ziauddin Mehsud alias Khan Mohammad and Akram Lahori.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th,  2011.

WASHINGTON: As tensions between the US and Pakistan seem to simmer down, US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Marc Grossman said in an exclusive interview to Express News, that “it is not about ending the relationship with Pakistan, but about continued engagement.”

Ambassador Grossman said that Pakistan too recognises that the Haqqani network is a threat. “The question is not whether we will work together but how we’ll work together to try and deal with these issues.”

Dubbing the US-Pakistan relationship an important one for both countries, Grossman said that the US wants this relationship to work, “but it’s very important that both the governments and the people recognise that terrorism, and that includes the Haqqani network, is a threat to both of us.” Grossman’s statement comes as part of a series of statements from the US State Department and the Pentagon in the last three days to move away from the air of hostility that was created following Admiral Mullen’s statements on the Haqqani network and its links with the Inter-Services Intelligence.

(Read: Volley heats up – ISI targeted in bitter Mullen tirade)

He listed the high-level contacts between both countries, highlighting the meetings of Secretary Clinton with Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh with Deputy Secretary of State Tom Nides, and the meeting of US head of Central Command Gen James Mattis with Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and both the US and Pakistan Ambassadors continuing their engagements. He also highlighted the loss of life of Pakistani civilians since 2003 in acts of terrorism, and said that terrorism was a common enemy of both the US and Pakistan.

When asked how both countries could move forward in light of recent developments, Grossman said: “I don’t know if people in Pakistan will agree, but we ought to be able to find a way to identify our shared interests and act on them together. We can work our way through this, that’s what friends do, we can work our way through the challenges.”

Grossman also said that there was a need to keep focused on the people-to-people relationships, citing education and student exchanges with Pakistan and the US assistance given during the floods. He said that the statements coming from Pakistani leaders also signified that they wanted to find a way to move forward. “To me, terrorism is a threat, and we hope that joint action will get taken.”

(Read: US-Pakistan crisis – the either/or tribe)

Additionally, the envoy said: “Don’t forget that a big part of Admiral Mullen’s statements was that Pakistan and the US needed to stay engaged, and that’s what we want to do. This is not about ending relationships, rupturing relationships, it is about continued engagement with Pakistan. The US is a friend of Pakistan and will be there with the country.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th,  2011.

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KHUZDAR: Balochistan National Party (BNP) leader Abdul Salam was gunned down by unidentified people in Khuzdar, Express 24/7 reported on Wednesday.

Two armed men riding a motorbike opened indiscriminate fire on Salam’s vehicle and injured him and his daughter.

Both the victims were taken to the hospital, where Salam succumbed to his injuries. His daughter is in critical condition.

Police have registered a case and have started investigation.

Salam was a prominent lawyer of Khuzdar. The Balochistan Bar Association has strongly condemned the killing and has announced complete boycott of court tomorrow, as a protest against the killing.

Numerous leaders of the BNP have been killed in targeted attacks as the situation in Balochistan remains volatile. In July this year, BNP leader Jumma Khan Raisani was gunned down in Khuzdar.

President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Asma Jehangir said Balochistan’s situation has been deteriorating since the day security forces were given authority to make decisions for the province.

NEW DELHI/KARACHI: The commerce ministers of India and Pakistan appear to have made significant breakthroughs in easing restrictions on trade between the two countries, with New Delhi expected to withdraw its objections to European Union trade concessions to Pakistan and Islamabad expected to reduce tariffs on imports of Indian goods.

The two sides did not sign a formal agreement during this most recent round of negotiations that concluded in Mumbai on Wednesday, issuing a vaguely-worded joint statement instead. Yet officials on both sides presented a highly optimistic account of the talks and said that the two countries would likely finalise a slew of agreements in the coming two months.

(Read: Pakistan and India talk trade to boost ties)

Most significant from the Pakistani perspective is India’s decision to drop its objections at the World Trade Organisation against trade concessions that the EU had promised Islamabad as part of an assistance package to help Pakistani recover from the devastation of the 2010 floods.

A member of the Pakistani delegation said that India had agreed to withdraw its objections at a November 7 meeting of the WTO General Council. Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma appeared to confirm this when he said that India would be “supportive and constructive” of the EU’s concessions.

The European Union had originally sought to reduce tariffs on 75 goods for a period of three years, including 67 on which it would be reduced to zero. Pakistan currently exports approximately $1.2 billion worth of those goods, a number that the EU expects to increase by about $136 million, or 11.1%, as a result of those concessions.

However, that package was quickly stalled after India raised objections at the WTO. The EU has already signalled that, after the withdrawal of India’s objections, it would restart the process of internal legislation and seeking WTO approval.

Easier visas

New Delhi’s other concessions include an agreement to end the restrictions on the number of cities that Pakistani businessmen can visit when they go to India. Pakistani entrepreneurs will now be able to get one-year multiple visit visas with no restrictions on where they can travel.

(Read: India mulls lifting visa curbs for Pakistani business)

“We have constructively engaged towards a liberalized business visa regime. We expect this matter to be expeditiously concluded before November,” said the Indian commerce minister after meeting with his Pakistani counterpart, Makhdoom Amin Fahim.

Fahim is the first Pakistani commerce minister to visit India in 35 years. He is leading a delegation of over 50 Pakistani businessmen, the largest ever to India. Members of the Pakistani delegation said the negotiations were conducted in a highly positive atmosphere.

“We have had an extremely encouraging response in India,” said Tariq Iqbalpuri, the chief executive of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan.

Commerce Secretary Zafar Mehmood and his Indian counterpart, Rahul Khullar, are scheduled to meet in November to move the dialogue forward.

Possible MFN status

Iqbalpuri also claimed that Pakistan had agreed to grant Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India – one of New Delhi’s longest standing demands – but sources on the Indian side did not confirm this account.

(Read: Pakistan to grant MFN status to India … eventually)

MFN is a terminology used by the WTO to state simply that a country will not discriminate against any one of its trading partners. Under its treaty obligations to the WTO, Pakistan is required to grant MFN status to India, which has already done so for Pakistan.

New Delhi has been trying to get Pakistan to reduce its tariffs on Indian goods, but Islamabad says that India must simultaneously remove its non-tariffs barriers to trade before it will do so.

Pakistan currently only allows Indian imports that are part of a “positive list” of 1,948 items. Another 12,000 items are on the “negative list”, meaning banned for import.

India, for its part, has agreed to examine its non-tariff barriers. A meeting of several Indian government departments is expected to take place on September 29 (today) to discuss ways to reduce regulatory barriers to imports from Pakistan.

India has also agreed to begin exporting BT cotton seeds to Pakistan, which is expected to increase Pakistan’s agricultural productivity.

(Read: Major issues between old rivals India and Pakistan)

Banking ties

Iqbalpuri also said that a delegation from the Reserve Bank of India will visit Pakistan in mid October to discuss establishing formal banking links between the two countries.

The Pakistani commerce minister met with RBI officials in Mumbai and invited them to meet with State Bank of Pakistan officials in Karachi.

The lack of banking ties between the two countries is a significant hindrance to trade, since all trade transactions are conducted and financed through banks. Currently, companies from both countries use Western banks, which charge higher fees. If Indian and Pakistani banks begin to do business directly, it is likely to reduce transaction costs for the average trader in both countries.

The Indian commerce minister said that India is also contemplating removing its blanket ban on capital inflows from Pakistan (Islamabad has no such ban on Indian investment).

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th,  2011.