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LAHORE/WASHINGTON: Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said on Tuesday that the NATO attack on the Mohmand checkpost was not an isolated incident and had raised much bigger questions than whether Islamabad will join an investigation on the event.

Khar, in an interview to National Public Radio (NPR) in Lahore on Tuesday, was underscoring the importance Pakistan attaches to respect for its sovereignty in the fight against terrorists along the Afghan border.

“The question of sovereignty is an extremely important one and this is not the first time. You can have a space for mistakes once. You can have it twice, but you cannot have it, you know, for eight times. These types of engagement are not acceptable to the Pakistani public. They will certainly not be acceptable to the parliament of Pakistan and to the government of Pakistan.”

The foreign minister, pressing her point, also pointed out the May 2 unilateral raid on Abbottabad and the questions that it raised about the red lines that Pakistan has put in place, while cooperating with the international community in the anti-terror fight.

“I think the questions raised in Pakistan are much larger than whether we will participate in the investigation or not. I want to emphasise on the fact that this is not an isolated incident,” she told NPR in the wake of the November 26 Nato strike that resulted in deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers.

“If the terms of engagement are not clearly understood, are not clearly respected, that gives each of the parties the right to go back and reassess the situation that I think Pakistan is, today, just exercising that right.” Following the deadly attack, Khar said, Islamabad has to do “some serious introspection to see what we make of the role that we play within the international efforts in Afghanistan.

“As to the question of sovereignty of Pakistan, this question of territorial integrity of Pakistan, and really, the questions are being asked that – is it too much of a cost that Pakistan has paid?”

Khar said that Pakistan feels its role in the decade-old fight against terror has been “misinterpreted, has not been recognised and has not been appreciated enough.”

“And, on top of that, to have an incident in which we feel, at best, giving the benefit of doubt, our soldiers lost their lives to an extremely callous attitude. This episode has obviously created a lot of rage in Pakistan because this is not the first time that Pakistan has lost its soldiers to NATO fire,”  the foreign minister added.

While Pakistan would like to wait for a detailed investigation, the current briefings “seem to be pointing towards a direction which is not a happy case to be in,” the Khar elaborated in an answer to a question whether the NATO strike was deliberate.

“If it is a deliberate attempt, then the questions that I referred to would obviously be much, much, much more serious,” the foreign minister remarked.

“I’m not going to run to any conclusion and I hope that is not true, but the fact of the matter is that even if it is a mistake, it iss certainly a callous mistake because this did not happen over five minutes. This was into hours, for sure, and that leaves many, many unanswered questions,” she responded to another question.

She disagreed with the proposition that US assistance for Pakistan limits her country’s leverage in responding to such incidents and termed the notion of Pakistan’s dependence on US assistance as exaggeration.

“I would hope not because I think, you know, I like to call it the dependency syndrome. It’s over-exaggerated. I think we have to really get grips on what this relationship is really about.  And for Pakistan, this relationship is not about aid and assistance.  I think there are far too many much more important strategic goals and objectives that we wish to achieve,” Khar said.

LAHORE/WASHINGTON: Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said on Tuesday that the NATO attack on the Mohmand checkpost was not an isolated incident and had raised much bigger questions than whether Islamabad will join an investigation on the event.

Khar, in an interview to National Public Radio (NPR) in Lahore on Tuesday, was underscoring the importance Pakistan attaches to respect for its sovereignty in the fight against terrorists along the Afghan border.

“The question of sovereignty is an extremely important one and this is not the first time. You can have a space for mistakes once. You can have it twice, but you cannot have it, you know, for eight times. These types of engagement are not acceptable to the Pakistani public. They will certainly not be acceptable to the parliament of Pakistan and to the government of Pakistan.”

The foreign minister, pressing her point, also pointed out the May 2 unilateral raid on Abbottabad and the questions that it raised about the red lines that Pakistan has put in place, while cooperating with the international community in the anti-terror fight.

“I think the questions raised in Pakistan are much larger than whether we will participate in the investigation or not. I want to emphasise on the fact that this is not an isolated incident,” she told NPR in the wake of the November 26 Nato strike that resulted in deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers.

“If the terms of engagement are not clearly understood, are not clearly respected, that gives each of the parties the right to go back and reassess the situation that I think Pakistan is, today, just exercising that right.” Following the deadly attack, Khar said, Islamabad has to do “some serious introspection to see what we make of the role that we play within the international efforts in Afghanistan.

“As to the question of sovereignty of Pakistan, this question of territorial integrity of Pakistan, and really, the questions are being asked that – is it too much of a cost that Pakistan has paid?”

Khar said that Pakistan feels its role in the decade-old fight against terror has been “misinterpreted, has not been recognised and has not been appreciated enough.”

“And, on top of that, to have an incident in which we feel, at best, giving the benefit of doubt, our soldiers lost their lives to an extremely callous attitude. This episode has obviously created a lot of rage in Pakistan because this is not the first time that Pakistan has lost its soldiers to NATO fire,”  the foreign minister added.

While Pakistan would like to wait for a detailed investigation, the current briefings “seem to be pointing towards a direction which is not a happy case to be in,” the Khar elaborated in an answer to a question whether the NATO strike was deliberate.

“If it is a deliberate attempt, then the questions that I referred to would obviously be much, much, much more serious,” the foreign minister remarked.

“I’m not going to run to any conclusion and I hope that is not true, but the fact of the matter is that even if it is a mistake, it iss certainly a callous mistake because this did not happen over five minutes. This was into hours, for sure, and that leaves many, many unanswered questions,” she responded to another question.

She disagreed with the proposition that US assistance for Pakistan limits her country’s leverage in responding to such incidents and termed the notion of Pakistan’s dependence on US assistance as exaggeration.

“I would hope not because I think, you know, I like to call it the dependency syndrome. It’s over-exaggerated. I think we have to really get grips on what this relationship is really about.  And for Pakistan, this relationship is not about aid and assistance.  I think there are far too many much more important strategic goals and objectives that we wish to achieve,” Khar said.

KARACHI: Diplomatic channels have been approached to ascertain the whereabouts of Khalid Shamim, an employee of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, allegedly in the custody of law enforcing agencies in connection with the murder of Dr Imran Farooq of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

Appearing before a division bench of the Sindh High Court comprising Chief Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh on Wednesday, Additional Advocate General Sindh, Sarwar Khan, submitted a letter by a joint secretary of the federal law ministry, stating that information has been sought from the British diplomatic channel about the whereabouts of Khalid Shamim. He assured that court would be informed accordingly. The bench ordered that such information be submitted on, or before, the next hearing.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by Beena Khalid, who went to court for the recovery of her husband, Khalid Shamim, missing since June 5, 2011. She stated that Shamim went to draw money from an ATM at Malir Halt, when personnel of law enforcing agencies whisked him away in two cars bearing official registration number plates.

Sarwar Khan also informed the court that Shamim has not been handed over to any agency within or outside Pakistan.

Later, an official of the Airport Security Force, appearing on court notice, stated that the SHO concerned had sought CCTV footage but it was not available because of a limited recording capacity. It is deleted once the memory overflows.

The court noted with concern that the LEA came into action only when a case comes before a court of law.

The bench also inquired from the investigating officer about the information sought from two local newspapers, one each in Urdu and English, that carried the story about the arrest of the missing Khalid Shamim and his alleged connection with the murder of Dr Imran Farooq. The investigating officer was directed to inquire about the source of the news item.

As he told the court that he has written letters to the newspapers’ management, the bench said that he should “personally visit the places and extract the necessary information.”

The court adjourned the proceedings till December 13 when all such other petitions were fixed for hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2011.

KARACHI: Diplomatic channels have been approached to ascertain the whereabouts of Khalid Shamim, an employee of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, allegedly in the custody of law enforcing agencies in connection with the murder of Dr Imran Farooq of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

Appearing before a division bench of the Sindh High Court comprising Chief Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh on Wednesday, Additional Advocate General Sindh, Sarwar Khan, submitted a letter by a joint secretary of the federal law ministry, stating that information has been sought from the British diplomatic channel about the whereabouts of Khalid Shamim. He assured that court would be informed accordingly. The bench ordered that such information be submitted on, or before, the next hearing.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by Beena Khalid, who went to court for the recovery of her husband, Khalid Shamim, missing since June 5, 2011. She stated that Shamim went to draw money from an ATM at Malir Halt, when personnel of law enforcing agencies whisked him away in two cars bearing official registration number plates.

Sarwar Khan also informed the court that Shamim has not been handed over to any agency within or outside Pakistan.

Later, an official of the Airport Security Force, appearing on court notice, stated that the SHO concerned had sought CCTV footage but it was not available because of a limited recording capacity. It is deleted once the memory overflows.

The court noted with concern that the LEA came into action only when a case comes before a court of law.

The bench also inquired from the investigating officer about the information sought from two local newspapers, one each in Urdu and English, that carried the story about the arrest of the missing Khalid Shamim and his alleged connection with the murder of Dr Imran Farooq. The investigating officer was directed to inquire about the source of the news item.

As he told the court that he has written letters to the newspapers’ management, the bench said that he should “personally visit the places and extract the necessary information.”

The court adjourned the proceedings till December 13 when all such other petitions were fixed for hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2011.

TEHRAN: Britain shut Iran’s embassy in London and expelled all its staff on Wednesday, saying the storming of the British mission in Tehran could not have taken place without consent from Iranian authorities.

Foreign Secretary William Hague also said the British Embassy in Tehran had been closed and all staff evacuated following the attack on Tuesday by a crowd that ransacked offices and burned British flags in a protest over sanctions imposed by Britain on Tehran.

Iran warned that Britain’s closure of the Iranian embassy in London would lead to further retaliation. Tuesday’s incident was the most violent so far as relations between the two countries steadily deteriorate due to Iran’s wider dispute with the West over its nuclear programme.

On top of its ban on British financial institutions dealing with Iran and its central bank last week, Britain has called for further measures and a diplomatic source said London would now support a ban on oil imports from the Islamic Republic.

Hague said Iranian ambassadors across the European Union had been summoned to receive strong protests over the incident. But Britain stopped short of severing ties with Iran completely.

“The Iranian charge (d’affaires) in London is being informed now that we require the immediate closure of the Iranian embassy in London and that all Iranian diplomatic staff must leave the United Kingdom within the next 48 hours,” Hague told parliament.

“We have now closed the British embassy in Tehran. We have decided to evacuate all our staff and as of the last few minutes, the last of our UK-based staff have now left Iran.”

France said it was recalling its ambassador for consultations. It was the worst crisis between Britain and Iran since full diplomatic relations were restored in 1999, 10 years after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s fatwa that author Salman Rushdie could be killed for writing “The Satanic Verses”.

Hague said it was “fanciful” to think Iranian authorities could not protect the British embassy, or that the assault could have taken place without “some degree of regime consent”.

“This does not amount to the severing of diplomatic relations in their entirety. It is action that reduces our relations with Iran to the lowest level consistent with the maintenance of diplomatic relations,” he added.

Mindful of the 1979 seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, when radical students held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days, Britain waited until all its two dozen diplomatic staff and dependents had left the country to announce its move.

Iran’s state TV quoted a foreign ministry spokesman as calling London’s closure of the Iranian embassy “hasty”.

“Naturally the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran would take further appropriate action regarding the issue,” a news reporter said.

In today’s episode of the Tribune Take we look at Pakistani cable operators taking BBC World News off-air after proclaiming to ‘ban’ the channel for airing “anti-Pakistan” programming following a NATO air strike on a Pakistani border check post that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Zarrar Khuhro, editor T-Magazine, says this move is likely a “knee-jerk” reaction based on souring US-Pak relations, as taking foreign news channels off-air will have very little impact on the likes of the BBC or CNN. Clarifying that the ban is not imposed directly by the government, he also predicts the channel will come back on-air once the climate in the country has cooled down.

“Whether its a case of the cable operators being more ghairatmand than thou, or whether they have been put up to it by the government or government agencies is of course, another question” he adds.

Khuhro, however, cautions that many in Pakistan including those in the media seem to take reports published in foreign press organizations to be the absolute truth, ignoring the fact that all media organizations have their own agendas.

Read Zarrar Khuhro’s articles here.

The Tribune Take daily news web show will appear on the tribune.com.pk home page.

The Take will feature in-depth interviews and analysis with editors and reporters who are covering the major stories, exploring front page events and major ledes. The news analysis covers the way The Express Tribune examines a story, how we cover it and why.

ISLAMABAD: The government has announced an increase in oil prices by up to Rs 4.79 per litre in line with the hike in global oil prices effective from today (Thursday).

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) had proposed not to pass on increase in prices of petrol and High Speed Diesel (HSD) but Finance Ministry turned down the proposal fearing that it could affect revenue collection on account of petroleum levy (PL).

The price of petrol has been increased by 55 paisa per litre and High Speed Diesel (HSD) by Rs4.79 per litre. It is interesting to note that government increased the price of HSD on the very day when National Assembly Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources had strongly opposed any increase in the price of HSD. The standing committee feared that increase in the price of HSD would affect the agriculture sector and also cause rise in inflation.

The prices of kerosene oil and Light Diesel Oil (LDO) have also been increased by Rs3.48 and Rs4.79 per litre respectively.

However, the government has maintained the price of High Octane Blending Component (HOBC) at Rs106.72 per litre for December. The price of HOBC had declined by Rs 1.60 per litre in line with variation of global oil prices but the government adjusted it in petroleum levy to enhance revenue collection on petroleum products.

After the government’s decision to increase rate, the new price of diesel for the month of December will be Rs98.94 per litre, petrol will be Rs87.96 per litre, kerosene oil will be Rs89.24 per litre and LDO will now be sold at Rs86.78 per litre.

LDO is used as fuel in certain pumps and machines mainly used in rural areas.

Though the federal government has deregulated the prices of most petroleum products including petrol, HOBC, LDO, jet fuels JP-1, JP-4 and JP-8, from June 2011, but the prices are still determined by the government.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2011.

ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar said on Wednesday that the supply routes for Nato troops will be restored only if Nato apologises for the “unprovoked attack” that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, Express News reported.

Mukhtar also said that Shamsi Airbase will be vacated by December 11 and no drone planes would be allowed to fly from the base after that.

Earlier in a Cabinet Defence committee meeting, Pakistan had decided to ask the US to leave Shamsi Air Base within 15 days and blocked ground supply routes through Pakistan to US forces in Afghanistan.

Washington was sent notices to vacate the narrow strip located in Balochistan following the deadly Nato attack.

Three sources, who declined to be identified because of the issue’s sensitivity, said that US planning was under way to leave the base.

The cross-border incident escalated tensions between the two countries and the US military is conducting an investigation to find out exactly what happened on the ground. The moves by the Pakistanis to block ground supply routes and the air base were not expected to significantly hinder US operations.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s decision not to attend the Bonn conference in Germany next week, taken to protest against the Nato cross-border attack that killed 24 soldiers, is final, a foreign ministry official said on Wednesday. 

“Of course it’s the final word. Pakistan is not attending,” the official told Reuters, shortly after the German government urged Islamabad to reverse its stand.

Pakistan pulled out of the conference on the future of Afghanistan on Tuesday in reaction to the “unprovoked” cross-border attack by Nato forces, that plunged US-Pakistani relations deeper into crisis.

The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in Lahore.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she regretted Pakistan’s decision to boycott the conference but hoped to secure Islamabad’s cooperation in future.

“Nothing will be gained by turning our backs on mutually beneficial cooperation. Frankly it is regrettable that Pakistan has decided not to attend the conference in Bonn,” Clinton told a news conference in South Korea.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai had telephoned Gilani to urge him to reconsider the boycott of the conference, officials in both countries said.

Karzai’s deputy spokesman Siamak Herawi told AFP that Pakistan was an important participant in the conference aimed at bridging peace after 10 years of war against the Taliban, and expressed hope that they would ultimately attend.

“President Hamid Karzai called Prime Minister Gilani and officially asked the Pakistan government to participate in the Bonn conference,” said Herawi.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was “very sorry” about Pakistan’s announced boycott of  the conference and would try to convince it to attend.

Merkel said Germany would “see what could be done to change” Islamabad’s decision to stay away from the meeting in the western German city.

LAHORE: Pakistan said Wednesday it was looking at summoning the BBC to demand an explanation over a documentary about the Taliban that has left the BBC World News channel blocked nationwide.

Cable operators pulled the channel late Tuesday amid anger over NATO air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Khalid Arain, chairman of the Cable Operators Association of Pakistan, confirmed that BBC World News was off-air nationwide and that other Western news channels had been ordered “not to indulge in anti-Pakistan propaganda”.

The row relates to a two-part BBC documentary, “Secret Pakistan,” which questions Pakistan’s commitment to tackling Taliban militancy.

The BBC said it was deeply concerned by the move, and called for its channel to be speedily reinstated.

Media regulator, PEMRA, said: “Definitely, since an issue has been highlighted, the authorities will review the contents of the broadcast and their programmes.”

“The authorities can summon BBC representatives and seek an explanation from them,” PEMRA spokesman Tahir Izhar told AFP.

Arain said Pakistan was not legally bound to show any foreign channels and was also monitoring Britain’s Sky News for “any objectionable content.”

Pakistan has aroused increasing criticism overseas and from human rights campaigners within the country over censorship. The row over the BBC saw people post links to the documentary on their Facebook and Twitter accounts.

“It is clear violation of our basic right to information. I condemn it,” said Shujauddin Qureshi, a human rights activist.

Saad Haroon wrote on Twitter, “They have taken BBC off the air in Pakistan, great, now we will be the LAST to know when they bomb us.”

Last week, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority was forced to row back from banning text messages containing any of nearly 1,700 “obscene” words, many of which were seemingly innocuous, following outrage from users and campaigners.

WASHINGTON: The United States urged Pakistan on Tuesday to reconsider its decision to boycott a conference on Afghanistan in Germany next week, saying it plays a key role in the future of its war-torn central Asian neighbour.

Pakistan decided earlier Tuesday to boycott the December 5 Bonn conference as it widened its protest over lethal cross-border Nato strikes on Saturday that have exacerbated a deep crisis in US ties.

“It’s important to note that this conference is about Afghanistan, about its future, about building a safer, more prosperous Afghanistan within the region,” State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.

“It’s very much in Pakistan’s interest to attend this conference,” Toner said.

Toner, who declined to be drawn on whether the United States regretted the decision in Islamabad, said Pakistan had not informed Washington directly of its decision because Germany is the host of the conference.

But he repeated that “it’s in their interests, so we think it’s important that they be there.”

He added: “Pakistan has a crucial role to play in supporting a secure and stable and prosperous Afghanistan.

“It’s absolutely critical that Afghanistan’s neighbors play a role in its future development,” Toner said. “Its relationship with Pakistan has been critical in that regard.”

WASHINGTON: The United States urged Pakistan on Tuesday to reconsider its decision to boycott a conference on Afghanistan in Germany next week, saying it plays a key role in the future of its war-torn central Asian neighbour.

Pakistan decided earlier Tuesday to boycott the December 5 Bonn conference as it widened its protest over lethal cross-border Nato strikes on Saturday that have exacerbated a deep crisis in US ties.

“It’s important to note that this conference is about Afghanistan, about its future, about building a safer, more prosperous Afghanistan within the region,” State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.

“It’s very much in Pakistan’s interest to attend this conference,” Toner said.

Toner, who declined to be drawn on whether the United States regretted the decision in Islamabad, said Pakistan had not informed Washington directly of its decision because Germany is the host of the conference.

But he repeated that “it’s in their interests, so we think it’s important that they be there.”

He added: “Pakistan has a crucial role to play in supporting a secure and stable and prosperous Afghanistan.

“It’s absolutely critical that Afghanistan’s neighbors play a role in its future development,” Toner said. “Its relationship with Pakistan has been critical in that regard.”

BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday she was “very sorry” about Pakistan’s announced boycott of  the Bonn conference next week on the future of Afghanistan and would try to convince it to attend.

Merkel said Germany would “see what could be done to change” Islamabad’s decision to stay away from the meeting in the western German city, taken in protest at NATO air strikes which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

“We are both interested in constructive development of Afghanistan,” Merkel, who will open the Bonn conference, told reporters flanked by visiting King Abdullah II of Jordan.

“Which is why I consider the conference hosted by the (German) foreign minister to be very important. We always said that conflicts can only be resolved in the region and Pakistan is part of this region which is why we are very sorry that this cancellation came today.”

Merkel said Berlin still hoped Islamabad would attend the Bonn meeting, which will draw delegations from around 100 countries to discuss commitments to the war-ravaged country after the withdrawal of NATO troops in 2014.

Among the invited guests is US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“I understand Pakistan’s concern about the loss of human life due to NATO troops but this should not distract from the fact that this Afghanistan conference is a very, very important conference,” she said.

“There was a loya jirga (grand assembly) in Afghanistan and there is now a very, very good chance for a possible political process. On the one hand I can understand (the boycott) but on the other, we will see what still can be done.”

Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who is organising the conference, said later that Berlin was “of course” in contact with the Pakistani government over its pulling out and said it would be a “setback” if Islamabad did not attend.

“The success of the Afghanistan conference is not only important for Afghanistan but also for the entire region, for all neighbouring countries and of course and in particular for Pakistan,” he said.

Westerwelle added he understood Pakistani ire over the NATO bombing on Saturday and urged a speedy probe by the alliance to get to the bottom of how it occurred.

“You can imagine for a moment if something so horrible had happened to us and our country were mourning such a large number of victims — I ask that to be always be considered in judging decisions taken.”

US-led investigators have been given until December 23 to probe the attacks, threatening to prolong significantly Pakistan’s blockade on NATO supplies into Afghanistan implemented in retaliation for the killings.

Islamabad has vowed no more “business as usual” with Washington in the wake of the strikes. In addition to shutting its Afghan border, it ordered Americans to vacate an air base reportedly used by CIA drones and a review of the alliance.

A joint US-Afghan patrol was attacked by the Taliban early Saturday morning. While pursuing the enemy in the poorly marked border area, the patrol seems to have mistaken one of the Pakistan troop outposts for a militant encampment and called in a Nato gunship and attack helicopters to open fire.

US officials say the reports suggest the Taliban may have deliberately tried to provoke a cross-border firefight that would set back fragile partnerships between the US/Nato forces and Pakistani soldiers at the ill-defined border. Officials described the records on condition of anonymity to discuss classified matters, AP reported.

According to the US military records described to the AP, the joint US and Afghan patrol requested backup after being hit by mortar and small arms fire by Taliban militants.

Before responding, the joint US-Afghan patrol first checked with the Pakistani army, which reported it had no troops in the area, the military account said.

Some two hours later, still hunting the insurgents — who had by then apparently fled in the direction of Pakistani border posts — the US commander spotted what he thought was a militant encampment, with heavy weapons mounted on tripods.

The joint patrol called for the airstrikes at around 2:21 a.m. Pakistani time, not realising the encampment was apparently the Pakistani border post. Records show the aerial response included Apache attack helicopters and an AC-130 gunship, AP reported.

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

“The timely report analytically supports and strongly reinforces our case for extreme climate vulnerability,” said former environment minister Malik Amin Aslam.

“[The index] recognises the now indisputable fact that Pakistan faces climate impacts which are not only happening in real time but in a widely diverse pattern – ranging from extreme events such as cyclones, glacial melting and floods as well as indirect impacts such as droughts, shifting cropping patterns and climate-induced migrants,” he added.

Need for funds

Speaking at the press conference, government official Farrukh Iqbal Khan highlighted that Pakistan incurred an economic loss worth an estimated $9.6 billion from last year’s floods alone, whereas 8 million people were affected and hundreds of lives lost.

Building on Pakistan’s case, Iqbal said that he was frustrated by the ‘unwillingness’ of countries to contribute to the Adaptation Fund for vulnerable countries to deal with climate change impacts. He further explained: “The rising financial costs for coping with climate disasters, highlighted in the report, are also in line with our internal analysis which forecasts these climate finance needs to be in the range of $6-14 billion per annum for Pakistan”.

According to Sven Harmeling, author of the index and team leader of International Climate Policy at Germanwatch, “the current inadequate promises of the world’s governments to fight climate change will push our limits of preparing for disasters and adaptation”. He added, “Durban’s climate summit will be decisive for necessary commitments made by all governments to reverse the global emissions trend”.

Climate disasters will increase

Earlier this month, the UN-convened Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its report “Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation”, which linked extreme weather conditions to climate change. It further predicted that the frequency and intensity of climate disasters will increase, and vulnerable countries like Pakistan will be severely affected.

Unfortunately, Pakistan lacks both the technology and capacity to respond to these climate impacts effectively. Even after experiencing severe floods in 2010, Pakistan was unable to initiate proper disaster management systems which would have helped in dealing with the floods in Sindh this year.

Iqbal explained the government is doing its best to deal with natural disasters, saying “We are working with different entities to build the institutional capacities of Pakistan to respond to these disasters. We have already taken an initial step in the right direction”.

The Germanwatch report will assist Pakistan in making the case demanding urgency of response both locally as well as in Durban during the climate talks.

The Global Climate Risk Index is based on data collected from the renowned database MunichRe.

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

BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday she regretted Pakistan’s decision to boycott next week’s international conference on Afghanistan but hoped to secure Islamabad’s cooperation in future.

“Nothing will be gained by turning our backs on mutually beneficial cooperation. Frankly it is regrettable that Pakistan has decided not to attend the conference in Bonn,” Clinton told a news conference in South Korea.

Pakistan pulled out of the conference on the future of Afghanistan on Tuesday in reaction to a cross-border attack by NATO that killed 24 of its soldiers and plunged US-Pakistani relations deeper into crisis.

“I would express regret and hope that perhaps there can be a follow-up way that we can have the benefit of Pakistani participation in this international effort to try to work a stable, secure peaceful outcome in Afghanistan.”

Clinton stressed that US officials were making every effort to investigate what she called a “tragic incident”. “What is most important I think is that we learn lessons from this tragedy because we have to continue to work together.”

ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON: The US is preparing to accede to Pakistan’s demands that it vacate Shamsi airbase, with their operations set to be further hindered by Nato supply routes remaining closed “until they apologise to Pakistan”.

Pakistan demanded that the US leave the remote airbase used for drone flights within 15 days and blocked ground supply routes to US forces in Afghanistan, following the Nato attack on a military outpost last weekend that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Three sources, who declined to be identified, said that US’ plans to leave the base are under way. The move, however, is not expected to have a significant impact on operations against militants, according to US government sources.

Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, meanwhile, reiterated the decision taken by the Defence Committee on Cabinet (DCC) after the “Isaf misadventure”, saying that the Shamsi airbase will be shut down on December 11 “at every cost”.

Talking to the media, the minister said, “We do not want to go to war with the US, but we will use other options to protect national sovereignty and integrity.” Mukhtar added that US activities at the Shahbaz Airbase will also be inspected to determine what is going on there.

Eviction underway

One US government source said the US has spent months preparing for a possible eviction from the airbase by building up other drone launching and staging capability.

Earlier this year, after the US raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, some Pakistani officials demanded that Washington vacate the Shamsi facility.

At the time, however, US officials said that American personnel would remain at the base and would continue to conduct drone flights.

US officials believe that this time Pakistan appears much more resolute about carrying out the eviction threat.

Vacating the airbase was seen more as an inconvenience rather than a critical blow to drone operations, which the US also conducts from Afghanistan and possibly elsewhere.

Responding to question about similar retracted decisions in the past, the defence minister said, “There is a major policy shift this time. We have done what was necessary this time”. He added that Nato will have to tender an apology.

Blocked supply route

The US also has to deal with the blocking of the ground supply route through Pakistan to Afghanistan.

US Congressman C A ‘Dutch’ Ruppersberger, the senior Democrat on the House of Representatives intelligence committee, said that route accounts for less than half the supplies for international forces in Afghanistan.

“We have a large distribution network to make sure that coalition forces are well-stocked,” he told Reuters. “It’s not going to affect our ability to follow through and execute our mission.”

Yet alternative supply routes such as the northern distribution network are not a perfect substitute and there are concerns that the cost of keeping soldiers fed, armed and fuelled without use of Pakistani roads would be excessive.

(Read: Factbox – NATO supply routes into Afghanistan – some facts)

(REUTERS with ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY PEER MUHAMMAD)

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2011.

After listening to arguments, the bench, comprising Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, announced a short order saying transparency in the bidding process of the bank was not in question. The transparency had been challenged by two petitions.

Counsel for the cabinet committee on privatisation (CCoP) and privatisation commission (PC) Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan said in his arguments that the HBL bidding process was carried out in a transparent way and all assets of the bank were declared in black and white prior to bidding. Responding to a question raised by Justice Saqib Nisar, the counsel submitted that based on details relating to bonds and amount of tax receivables as assets in the balance sheet of the bank, the reference price was fixed.

The privatisation of HBL was challenged by former planning secretary Dr Akhtar Hassan Khan, President Watan Party, Barrister Zafarullah Khan and one Amjad Ali who contended that facts were concealed by CCoP, PC, HBL and the Agha Khan Fund for Development (AKFD) during the bank’s auction.

The petitioners had contended that HBL’s value at the time of bidding in 2004 was Rs22.4 billion. Their contention was that this, being the highest bid, was lower than the existing value of the net assets of the bank, which they claim were Rs23.7 billion in 2003. After accepting the petitions the SC had issued notices to the CCoP, chairman PC, President HBL and to the AKFD on September 16, 2011.

Muhammad Ikram Chaudhry, counsel for former planning secretary Dr Akhtar Hassan Khan, contended that AKFD as the successful bidder purchased HBL’s shares/transferee of management through the disputed privatisation process, adding that at the time of bidding in 2003-04 the bidder AKFD was availing a loan facility from HBL for development and construction of Serena Hotels.

Chaudhry pleaded that the bidding of HBL was conducted for ulterior gains where material facts were concealed and argued that this provided sufficient grounds for disqualification from bidding.

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

In Qila Bhatianwala village, Shia and Sunnis live, pray, celebrate and mourn together, while the rest of the country sinks deeper into religious intolerance, ethnic violence and a generally distressing divide within society.

But the village’s practice of religious harmony is not a compromise, say the residents; it’s an obligation. And what is perhaps even more exemplary is that the villagers go one step further and realise the worth of this tolerance as the only road to progress.

Qila Bhatianwala’s population of 2,000 people is equally divided between the Shia and Sunni sects. But this divide is anything but significant to the residents. Dozens of them are close relatives of each other. They tie knots without any discrimination. Being Sunni or Shia does not correlate with being superior or inferior or vice-versa.

The Azaan at the Jamia Masjid in Bhatianwala echoes more than five times a day – the Shia clerics give the call for Fajar, Zohar and Asar earlier, while the Sunni cleric calls for Maghrib and Ishaa’s prayers.

Two funeral prayers is a common phenomenon in Qila Bhatianwala.

If a Majlis takes place at the time of Jumma, the Sunni maulvi out of respect gives a sermon in Urdu without a loudspeaker. Shias reciprocate by arranging Majlis after Taraveh prayers in Ramazan.

Sunnis celebrate Eid Milad-un-Nabi on 12th of Rabiulawwal, while Shias celebrate it on the 17th of the same month – in the same mosque.

“This compatibility shouldn’t be translated as compromise on beliefs.

Each of us elaborates one’s school of thought publicly while respecting others’ feelings. Yesterday in Jumma sermon, I candidly spoke about the life and martyrdom of Hazrat Usman-e-Ghani (RA). Same is the pattern with the days of Hazrat Siddique-e-Akbar (RA), Hazrat Umer-e-Farooq (RA) and of course Hazrat Ali (RA),” says Hafiz Abdurrashid, a Sunni cleric, who has been at the Jamia Mosque for three decades.

Shia Imam Zill-e-Husain, a soft spoken 35-year-old, says, “More often we preach about commonalities rather than dissimilarities. We respect each other while firmly believing in our own school of thought. This atmosphere of respect and care is translated outside the mosque in a fantastic way.”

Former president Ferozwala Bar Association Abdul Quyyum Bhatti, who is also a native of Qila Bhatianwal, told The Express Tribune that different schools of thought exist in every society. “The true path of progress is when you manage to educate people about tolerance,” he says.

Abdul Quyyum added that despite the fact that there are only two primary schools in the village – one for boys and one for girls – education is given a lot of significance. Ten lawyers, three doctors, a deputy district public prosecutor and 15 police officers belong to the village, he boasts.

“From the late Pir Karrum Shah to Mufti Jaffer Husain, all prominent Ulema of both sects have come here to speak at the congregations to preach the true teachings of Islam,” he added.

Sharafat Ali Bhatti, a retired schoolteacher, who is widely respected throughout the village, told The Express Tribune that the credit for the harmonious atmosphere goes to the elders of the village who make it mandatory to respect the beliefs of others.

He said those who abide by the teachings of Islam in letter and spirit usually avoid biases.

“You see, the prayers we offer have nothing to do with Islam if they hurt or create troubles for others,” says Sharafat.

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

However, Islamabad’s decision to stay away from the conference, which has been a year in the planning, is being seen as a setback to international efforts that seek to stabilise the war-torn country before Western forces pull out from Afghanistan by 2014.

A senior government official, who was supposed to be part of the Pakistani delegation at the conference, said Islamabad’s absence will only have a symbolic value. “We have already agreed to the draft of the Bonn conference,” said the official, who asked to remain anonymous. He maintained that Pakistan initially voiced concerns on certain points of the proposed draft but those reservations had been addressed.

Without going into details, the official pointed out that the government’s main area of concern was that the conference not be used as a forum to point fingers at Pakistan. “We have been assured that no such thing would be part of the final draft,” he said.

Conference not expected to yield major breakthroughs

Pakistan’s decision will also not be a major setback because few tangible results were expected at Bonn, despite the attendance of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other government ministers.

The conference was organised with the expectation that Washington and Kabul would have pinned down by then what their strategic relationship would look like after the departure of foreign combat troops, but talks on this have dragged on inconclusively.

Foreign ministry officials opposed boycott

Sources have said that senior foreign ministry officials were in favour of attending the Bonn conference. The officials were of the view that Pakistan must attend the conference at least at the ambassador-level, sources added.

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar was to lead the Pakistani delegation at the conference to be attended by 90 countries as well as representatives from the United Nations to finalise a roadmap for post-war Afghanistan. “We should have attended the conference and used it to convey our concerns on the Nato attacks,” said a foreign office official while speaking on condition of anonymity.

It is believed that the security establishment has pushed for the boycott after the inadequate response from the US over the Nato air raid. The decision to boycott the Bonn conference was originally taken in the emergency meeting of the cabinet committee of defence just hours after the Nato attack. However, the announcement was delayed for a couple of days in the hope that Washington might come up with a convincing response to pacify the anger.

(Read: Aftermath of NATO air strike)

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