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LONDON: A secret NATO report claims to “fully expose” direct links between Pakistan’s Inter Sevices Intelligence (ISI) and the Taliban, the BBC reported early on Wednesday.

The leaked report has been derived from thousands of interrogations of captured Taliban, al Qaeda and other foreign fighters and civilians.

According to the BBC, the leaked report notes “Pakistan manipulation of the Taliban senior leadership continues unabatedly.”

It goes on to add “as this report is derived directly from insurgents, it should be considered informational and not necessarily analytical.”

The BBC report cited its correspondent in Kabul, Quentin Sommerville, who called the report “painful reading” for international forces fighting in Afghanistan, and the Afghan government.

Pakistan has denied it has any links with the Taliban, but maintains that solution to the region is an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.

The report claims that Pakistan and its ISI intelligence agency are aware of the locations of senior Taliban leaders.

“ISI officers tout the need for continued jihad and expulsion of foreign invaders from Afghanistan.”

The Times newspaper, which also saw the report, quoted it as saying the Taliban’s “strength, motivation, funding and tactical proficiency remains intact”, despite setbacks in 2011.

“Many Afghans are already bracing themselves for an eventual return of the Taliban,” it said.

“Once (Nato force) ISAF is no longer a factor, Taliban consider their victory inevitable.”

Kabul, which accuses Islamabad of supporting the 10-year Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, put relations on ice after the September murder of its peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani, which one Afghan minister blamed on Pakistani spies.

The US Department of Defense said it could not comment on the report but set out its fears about Pakistan and its influence in Afghanistan.

“We have not seen the report, and therefore cannot offer comment on it specifically,” Pentagon spokesman George Little told AFP.

“We have long been concerned about ties between elements of the ISI and some extremist networks.”

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta “has also been clear that he believes that the safe havens in Pakistan remain a serious problem and need to be addressed by Pakistani authorities.”

In its conclusion, the report said there had been unprecedented interest in joining the Taliban cause in 2011 – even from members of the Afghan government.

“Afghan civilians frequently prefer Taliban governance over the Afghan government, usually as a result of government corruption,” it was reported as saying.

The Times, in an editorial, said Pakistan was “actively hindering reconciliation” between the Taliban and Kabul.

“Islamabad appears to be engaged in a systematic effort to destabilise the Kabul government of (President) Hamid Karzai prior to the withdrawal of Western forces, and to assist those attacking and killing those forces.

“The ISI emerges from this document looking considerably more villainous, even, than the Taliban itself.

“The picture that is painted is very much one of a force that both expects, and is widely expected, to have a big stake in controlling the Afghanistan of the future.”

WASHINGTON: Calling the parliamentary review of Islamabad’s ties with the US as Pakistan’s right as a sovereign country, US special envoy Marc Grossman has expressed hope that the two countries will be able to forge a wide-ranging relationship based on mutual interests and respect.

“I hope that whatever review comes out and whatever conversation follows the review, that we can have a respectful relationship, and an active relationship,” Grossman told Voice of America’s Urdu Service in an interview on Tuesday.

The special envoy, who has just returned from a visit to the Middle East and South Asia, after Pakistan denied him permission to visit. cited counter-terrorism, Afghanistan and many other fields of mutual interest as areas where the two countries can cooperate.

Grossman said that the US very much wants a respectful relationship with Pakistan.

“The most important thing I will say to the people of Pakistan is that we respect the people of Pakistan. That is why we are pursuing policies such as civilian assistance, support for the democratic government and this idea that we ought to be able to find our shared interests together and act on them together.”

Grossman further said, “My message to the people of Pakistan is that we ought to be able to go back to the (relationship of) mutual respect.”

While not confirming that the US is talking to the Taliban at this point, Grossman did say that Washington was using all of its “contacts in the region” in order to get Afghans talking to Afghans.

He disagreed with the contention that the US is sidelining anyone in the Afghan reconciliation process.

Commenting on a New York Times story that the Karzai government feels left out and is starting a parallel track with the Taliban in Saudi Arabia, Grossman called it ‘wrong’ and added that how the Afghans talk to each other is ‘their business.’

“However this takes place, wherever this takes place, the important thing is that Afghans talk to Afghans,” he reiterated.

Ambassador Grossman reiterated the State Department’s position that the US wants to talk itself ‘out of a job’ by getting the Afghans to talk to each other.  Grossman said that there was still work to be done in terms of opening an office in Qatar but it is a good idea because this is where both the Taliban and the Afghan government will be most comfortable initially.  However, he called it an ‘interim arrangement’ and felt that the final Taliban office and the center of talks should be in Kabul.

WASHINGTON: In a hearing of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, members of the US intelligence committee said it was important to have positive relations with Pakistan.

The hearing, attended by leaders of the US intelligence community including the heads of the CIA and National Intelligence, focused on worldwide threats in 2012.

In his submitted remarks to the committee, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said, “We judge al Qaida operatives are balancing support for attacks in Pakistan with guidance to refocus the global jihad externally against US targets. Al Qaida will increasingly rely on ideological and operational alliances with Pakistani militant factions to accomplish its goals with Pakistan and to conduct transnational attacks. Pakistan military leaders have had limited success against al Qaida operatives, other foreign fighters and Pakistani militants who pose a threat to Islamabad.”

Clapper added that the intelligence community anticipates that with sustained counterterrorism pressure, the core group of al Qaida will “suffer sustained degradation, diminished cohesion and decreasing influence in the coming year.” In his written remarks, he said Pakistan’s government has been unable to persuade coalition members to agree on policy and tax reforms, and Pakistan’s “economy recovery is at risk.”

Clapper, in response to a question on US-Pakistan relations, said that they agreed that relations with Pakistan should remain positive, however he added that their interests sometimes differed, and Pakistan considered India as an existential threat.

Acknowledging relations with Pakistan had become strained after the November 26 incident that led to the death of Pakistani soldiers, CIA Director General (retd.) David Petraeus said that there were domestic tensions in the country, including tensions between the Supreme Court, Pakistani military, ISI director and the Pakistani government. However, Petraeus noted that these tensions might be decreasing, especially in light of former Pakistani ambassador Husain Haqqani being allowed to leave the country. He added that the US needed engagement and diplomacy in improving relations with Pakistan.

The spy chief added that on the level of intelligence services, relations with Pakistan were productive and communication was still going on.

Senator Saxby Chambliss, vice-chairman of the committee, asked the intelligence leaders what was being done about safe havens of terrorists in Pakistan. NI Director James Clapper replied that they were talking to Pakistan about it, while CIA Director David Petraeus said that in October, they had “captured or killed” four al Qaeda leaders, which was also due to some co-operation with Pakistan. He added that while Pakistan had conducted operations in FATA and Swat, they had not pressured the Haqqani Network or Mullah Nazir’s group, nor pressured those present in Balochistan.

NEW DELHI: India has selected the French firm Dassault over the Eurofighter consortium as the preferred bidder for 126 fighter jets in a major contract estimated to be worth $12 billion.

Dassault won the right to enter exclusive negotiations with India after lodging a lower bid than its European rival in the world’s biggest single defence deal currently in process, an Indian government source told AFP on Tuesday.

Dassault, whose Rafale fighter had been pitted against the Eurofighter Typhoon, said it was “honoured and grateful” to be selected and stressed its commitment to meeting the “operational requirements” of the Indian Air Force.

The French government welcomed the news, but added that the final contract had yet to be signed.

“At this stage – and I want to be cautious – we are in a phase of exclusive negotiations,” French Minister of State for Foreign Trade Pierre Lellouche told France’s BFM radio.

Lellouche declined to release financial details of Dassault’s bid.

Dassault Aviation shares soared more than 20 per cent on the Paris Stock Exchange after the news broke.

The huge contract to supply war planes to fast-developing India has been fiercely fought over for four years.

India in April pulled a surprise by cutting out US bidders Boeing and Lockheed Martin – much to Washington’s disappointment – as well as dropping Sweden’s Saab AB and the Russian makers of the MiG 35 from the race.

That left Dassault and Eurofighter – a consortium of Britain’s BAE Systems, Italy’s Finmeccanica and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company.

James Hardy, Asia-Pacific editor of Jane’s Defence Weekly, said the decision was “a big win for the Rafale” but warned that the French side faced a period of tough negotiation.

“Rafale has been selected as the preferred bidder but any student of Indian procurement knows that this means nothing until the contract is physically signed,” Hardy said.

He predicted that the recent sharp depreciation of the Indian currency and “standard contractual wrangling” could delay any final deal for years.

The tendered contract was for the outright purchase of 18 combat aircraft by 2012 with another 108 to be built in India with options to acquire more. 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 1^st, 2012.

PESHAWAR: Reacting to US President Barack Obama’s admission of drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal belt, elders from North Waziristan have announced a long march from the tribal belt to the Parliament House in Islamabad on February 25.

Addressing a joint press conference at the Peshawar Press Club, elders from different tribes of North Waziristan condemned President Obama’s drone programme. They termed the strikes as a “massacre of the innocent,” and announced their plan to stage a sit in before the Parliament House.

Amongst the elders were Malik Jalal, Malik Ghulam Khan, Malik Gulshah Alam and Malik Fareed. They belonged to the Dawar, and Ahmedzai Wazir tribes of North Waziristan.

Malik Jalal Waziristani, claimed that the drones only targeted areas where there was no writ of the government. While Malik Ghulam Khan argued that innocent people were killed in drone strikes.  “We have approached the government and political parties, but there seems to be no end to this,” he said.

They announced their intention to stage a long march from Miranshah in North Waziristan to the federal capital. “We will make important announcements there,” promised the elders.

They said members from political parties, the civil society and students are expected to join the long March which will march first from Miranshah to Bannu, Bannu to Peshawar and ultimately on to Islamabad.

The tribesman challenged the claim that there were ‘foreigners’ in the tribal areas. They said that the drone campaign has made their lives extremely difficult. “Innocent people have been massacred for the last ten years,” they said.

ISLAMABAD: What was once an exaggerated expression to bemoan inflation has now become reality: The price of diesel has crossed Rs100.

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) announced an increase in oil prices by up to 6% per litre effective from Wednesday (today), on account of an increase in global oil prices.

Sources said that Ogra had recommended keeping oil prices unchanged but the finance ministry resisted the proposal and supported an increase in prices to avoid any subsidy.

Ogra has raised the per litre price of petrol by Rs5.37, High Speed Diesel (HSD) by Rs4.64, High Octane Blending Component (HOBC) by Rs6.29, kerosene oil by Rs2.78 and Light Diesel oil (LDO) by Rs3.43.

The new per-litre price of petrol is Rs94.91, kerosene oil Rs92.02, HOBC Rs118.20, LDO Rs90.21 and HSD Rs103.46.

While the rationale for this month’s price rise is global oil price hike, the government had increased prices of petrol and HOBC in January, too, despite a decline in international crude prices and Ogra’s recommendation to keep prices unchanged.

Meanwhile, Ogra had calculated an increase of Rs3.11 per-litre for diesel, in line with the hike in global oil prices, but the government raised the hike to Rs4.64 per-litre, in a bid to earn more revenue through petroleum levy.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 1^st, 2012.

PESHAWAR: A senior member of Hizb-e-Islami said on Tuesday that Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director David Petraeus was “overlooking” reconciliation talks in Afghanistan and had personally met him thrice in Kabul.

Ghairat Baheer, who is the son-in-law Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, was in Peshawar to attend the ‘Afghanistan: Regional Influence & Solution’ conference called by former Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami, Qazi Hussain Ahmed.

Baheer, while talking to The Express Tribune, said that the reconciliation in Afghanistan was “real” this time.

“We don’t have any demands in these talks,” said Baheer. “We are seeking a package deal which includes a complete withdrawal of troops and a peaceful transition of power.”

He said that Hizb-e-Islami was an accepted political party in Afghanistan, but added that “talks would have to have a broader spectrum, all factions will have to be taken on board for a complete solution.”

Baheer made it a point to mention that his party did not demand any office and had not demanded the release of prisoners either.

“I hope talks with the Taliban will be successful in Qatar, but Pakistan will have to play a positive role.”

When asked if the Hizb-e-Islami had stopped NATO troops in Afghanistan, Baheer said that he was a member of the political wing and that “the warring faction will be in a better position to comment on this.”

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Tuesday that peace in Afghanistan was critical for the peace and security in Pakistan, and said that it does not want any political settlement in Afghanistan that would destabilise Pakistan.

Talking to Afghan Senate delegation on Tuesday afternoon, Gilani reiterated that Pakistan would continue to support an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process that would not cause instability in Pakistan.

The prime minister said that both Afghanistan and Pakistan are victims of terrorism and they should get united to fight against the common enemy.

A delegation of Afghan Senators, led by Fazal-e-Hadi Muslimyar, called on the prime minister and emphasised the need of exchange of parliamentary delegations to further strengthen the brotherly relations between the people of the two countries.

The prime minister said that the exchange visits of parliamentarians were essential to enhance bilateral relations, and Pakistan had always made consistent and sincere efforts to improve relations with Afghanistan.

Gilani recalled that Pakistan extended full cooperation to the Afghan team that visited Islamabad with regard to the investigation of Prof. Burhanuddin Rabbani’s assassination.

He further said that Pakistan was committed to complete the construction of Torkham-Jalalabad Road.

Pakistan is offering 2000 fully funded scholarships to the Afghan students and has agreed to enhance the number of scholarships on the request of the leader of the Afghan delegation, the prime minister assured.

Earlier, Chairman Senate Farooq H Naik, while addressing the members of the Afghan delegation, said that Pakistan attached much importance to its relations with Afghanistan because both the countries share a common religion, culture, history and geographical proximity.

Leader of Afghan delegation Fazal-e-Hadi Muslimyar, in his speech, highlighted the commonalities between the people of the two countries spread over the centuries adding that this had brought them together to strive for the common destiny of peace and prosperity.

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly will meet on Wednesday on its 39th session to take up the issue of by-elections in more than 20 constituencies.     

President Asif Ali Zardari has summoned the session of the lower house of the Parliament to meet on Wednesday, in exercise of powers conferred by of Article 54(1) of the Constitution.

An official at the National Assembly Secretariat informed APP that it will be 39th session of the 4th Parliamentary year of the present National Assembly and will take up the legislation regarding validation of the by-elections.

“This session will hopefully take up the proposed 20th constitutional amendment to validate the by-elections,” the official said.

He explained that the objections were raised on the by-elections held during the period when constitution of the Election Commission was not complete. “This session will also focus on addressing these lacunae.”

After the validation of the by-elections was challenged in the Supreme Court, the Election Commission was asked to adopt a mechanism for the validation of these elections.

In view of this situation, the official said that as the Election Commission was not complete as per requirement of the Constitution after the 18th Amendment, validity of the by-election was called in question.

“Therefore, now to validate that act of the Commission and the CEC, the Parliament will be giving constitutional cover to by-election through the envisaged 20th constitutional amendment,” the official stated.

When asked about constitutional requirement for the National Assembly to be in session for 130 days, he said that so far the house had been in the session for 115 days and one more session will have to be summoned prior to the expiry of constitutional tenure of the house on March 17.

He also mentioned that in the new amendment, the Parliament may establish that since the Election Commission was not complete, the Chief Election Commissioner could have acted on behalf of the Commission.

ISLAMABAD / LAHORE: Advocate General of Punjab Ashtar Ausaf, during a suo motu hearing of the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) free medicine case on Tuesday, told the Supreme Court that an interim report in the case will be submitted to the court on February 6.

Ausaf informed the court that samples of the drugs were sent out to Switzerland, Belgium and England for tests and the results are awaited.

He said that this step was taken because there was no laboratory in Pakistan which could clearly determine the cause of the deaths by examining the samples.

Ausaf told the court that so far, nothing concrete has surfaced in the investigation and an autopsy of the victims’ bodies will be required to determine the actual cause of the deaths.

Heading a three-member bench, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, asked why the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested the people involved in the case.

The FIA officials present in the court informed him that after the 18th Amendment, all the health related issues were transferred to the provincial government and the FIA is supposed to arrest people who are involved in making the medicines.

Justice Jillani ordered the FIA to release the three arrested people. However, the FIA told the court that the reason of arresting MS of PIC will be explained to the court later.

When Justice Saqib Nisar inquired about the steps taken by the Punjab government, Ausaf informed the court that the government had contacted the chief justice of the Lahore High Court to constitute a tribunal to investigate the case.

The advocate general also told the court that the ministry of health in Punjab is headed by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, when the court inquired.

The three-member bench observed why Sharif had not taken any action regarding the issue.

The court said that the tribunal will carry on with its investigations, but the FIA and Punjab government will have to submit their replies to the court in the next hearing scheduled for February 6.

Pharma owners released

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Punjab chapter on Tuesday afternoon, on the orders of the Supreme Court has released the owners of three pharmaceutical laboratories who had been arrested after the PIC fatal medicines scandal came to light.

They had been arrested by the FIA on January 23, 2012 on charges of supplying the medicines to the Punjab institute of Cardiology (PIC) which reportedly caused the deaths of more than 100 cardiac patients following an adverse reaction to the drugs..

Earlier, on Tuesday the Punjab’s police investigation team had visited the FIA Punjab office and recorded the statements of the owners of pharmaceutical laboratories in FIA custody.

The FIA officials confirmed the release  of the owners of the all three pharmaceutical laboratories identified as Dr Tahir Azam, owner of Mega Pharmaceuticals (pvt) Ltd, Muhammad Waseem Chaudhry , owner of Alfalah Pharma (Pvt) Ltd  and  Chaudhry Nadir Khan, owner of Pharmawise Laboratories (Pvt) Ltd.

Death toll reaches 117

The death toll due to the fake medicines reached 117 on Tuesday as three people lost their lives in the Services Hospital and the Mayo Hospital.

Two of the dead were identified as 51-year-old Mumtaz Ibrahim and 55-year-old Rabia Bibi.

More than 400 people are admitted in various hospitals and are currently under treatment in Lahore.

Investigations reveal 100,000 adulterated pills handed out

Recent investigations into the PIC fake medicine case hinted on Tuesday that more than 100,000 adulterated pills might have been handed out to heart patients in Lahore.

The medicine, called Alfagril, had a manufacturing fault because of which the pills developed brown spots on them and consequently resulted in a disease in the bone marrow.

The Central Drug Laboratory issued a notice saying that one out of the seven pills that were being given out to heart patients in Lahore was substandard. The pill was identified as Alfagril.

An investigation team has been formed by the Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) to probe the case which has resulted in more than a 100 people in Punjab, while the Supreme Court has initiated a suo motu action.

Probe team visits Drug Testing Laboratory

The high-level inquiry committee constituted on the orders of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif visited the Drug Testing Laboratory (DTL) in Lahore to obtain updates regarding the test of the drugs.

The committee, led by DIG Major (retd) Mubasharullah, comprises DIG Elite Force Zulifqar Cheema, DIG Farooq Mazhar, SSP Zulifiqar Hameed, Incharge Investigation SP Shadman and other investigation officers.

Deputy Director DTL Jameel Anwar briefed the investigation team about receiving drug samples and the preparation of tests as well as issuing reports and analysis of the samples.

PESHAWAR: Eight security officials were killed while 15 sustained injuries when militants attacked a military check post in the Jogi area of central Kurram Agency on Tuesday. Officials claimed to have killed over 30 militants in retaliation.

A security official confirmed the casualties and told The Express Tribune that scores of militants attacked a newly-formed security post in the Jogi area, in which the security forces had entered after a fierce a battle last week.

“The security forces had entered a zone which is considered to be a stronghold of militants. It was a counter attack,” he said.

Helicopters gunships pounded the area and the clash lasted for hours.

Additional troops also joined the combat. “We killed 35 militants in aerial and ground operations,” confirmed officials. “The militant attack was forcibly revolted,” they said.

The Kurram operation has been a lengthy one, for it shares boundaries with Orakzai Agency and North Waziristan on the Pak-Afghan border, making the terrain more difficult to control.

The government has managed to reopen the Thall-Parachinar Highway after a span of almost three years. The recent operation was launched to keep the “fragile peace truce” intact and the road open.

ISLAMABAD: In response to President Asif Ali Zardari’s speech on December 27 criticising the judiciary, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday that it may constitute a larger bench to address the Benazir Bhutto assassination case.

The court also issued notices to former president Pervez Musharraf, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Vice President of the Pakistan Peoples Party Dr Babar Awan and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid leader Pervaiz Elahi, along with others allegedly involved in the case, to submit replies to the court.

Heading a three-member bench, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry asked Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq to take directives from the government in this regard.

The chief justice also ordered the special judge of an anti-terrorism court to submit photocopies of the FIR registered in the case, reports and records, and a summary of the progress made in the case so far, by the next hearing.

The court observed that the case was serious in nature and that people wanted to know the truth behind Bhutto’s assassination.

The three-member bench, comprising the chief justice, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Pervaiz, said that the court was concerned because President Zardari had earlier remarked publicly that the court was not taking the matter seriously.

The chief justice observed that the court would have taken a suo motu action in the case, but did not because a petition was submitted to the court.

Referring to the grievances of Ch Aslam, the petitioner in the case, Justice Chaudhry asked the attorney general why the government was not giving preference to record the statement of an eyewitness who had received injuries when Bhutto was assassinated.

The AG replied that as per investigation conducted by three independent bodies other aspects of the case are also being considered and cases against Musharraf and other officials as mentioned in the petition are already pending before the courts.

During the hearing, the chief justice asked the attorney general if he was satisfied with the progress of the investigation. The AG said that, there was no problem in the case so far, and that the investigations were ongoing.

He also specified that there have so far been three different probes into Bhutto’s assassination – one by the Scotland Yard, a United Nations Commission’s report and by a joint investigation team.

In response, the chief justice said that the UN commission’s report was civil in nature, not criminal. He added that it was the government’s job to take assistance from the report and carry out an independent investigation.

The court, while questioning the Federal Investigation Agency’s credibility, observed that it was compulsory to have an independent investigation body comprising senior officials from all four provinces.

Meanwhile, lawyer Chaudhry Amjad Iqbal submitted an affidavit to the court on behalf of the two alleged suspects in the case – Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema and Kamal Shah, saying that his clients were not involved in the case.

A petition was filed earlier in the court, requesting that a new FIR in BB assassination case be lodged.

The petitioner, Advocate Chaudhry Aslam, who was Bhutto’s former chief protocol officer, prayed to the court that the first FIR submitted in the case did not mention the names of the ‘real culprits’.

The court adjourned the hearing for two weeks.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 1^st, 2012.

KARACHI: A security guard and a woman were killed when unidentified gunmen opened fire at Telenor’s franchise in the Nazimabad area of Karachi on Tuesday, reported Express News.

Three other people sustained injuries in the incident and have been shifted to a hospital.

The police reached the franchise to investigate into the incident. SP North Nazimabad Chaudhry Asad said that four men came to the franchise on two motorcycles and opened fire at it with 9mm pistols.

The police said that it was planned attack.

The attacks on mobile franchises have been on the rise in the city. Last year in December, two people died when two men opened fire at a Telenor outlet Shahra-e-Noorjahan.

In other incident earlier this year, a Mobilink outlet was targeted and an explosive device was used in the attack in the Hyderi area of North Nazimabad.

Although the Crime Investigation Department (CID) has arrested a man they said was responsible for the franchise attacks they had also warned that there might be more.

Meanwhile, a man lost his life when gunmen reportedly opened fire at a passenger bus at Nagan Chowrangi of the North Nazimabad area of Karachi.

SP Asad, talking to media, denied the media reports and said that the bus, numbered 4k, had hit three motorcycles resulting in the incident.

“There was no firing incident,” he said while adding that the bus has been taken to the police station and the injured shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday acknowledged “tactical advantages” to US drone strikes on the Taliban and al Qaeda, but appeared to shrug off the unexpected confirmation by Washington of attacks on its soil.

The remarks from Pakistan’s foreign ministry came as President Barack Obama confirmed for the first time that drone aircraft had targeted militants in Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal areas on the Afghan border.

“Notwithstanding tactical advantages of drone strikes, we are of the firm view that these are unlawful, counterproductive and hence unacceptable,” ministry spokesman Abdul Basit told AFP in a text message.

“Our view has always been very clear and position principled,” he added.

US diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks in late 2010 showed that Pakistan’s civilian and military leaders privately supported US drone attacks, despite public condemnation in a country where the US alliance is hugely unpopular.

When asked about drones in a chat with web users on Google+ and YouTube, Obama said “a lot of these strikes have been in the FATA” – Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Relations between the United States and Pakistan deteriorated sharply in 2011, over the covert American raid that killed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in May and US air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.

Islamabad is now reviewing its entire alliance with the United States and has kept its Afghan border closed to Nato supply convoys since November 26.

It ordered US personnel to leave Shamsi air base in western Pakistan, widely believed to have been a hub for the CIA drone program, and is thought likely to only reopen the Afghan border by exacting taxes on convoys.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the police have agreed to share information, after a meeting held at the FIA Punjab office on Monday. However, the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), the drug testing laboratory (DTL) and the provincial and district health departments have so far failed to provide relevant records to the FIA, as the probe continues into the free medicines which have so far cost over 100 lives.

The FIA has decided to go to court if the chairman of the chief minister’s inspection team does not provide the necessary information. According to extracts, the FIA report, submitted before the Lahore High Court (LHC), stated that despite reminders, the heads of the PIC and DTL and also the health secretary have not complied. A proper investigation can only be carried out if this information regarding the pharmaceutical procedures is obtained.

The Director FIA Islamabad as well as the Director Administration FIA Headquarters on Monday visited the FIA Punjab office to review the progress of the joint investigation team.

Meanwhile, the Punjab government has compiled a one-page questionnaire to find out exactly what happened from patients. The questions relate to the current state of patients and the names of medicines used.

There are also reports from sources in the FIA that all three companies suspected of supplying hazardous medicines did not purchase some raw materials from licensed chemical sellers.

LHC wants answers

On the request of the Punjab government, Chief Justice of Lahore High Court Azmat Saeed on Monday formed a one-member judicial commission to probe the PIC incident. Justice Ijaz ul Hasan has been named as head of the commission. The commission will be authorised to ascertain the cause of death and decide who was responsible. It will also provide recommendations for stopping such incidents in the future.

The LHC also directed the Punjab government to inform the court about the steps taken for the rehabilitation of patients. The additional secretary health told the court that 89 deaths due to the reaction of medicines had been confirmed so far and more were being verified. He said 368 out of 779 patients affected by the spurious medicines were still under treatment at the institute while others had been discharged after satisfaction of the doctors.

The FIA director told the court that owners of three pharmaceutical companies were in the agency’s custody and investigations were under way.

Punjab govt suspends officials

The Punjab government is trying to save its skin, it seems, by transferring and suspending officials. This, at least, is what health department officials believe.

On Monday, the Punjab Government approved the one-month leave of Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan, the health secretary. The detained medical superintendent of PIC, Dr Jaffar Saleem, was also freed on Monday while the Director General Health Dr Aslam Chaudhary has also been suspended.

Separately, the Pakistan Medical Association held a press conference at PMA House in which they said that the lapse in the quality control was the main reason for the deaths of the patients who died of PIC medicines. The office bearers said that the government’s policy of purchasing the medicine at the lowest rates and of the lowest quality was the main reason for the crisis.

(With additional reporting by Rana Tanveer and Ali Usman)

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2012.

The remand was granted by the court of senior Civil Judge Mahmood Haroon Khan.

Assistant Director (legal) Naeem Khalid and Inspector Irfan Burney, an investigation officer of the FIA, produced Khurram Rasool handcuffed in the court. They requested the judge for seven days of physical remand for interrogation.

Apprising the court of the findings during the investigation after the initial three-day of remand of Rasool, the FIA officials submitted details of his fraud worth Rs71 million.

The official informed the court that Khurram Rasool had obtained the money from a man identified as Sohail Rabbani, promising him a sugar export quota.

He added that Khurram Rasool had given a cheque for Rs6.5 million to Rabbani, which was also dishonoured.

While submitting documentary evidence to the court, FIA officials said that the ex-media coordinator of the PM had opened a fake account in the name  of ‘Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP)’ whereas the original firm was under the name ‘True Corporation’.

Rasool, however, contended before the court that the FIA had registered a fake case against him, adding that he only came to know about the case a night before his arrest.

“I am ready to accept fault before the media and judiciary if even a single rupee of the complainant is proven to be in my account,” he said.

The court, however, granted four more days of physical remand to the FIA and adjourned the case till February 4.

At the last hearing, the court, while granting three days’ physical remand, had ordered FIA investigators to collect concrete evidence and present it before the court instead of only providing the FIR and some additional documents.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2012.

PESHAWAR: A commander of banned outfit Ansarul Islam and three others were killed in a suicide attack on Monday in Pakha Ghulam area, on the outskirts of Peshawar.

Medics at the Lady Reading Hospital said that they received three bodies while one injured person succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. Six people were also injured, four of them critically.

“The attacker was between 20 and 25 years of age. He targeted Haji Akhunzada, a commander of Ansarul Islam,” SSP Tahir Ayub toldThe Express Tribune. “He approached Akhunzada who was sitting in a field near an under-construction house and blew himself up.”

DSP Imtiaz Shah said that the three other fatalities included Akhunzada’s nephew and son-in-law.

According to Akhunzada’s son Khan Taj, the family had been living in the area for four months and had been receiving threats because his father “was helping the government against extremist group Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI)”. The LeI, led by Mangal Bagh Afridi, is active in Khyber Agency where Akhunzada’s group also operates.

Taj said that earlier, LeI members opened fire at Akhunzada’s vehicle in the Hayatabad neighbourhood of Peshawar. “There is a long list of people and friends who have been killed by the LeI in the last few years.”

Among other family members murdered by the LeI are Akhunzada’s nephew Maulana Mustamin who was killed in Tirah Valley in 2008. Mustamin’s brother Mobin Afridi, who was also Ansarul Islam’s spokesperson, was killed in 2009 in a car explosion in Hayatabad. A few days later, while mourners gathered for Afridi’s death, three people were killed but Akhunzada remained unhurt. Further, a member of Ansarul Islam, Haji Ghulam Nabi, was kidnapped from Pakha Ghulam in early 2008 and remains missing till this day.

Sources said that Akhuzada headed operations against LeI and was a senior member of Ansarul Islam’s shura.

Peace committee member killed

Meanwhile, a member of a peace committee from Mohmand Agency was killed by gunmen in Peshawar on Monday evening. Gunmen who were riding a motorcycle killed Malik Wazir near the Bakhso Pull area on Charsadda Road. Wazir, 70, was a member of the Tehsil Bayzai peace committee.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2012.

KARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari has asked his party leadership in Sindh to consolidate relations with coalition partners in the province and step up efforts to win seats at the upcoming Senate elections ‘unopposed’.

The president made the statement while presiding over a meeting of Pakistan Peoples Party cabinet members at Bilawal House on Monday. Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and his cabinet members also briefed the president on the progress in their departments.

During the meeting Zardari directed Shah and other senior members of the party to repeat the work they did during the last Senate elections in 2009. Eleven candidates from Sindh are expected to retire on March 12. The elections for the vacant seats will be held on March 2.

Sources told The Express Tribune that the PPP has chalked out its strategy for the upcoming election: to elect eight senators to general, women and minority seats, with four seats reserved for coalition partners. “The MQM is likely to get three seats and the PML-F one,” sources said, adding that negotiations are already under way between coalition leaders.

After the meeting, Sindh Information Minister Shazia Marri told the media that, among the president’s business with government departments, he had directed them to make the Wasila Haq programme for poor families successful in the province.

When asked about the resolution tabled by Marsoor Jatoi in the Sindh Assembly, Marri said: “Jatoi has not been opposing the creation of new provinces. But only has reservations about article 239 (4).

The committees constituted by the speaker will look into the matter and report within a couple of weeks,” she said.

During the meeting the president was also briefed on water and sewerage schemes in the provinces. Nadir Magsi, the minister for food, who has been given task of monitoring the post-flood situation, told Zardari that there were some gaps in the rehabilitation process, which according to him were being redressed.

PML-F leader Mumtaz Shaikh also held a meeting with the president and conveyed a message from his party’s chief Sibghatullah Rashdi. According to sources, the main order of the day – the Senate elections – was also discussed between the two.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2012.

The Supreme Court had earlier told the government that if the amendment was not adopted by Feb 6, election of 29 MNAs and MPAs might be declared illegal. The bill would be the third amendment passed during the tenure of the current government, however, unlike the previous two amendments — 18th and 19th — it was not drafted by a bi-partisan, bi-cameral parliamentary panel with all the political groups on board.

Furthermore, there were reasons to believe that the bill would also be passed by both the National Assembly and the Senate, possibly within next week, despite a boycott of the committee by the main opposition party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). The lower house is scheduled to be in session later this week while the Senate was already in session.

The government’s allies — Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Awami National Party (ANP) and members from tribal areas — are all likely to support the amendment. If so, their combined strength should allow them to comfortably meet the two-thirds majority needed in both houses of parliament to pass the amendment.

PML-Q’s Riaz Fatiyana and MQM’s Iqbal Qadri voiced their support for the amendment during the committee’s meeting, indicating the possibility of their respective parties also being on board to support the bill when it comes to the National Assembly and the Senate.

The committee meeting under the chairpersonship of Begum Nasim Akhtar Chaudhry was attended by only eight of the 16 members of the committee. PML-N lawmakers were missing in action, keeping in line with the party’s policy of not supporting the 20th Amendment unless the government came up with a bill relating to the tenure of members of the Election Commission and reached an agreement with opposition parties on the appointment of a new chief election commissioner.

Meanwhile, a member from the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) criticised the Supreme Court for what he called “overstepping its constitutional mandate by interfering in electoral matters”.

“It is the political lot that has to contest elections, not the Supreme Court. Then, why do they have to interfere with everything?” asked Abdul Ghafoor Chaudhry of the PPP.

However, the minister was immediately held back by Federal Minister for Water and Power Naveed Qamar, who advised him to be careful in his comments about the judiciary.

ECP Secretary Ishtiak Ahmed Khan had earlier told the committee that the commission would not be able to meet the deadline given by the Supreme Court for completing electoral lists by February 23.

“We can do it only by May … not before that,” Ishtiak had said.

Ishtiak appeared to be critical of the court’s order to the commission, saying the electoral body was a constitutional institution and its power as an independent entity must be respected.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2012.

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama on Monday admitted that US drone aircraft have struck Taliban and al Qaeda targets within Pakistan -operations that until now had not been officially acknowledged.

When asked about the use of drones by his administration in a chat with web users on Google+ and YouTube, Obama said “a lot of these strikes have been in the FATA” – Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

“For the most part, they’ve been very precise precision strikes against al Qaeda and their affiliates, and we’re very careful in terms of how it’s been applied,” Obama said.

“This is a targeted focused effort at people who are on a list of active terrorists, who are trying to go in and harm Americans, hit American facilities, American bases, and so on.”

Explaining that many strikes were carried out “on al Qaeda operatives in places where the capacities of that military in that country may not be able to get them,” Obama confirmed that Pakistan’s lawless tribal zone was a target.

“So, obviously, a lot of these strikes have been in the FATA, and going after al Qaeda suspects who are up in very tough terrain along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he said.

“For us to be able to get them in another way would involve probably a lot more intrusive military action than the ones we’re already engaging in.”

US officials say Pakistan’s tribal belt provides sanctuary to Taliban fighting for 10 years in Afghanistan, al Qaeda groups plotting attacks on the West, Pakistani Taliban who routinely bomb Pakistan and other foreign fighters.

64 US missile strikes were reported in Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal belt last year, down from 101 reported in 2010, according to AFP tallies.

According to the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, drone strikes in Pakistan over the past eight years have killed at least 1,715 people, and as many as 2,680 people.

The United States had until now refused to discuss the strikes publicly, but the program has dramatically increased as the Obama administration looks to withdraw all foreign combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

In October, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta acknowledged the CIA’s drone program, but did not specifically indicate they were used in Pakistan.

When asked by AFP if Obama’s remarks signaled a change in US policy about the drone program, a White House spokesman refused to comment.

The Pakistani government is understood to agree to the program despite popular opposition at home. Drones have reportedly killed dozens of al Qaeda and Taliban operatives and hundreds of low-ranking fighters since 2004.

But the missile strikes fuel widespread anti-American resentment, which is running especially high in Pakistan since US air strikes inadvertently killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.

A US-NATO investigation blamed the deaths on a litany of errors and botched communications on both sides. But Pakistan rejected the findings, insisting the strikes had been deliberate.

Obama said drones had “not caused a huge number of civilian casualties” and that it was “important for everybody to understand that this thing is kept on a very tight leash.”

Islamabad is now reviewing its entire alliance with the United States and has kept its Afghan border closed to NATO supply convoys for two months.

It ordered US personnel to leave Shamsi air base in western Pakistan, widely believed to have been a hub for the CIA drone program, and is thought likely to only reopen the Afghan border by exacting taxes on convoys.

The State Department said Monday it had used small, unarmed surveillance drones to protect US diplomats in so-called “critical threat environments” overseas.

The news emerged after The New York Times reported that Iraqi officials have expressed outrage at US use of a small fleet of drones to help protect the embassy, consulates and American personnel in Iraq.

“The State Department has always used a wide variety of security tools and techniques and procedures to ensure the safety of our personnel and our facilities,” spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

“We do have an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program used by the State Department,” she said, adding the UAVs are “tiny” and “not capable of being armed” but designed to provide pictures of US government facilities.