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NEW DEHLI: India’s Supreme Court adjourned an appeal hearing on Tuesday into the death sentence handed down to the lone surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Mohammed Kasab, one of 10 gunmen who laid siege to Mumbai in attacks which lasted nearly three days and killed 166 people, has appealed for his sentence to be overturned after he was convicted in May 2010.

The 24-year-old Pakistani was found guilty of a series of crimes, including waging war against India, murder and terror acts.
The November 2008 attacks saw 10 heavily-armed Islamist gunmen storm targets including luxury hotels, a Jewish centre and a train station.

Two Supreme Court judges in New Delhi will hear the appeal, which is expected to last several weeks after opening with a statement from Kasab’s court-appointed counsel Raju Ramachandran.

“It is a call of duty,” Ramachandran told AFP by telephone, declining to talk further about the case.

India blames the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant outfit for training, equipping and financing the attack with support from “elements” in the Pakistan military.

Kasab’s death sentence was confirmed by a state high court in Mumbai last year. If he loses his Supreme Court appeal, he will be able to appeal for clemency from the president.

Ujjwal Nikam, who prosecuted the case in Mumbai on behalf of the Maharashtra state, is seeking to push through the death sentence.
“This is the rarest of rare cases,” Nikam told AFP ahead of the hearing. “He should not be entitled to any mercy.”

At the trial, the prosecution produced fingerprint, DNA, eye-witness and television evidence showing him opening fire and throwing grenades at Mumbai’s main railway station in the bloodiest episode of the attacks.

Kasab — who is in jail in Mumbai — initially pleaded not guilty but later made a confession, admitting to being one of the gunmen sent by the banned LeT militant group.

He then reverted back to his initial denial and said he was framed by the police.

Pakistan has indicted seven alleged perpetrators behind the attacks but they have not been brought to trial, triggering Indian accusations that the process is a sham.

Pakistani investigators and lawyers will visit India next month to gather more evidence ahead of any trial in Islamabad.

Most death sentences in India are commuted to life imprisonment, and convicts can sit on death row for years awaiting a final decision.

The counsel for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI) chiefs conceded on Monday before the Supreme Court that four out of 11 prisoners picked up from Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, had died in custody, but of “natural causes”.

The civilians had been facing a court martial under the Army Act on charges of attacking the General Headquarters (GHQ) and ISI’s Hamza Camp base.

They were picked up from Adiala Jail by intelligence agencies after they had been acquitted of the charges by the court.

Raja Mohammad Irshad, the counsel of ISI and MI, told the court that the remaining seven prisoners were in Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar and an investigation centre in Parachinar, which is why he was unable to produce them before the court.

A three-member bench, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez, however directed the counsel to file a reply, explaining the circumstances under which the four prisoners died and produce the remaining seven prisoners before the court on February 9.

The court also directed the counsel to file a reply to the allegations levelled against his clients, in this case the ISI and MI chiefs, and directed him to arrange meetings of the prisoners, if possible, with their relatives.

Replying to a question by the court, the counsel said that the prisoners were no longer in the custody of intelligence agencies as they had been handed over to the provincial government. He asked the court to order the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government to produce these prisoners.

“We don’t know where they are, but you had taken away these 11 prisoners of Adiala Jail here from the court – thus produce them”, the chief justice said. Justice Khilji Arif Hussain also noted that the four prisoners had been killed and their bodies dumped on the road. Irshad contended that the report being carried in many sections of the press was not a fact and the allegation against the intelligence agencies was a “painful” one.

The court again issued notices to the attorney general and advocate general on the matter. At the outset of hearing, Raja Irshad sought time for submitting reply – however, the chief justice rejected his request. The hearing was adjourned till February 9.

The court noted that on January 6, 2011, a petition was filed before it that 11 people, who were initially confined in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, were taken into custody for the purpose of trial under the Army Act for allegedly playing a role in the October 2009 attacks on the army GHQ and Hamza Camp in Rawalpindi.

The petition by Rohaifa, the mother of three of 11 accused, alleged that her sons, Abdus Saboor, Syed Abdul Basit and Syed Abdul Majid and the eight other people had been kept in illegal confinement by intelligence agencies.

Her son Saboor, aged 29, was one of the four who died in custody.

Mohammad Amir died on Aug 15 last year, Tehseenullah on Dec 17 and Said Arab on Dec 18. She pleaded before the court to determine whether the deceased and surviving detainees, including her sons who were civilians, were subject to the Army Act.

“If they are subject to the Army Act then the court should declare that their arrest and detention and the proceedings of trial have not been done in a lawful manner and, therefore, they should be set free in the interest of justice,” she said.

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

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry took notice on a note initiated by one of the sitting judges of the apex court, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, about the loss of precious lives, allegedly due to use of spurious drugs or because of wrong prescriptions.

“It seems that provisions of Articles 9 and 14 of the Constitution have not been adhered to strictly,” the chief justice stated in a press release. The court has also issued notices to the attorney general, the Punjab advocate general, the secretaries of health in the federal and Punjab government, the inspector general of Punjab and the chief of the Federal Investigation Agency to appear and file their replies to the petition.

Justice Jillani’s note said that he had greeted the PIC news with “immense shock and concern”.

The development comes as the FIA and police complained that the PIC and health authorities have not been particularly cooperative during the investigations. The blame game has certainly begun in earnest, with Religious Affairs Minister Khursheed Shah on Monday placing the blame squarely on Shahbaz Sharif, the Punjab chief minister.

PPMA press conference

The issue amplified further on Monday as the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association (PPMA) broke its silence with a press conference held at the Karachi Press Club.

Representatives of the association from across the country faced the media and said that their basic motive is to denounce the faulty allegations against the industry by the media and the government.

“The Punjab government report said so far that none of the tests in the labs proved our medicines to be sub-standard. We don’t want to be blamed for something that is not confirmed as yet,” said Muhammad Asad, the chairman of PPMA. He also protested against the unwarranted arrests of their industry men and said that it is wrong to put all blame alone on the pharmaceutical industry.

The media, in response, said that it is baseless to claim innocence based on the report of the Punjab government as it was not accepted and thus the samples had been sent to the Central Drug Testing Laboratory in Karachi. The representatives then shared their nine-point reprisal to defend their stance.

The pharmaceutical industry exports medicines to more than 60 countries around the world and provides direct and indirect jobs to almost four million people in the country. “If the media continues to bash the local industry with words as ‘qatil dawaien’, ‘zehreeli dawaien’ what will happen to the 80 per cent of people who consume locally-manufactured medicine and those who are below the poverty line and cannot afford medicines by foreign companies,” he said.

“The impact has already started unfolding as just recently one of our foreign orders was canceled,” he said “We contribute a lot of revenue to the government; what will happen if this stops.”

Asad added that other grievances felt by the industry are the price-policy, which is not at par with multinationals in the sector.

The reporters were not satisfied, however, as the representatives dodged questions on the date of manufacture and delivery of the medicines, the methods of procurement, access to the reports of the DTL and CDTL on which the PPMA claims innocence, and why the reaction was found only in medicines at the PIC. The questions about media reports on expired licenses of the pharmaceutical companies were also not answered properly. The press conference ended abruptly – the full story of the PIC disaster is still some way away.

(Read: Medicine crisis – who is to blame?)

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

The judicial commission probing the Memogate saga, working frantically given its one-month deadline, can breathe easier as of Monday: The Supreme Court granted it another two months to conduct investigations. In addition, the apex court also removed its travel curbs on the principal accused, former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani given his cooperation with the court.

On the other hand, a host of questions have cropped up regarding Mansoor Ijaz, the principal accuser.

After weeks of uncertainty and stalling progress despite frenzied proceedings, the three-member commission had requested the apex court for an extension, citing the slow pace of investigation as the main cause.

“We do not want to interfere in the proceedings which are being undertaken by the commission. However, in the interest of justice, we extend the time for completion of the proceedings for a period of two months commencing from the passing of this order,” the court ruled.

There are strings attached, however, to Haqqani’s freedom: He has been directed to provide all travel particulars to the Supreme Court registrar and will be bound to return on four days’ notice if his attendance is required either by the commission, or by the apex court.

Ijaz, on the other hand, could not prove so lucky. The court rejected the plea of Ijaz’s counsel Muhammad Akram Sheikh seeking to record the evidence of his client abroad and directed him to place his request before the commission for the passing of an appropriate order.

‘A secret letter’

Ijaz, meanwhile, has once again shown his keenness for writing.

During the hearing, the chief justice revealed that Ijaz had addressed a letter to him under the caption “Secret letter”, wherein he had disclosed certain information requesting that it remain confidential.

“We are not aware of its authenticity. It is a cardinal principle of law that whenever a person claims confidentiality or requests the court to treat any document as confidential or classified, the court may go through it, but its status to be treated as confidential or as a classified document has to be decided according to law,” the court ruled in its order.

Disapproving of what some see as Ijaz’s arbitrary interaction with the court, the SC ruled that it would have been appreciated if he had sent such a document through his counsel. Regardless, it appears that the contents of the letter will remain unknown for now: “Be that as it may, at this stage, we will not be considering this document for any purpose, but the same will be kept in a sealed cover under lock by the court’s registrar,” the court order stated.

Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq, who appeared for the chief of army staff, the Inter-Services Intelligence Director General (DG ISI) and the ministries of cabinet, defence, foreign affairs, interior and law, briefed the court about the proceedings so far undertaken by the commission. The court was informed that Ijaz’s absence before the commission meant some time was likely to be consumed before completing findings.

However, Barrister Zafarullah Khan, one of the petitioners in the case, stated that in the absence of Ijaz’s testimony, the statement of DG ISI, who has already given his affidavit, be recorded.

Meanwhile, another legal spectre raised its head when Shahid Orakzai, one of the petitioners, appeared before the court in person and stated that he had raised a different question in his petition altogether, which was missing from previous petitions already entertained.

President Asif Ali Zardari was the target of the new petition, which stated that his participation in the meeting where a resignation was obtained from Haqqani was ‘unconstitutional’. The court then issued a notice to the respondents to file comments before the next date of hearing and directed to fix the petition along with other petitions.

(Read: Memogate – Not curtains yet)

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

An application by Haqqani’s counsel, Asma Jahangir, requesting that her client be allowed to join his family abroad was received positively. The application further stated that the former ambassador had fully cooperated with the commission and also undertook to return to Pakistan on four days’ notice to join the proceedings, if and when required to do so by the commission.

“I am glad that the Supreme Court has restored my right to travel, which had been rescinded without any charges being filed against me,” Haqqani told Reuters after the decision. “I will join my family in the US after discussions with leaders of the Pakistan Peoples Party.”

Haqqani, who resigned from ambassadorship over the memo controversy immediately after he landed in Pakistan in November last year, was, at last report, scheduled to leave early morning today (Tuesday) on an Etihad Airways flight for Abu Dhabi as his first destination.

However, it remained unclear as to whether Haqqani would proceed to the US or remain in the UAE for some time.

After the apex court’s decision on Monday, Haqqani held a meeting with the deputy chief of the US Mission in Islamabad, Jonathan Pratt, at the Prime Minister House where the memo case and other issues were discussed, officials said.

Close associates of the former ambassador said that he was expected to leave the Prime Minister House at 2am for Islamabad’s Benazir International Airport under tight security.

“He [Haqqani] will meet the top leadership of Pakistan Peoples Party in Dubai and will take a final decision as to whether he should travel to the US to meet his children or not,” said the associate. “Most likely, his family will fly to Dubai from Washington,” he added, saying: “His wife Farahnaz Ispahani will reach Dubai on Wednesday evening.”

Haqqani’s counsel Asma Jehangir said, “No one could stop Haqqani from travelling abroad. My client was innocent”. Commenting on the apex court’s order, she told The Express Tribune, “It is a victory of truth”.

The former envoy told media that the apex court’s order on lifting the ban on traveling abroad was “a victory of justice”.

(WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM REUTERS)

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

ISLAMABAD: The counsel for military intelligence agencies in the Adiala prisoner deaths case conceded before the Supreme Court on Monday that four of the 11 prisoners had died, but claimed that they were natural deaths.

“The other seven prisoners are at the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar and at Parachinar,” Raja Muhammad Irshad, who is representing the directors-general of Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence agencies,  said and added that he will not be able to produced them before the court.

The suspects were charged for involvement in the attack on the Pakistan Army’s General Headquarters in October 2009 and the one on the ISI’s Hamza Camp. The prisoners were picked up by intelligence agencies from Adiala Jail.

But despite the counsel’s assertion that the prisoners had died of natural causes, the court was not swayed and asked him to not only file a reply to explain the circumstances under which the four men died but also produce the other seven men before the court on February 9.

The three-member bench, comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez, also directed Irshad to file a reply to allegations levelled against his clients [the respondents]. He was also directed that, in the meantime, he should arrange for relatives to meet the hospitalised prisoners. The court also repeated the notices to the attorney-general of Pakistan and the advocate-general of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

At the outset of the hearing, Irshad sought more time to submit a reply. To a query by the court, the counsel contended that now these prisoners were not in custody of intelligence agencies and had been handed over to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government. He asked the court to order the provincial government to produce these prisoners.

But the chief justice said that intelligence agencies had taken the 11 prisoners from jail, and therefore they must produce them. The bench noted that on January 6, 2011, a statement was filed in court that 11 people, who were initially incarcerated in the Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, were taken into custody to be tried under the Army Act.

When Justice Khilji Arif Hussain noted that the prisoners’ bodies had been thrown on the road for collection, Irshad said that this was not true and that the allegation was ‘painful’. Talking about the hospitalised prisoners, Irshad said that they were not in a position to be brought to court.

The petitioner, filed by a woman named Rohifa, has prayed to court for provision of ‘due process of law’ to her three sons Syed Abdus Saboor, Syed Abdul Basit and Syed Abdul Majid who were picked up by intelligence officials for their alleged role in the attacks. The petitioner, through her counsel Tariq Asad, has made the ISI and MI chiefs, the judge advocate-general and the relevant army commanding officer as respondents.

In today’s episode of the Tribune Take we look at the latest from the ongoing memogate scandal where the Supreme Court has extended the Memogate commission’s deadline for two more months as Mansoor Ijaz failed to appear before the commission to record his statements.

Kamran Yousaf, Senior Reporter for The Express Tribune in Islamabad, says that this scandal has fizzled out since the military and civilian leadership have struck a deal to rebuild ties.

He says that at this point Mansoor Ijaz’s testimony is highly unlikely, bringing this whole memogate scandal to an end soon.

Given that the court has now removed travel restrictions on former US ambassador Husain Haqqani, Yousaf says the general feeling around Islamabad is that once Haqqani leaves the country he is not likely to return any time soon.

Read Kamran Yousaf’s articles here.

Follow Kamran Yousaf on Twitter.

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: Pakistani investigators and lawyers will visit India next month to gather more evidence for the prosecution of seven suspects linked to the 2008 Mumbai attacks, they said Monday.

Pakistan indicted seven alleged perpetrators over the attacks but says that its own commission needs to gather more evidence in India.

Delhi has called for “decisive” action from Pakistan against the perpetrators of the attacks and accuses its efforts so far of being a “facade”, saying it has already handed over enough evidence to convict the accused men.

“If all goes well, the visit will take place between February 4 to February 10,” senior public prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali told AFP.

Both sides, he said, agreed that the Pakistani commission could visit India between February 1 to February 10 to cross examine witnesses of the carnage in which 166 people were killed.

But Ali said there is a “possibility that the visit may be delayed” by the death of the lawyer representing alleged mastermind, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.

The deceased’s son, Khwaja Harris Ahmad, has applied to replace his father and the issue would be taken up by the court on February 4, Ali said.

The commission is made up of two senior prosecutors, a director from the Federal Investigation Agency and five lawyers representing the suspects.

“We can proceed to India before February 10 if our authorities address all the legal requirements,” Ahmad told AFP.

Pakistan had wanted Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving gunman from the Mumbai attacks, to testify.

But Ahmad said Kasab, who has appealed a death sentence in India, was not included on the list of witnesses whom the panel wish to cross-examine.

KARACHI: A wave of killings continue to plague Karachi, as another man from the Shia sect was targeted in the limits of Gulberg Police Station on Monday.

Taseer Abbas Zaidi was killed in FB Area Block 20 when two men on a motorbike open fired on him.

He was the brother of noha khawan Raza Abbas. The deceased will be buried at Wadai-e-Hussain.

Tension gripped the area immediately after the incident and unidentified men forced shopkeepers to close their stores in Ancholi and the Water Pump areas. Shara-e-Pakistan is also reported to be blocked.

Protestors also blocked the media and targeted media personnel. They were present on the Ancholi side of the Sohrab Goth bridge and members of Pashtun community were on the other side.

Protestors clashed with the security forces deployed in the area. Police fired shots into the air and arrested 20 men.

Booths under the bridge and a bus were also set on fire during the protests.

The city has been under the grip of sectarian and political violence during the last couple of weeks, with the death toll standing at above 20 in the month of January.

In another act of targeted killing, 59-year-old Jaffar Mohsin Rizvi, alias doctor, the son of Syed Baqar Rizvi, was gunned down in Gulberg on Saturday.

Three men killed in New Karachi attack

Three men were killed on Monday when unidentified men opened fired at their vehicle in New Karachi.

The men were fired upon outside Pir Bazaar near Powerhouse roundabout in North Karachi.

SHO Ilyas Shah of Bilal Colony police station, who immediately reached the spot, said that three men were sent to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital in an injured condition.

However, they succumbed to their injuries while being moved to the hospital. The dead were identified as Adnan, a resident of New Karachi, Nizamuddin alias Adil, a resident of Orangi town and Irfan alias Shahrukh.

SP Chaudhry Asad though told The Express Tribune that the men belonged to the MQM. However, he refused to confirm whether this was an ethnic attack. “Investigations are still underway,” he said.

Police has set up a cordon at the scene of the crime. Shops in the area have been closed following the incident. Reports of tensions from New Karachi, North Karachi, Nazimabad, FB area and Nazimabad have been received.

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly’s standing committee on Law and Justice approved the bill calling for the 20th Amendment in the Constitution, Express News reported on Monday.

The bill will now be presented in the National Assembly for approval.

President Asif Ali Zardari has also summoned the session of the National Assembly on February 1.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had recently introduced a bill in the National Assembly calling for the creation of new provinces in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and tabled a 20th Amendment in the Constitution for the abrogation of Article 239.

Article 239(4) of the Constitution says that the provincial government’s consent is needed to make new provinces.

The 20th Amendment would also provide legal cover to over 28 members of parliament and provincial assemblies who were elected after the passage of the 18th amendment in April 2010.

Sindh nationalists had earlier protested against the bill terming it a “conspiracy” of dividing Sindh and held protests across the province.

After the completion of the judicial inquiry into journalist Saleem Shahzad’s murder, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) has expressed concern over the commission’s inability to name the culprits and called for the Government of Pakistan to “redouble efforts” in the case.

A news release by the Human Rights Watch on Monday claimed that it had extensively documented the Inter-Services Intelligence’s (ISI) alleged intimidation, torture, enforced disappearances, and killings of many journalists, and fears that the commission’s failure in naming a culprit hints back to the ISI’s “stronghold over the country’s judicial system.”

HRW Asia Director Brad Adams, in the release, says: “The commission’s failure to get to the bottom of the Shahzad killing illustrates the ability of the ISI to remain beyond the reach of Pakistan’s criminal justice system… The government still has the responsibility to identify those responsible for Shahzad’s death and hold them accountable, no matter where the evidence leads.”

Adams added that Shahzad had made it clear to the HRW that should he be killed, the ISI should be considered the principal suspect. “He had not indicated he was afraid of being killed by militant groups or anybody else.”

The HRW release said that the power of ISI over the commission was visible from the fact that journalist Umar Cheema was not called to record his statements in the case. Cheema was also abducted, tortured and then dumped 120 kilometers from his residence in Islamabad in September 2010. Cheema had alleged that his abductors were from Pakistan’s intelligence agencies.

It is inexplicable that the commission failed to seek Cheema’s testimony despite his very public allegations against the ISI and repeated offers to testify before the commission, Human Rights Watch said.

“ISI abuses will only stop if it is subject to the rule of law, civilian oversight, and public accountability,” Adams said. “It is the government’s duty to insist on such accountability and the military’s duty to submit to it. The ISI needs to stop acting as a state within a state.”

Shahzad was abducted while driving from his house to a television station in Islamabad on May 29 last year, two days after he alleged in an article that al Qaeda had infiltrated the Pakistan Navy. His body, bearing marks of torture, was found the next day in a canal near Mandi Bahauddin, a district of Punjab province.

Rights groups and journalists’ bodies had alleged that he was killed by the ISI.

The high-level judicial commission, headed by Supreme Court judge Justice Saqib Nisar, presented its report to the prime minister after six months of its formation but did not hold anyone responsible for the abduction, torture and murder of the journalist.

Shahzad’s family had termed the report “disappointing”.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court ordered Military Intelligence (MI) and the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) on Monday to produce the prisoners who had disappeared from the Adiala Jail earlier before the court.

Eleven prisoners, convicted for attacking the Pakistan Army’s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi and the ISI’s Hamza Camp, had gone missing from the jail, and four were later found dead.

Lawyer Raja Irshad, on behalf of the MI and the ISI, submitted reports in the court today, which said that the death of four prisoners occurred due to poor health in the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH).

The report added that four other prisoners are in a critical condition and are under treatment in the LRH while three are in Parachinar in an investigation centre.

Irshad told the court that he can bring the four prisoners, currently under treatment, before the court only if the hospital allows him.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said that the prisoners were picked up by the agencies and should now be brought before the court.

Irshad sought more time from the court to file a detailed reply, but the chief justice ignored the request.

The three-judge bench, headed by the chief justice, had served notices to the ISI and MI chiefs on January 25 to explain the circumstances behind the deaths.

Irshad, while talking to the media, said that the agencies were ready to have the postmortem of the dead prisoners done and to hold a forensic inquiry.

The hearing of the case was adjourned till February 9.

LAHORE: The Supreme Court took suo motu notice of the fake medicines handed by Pakistan Institute of Cardiology (PIC) that has resulted in more than a 100 deaths in Punjab, reported Express News.

The case will be heard tomorrow (Tuesday).

Meanwhile, the death toll due to the medicine reached 114 on Monday as two more people died in the Services Hospital, Lahore.

The dead include 60-year-old Rahat and 75-year-old Haji Yaseen.

At least 400 people are currently under treatment in various hospitals of Lahore.

The PIC medicine triggered an unknown disease that is said to get deposited in the bone marrow and ultimately ends the body’s resistance. The generation of white blood cells stops in the body and a severe chest infection also takes place.

The symptoms of the disease include a change in complexion, low platelet count, vomiting blood and a severe chest infection.

YDA calls off strike after successful negotiations

Office bearers of the Young Doctor’s Association on Monday called off the strike to protest the suspension of senior doctors after negotiations with the Punjab Health Department were successful.

The YDA had decided that in the first stage, they would observe a strike at out-patient departments of Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) and other public hospitals in Lahore.

A doctor working at the PIC had warned that if the doctors are not restored, UDA could go on a strike throughout the province.

There are around 250 to 300 doctors working at PIC and around 100 of them showed solidarity with the YDA’s decision.

FIA orders release of MS of PIC

The Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) ordered the release of MS of PIC Dr Saleem Jaffar in the fake medicine case, reported Express News.

Dr Jaffar was taken into custody on Sunday for his alleged involvement in the fake medicine which has caused the deaths of over a 100 people in Punjab.

The joint investigation team of the FIA, probing into the matter, released Jaffar on not finding sufficient proof against him.

The Lahore High Court, hearing the case today, said that a case of murder should be held against the people involved in the whole scenario.

The Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) has formed an investigation team which is probing the matter and has arrested the people allegedly involved in the distribution of the medicine.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has extended the Memogate commission’s deadline for two more months as Mansoor Ijaz failed to appear before the commission to record his statements, Express News reported on Monday.

The court was hearing an application filed by the judicial commission, which sought the extension of the deadline to complete the probe.

The court accepted the application and said that it was up to the commission whether it wants to go abroad to record Ijaz’s statements or call him to Pakistan.

During the hearing, Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq told the court that the government did not have any reservations on the extension of the term given to the Memogate commission.

The attorney general also said that Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM) which carries the BlackBerry records has denied handing over the data required. The company said that if the Pakistani government wishes to obtain the data then it should send an application through the Canadian High Commission.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, heading the nine-member bench, said that Ijaz’s letter had been received which he had requested be kept undisclosed. The chief justice added that the letter will be sent to the Registrar so that the information provided in it can be used at an appropriate time.

Former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani’s former counsel Asma Jehangir argued that everyone in the court was talking about Article 19 of the Constitution, but Ijaz’s letter, in contrast, was being kept a secret.

Jehangir also appealed against the extension of two-months given to the commission and requested that the court cut it down to one-month, but the court snubbed her request.

The Supreme Court had formed the judicial commission on December 30 last year and had given a four-week deadline to complete the investigations.

SC disposes off Haqqani’s travel ban

The court accepted Asma Jehangir’s request of allowing her client, Haqqani to travel abroad to visit his children.

The court disposed off the travel ban but imposed that whenever the Memogate commission or the court summons Haqqani, he will have to comply and come back to Pakistan within a period of four days.

“I am glad that the Supreme Court has restored my right to travel, which had been rescinded without any charges being filed against me,” Haqqani told Reuters after the decision.

“I will join my family in the US after discussions with the leaders of the Pakistan Peoples Party.”

Haqqani had earlier filed an application requesting to allow him to travel abroad as he was barred from doing so owing to his alleged connection in the Memogate scandal.

Haqqani may travel to US soon

Husain Haqqani is expected to fly out of Pakistan early on January 31.

Express News on Monday reported that his initial destination is the UAE. However it is believed, that he may later join up with his family in the US.

US ‘gratified’ Pakistan lifts travel curbs on Haqqani

The United States said Monday it was “gratified” that Pakistan’s highest court had lifted travel curbs imposed on Husain Haqqani, the country’s scandal-hit former envoy to the United States.

“We are gratified that the government of Pakistan has lifted the travel ban on ambassador Haqqani — specifically the Supreme Court of Pakistan — and that he’s free to travel as he chooses,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

“And we continue to expect that Pakistan will resolve this situation and other internal issues in a transparent manner and upholding Pakistani laws and constitution,” Nuland told reporters.

Haqqani was forced to resign as ambassador to Washington over claims that he was involved in drafting a secret memo trying to enlist US help to curb the power of Pakistan’s military. He denies the accusations.

The Supreme Court had restricted his travel and ordered judges to investigate who was behind the memo, heightening frenzied speculation that President Asif Ali Zardari could be forced out of office.

MULTAN: Even if the government decides to restore Nato’s supply route, the country’s religious parties plan to robustly oppose the move.

At the Difa-e-Pakistan conference here on Sunday, the leaders threatened a siege of parliament if the Nato supply line was restored.

Jamaat-e-Islami chief Munawwar Hassan said on Sunday that any resolution submitted in parliament favouring restoration of the US-Nato supply routes would be a step against Pakistan.

The speakers declared that parliamentarians approving the resolution for allowing Nato supply resumption and those who granted the most favoured nation (MFN) status to India must be ready to “face the music”.

Chief of Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ) Ahmed Ludhianvi said that if the government decides to restore Nato supply routes, his party workers would block the route themselves.

The supply route was suspended by Pakistan after the November 26, 2011 Nato air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and took Pakistan’s fragile alliance with the US to new lows.

The JI chief, referring to the chief of army staff, said: “Enough is enough. General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani should be very clear with regards to the policies and relations with the US and India.”

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami chief Maulana Samiul Haq also addressed the convention and said that “if the US, Israel, India or Nato forces” attack Pakistan’s border, they will retaliate against them with “full force”.

Malik Ishaq, the former head of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, also attended the gathering on the special invitation from the ASWJ leadership.

“We will not let this government negotiate with India and the US who are the greatest enemies of Pakistan,” said Difa-e-Pakistan Council Chairman Maulana Samiul Haq.

“The government will see its worst days if they restore the Nato supply line. We will surround the parliament and will not allow them to move outside unless they change their decision,” he added.

The ASWJ had expected an attendance of more than 200,000 people for the gathering but intelligence sources estimated that about 50,000 participants came to the venue.

The meeting was attended by the Sheikh Rasheed, Hafiz Saeed, Hameed Gul, and leaders of many religious parties from across the country including Ijazul Haq, Abdul Rehman Maki, Hafiz Saifullah Mansoor and Maulana Ameer Hamza.

Meanwhile, the Markazi Jamiyat-e-Ahl-e-Hadees (JAH) demanded an inquiry into the funding of the event. The group’s local chief Allama Khalid Mehmood Nadeem said the government should take notice of the “millions of rupees” wasted in organising the Difa-e-Pakistan convention.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2012.

Arranged by trading associations, the protest was attended by activists from Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Jamat-e-Islami, Sipah-e-Sahaba and Ahl-e-Sunnat Jammat. The protest was headed by Sharjeel Mir and Shahid Gafoor Paracha. Over 5,000 people attended the rally.

Those who spoke at the gathering urged Ahmedis to stop their religious activities, which include preaching and worshipping in the area.

The participants, carrying flags of different religious parties – including banned outfits – and also portraits of Mumtaz Qadri, the convicted killer of former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, chanted slogans against Ahmedis.

The protestors, in no uncertain terms, urged the city administration to stop the activities of the minority community. “The Ahmedis, a few years ago, purchased the building E-69 in Satellite Town and set up a place of worship besides carrying out preaching in residential areas, creating problems for their neighbours”, said Sharjeel Mir.

Mir added that they did not object to any community living in the area, but would not tolerate the place of worship in the locality. Ahmedis have erected barriers and posted private guards on the main road adjoining the hospital for their safety, Mir said.

The businessman said that Ahmedis had raised high walls around their building and installed security cameras, in addition to posting snipers at the rooftop. The building does not even look like a religious place, according to Mir, who says it is more like a fortress, creating problems for the neighbours.

On the other hand, Ahmedis say the building was built after Jamat-e-Ahmedia purchased the land, being a registered organisation, and under the relevant rules they could continue worshipping in the building.

Members of the community, asking not to be identified, said that, following attacks on their places of worship in Lahore, they erected movable barriers and deputed some young men to patrol every Friday after getting due permission from the district administration.

The community removed the security measures following the protests, he said. The superintendent of police of Rawal Town, Malik Matloob Ahmed, said that adequate security measures had been made for the protest rally.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2012.

Defence Department spokesman George Little said that Panetta’s interview aired by CBS was old and was recorded at the time when the Defence Ministry was unsure whether the Bin Laden network was present in Pakistan or not.

In an interview with CBS’s programme 60 Minutes, aired on Sunday, Panetta said that he still believed someone in authority in Pakistan knew where Bin Laden was hiding before US forces went in to find him.

Intelligence reports found that Pakistani military helicopters had passed over the compound in Abbottabad, he added in the interview.

Little, in his clarification, further said that Panetta, in the same interview, had also said that there was no proof that Pakistani government and the higher authorities were aware of Bin Laden’s whereabouts.

He added that Panetta, along with other officials, are working for the betterment of ties with Pakistan that were strained after the US operation in Abbottabad that killed al Qaeda chief Bin Laden on May 2.

An American diplomat has also hinted at some ‘positive’ movement in relations with Pakistan in coming weeks.

The prompt clarification is an attempt by the Obama administration not to create further misgivings in Pakistan and “spoil the good work the two countries have done recently to sort out differences,” the diplomat said.

Doctor not yet terminated

The CIA-backed doctor, about whom Panetta had expressed concerns about in the same interview, has reportedly not yet been ‘terminated.’

Dr Shakeel Afridi, who allegedly provided vital information to the US for hunting down Bin Laden, remains ‘suspended’ from his duty, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Afridi, who was serving as agency surgeon in Khyber tribal belt, was already involved in a departmental inquiry on ‘harassment,’ later challenged in the court by him.

Afridi, for now, remains ‘suspended’ from his duty, said the provincial health secretary Mohmmad Ashfaq.

“We have taken this action against him by the report of the FATA secretariat. However, we are still waiting for the Abbottabad Commission and the courts to decide his conviction,” Ashfaq said.

Meanwhile, sources close to Afridi’s family said that “not much has been heard from them since the issue was brought to the limelight.”

The family had to shift to another province because of the pressure, they added.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2012.

A doctors’ association threatened to go on a strike against their colleagues’ arrests as authorities detained medical staff in their ‘crackdown.’

The death toll, meanwhile, continued to climb. Unofficial toll reached 112 on Sunday as three more patients lost their lives in Lahore’s Service Hospital, reported Express News.

Crackdown against doctors

A joint investigation team comprising Federal Investigation Agency officials and the federal inspector of drugs detained the medical superintendent of the Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Dr Saleem Jaffar, The Express Tribune learnt on Sunday. Jaffar was earlier suspended on Friday.

More high-profile arrests are expected in this regard, said a member of the investigation team, while talking to The Express Tribune.

The team also recorded statements of more than 10 heirs of patients who had died due to the reaction of the spurious medicines.

The police, meanwhile, recorded statements of pharmacist Muhammad Yousaf and dispenser Zulfiqar on Sunday, arrested earlier for being involved in the case.

At the FIA Punjab chapter’s office, meanwhile, officials prepared a report on the issue, which will be submitted at the Lahore High Court on Monday.

YDA announces strike

In a bid to protect senior doctors who have been suspended by the Punjab government, the Young Doctors Association (YDA) announced a strike starting Monday.

YDA office bearers decided that in the first stage, they would observe a strike at out-patient departments of PIC and other public hospitals in Lahore.

“We will refrain from duties ourselves and will not let anybody perform duties at PIC as well,” said a doctor working at PIC.

“If the doctors are not restored, YDA could go on a strike throughout the province,” the doctor said.

There are around 250 to 300 doctors working at PIC and around 100 of them showed solidarity with the YDA’s decision.

Health department officials believe that if a significant number of doctors stage a strike, the government would be left with no choice but to accept their demands. In a short span of time and beset by turmoil, replacements will be hard to find.

“In our meeting with the new health secretary, we made our point clear that doctors should not be victimised to save the government’s skin,” President YDA Mayo Hospital Dr Usman Dar said while talking to The Express Tribune.

A meeting between YDA office bearers and officials at chief minister secretariat was underway till the filing of this report.

While government officials insisted that doctors call off the strike, a meeting’s participant said negotiations were unfruitful.

Government’s response

Officers and doctors have been removed from their posts for ensuring a transparent inquiry into the matter, said a spokesperson of the Punjab Health Department.

No person or institution is above accountability and disciplinary action will be taken against those found guilty of negligence in the light of the judicial inquiry, he added.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif ordered setting up of 12 more counters at PIC, for patients’ convenience.  Steps have been taken on ‘war footing’ for overcoming the situation and five special zones have also been set up in Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, Bahawalpur and Lahore, Shahbaz added.

Who to blame

Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi said no one but Shahbaz himself should be suspended since he held the portfolio of provincial health ministry.

“The Punjab government will not take any effective action in this matter, just like it failed to do in the dengue virus case,” Elahi said while talking to the media on Sunday.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2012.

ISLAMABAD: The fight over mining rights of Balochistan’s gold and copper reserves is being waged at home, and abroad.

While the provincial government contests international arbitration, the Supreme Court has set February 2 for resumption of proceedings against the Tethyan Copper Company’s (TCC) right to extract reserves worth billions of dollars.

Objections to arbitration

In its preliminary objections to the International Chambers of Commerce in London (ICC), the Balochistan government has declared its agreement with TCC ‘unlawful,’ The Express Tribune learnt on Sunday.

The objections have been raised by a team of local and international lawyers including former British prime minister’s wife Cherie Blair, Arthur Marriot, advocate Ahmar Bilal Soofi and Balochistan Advocate General Amanullah Kanrani. Balochistan government and the TCC developed differences over the valuation of the gold and copper reserves in Riko Diq area of district Chaghai.

The team of legal experts raised objections after the TCC moved the ICC against the Balochistan government for rejecting its application for mining lease, upon the completion of the feasibility study.

The TCC has also filed a request for arbitration at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, against the federation.

The lawyers also dispute the jurisdiction of the ICC in taking up the matter. Until the Supreme Court decides the case against the legality of the agreement, it would not be in order for the ICC to take up the matter, the lawyers submitted.

The lawyers argue that the joint venture agreement between the Balochistan Development Authority and the TCC was ‘void and illegal’ because it entailed statutory independence of the licensing authority, and was against public policy. The lawyers say it was not a ‘concession agreement’ as popularly projected in media.

“It is in fact an agreement having an unlawful consideration to restrict the operation of an existing law – the 1970 Mining Rules,” the objections stated.

To TCC’s contention that it has a right to mining licence after completion of feasibility study, the lawyers submit that, in any case, the agreement did not guarantee grant of mining licence as a matter of right or in derogation of mining rules.

The lawyers add that the TCC could not have opted for international proceedings for it did not get approval of the Supreme Court.

The court, in its May 25, 2011 order, had allowed the Balochistan government “to expeditiously decide Tethyan’s application for grant of a mining lease and submit a report.”

Taking up the case again

After it adjourned the matter, members of Jamaat-i-Islami and the Workers Party, through their lawyer Raza Kazim, had asked the Supreme Court to take it up again, saying the TCC wanted to bypass the apex court.

The international arbitration tribunal would have no option but to give a decision in favour of TCC, which could lead to claims of billions of dollars in damages, if the court further delayed the proceedings, Kazim had submitted.

He asked the court to declare the agreement between the Balochistan government and TCC ‘illegal.’ His application would be taken up on February 2, according to a Supreme Court notice.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2012.

Khar will visit Kabul on February 1 and call on Afghan President Hamid Karzai, confirmed Afghan ambassador in Islamabad, Omar Daudzai.

The foreign minister will also hold talks with her Afghan counterpart Dr Zalmay Rassoul, he added.

“The talks could pave the way for the restoration of joint peace and reconciliation efforts,” Daudzai said on Sunday while speaking with The Express Tribune, on phone from Kabul.

Derailed process

Khar is the first high-ranking Pakistani official to tour Kabul since September last year when ties between the two neighbours were severely strained following the assassination of former Afghan president, and chairman of Afghan High Peace Council, Burhanuddin Rabbani.

Afghan officials had alleged that the bomber, who targeted Rabbani at his Kabul residence, came from Quetta as a Taliban messenger, and that Pakistani intelligence was involved in the plot. Islamabad had dismissed the charges as malicious.

Kabul subsequently cancelled Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s planned visit to Kabul in October, bringing to a halt the bilateral process the two countries had been working on for months to evolve a joint strategy to seek a peaceful end to the Afghan conflict.

On the mend

Months later, however, the relations are gradually getting back on track.

The two sides have already decided to resume the process and Khar is going to Kabul to fix a date for the meeting of the joint commission, said a foreign ministry official.

The joint commission, headed by Gilani and Karzai and comprising military and intelligence chiefs from both sides, was established in early 2011 and held its inaugural session in June last year in Islamabad. The two sides recently proposed visits of the top leadership to break the deadlock, sources said, adding that Khar’s visit is the first step in that direction.

An Afghan diplomat told The Express Tribune last week that Pakistan had proposed Karzai’s visit to Islamabad but Afghans wanted the Pakistani president or the prime minister to travel to Kabul first.

The top leaders of the two countries could pay visits after Khar’s trip, the Afghan diplomat told The Express Tribune.

Daudzai, who is in Kabul for consultations with leaders ahead of Khar’s visit, said both sides will also “explore ways to expand cooperation” in various fields.

With additional input by TAHIR KHAN in ISLAMABAD

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2012.