ZemNews

The government also raised the price of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) up to Rs1.77 per kilogramme due to a 20% increase in Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC). It will be the second time this month that the government has increased CNG prices.

However, there was no increase in the already sky-high price of High Speed Diesel (HSD) as the finance ministry has agreed to provide subsidy on High Speed Diesel (HSD) up to June 30. On the other hand, the government on Wednesday said that the provinces would be asked to share the burden of subsidy on other petroleum products if they wanted to provide relief to the consumers.

“The parliamentary panel will consult the political leadership and financial managers of all four provinces to contribute their share to the subsidy on other petroleum products, including petrol, Light Diesel Oil (LDO) and kerosene oil,” said Water and Power Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, who is also the chairman of the special committee on oil pricing.

The government and the PML-N had agreed on Tuesday to provide Rs15 billion subsidy on petroleum products over the next three months. However, at a closed-door meeting with a special four-member parliamentary panel at the parliament house, Qamar said that the federal government would not be able to bear the entire burden of subsidy on petroleum products for the next three months.

Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh had earlier stated that the committee subsidy on petroleum products would not only increase the fiscal deficit and worsen circular debt, but would also indirectly translate into higher inflation.

Price hike breakdown

According to a notification issued by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) on Wednesday, the price of CNG has been increased by Rs1.77 per kg to Rs77.12 per kg in Zone-1, which includes areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and the Potohar region (Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Gujarkhan) while prices were raised by Rs0.9 per kg to Rs71.05 per kg in Zone-2, which includes Sindh and Punjab (excluding the Potohar region).

The total increase in CNG price during month of February has been made Rs2.83 per kg in Zone-1 and Rs1.44 per kg in Zone-II.

The government has also increased the price of High Octane Blending Component (HOBC) by Rs8.67 per litre (7.3%), Petrol Rs2.75 per litre (2.9%), Light Diesel Oil (LDO) Rs3.08 per litre (3.4%) and kerosene oil by Rs4.38 per litre (4.8%) for the month of March due to hike in global oil prices.

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

The government also raised the price of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) up to Rs1.77 per kilogramme due to a 20% increase in Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC). It will be the second time this month that the government has increased CNG prices.

However, there was no increase in the already sky-high price of High Speed Diesel (HSD) as the finance ministry has agreed to provide subsidy on High Speed Diesel (HSD) up to June 30. On the other hand, the government on Wednesday said that the provinces would be asked to share the burden of subsidy on other petroleum products if they wanted to provide relief to the consumers.

“The parliamentary panel will consult the political leadership and financial managers of all four provinces to contribute their share to the subsidy on other petroleum products, including petrol, Light Diesel Oil (LDO) and kerosene oil,” said Water and Power Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, who is also the chairman of the special committee on oil pricing.

The government and the PML-N had agreed on Tuesday to provide Rs15 billion subsidy on petroleum products over the next three months. However, at a closed-door meeting with a special four-member parliamentary panel at the parliament house, Qamar said that the federal government would not be able to bear the entire burden of subsidy on petroleum products for the next three months.

Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh had earlier stated that the committee subsidy on petroleum products would not only increase the fiscal deficit and worsen circular debt, but would also indirectly translate into higher inflation.

Price hike breakdown

According to a notification issued by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) on Wednesday, the price of CNG has been increased by Rs1.77 per kg to Rs77.12 per kg in Zone-1, which includes areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and the Potohar region (Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Gujarkhan) while prices were raised by Rs0.9 per kg to Rs71.05 per kg in Zone-2, which includes Sindh and Punjab (excluding the Potohar region).

The total increase in CNG price during month of February has been made Rs2.83 per kg in Zone-1 and Rs1.44 per kg in Zone-II.

The government has also increased the price of High Octane Blending Component (HOBC) by Rs8.67 per litre (7.3%), Petrol Rs2.75 per litre (2.9%), Light Diesel Oil (LDO) Rs3.08 per litre (3.4%) and kerosene oil by Rs4.38 per litre (4.8%) for the month of March due to hike in global oil prices.

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

DUBAI: Al Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri said US decisions to cut its defence budget and engage with the Afghan Taliban were signals of a decline in Washington’s power, in a message posted on the Internet on Wednesday.

Zawahiri, who took up the reins of al Qaeda after the killing
of Osama bin Laden last year, also said popular uprisings that
have convulsed the Arab world since last year were
overwhelmingly Islamist in motive.

“One of the latest signs of its shrinking (power) is the
reduction in the US Department of Defense’s budget,” said
Zawahiri in the 24-minute audio recording posted on Islamist
websites, adding “military arrogance” had brought it nothing but
losses.

US President Barack Obama in mid-February unveiled a
defence budget for 2013 that proposed cuts in Pentagon spending
for the first time since 1998, slashing military personnel costs
and weapons purchases.

“The biggest factor that forced America to reduce its
defence budget is Allah’s help to the mujahideen to harm the
evil empire of our time,” he said, referring to those who fight
holy war.

Zawahiri said US overtures to the Afghan Taliban, with
which it has made “exploratory” contacts for possible
reconciliation, according to an Afghan diplomat, was further
evidence of its defeat.

“America … is about to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan, and then not only accept, but insist upon requesting negotiations with the Islamic Emirate (Afghan Taliban), which it used to consider as a terrorist group that must be annihilated,” Zawahiri said.

In the recording was the ninth in a series of messages which
have also dealt with political developments in Egypt.

Zawahiri said despite the overthrow of former President Hosni
Mubarak last year, his “corrupt regime” would remain in place
until the country imposed Islamic law, stopped answering to the
United States and cancelled its peace treaty with Israel.

“The popular Arab uprisings have proved they are mainly
Islamic in orientation and have sparked a revolution against the
mercenaries of America,” said Zawahiri in the recording, entitled
“So Why Did We Revolt Against Him?”.

Banned under Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood today holds
more than 43 percent of the seats in the Egyptian parliament,
having won more than any other party in the country’s most
democratic election in six decades.

“Egypt is not a free trade zone, nor an agent for America
nor a middleman for Israel nor a tourist resort. It is the
citadel of Islam. The fortress of pan-Arabism; the land of
garrison, jihad, knowledge, and preaching” said Zawahiri, himself
an Egyptian.

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Clinton, addressing the House Foreign Affairs committee, said that Pakistan had no basis for holding Dr Shakil Afridi.

“His work on behalf of the effort to take down Bin Laden was in Pakistan’s interests as well as in America’s,” she said, adding that the US has let this view be known and will continue to press on the issue.

Clinton made these remarks in response to a query by Representative Dana Rohrabacher, who has previously submitted bills in the House of Representatives to grant Dr Afridi US citizenship and to award him the Congressional Gold Medal.

He asked that could the US Secretary of State testify that Pakistan is co-operating as long as Dr Afridi was in prison. Rohrabacher added that Dr Afridi was the one Pakistani who was co-operating with the US.
In response to Secretary Clinton’s remarks, Rep. Rohrabacher said that if Pakistan doesn’t free Dr Afridi, it will be their (Pakistan’s) decision based on non-cooperation.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani and Chief of Army Staff(COAS), General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani held a meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari at the Presidency on Wednesday night.

The meeting was also attended by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Pakistan’s Ambassador to US Sherry Rehman.

Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said that the meeting took stock of Pak-US relations.

Pakistan’s foreign policy towards the US is due for a review in a joint session of the Parliament on March 17.

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior member and Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan warned the federal government from extending Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt General Ahmad Shuja Pasha’s tenure for a third time, urging the army to instead devise a strategy for replacing the agency chief.

“There are a lot of competent generals who are capable for this post and I hope that the Army would devise a strategy on who should replace Pasha,” Nisar said in a press conference in Lahore on Wednesday.

He said that the civilian society along with the PML-N would protest against a possible extension for Pasha, adding that he should be replaced by a competent and capable army general.

Talking to The Express Tribune, PML-N sources said that the party leadership has received a message from the government and Army that Pasha may be awarded an extension for the third time.

Nisar lashed out at the intelligence agency’s suspected role in various activities, including the missing persons cases and allegedly promoting political parties.

Justifying his argument against an extension for him, the opposition leader said that the incumbent had a history of massive intelligence failures.

“During Pasha’s tenure, the  nation witnessed massive intelligence failures like the Abbottabad raid, Mumbai tragedy (India), PNS Mehran Base attack, Memogate and the Nato attack on the Salala Checkpost,” adding that, “ It was unfortunate that despite all this, according to Pasha, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani has repeatedly stopped him from resigning, which is strange.”

Nisar said that the PML-N was collecting evidence and working on documents to present in the Supreme Court regarding the ISI’s involvement in ‘promoting’ Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf. Speaking on the government-military rift, he added that six weeks ago, the army had leveled serious allegations against the rulers over the Memogate episode while Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani had leveled allegations against the army, claiming that it had given safe house to al Qaeda’s Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad.

Nisar said that PML-N according to its promise would move a resolution in upcoming session of NA on Monday. He read one of the paragraphs from the resolution. According to content, “The house calls upon the government to ensure prevalence of the rule of law and to implement, without further delay, the directions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and recommendations of the commission on inquiry of enforced disappearances, commission of inquiry concerning the murder of Syed Saleem Shahzad, for enactment of necessary legislation to resolve the problem of missing persons”.

“Besides resolution, PML-N is working on a draft bill to regulate the role of intelligence agencies which would be moved in the assembly,” he said.

Two year retirement extension for CJP

The government intended to extend the upper age limit of retirement of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) by two years. At present, the retirement age is 65.

Missing persons

Speaking on the infamous missing persons case, Nisar inquired that under which law they (agencies) picked up a person. He added that according to a rough estimate, therewere between 2,000 to 10,000 missing persons in the country.

Nisar also condemned the recent Kohsitan incident and called it the failure of intelligence agencies and PPP’s government. Atleast 18 people, mostly from the Shia community, were shot dead by unknown assailants in the Gilgit-Baltistan area.

He said that PPP and PML-N has signed Charter of Democracy to regulate the rules and regulation regarding intelligence agencies but unfortunately rulers don’t bother to intervene in the affairs of intelligence agencies while Army has decided to remain in distance from the rulers’ affairs.

Radio Tax

Nisar said that the government intended to impose Radio tax which PML-N government had abolished in 1997 which was a clear violation of the law. He said that the government’s standing committee cabinet approved this tax as a wireless fee, which will be imposed on those who use mobile phones instead of transistors.

He added that tax could only be imposed through a money bill not through committees. He said that if the PPP government does not refrain from such measures then President Asif Ali Zardari’s address in the parliament would be in danger.

Media censorship

He revealed that the government had planned to place restrictions on some talk shows and comedy shows. Nisar vowed that the PML-N would oppose these restrictions, which the government intended to introduce through PEMRA.

Revolving media fund

He said that government is going to establish a cell comprising marginal segment of the media which would ponder over whom to award aid or not. He said that the Zardari government is planning through this cell to channelise funds to those which applaud the government while rest of the money through a revolving process to utilise it for Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) election campaign.

By-election

Nisar claimed that the PML-N had retained its seats and won PPP’s vacated seat with heavy margin.

PTI

Nisar lashed out PTI’s chief Imran Khan, challenging him to present himself in a tribunal, exclusively for judging their properties and tax declarations, to clarify any ambiguities. The PML-N senior leader claimed that Khan was a tax defaulter from 1971 to 2001 and had not even paid for his house in Bani Gala, which was declared as a ‘gift’.

He remarked that ironically Khan spared the Awami National Party (ANP), PPP, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and PML-Q and only criticised PML-N’s leadership.

Nisar also hinted at the PTI postponing its Balochistan rally on directions from the ISI.

WASHINGTON: The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that America has made it clear to Pakistan that if it goes ahead with the proposed Iran-Pakistan pipeline, it could face consequences as underlined in the Iran Sanctions Act.

Addressing the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations in Washington, Secretary Clinton said that they supported the alternative of a pipeline via Turkmenistan.

Clinton’s remarks were in response to a Congressman Rep. Lewis asking the US Secretary of State why the budget request for the State Department included a $1 billion request to help Pakistan address its energy problems. Secretary Clinton said that the Turkmenistan pipeline was a better alternative, predictable and will avoid business with Iran.

She added that embarking on the construction of a Pak-Iran pipeline is in violation of the Iran Sanctions Act. She said, “We all know what the consequences of that law are.” The US Secretary of State added that this move would be particularly damaging for Pakistan because the country’s economy is already shaky, and would further undermine Pakistan’s economic status.

“We have been very clear in pointing out the consequences of building this pipeline.”

ISLAMABAD: The government has increased prices of petroleum products, Express News reported on Wednesday.

According to a notification issued, prices for petrol have been increased by Rs2.75, to Rs97.66. Price of High Octane (HOBC) has been increased by Rs8.67. Kerosene prices raised by Rs4.68.

However, the price of high speed diesel remains unchanged. The government has increased prices of petroleum products on Wednesday.

According to a notification, prices for petrol have been increased by Rs2.75, to Rs97.66. Price of High Octane (HOBC) has been increased by Rs8.67.

However, the price of high speed diesel remains unchanged.

The new prices will come into effect at midnight.

GUANTANAMO BAY/CUBA: After nearly nine years of incarceration, the first high-value detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Majid Khan plead guilty to terrorism charges against him, as part of a plea-bargain agreement.

In his first public appearance since his arrest, Khan, 32, was clad in a dark suit, a pink tie, a crew cut haircut, bespectacled and sporting a goatee. Denying the use of an interpreter, Khan spoke in an American accent, a throwback from the years he spent in a US high school and his time in Baltimore, Maryland from 1996 to 2002. Khan said, “I have been trying to contact the Embassy of Pakistan for nine years…I want to officially request that I want a Pakistani lawyer down the road.”

However, he expressed satisfaction with his current representation.

Khan’s lawyer Jonathon Dixon asked the judge to seal parts of the plea-bargain agreement as it might endanger the lives of Khan’s friends and family.

The prosecution had disagreed on Khan’s motion to seal parts of the agreement. While the prosecution lawyer Courtney Sullivan said, “We are not disputing a theoretical risk to individuals in foreign countries, “adding that some of the information was already in the public domain though it was not in the public interest to do so. Dixon, on behalf of his client asked to introduce a classified document detailing why they felt that there was a need to keep sealed certain sections of the plea-bargain agreement in the near future.

The judge however, denied the defense’s motion to seal parts of the plea-bargain agreement.

According to sources, Majid Khan’s parents, who reside in Maryland, did not come to Fort Meade to see the CCTV proceedings of the arraignment hearing.

During the hearing, Khan, when responding to the different charges against him, said that he never met Osama Bin Laden, who he referred to as “Sheikh Osama Bin Laden.” Khan also said that he did not know the money he delivered in 2003 were for the purpose of the Indonesia hotel bombing in August of 2003.

In a copy of the pre-trial agreement seen by The Express Tribune, Khan has agreed to cooperate fully and truthfully with the government. He has also agreed to provide “complete and accurate information” in interviews, depositions and testimony. The agreement also says that the convening authority will recommend to the JTF-GTMO commander that as long as “Khan is fully and truthfully cooperating” with the authorities, he should not be detained at Camp VII.

According to the pre-trial agreement discussed in court, the maximum sentence that the convening authority can impose on Khan is lighter 19 years.

The sentencing is due to take place in 2016. The four years that Khan is to serve in confinement from current day to 2016 will be credited to the sentence that is awarded to him.

When discussing the pre-trial agreement, Judge Pohl said that that Khan cannot sue the United States for capture, detention, prosecution, confinement and post-confinement. Khan said that he also might be held post serving his sentence, but he could seek relief from the courts.

In response, Khan said, “So basically you’re saying I can’t sue the CIA…this agreement does not guarantee that I can ever get free…I’m making a leap of faith here. That’s all I can do.” The censor at the commission imposed white noise and cut the CCTV proceedings’ feed at the mention of the CIA, which was resumed shortly after the judge told Khan not to mention the defendants.

Khan was reportedly kept in a CIA secret prison from 2003 to 2006, before he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay in 2006. While at the detention facility, Khan reportedly tried to commit suicide twice, once by “chewing on his veins.”

Khan, as a high-value detainee, was detained at Camp VII, where 14 other high value detainees, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, are imprisoned. The Washington Post had earlier reported that Khan had been transferred out of Camp VII before his hearing.

Judge Pohl accepted Khan’s plea of guilty, and advised Khan that he could withdraw from the agreement if he chose to. Khan is due to be sentenced in four years. The commission proceedings have come to an end.

Khan had been accused, amongst other charges, of plotting to assassinate the former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in 2002, and helping provide financing for the 2003 bomb blast in Indonesia. Khan is also accused of plotting with Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the 9/11 mastermind, to carry out attacks in the United States.

ISLAMABAD / NEW DELHI: In its bid to improve relations with India, Pakistan has decided to normalise cross-border trade by the end 2012, Associate Press (AP) reported on Wednesday.

According to a government statement quoted in the AP report, Pakistan will “phase out restrictions on imports from India by December.”

The statement further said that once the “negative list” of goods had been eliminated by December this year, then “the process of trade normalisation between the two countries would be completed.”

A press release from the Cabinet detailed that 1209 items on the negative list will be eliminated.

At present, Pakistan maintains a list of 1,945 items allowed to run from India to Pakistan, only 108 of which can be trafficked directly by road through Wagah.

The release further quoted the Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan, who called for bilateral trade to be expanded to other areas beyond the Line of Control.

Indian Minister for Commerce, Industry and Textile Anand Sharma appreciated Pakistan’s decision to liberalise trade between the two countries and said “the move would open business opportunities,” IBN Live India reported.

“This will mark a dramatic shift in the lines that can be traded as now almost 90 per cent items can be traded with Pakistan as opposed to 17 per cent earlier,” Sharma was quoted in the report.

“I am happy that this has been achieved. We believe that strengthening economic engagement between India and Pakistan lies at the heart of building enduring peace and stability in this region. Flourishing trade is the biggest confidence building measure among any two nations,” Sharma further said.

The demolition crew found two volumes of the Bible from Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabad, Express News reported on Wednesday.

According to security officials, the Bible copies were in the English language and had certain lines of text highlighted.

It is being speculated that Laden had used these religious books for coded communication.

Apart from copies of the Bible, the demolition crew also found two radio sets from the compound.

Bulldozers on February 27 finished demolishing the hideout and only the wall of the compound remain intact, surrounding the debris of the three-storey building. Security forces guarding the compound refuse to let anyone inside.

The triple-storey house, built over an area of 38,000 square feet and worth Rs85 million, was under the control of the security forces and police since the May 2011 raid.

Opposition leader in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has said that a resolution on the burning issue of enforced disappearances will be tabled in the next session of the lower house of Parliament.

“The house calls upon the government to ensure prevalence of the rule of law and to implement, without further delay, the directions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and recommendations of the commission on inquiry of enforced disappearances, commission of inquiry concerning the murder of Syed Saleem Shahzad, for enactment of necessary legislation to resolve the problem of missing persons,” Nisar said as he read out a paragraph of the resolution at a press conference in Islamabad on Wednesday.

The resolution also called on the government to “regulate the role and functioning of the intelligence and security agencies.”

Nisar, a senior leader of key opposition party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, blamed the incumbent Pakistan Peoples Party government for the situation which he said was worse than it was during former dictator Pervez Musharraf’s tenure. “The democratic government has done nothing about the issue in the past four years.”

He added that there was no need to bring a new law as a law already exists and the government needs to ensure its implementation.

CAIRO: Senior al Qaeda operative Seif alAdel, who was reported to have briefly taken over the militant network’s leadership after Osama bin Laden’s death, was arrested in Cairo airport on Wednesday, security officials said.

The officials did not say why the Egyptian militant, who is on the FBI’s most wanted list with up to $5 million dollar reward for his capture, flew to Cairo airport.

An airport official said he arrived on an Emirates Airline flight from Pakistan with a stop-over in Dubai.

Security officials said the militant, a former Egyptian special forces officer, was arrested after presenting a travel document at customs and taken into custody by the National Security apparatus.

They said he was wanted by the powerful security agency but did not detail the accusations against him.

On its website, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation says Adel has been indicted for alleged involvement in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Following Bin Laden’s death at the hands of US special forces in May last year, Adel was reported to have taken over the militant network before the appointment of another Egyptian, Bin Laden’s longtime deputy Mohammed al Zawahiri.

ISLAMABAD: The fifth joint session of the parliament under the ruling government will be held on March 17, said Federal Minister Khursheed Shah on Wednesday.

President Zardari, who will chair the session, will become the first president of the country to be addressing a fifth joint session of a parliament.

A joint session of the parliament is summoned every year under ruling presidents.

The session, the first of its kind this year, is expected to review Pakistan’s troubled ties with the US. The review is being considered key to getting Pakistani-US diplomatic relations onto a more solid footing after US air strikes last November killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and brought the relationship to its lowest point in years.

The Supreme Court has taken suo motu notice of assault on polling staff by a candidate for the Tando Muhammad Khan by-polls Waheeda Shah Bukhari.

The court was moved by an application filed by District Management Group (DMG) officer Anita Ayoub.

Bukhari was declared the winner in the initial vote-count of the Tando Muhammad Khan provincial seat by-poll (PS 53), but following the slapping incident of Saturday, the Election Commission of Pakistan withheld official results.

Ayoub, stated in her application that “Most civil servants wish to work in an environment where their self respect and dignity is not made vulnerable by all and sundry. A number of us feel committed to stand by a self-imposed code called ‘the Moral Revival’ being the flagship commitment to restore the lost dignity of the civil servants, to reclaim the classic independence of the institution through internal and external reforms.”

Taking notice on Wednesday, the SC summoned Bukhari on March 2, and the inspector-general of Sindh police and the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (retd) Hamid Ali Mirza have also been told to appear before the court. However, staff members who were assaulted have not yet been summoned.

Earlier Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry regretted the government’s inaction in the matter and told Attorney General (AG) Maulvi Anwarul Haq that that SC had taken notice of the incident since it had damaged the image of the country.

“What kind of respect do you give us, was Anita Ayoub’s plea, the complainant and a DMG officer,” chief justice said. “I accepted her plea and issued notices,” Justice Chaudhry said.

“You should conduct a summary trial and end the matter,” he directed the AG.

Haq submitted before the court that action was being taken regarding the incident.

Bukhari was caught on camera slapping two women at polling station No. 16 at the Government Girls High School.

KARACHI: Five bodies, bundled up in gunny bags, were found on Wednesday from a house located in the Askari-III residential compound near Cantt Station in Karachi.

Three bodies were of women while two were of men, said Superintendent of Police Saddar Town, Tariq Dharejo.

According to Express News correspondent Wasiq Muhammad, the deceased were members of the same family, who were murdered brutally late Tuesday night.

A watchman, who worked near the house named Muhammad Sadiq revealed that when he came to the house, around 1:15pm, he found that the main gate was left ajar.

He then entered the house and found bodies in gunny bags.

He informed the police immediately, who conducted a raid and shifted the bodies to Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre for an autopsy and started an investigation.

The police suspect that a family member might be involved in the killing, because the tight security in the Askari-III locale and the high walls of the house left little chance for an outsider to break into the house.

The police added that there was a possibility that the deceased were given sedatives and were then murdered.

NEW DELHI: Indian police said on Wednesday that they had arrested two suspected militants carrying explosives near the main railway station in New Delhi, stoking fresh security fears in the capital.

India’s home minister said that police had foiled an attack by suspected militants from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-i-Taiba (LeT) group.

P Chidambaram told reporters that two men had been arrested at New Delhi’s main station after a tip-off from intelligence agencies and work by three state police agencies.

“They were planning to detonate a bomb or more than one bomb in a crowded locality,” he said, citing initial reports from the police investigation.

The pair – and others who have been detained in connection with the alleged plot – are to be produced before a local court, he added.

Chidambaram said it was “an important module” of the group that had been planning a “terrorist incident in Delhi.” Neither he nor the police would disclose when the men were detained.

The arrests, if followed by convictions, would be an intelligence coup for the Indian security forces which have been criticised for failing to prevent, or catch those responsible for, a string of blasts over the last few years.

New Delhi has been a frequent target for terror attacks. In September, a bomb outside Delhi High Court killed 14 people, while in early February a bomb blast badly wounded an Israeli diplomat in the heart of the city near the prime minister’s residence.

RAWALPINDI: The govenment of Pakistan is all set to issue a red warrant to Interpol’s headquarters for the arrest of former president Pervez Musharraf on the orders of the anti-terrorism court-I in Rawalpindi in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case.

A senior official of the Interior Ministry, on condition of anonymity, told The Express Tribune that the all documentation will be dispatched to Interpol authorities in Geneva by evening, today (Wednesday).

Federal Investigation Agency’s prosecutor in the Benazir Bhutto murder probe, Chaudhry Zulfiqar told The Express Tribune that the documentation was completed and forwarded to the Interior Ministry. He added that the Interior Ministry is “likely to forward it by the evening, today.”

Musharraf will be placed on Interpol’s most wanted list after an arrest notice is issued by the agency.

The warrant states that Musharraf should be brought back to Pakistan in order to carry out proceedings against him in the murder probe.

The documentation submitted by the Federal Investigation Agency to the Interior Ministry entails the summary/investigation documents, copies of the statements given by the then director-general of Counter Intelligence wing of ISI Javed Iqbal Cheema and former director-general of Intelligence Bureau of Pakistan Ejaz Shah have also been sent to Interpol, US-based journalist Marc Siegel’s e-mail to Bhutto, copy of the court orders and other orders of ATC.

The investigation officer of the murder probe, Deputy Director Federal Investigation Agency Khalid Rasool had forwarded the arrest documents to the Interior Ministry, which moved it to the concerned authority of Interpol in Pakistan.

The warrant will be sent via e-mail and through post.

Earlier this month, Interior Minister Rehman Malik revealed the investigation report of the murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in the Sindh Assembly and vowed to bring then president Pervaiz Musharraf back to the country.

He also assured the Senate that Musharraf would be arrested upon his return to Pakistan.
“I assure this house that if he lands in Pakistan, he will be arrested because he is a proclaimed offender in the Benazir Bhutto murder case,” the minister had said.

The interior minister’s assurance comes a day after Senator Raza Rabbani submitted a 10-point charge sheet in Senate, calling for the former dictator’s arrest.

Malik said the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government never said that it would not take action against Musharraf, and added that while it is the responsibility of the federal government to give an order for registering a case against Musharraf, it is important for someone to register a complaint in this regard.

____________________________________________

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

KARACHI: Gunmen abducted two Pakistani Christians working for a South Korean-run hospital in Karachi on Wednesday, police said.

Kidnappings by criminal groups for ransom are relatively common. Foreigners can be a particular target with five foreign aid and development workers missing or kidnapped in Pakistan since last August.

Four armed men stopped a car taking the employees to work in the western neighbourhood of Orangi, local police station chief Sabir Khan told AFP.

“They asked the occupants: ‘Who is Korean among you?’ They replied ‘none of us’,” the police officer said.

“However they snatched two hospital employees – a computer operator and an administration assistant. Both are members of the Pakistani Christian community, and fled in a car,” he said.

No foreigners were in the vehicle that was stopped, Khan said.

“We have sent teams to track down the kidnappers and recover the staff members,” he added.

The hospital is run by a South Korean charity, Khan said. Korean doctors work at the hospital and live on the premises, the policeman said.

Male nurse Austin John, a 30-year-old Pakistani, told AFP he had narrowly escaped being kidnapped along with his colleagues.

“A blue car intercepted us and four men who looked Pashtun from the northwest came out. They ordered us to get out and asked: ‘Who is Korean among you?’” he said.

Their driver fled and the three hospital staff members were bundled towards the kidnappers’ car, John said.

“But there wasn’t enough space and they dropped me. One of them said ‘shoot him in the back’ but I got unexpected courage and ran for safety behind the van and shouted for help. They fled,” he said.

The Good Samaritan Hospital treats mostly poor Pakistanis and has been run by a South Korean charity for more than a decade, one of its doctors told AFP.

Two months ago, a South Korean affiliated to a nearby church was shot and wounded, and three years ago a local employee was briefly abducted but released unharmed, the doctor told AFP by telephone. “But this is the first time that our employees have been abducted in an armed hold-up like this. There were no direct threats to the hospital but we had felt insecure over the past few months and police beefed up security.”

Ten doctors work at the Good Samaritan Hospital, six of them foreigners, and the clinic treats mostly poor Pakistanis for a nominal fee.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan sought the 1998 court report on the functioning of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) during the hearing of air marshal (retd) Asghar Khan’s petition on Wednesday.

On May 27, 1998, the court had made a report on the functioning of the ISI and the money it hands out, but the report was sealed. Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, during the hearing today, expressed concern over how the sealed records were not available with the court.

The chief justice ordered that the records be found and presented to the court during the next hearing on March 8.

The court also sent a notice to a key respondent, ex- ISI chief Lt Gen Assad Durrani, for the second time and termed his presence in the court as vital to the case.

Then army chief General Mirza Aslam Beg and Durrani had submitted affidavits in the 1998 case, but they got sealed along with the report.

Advocate Suleman Akram Raja, representing Asghar in the case, asked the court to find Durrani’s new address, and added that the previous notice was not delivered as he had shifted his house.

Durrani’s lawyer told the court that his client is out of the country and will not return before March 7, obliging the court to adjourn the hearing till March 8.

Asghar’s petition alleges that the ISI distributed money among several politicians before the 1990 elections.