ZemNews

Imran Khan surpasses ALL as the most popular leader in today’s published PEW research.

Excerpts below:

Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif fares better: 63% express a positive opinion of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) leader, down from a year ago when 71% held this view. The most popular leader tested is former cricket star Imran Khan. Nearly seven-in-ten (68%) have a favorable view of the athlete turned politician, up from 52% in 2010.

Imran Kahn, the former world class Pakistani cricket player who founded the small opposition political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, is increasingly popular in Pakistan. About two-thirds (68%) have a favorable view of Khan, a vocal opponent of U.S. drone strikes; in 2010, about half (52%) had a positive opinion of him. Khan is widely popular across both main political parties; 81% of PML-N supporters and 61% of PPP supporters give him a favorable rating

http://insaf.pk/LinkClick.aspx?filet…oA%3d&tabid=60

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U.S. Image in Pakistan Falls No Further Following bin Laden Killing

Support for Campaign Against Extremists Wanes

June 21, 2011

From: To:

Overview

Most Pakistanis disapprove of the U.S. military operation that killed Osama bin Laden, and although the al Qaeda leader has not been well-liked in recent years, a majority of Pakistanis describe his death as a bad thing. Only 14% say it is a good thing.
Moreover, many Pakistanis believe the U.S. raid on bin Laden’s compound — which was located about 35 miles from Islamabad — will have a negative impact on the already strained relations between the U.S. and their country.
However, the current survey, taken after the raid, showed no material change in opinion of the U.S., when compared with polling conducted immediately before it. In fact, prior to the raid favorable ratings of the U.S. had already fallen to a level not seen since 2002, following the invasion of neighboring Afghanistan.

Currently, just 12% express a positive view of the U.S. and only 8% have confidence in President Barack Obama to do the right thing in world affairs. Obama’s ratings are as low as former President George W. Bush’s were in 2008. Most Pakistanis see the U.S. as an enemy, consider it a potential military threat, and oppose American-led anti-terrorism efforts. All of these views were comparably negative both before and after the killing of bin Laden.
Pakistanis are uncertain about their own government’s role in the military operation that killed bin Laden. About three-in-ten (29%) believe the Pakistani government authorized the raid and 23% say it did not, but 49% say they do not know. Only 18% think the government knew bin Laden was hiding in Abbottabad and 29% do not think that was the case; again, roughly half (53%) offer no opinion.
Support for the Pakistani government’s military campaign against extremist groups has waned in recent years. Just 37% support using the Pakistani army to fight extremists in the country’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region (formerly the North-West Frontier Province). This level is significantly lower than it was two years ago, when, in a survey taken following conflict between government forces and Taliban-affiliated groups in the Swat Valley area, 53% endorsed using the army to battle these organizations.

Similarly, fears that extremists might take over Pakistan have declined since 2009. Currently, 55% are very or somewhat worried about this possibility — still a sizeable number, but substantially lower than the 69% expressing such concern two years ago.
While concerns about an extremist takeover and support for using military force against extremist groups may be slipping, the groups themselves remain widely unpopular. Just 12% of Pakistanis have a positive view of al Qaeda, down from 18% in 2010. Only 12% give the Taliban a favorable rating, and when asked more specifically about the Tehrik-i-Taliban (which is based in Pakistan) and the Afghan Taliban, Pakistanis give both groups similarly low levels of support.
There is somewhat more support for Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Kashmir-based group that has carried out numerous attacks against India. Currently, 27% have a positive opinion of the organization.

These are among the key findings from two face-to-face personal interview surveys conducted in Pakistan by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project. The first was conducted April 10-26 among 1,970 Pakistanis as part of the 23-nation spring 2011 Pew Global Attitudes poll. The second was a special survey conducted only in Pakistan May 8-15, among 1,251 Pakistanis, following the May 2 killing of Osama bin Laden by the U.S. military. This second survey included a new set of questions specifically about bin Laden’s death and repeated nearly all of the questions from the first survey. The samples for both surveys cover approximately 85% of the Pakistani population.1 Throughout the report, results from the May survey are featured, although comparative data from the April survey are referenced on several questions of particular interest. In general, there are few notable differences between the results of the first and second surveys, suggesting that the death of bin Laden had little impact on Pakistani public opinion about the U.S. or about other issues included on the survey.
Disapproval of U.S. Foreign Policy and Opposition to Drone Strikes

Key features of U.S. foreign policy remain unpopular in Pakistan. Only one-in-five think the U.S. considers Pakistani interests when making foreign policy decisions. Almost seven-in-ten (69%) want U.S. and NATO troops out of neighboring Afghanistan. Roughly six-in-ten (62%) oppose U.S. anti-terrorism efforts.
And beyond the opposition to the raid on bin Laden’s compound, there are other signs that Pakistanis are concerned about issues related to sovereignty and the use of American military force within their country’s borders. Among those who are aware of U.S. drone strikes against extremists in Pakistan, these attacks are widely seen as unnecessary and as too costly in terms of innocent lives. Fears about U.S. military power are widespread — 69% believe the U.S. could be a military threat to Pakistan.

India Seen as Bigger Threat Than Taliban, al Qaeda

Pakistani views of traditional rival India have grown increasingly negative in recent years. Three-in-four express an unfavorable opinion of India, up from 50% five years ago.

When asked which is the biggest threat to their country, India, the Taliban or al Qaeda, a majority of Pakistanis (57%) say India.
Still, roughly seven-in-ten say it is important to improve relations with India, believe increased trade with their neighbor would be a good thing, and support further talks to reduce tensions between the two countries.
Similarly, Indians express negative opinions of Pakistan; 65% have an unfavorable view of their traditional rival and more name Pakistan as India’s biggest threat (45%) than name Lashkar-e-Taiba (19%) or Naxalites (16%). Yet, like Pakistanis, Indians would like to see improved relations between the two countries and most support increased trade between India and Pakistan.
Grim Ratings for National Conditions and Zardari

Pakistanis continue to be highly dissatisfied with conditions in their country. Roughly nine-in-ten (92%) are dissatisfied with the country’s direction. Almost as many (85%) say the economic situation in Pakistan is bad. And optimism is scarce — 60% think the economy will worsen in the next 12 months; only 13% believe it will improve.
Pakistanis list a myriad of problems afflicting their nation — huge majorities say rising prices, a lack of jobs, crime, terrorism and political corruption are very big problems. Unsurprisingly, given these dismal assessments, ratings for President Asif Ali Zardari are overwhelmingly negative. Only 11% have a favorable view of him, down from 20% last year. His prime minister and fellow Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader, Yousaf Raza Gilani, receives a positive rating from 37% — a significant drop from 59% in 2010.

Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif fares better: 63% express a positive opinion of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) leader, down from a year ago when 71% held this view. The most popular leader tested is former cricket star Imran Khan. Nearly seven-in-ten (68%) have a favorable view of the athlete turned politician, up from 52% in 2010.
On balance, Pakistanis continue to view Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry positively, although his ratings have fallen somewhat since last year (51% favorable in 2011; 61% in 2010).
Even though the Pakistani military has received some criticism since the U.S. raid that killed bin Laden, it remains overwhelmingly popular: 79% say it is having a good influence on the country. Ratings for military chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani have remained on balance positive — 52% give him a favorable and 21% an unfavorable rating. This represents a slight change from the April poll conducted prior to bin Laden’s death, when 57% rated him favorably and 18% unfavorably.

Also of note:
In addition to the military, the media and religious leaders are also well-regarded; 76% of Pakistanis say the media are having a good influence on the way things are going in their country and 60% say the same about religious leaders. Few give the police and the national government positive ratings.
Just 37% of Pakistanis say they followed news about the U.S. military raid that killed bin Laden very or somewhat closely, while 39% followed news about the raid not too closely or not at all closely.
Most Pakistanis support the U.S. providing financial and humanitarian aid to areas where extremist groups operate, and many want the U.S. to provide intelligence and logistical support for Pakistani troops fighting extremists.
Violence is the top concern among those who are worried about Islamic extremism in Pakistan; 40% say this, compared with 24% who are most concerned about the impact of extremism on the national economy, 16% who worry that it will lead to loss of freedoms, and 15% who fear extremism will divide the country.
More than eight-in-ten (85%) Pakistanis say suicide bombing and other violent acts against civilians in defense of Islam are never justified. Far fewer (38%) said this was the case in 2002, when the Pew Research Center first asked this question.

Source : http://pewresearch.org/pubs/2032/pakistan-public-opinion-osama-bin-laden-india-terrorism-al-qaeda-american-image

Russia and the tiny Gulf state of Qatar were awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cups Thursday after an acrimonious bidding war marred by allegations of corruption and illegal deal-making.

The bombshell conclusion to two years of frenzied lobbying saw world football supremo Sepp Blatter reveal the winners following a secret ballot of 22 FIFA executive committee members in Zurich.

The announcement means the World Cup will be staged in two countries which have never hosted the event before following the 2014 tournament in Brazil.

Russia prevailed in the 2018 race, upsetting England and joint bids from Spain and Portugal and Belgium and the Netherlands.

The outcome represented a stunning comeback for Russia, whose campaign had believed to be in trouble after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin declined to join the lobbying effort in Zurich.

Putin had also launched a stinging attack on England’s bid on the eve of the vote, accusing the country’s media of “smearing” officials.

Qatar shocks all

But the shock of the day came in the 2022 race, where Qatar beat off stiff competition from the United States, Australia and Asian rivals South Korea and Japan in a remarkable result.

Qatar 2022 bid president Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Thani promised: “We won’t let you down. You will be proud of us, proud of the Middle East.”

Qatar’s win came despite serious reservations being raised about the logistical problems of staging the football tournament in the Gulf during the searing heat of the summer months.

Although the Qataris have promised to build an array of state of the art stadia which are climate-controlled, the technology has never been tested on a large-scale before.

Process marred with corruption allegations

The results brought the curtain down on the most controversial World Cup votes in years, with FIFA facing myriad allegations of corruption which led to two executive commitee members being suspended.

FIFA president Blatter has acknowledged that the decision to stage votes for two tournaments at the same time was a mistake, making illegal horse-trading between bids inevitable.

An increasingly acrimonious climax to the campaign saw Spanish and Russian officials issue veiled attacks earlier Thursday as the respective bids made their final presentations to FIFA voters.

Spanish FIFA member Angel Villar Llona hit out at British media reports which exposed corruption within the organisation, describing them as “slander.”

Meanwhile in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also hit out at perceived “intrigue and blackmail” surrounding the vote.

“We stand for world sport developing according to its own laws, independent of the political environment,” Lavrov said. “And it should especially not be subject to intrigue and blackmail.”

Russian bid officials steered clear of fuelling the war of words in their final presentation earlier Thursday however, instead emphasising the country’s readiness to host the tournament for the first time.

“We are ready. Most of the infrastructure is planned and budgeted for and the World Cup will accelerate this,” bid chief Alexei Sorokin said.

England 2018 officials declined to respond to the criticism, but were left dejected after launching a heavyweight increasingly optimistic after lobbying offensive led by Prime Minister David Cameron, heir to the throne Prince William and football icon David Beckham.

All three men took to the stage Thursday to appeal for the tournament.

“I love football, we English love football – that’s why it would be such an honour for us to host the 2018 World Cup,” Prince William said.

However an outbreak of crowd trouble at an English League Cup match between Birmingham and Aston Villa late Wednesday embarrassed England’s bid.

LAHORE: The Sindh government banned pillion riding with immediate effect in Karachi and Hyderabad on Thursday.

The ban will be in effect till the 12^th of Muharram. Wall chalking and display of banners have also been prohibited for a month.

Updated from print edition (below)

Pillion riding may be banned in Lahore

The city police are considering imposing a ban on pillion riding during the first Ashura (10 days) of Muharram.

Muhammad Aslam Tareem, the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO), on Wednesday discussed the proposed security plan with a 15-member delegation of Shia ulema.

Tareen requested the ulema not to use loud speakers and to emphasise peace and unity in their speeches during the month.

According to a handout that was released following the meeting, the security plan has been chalked out after consultation with leaders belonging to various schools of thought.

A total of 184 trouble points have been identified by the city police. Tareen said that 1,068 members of District Peace Committees will remain present on the routes of processions and majalis.

About 12,000 police jawans are expected to provide security cover to the 4,000 majalis and 640 processions expected in Muharram.

The CCPO directed all SPs to liaise with public representatives of their jurisdictions while also asking them to personally ensure force deployment and patrolling of mobile squads in their respective areas.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2010.

LAHORE: Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Thursday said that the government will not hold talks with those Baloch who desecrate the flag of Pakistan and engage in extremism.

Earlier in the day, Senior Balochistan Minister Abdul Waseh had urged all political parties to play their due role in normalising the situation in the province.

Addressing the Balochistan Assembly, Waseh condemned the bomb attack on the Balochistan governor’s convoy, and said the incident itself spoke volumes of the deterioration security situation.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) members staged a walk-out because the Deputy Speaker did not allow the party’s parliamentary leader to condemn the attack.

Separately, PPP member Ali Madad Jattak walked out from the session in protest against the killing of five people in Turbat.

Strikes in the province

A shutter-down strike is underway in many parts of Balochistan in protest of the Turbat incident.

Nationalist parties such as the National Front and Balochistan National Party (BNP) had called the strike.

Commercial activity in Noshki, Kalat, Mastung, Hub, Awaran, Mashkay, Jivani, Panjgur and other areas has been brought to a stand-still.

Meanwhile security forces are on high alert to keep the districts under control.

A secret US embassy cable part of WikiLeaks “classified by Anne Patterson” reveals that the US said it was willing to work with Nawaz Sharif if he won the elections, but that Zardari was its “best ally in Pakistan right now.”

The cable said that US interests are best served by preventing another cycle of military rule and that:

“Militants will exploit either weak civilian government or a return to military rule that lacks popular legitimacy, so we should help the Zardari/Gilani government complete its full five-year term in office.”

The cable also said that US Vice President Joe Biden had noted that Pakistan’s ties with the US had been transactional in nature and were based on “mutual mistrust”. The cable quoted on The Guardian read:

“Pakistan hedges its bets on cooperation because it fears the US will again desert Islamabad after we get Osama Bin Laden; Washington sees this hesitancy as duplicity that requires we take unilateral action to protect US interests.

After 9/11, then President Musharraf made a strategic shift to abandon the Taliban and support the US in the war on terror, but neither side believes the other has lived up to expectations flowing from that decision. The relationship is one of co-dependency we grudgingly admit – Pakistan knows the US cannot afford to walk away; the US knows Pakistan cannot survive without our support.”

Media watch is a daily round-up of key articles featured on news websites, hand-picked by The Express Tribune web staff.

Nothing to drink

While all this bureaucratic wrangling is going on, the ones who are suffering are the millions of Pakistanis denied access to safe drinking water and thereby health. Indeed, clean drinking water is not just a right but a basic necessity of life. Currently, 65 per cent of the population has sustainable access to clean drinking water. Under the Millennium Development Goals, Pakistan had pledged to raise this to 93 per cent by 2015. It is incumbent on the federal and provincial governments to sort matters out and make the full implementation of the CDWA project a priority. (dawn.com)

Education with a purpose

There is a need to go back to the drawing board to rethink what we want from our education system. The fragmentation that we are seeing is not good for us. Granted there is a minority of elite schools that are giving decent training providing some advantages to these children in securing places in good colleges and universities and then in places of work but the majority of schools are not being able to do that. And more importantly, the public good element of education is being completely ignored. (pakistantoday.com.pk)

Vanishing gas

The moves to limit consumption are necessary because of the gap between the gas we burn and the gas we produce. Our production is about four million cubic feet of gas per day, and the shortfall on projected consumption is between 568 and 917 million cubic feet a day. As recently as July 6 this year, the general manager of Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited said that SNGPL was taking “many measures” to overcome problems of gas supply and that in the coming days there would be an improvement in supply. (thenews.com.pk)

The worsening gas crisis

Pakistan was once a major gas producer, but it has underinvested in exploration for natural resources and now has been forced to look overseas for supplies. The US has been urging Pakistan to import LNG from Qatar, a major producer located in the nearby Persian Gulf, to stop looking at Iran for gas supplies. It is hoped that at least in the short-term the government takes the appropriate measures to begin import of gas from Qatar in a move to resolve our short-term supply shortages. (brecorder.com)

Cables released by the WikiLeaks website reveal that former President Pervez Musharraf told John Mccain there was a possibility Osama Bin Laden and his deputy could be in Bajaur Agency.

The cable states that in a meeting in April 2007, Musharraf said that although he had no solid evidence, he believed al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri were in Bajaur Agency, since it was in the territory of Afghan militant leader, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and bordered Afghanistan’s Kunar province. Musharraf had said that the landscape in bin Laden and Zawahiri’s videos looked similar to Bajaur and that the area provided an easy hiding place with high mountains, positive support and an absence of US troops in neighbouring Kunar.

Musharraf had also voiced concern over Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s pronouncements about Pakistan’s alleged failure to capture Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar in Quetta. Musharraf was quoted in the memos reported on The Guardian as saying:

“Let me tell you, Omar would be mad to be in Quetta – he has too many troops to command in southern Afghanistan to make it feasible. In fact, the only parts of Balochistan where there are Pakistani Taliban are in the province’s Afghan refugee camps, which we are planning to shut down. Musharraf said that most Pashtuns in Balochistan were traders and had no reason to join the Taliban. They want roads to increase their trade, not to fight. The same could not be said for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.”

Musharraf had said that the Taliban were mainly in Afghanistan where many Pashtuns had been alienated by Karzai’s policies.

Militants in Mardan attacked a NATO supply truck before dawn Thursday, killing the driver and damaging the vehicle, police said.

Militants opened fire on the vehicle with assault rifles in Suki village in Mardan, police said.

The driver’s assistant told police they had loaded the truck in Karachi with a 10-wheel vehicle destined for NATO troops and were en route to Kabul.

“The driver was killed on the spot. It was a NATO supply truck and was carrying a 10-wheel vehicle for NATO in Afghanistan,” Iftikhar Khan, a police official in Mardan, told AFP by telephone.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack but officials blamed the Taliban.

Pakistan had shut the main northwestern border crossing to NATO supply vehicles on September 30 for 11 days after a cross-border NATO helicopter assault killed two Pakistani soldiers. Scores of NATO supply vehicles were destroyed in gun and arson attack when the border had been closed.

The bulk of supplies and equipment required by foreign troops in Afghanistan is shipped through the Khyber region, although US troops increasingly use alternative routes through central Asia.

LAHORE: Chile has decided not press charges against a Pakistani student arrested at the US embassy with traces of explosives in his belongings, a prosecutor said, citing a lack of evidence against him.

“There is insufficient evidence to proceed in a criminal case against Saif Ur Rehman Khan”, prosecutor Alejandro Pena told AFP.

Pena said that after eight months of investigation, authorities would not seek formal charges against the Pakistani student, 29, who arrived in Chile in January to work in a tourism job. “The traces that were found were not enough to have him charged,” added Pena.

Khan was investigated on charges of illegal possession of explosives, but not the more serious accusation of violating an anti-terror law originally sought by Chilean authorities. Khan went to the US embassy on May 10 after being called in for a discussion about his US visa, which had been revoked. He was arrested after going through a security check, where embassy officials discovered traces of a TNT explosive on his hands, cell phone, bag and documents.

The Pakistani national has denied the illegal explosives charge, saying he harbours no malice toward the United States, where he has relatives. He has said his predicament was “a big misunderstanding stemming from a mistaken identity.”

His arrest came a week after the arrest in the United States of a naturalised US citizen born in Pakistan, Faisal Shahzad, whom US authorities accuse of planting a car bomb on May 1 in New York’s Times Square.

LAHORE: The investigations into the blast at the CID centre have revealed that terrorists used 500 kilogrammes of TNT in the attack.

Official sources revealed the attack was carried out by four terrorists in two minutes and seventeen seconds. The terrorists had thrown a hand grenade at a check post to clear the way for a white pick-up truck, which was used in the attack.

The attack on the Sindh police’s main investigation agency, the Crime Investigation Department (CID) building, near PIDC, had killed at least 16 people and injured more than 140.  A coordinated gun and car bomb suicide attack had been carried out in the back alleys of what is referred to as the highest security zone in the city – mere metres away from the Sindh Chief Minister House and in the backyard of the most heavily guarded installations in the city.

RAHIM YAR KHAN: The Supreme Court on Wednesday observed that it appeared – prima facie – that the letter written by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to President Zardari to approve and sign the National Accountability (Amendment) Ordinance, 2010 was tampered with.

The apex court expressed concern over the documents submitted by Attorney-General Maulvi Anwarul Haq on Wednesday regarding facts in the issuance of the ordinance.

Haq, on behalf of the federation, submitted the reply and copies of the president’s and the prime minister’s letters and the law ministry’s summary regarding the ordinance.

A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, was hearing identical petitions challenging the NAB Amended Ordinance promulgated by the president. The attorney-general had requested the court that the constitutional petition be dismissed as not a single reason has been cited as to what is wrong with the amended ordinance, constitutionally or legally. He denied that ulterior motives were involved to amend the NAB ordinance 1999.

Haq denied that the ordinance was promulgated without the advice of the prime minister. He said that the ordinance was sent to PM by the law, justice and parliamentary affairs division through a summary dated September 6. The court adjourned the case till Thursday.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2010.

RAHIM YAR KHAN: In a rowdy session of a National Assembly panel, the government’s coalition partners and the business community criticised the reformed General Sales Tax bill, but it seems they still lack the numbers to block the legislation.

On Wednesday, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue devoted its first day to listening to the grievances of the business community against the GST bill.

The daylong proceedings ended on a harsh note when PML-Q member Kashmala Tariq disturbed the proceedings and verbally attacked Minister of State for Finance Hina Rabbani Khar and the committee’s chairperson Fauzia Wahab of the PPP. This compelled the chair to adjourn the session till today (Thursday).

The business community, except the Pakistan Business Council, opposed the GST bill in its present form as the “Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) does not have the capacity to collect taxes and timely give refunds,” he added.

The most frequently used words in the presentations of all associations were “refunds” and “corruption in FBR”. Businessmen fear that the new tax regime will generate billions of rupees of refunds that will open new “doors for corruption”. The FBR chairman admitted there was corruption, but insisted refunds would not be blocked this time around.

The PML- N hid behind the slogan of introducing a complete package of reforms. The MQM’s only representative, Rashid Godil, raised the slogan of agriculture tax and the member from Federally Administrated Tribal Areas, (Fata) Mahmood Orakzai also opposed the bill in its present form.

Despite that, it seems the government will be able to get the bill passed from the standing committee, as was revealed in background interviews with panel members.

In the 17-member committee, the PPP has five members, all of whom are from the president’s circle. Two votes of the ANP and JUI-F are likely to be in favour of the bill, said PPP officials.

The PML-N also has five members. Its four members will vote against the bill, but the fifth one is conditional to Jamil Malik’s timely arrival from abroad.

The MQM’s vote will either go against the bill or it may prefer to abstain. The Fata member opposed the bill in Wednesday’s meeting on the ground that the NA cannot legislate on a Fata subject. The PPP members said Orakzai’s concerns will be addressed before the voting, as the reformed GST will be implemented in Fata through a presidential order.

The PML-Q has three members in the committee. Background interviews with two of them revealed that Riaz Fatyana is likely to cast his vote in favour of the bill, giving the PPP the needed 9th vote. Kashmala Tariq may abstain from voting, while Faisal Saleh Hayat may be the only member of the party voting against the bill.

While responding to the PML-N, MQM and business community’s observations that the government was not netting the agriculture sector, Finance Secretary Salman Siddique said that in the 7th National Finance Commission Award, it was decided that the provinces will tax income from agriculture, which is documented and signed in Gwadar. “By no stretch of imagination, can the federation intrude in provincial subjects,” said Siddique.

Siddique said that after incorporating any change made in the standing committee on the GST bill, the provincial and federal tax laws will be finalised on December 7 and 8.

The Pakistan Business Council, a group representing top 30 businesses of the country, supported the implementation of GST bill. “The main reason of the opposition is documentation of gray market,” said Kamran Yusuf Mirza, the PBC’s Chief Executive Officer.

The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry President Sultan Chawla said the GST will not directly affect their businesses as they will collect the tax from consumers.

Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association representative Haroon Rashid said the FBR’s refund system is faulty, which will result in a blockage of refunds. “We used to pay 15 per cent of the refund amount as bribe to the FBR officials to get our refunds,” said Haroon and the FBR Chairman Sohail Ahmad did not contest his statement.

Rashid Haroon said that in the year 1996-97, the government taxed the ginning mills, collected Rs50 billion but returned Rs70 billion in refunds.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2010.

RAHIM YAR KHAN: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Afghan President Hamid Karzai are expected to enter into a series of crucial dialogue on the likely post-foreign troops’ withdrawal scenario on December 4 in Kabul, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Foreign ministers of Pakistan and Afghanistan will follow up for the next two days and draft joint strategies to cope with the situation, diplomatic sources said.

The planned negotiations are part of Obama administration’s strategy to engage regional countries, including Pakistan and India, in the transition process in Afghanistan.

The forthcoming visit by prime minister Gilani to Kabul confirms that Islamabad has accepted the US strategy to be engaged in the Afghan transition process, irrespective of India’s presence in it. Pakistan has so far been opposed to any Indian role in the Afghan transitional phase.

The US sponsored Pak-Afghan dialogue is expected to help both countries enter into a meaningful and continuing process for peace talks. It may also facilitate the neighbouring countries to improve their bilateral ties.

There have been talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan on the problems pertaining to the Afghan war but all of them have so far remained inconclusive. However, the proposed talks are expected to be result-oriented since they are being conducted at the behest of the US.

The dialogue comes at a time when Obama and Gen David Petraeus, Commander of the US forces in Afghanistan, are scheduled to evaluate the Afghan war progress that will help him determine the pace of US troops’ scheduled withdrawal from Afghanistan.

According to unconfirmed reports, President Obama is expected to visit Islamabad in the second half of next year but before July 2011, the deadline set for commencement of troop withdrawal.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2010.

RAHIM YAR KHAN: Top guns of the Benazir Bhutto Income Support Programme (BISP) and Pakistan Baitul Mal (PBM) openly defied Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani by rejecting 44,000 applications sent to them by the PM secretariat with clear directives to extend them financial help.

Official documents available with The Express Tribune reveal that the PM secretariat received 80,000 applications in two and a half years since Gilani assumed the office of prime minister.

Of these, over 50 per cent (44,000) applications were from the poor who had approached the premier seeking financial help. Their applications, after proper scrutiny, were sent to the chairpersons of the PBM and the BISP for action, but none of these applications were entertained. This has dramatically increased the “disappointment level” among the needy.

Of the 44,000 requests for financial help, 24,925 applications were forwarded to the PBM and 19,840 were sent to the BISP.

Official documents reveal that Gilani had tasked the Prime Minister’s Inspection Commission (PMIC) with scrutinising and referring these petitions to relevant departments/ organisations to carry out appropriate action.

Now, however, Chairman PMIC Amjad Noon is said to have brought into the notice of the prime minister that the chiefs of the PBM and the BISP did not consider the recommendations for financial assistance sent to them.

The petitions addressed to the prime minister were mostly related to financial assistance, employment, facilities like roads, gas, drinking water, property/land and family disputes, excesses or inaction of the police and other public departments, grants and remission of loans and interests.

Since November 2008, the PMIC has processed over 80,000 petitions from a cross section of people, both local and overseas Pakistanis. The average monthly flow of petitions until March 2008 (before the ruling PPP government) was around 2,351 which surged to 4,635 during PM Gilani’s first year in office   an increase of 97 per cent over the previous government.

Gilani was informed that the PMIC was able to generate a fairly reasonable response in respect to the public grievances by coordinating with various implementing agencies/ organisations. However, Gilani was told in writing that the PMIC efforts regarding the requests for financial assistance had not succeeded at all.

The PMIC regretted that no action had ever been taken by the two organisations that are being headed by two powerful PPP leaders.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2010.

KARACHI: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has decided in ‘principal’ not to make public the names of national and international NGOs allegedly involved in massive corruption in various development projects being run under the Kerry-Lugar Act , The Express Tribune has learnt.

The decision was taken in light of state’s interests to keep the ‘image of transparency and trust’ high which may lure international donors to help Pakistan through NGOs working in areas hit by natural disasters in Pakistan.

Last week, the USAID requested the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to investigate massive corruption allegedly done by national and international NGOs running various projects in volatile areas under the Kerry-Lugar Act.

The Americans, under this Act, have to give $1.5 billion for five years (2010-14) out of the $7.50 billion to NGOs working in Upper and Lower Fata.

NAB Chairman Justice (retd) Syed Deedar Hussain Shah said the NGOs involved in corruption would be dealt with according to the law. USAID on Thursday formally approached NAB, filing complaints of misappropriation of funds by the NGOs being funded under the Kerry-Lugar Act.

A delegation of USAID requested the NAB chairman to investigate billion of rupees corruption as complaints about misuse of funds by the NGOs were multiplying with every passing day.

According to details, officials from NAB Regional Office in Peshawar constituted a special investigation team to probe into affairs of various Americans NGOs as well as into the affairs of local NGOs engaged by the Americans.

“We are already probing into the case of two American NGOs – Academy for Educational Development (AED) and CHF International – engaged by USAID in some of its projects under the ‘Fata Uplift Aid Programme,’” said an official of NAB Peshawar Region on condition of anonymity. “The project costs $750 million,” he added.

“According to initial investigations, these NGOs – AED and CHF including Sheledia worked under CHF International – embezzled $150 million during completion of a road project in upper Fata,” the official said.

Meanwhile, officials of NAB Regional Office in Quetta told The Express Tribune that some complaints were being registered with the bureau office against Pakistan-based NGOs funded by foreign donors. However, the complaints are not related to the Kerry-Lugar Act, he clarified.

Some serious complaints have been registered against local NGOs involved in irregularities working in the flood-hit areas, a senior official of the NAB Regional Office in Lahore told The Express Tribune. But these NGOs are being funded by foreign donors especially by Arab countries, he added.

US Embassy spokesperson Alberto Rodriguez said that he would not comment on the issue because USAID officials reportedly informed NAB about these irregularities. “NAB probably will investigate into corruption charges against NGOs working under the Kerry-Lugar Act,” he said.

Officials of NAB Regional Office in Peshawar also said the major irregularities were being made in Upper Fata comprising Bajaur Agency, Mohmand Agency and Khyber Agency, including Peshawar.

They also revealed that an internal audit of the said NGOs was conducted in October 2009 by the office of the inspector-general USAID where various paras were raised. So, the audit team initiated formal investigation and found that a massive amount of money was embezzled by the NGOs working in volatile areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Well placed sources said the country head of the AED fled to Russia last month to avoid arrest. He was asked to cooperate with the investigation team.

The Express Tribune also tried to contact the officials of the two American NGOs allegedly involved in corruption, but none of them were available for comments as they are temporarily out of the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2010.

KARACHI: Zardari names Faryal Talpur as his successor

Kayani felt that Talpur would make a better president than Zardari

According to a February 2009 memo, President Zardari told Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari that if Zardari was assassinated, Bilawal should name the president’s sister, Faryal Talpur, as president. Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani told US ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson that Talpur would be a better president than her brother. The memo notes that “embassy officers have been very impressed with Talpur.”

UAE’s Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed told US Special Representative Richard Holbrooke in January 2010 that Zardari had asked Zayed to convey a request to the UAE Presiden that Zardari’s family be allowed to live in the UAE in the event of his death.

In a February 2008 meeting with Patterson, Zardari said “he was ‘struggling’ over who would be named Senate chairman. When he said the best candidate would be Farooq Naek, Zardari was asked who would be law minister. “That’s the problem. We don’t have enough good people.”  According to Zardari, Sherry Rehman “was dying for the job,” but Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam would never vote for a woman. He also wanted to replace NWFP Governor Owais Ghani soon but had not done so because it would create political issues. His choice was Frontier Corps Inspector Maj General Tariq Khan but Patterson “tried to discourage that idea” because “Khan was desperately needed in the ongoing fight.”

Zardari was also considering names for National Security Adviser. Maleeha Lodhi was dismissed because  “the party doesn’t trust her” and retired COAS Jehangir Karamat was “probably too old and, as a former COAS, Kayani would always have to defer to him.”

Army chief wanted Zardari out, Asfandyar as president

Kayani spoke of an ‘unofficial’ coup that would not require elections

During the judicial crisis, Kayani hinted to Patterson that he may ‘reluctantly’ have to urge Zardari to resign if conditions deteriorate and ‘indicated that Asfandyar Wali Khan or someone else broadly acceptable might be an appropriate replacement.’ The US believed this was a sign that they were being forewarned of political developments.

The March 12, 2009 memo states, “Kayani made it clear that regardless of how much he disliked Zardari, he distrusted Nawaz even more. The scenario Kayani hinted at was one in which he would pressure Zardari to resign (and presumably leave the country). This would not be an official army ‘coup’; it would leave the PPP govt led by Gilani in place and preclude the need for elections that likely would bring Nawaz to power.”

Ironically, Zardari is also quoted in another memo as saying Kayani would never accept Nawaz Sharif as prime minister. According to the memo, Kayani also hinted at disquiet among corps commanders who believe Zardari is corrupt and had not paid enough attention to economic and security challenges. ISI DG Ahmed Shuja Pasha had also spoken to Patterson over his concerns about Zardari.

Kayani said he talked directly to Zardari, but “does not appear to have conveyed the seriousness of army concerns about Zardari or the security situation vis-a-vis the long march.” Patterson speculated, “Kayani may be seeking to avoid a confrontation that would prompt Zardari to make a disastrous decision to try and oust the COAS.”

We’ll protest in the National Assembly and then ignore it: PM

Gilani says he doesn’t care about drone strikes as long as they get the right people

In 2008, Interior Minister Rehman Malik suggested the US hold off ‘alleged Predator attacks’ until after the Bajaur operation. According to a memo, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani brushed aside Malik’s remarks and said, “I don’t care if they do it as long as they get the right people. We’ll protest in the National Assembly and then ignore it.”

In a February 2009 memo, Anne Patterson wrote: “Drone strikes have put increasing political pressure on the Pakistani government, which has struggled to explain why it is allowing an ally to violate its sovereignty.

“The government of Pakistan has so far has denied recent media reports alleging that the US is launching the strikes from bases in Pakistan. Kayani knows full well that the strikes have been precise (creating few civilian casualties) and targeted primarily at foreign fighters in the Waziristans.”

UK officials also told the US in 2008 that while the Pakistani leadership was not troubled by Predator strikes that kill “Arabs” and Taliban, those attitudes could change.

US suspicious of Pakistan Army bills

Military asked for radar maintenance though there was no ‘enemy air threat’

According to a Dec 2007 memo, “Pakistan received $55 million for helicopter operations from July 2006 to Feb 2007; however … as few as three Cobra helicopters were fully mission capable as recently as 10 weeks ago. The US is confident Army Aviation Command never got the money.”

The army also claimed $99 million for medical operations for 12 months but the FC IG kept asking for help for this and was ‘obviously unaware’ of the resources already given by the US.

Pakistan submitted claims for almost $70 million in ADA Radar Maintenance between August 2006 and July 2007, “Although there is no enemy air threat related to the war on terror.” Another  ‘highly suspect’ claim was for $26 million for barbed wire and pickets.

Kayani told Petraeus in 2009 it was important to avoid the impression that the military is “for hire.” However, the army had little incentive to provide the documentation required for funds, “since only 40 per cent of the money had been returned to military coffers in the past.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2010.

RAHIM YAR KHAN: Two teenagers were killed and a middle-aged woman was injured during a one-hour long armed conflict in Orangi Town between two groups of drug peddlers, allegedly linked to Lyari gangs. All victims were passersby and no one from the two gangs was hurt.

Omer Baloch Mohalla in Faqir Colony, a Baloch-dominated area of Orangi that comes under the jurisdiction of the Mominabad police, echoed with the sound of shots being fired when members of the rival groups suddenly opened fire at one another around 11 am. The battle ended an hour later when the law-enforcement agencies intervened.

The victims were all residents of the same area and were moved to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where 18-year-old Abdul Latif and 17-year-old Dost Mohammad succumbed to their injuries. Zarina, 50, wife of Nabi Buksh, who was shot in the hand, was admitted.

Around 200 policemen and Rangers jawans cautiously approached the neighbourhood in armoured personnel carriers to carry out a door-to-door search operation. Most of the suspects, however, were reported to have escaped before they arrived.

Residents were not happy about the operation and several of them, including women and children, tried to stop the law enforcers. The officials responded with batons and soon the crowd dispersed.

Fourteen suspects were arrested during the three-hour long search, said SHO Mominabad Majeed Marwat. He said they also seized weapons, drugs and motorcycles from the suspects’ possession.

Detained men included Asif, Taj Mohammad, Asim, Ameer and Ghulam Hussain, who were taken into custody along with three TT pistols, one 9mm pistol, one Kalashnikov, 14 kilogrammes of hashish, 250 grammes of heroin and two snatched motorcycles.

“The gunbattle was between members of the gang led by Ashiq Rasheed alias Bholu, who is affiliated with Lyari’s infamous gangster Rehman Dakait, and members of Saeed Kajal alias Captain’s group. Kajal is a close aide of Dakait’s rival Ghaffar Zikri,” said SHO Marwat informed The Express Tribune.

He said while the investigation was still premature, they believed the groups had fought over their business and operating in each other’s areas.

The deceased, Latif, was a mechanic by profession while Dost Mohammad was a labourer. Their relatives blamed the police, saying they never took action against the drug peddlers. They said their loved ones would not be killed if the police had taken reliable action in the past. “We need a permanent elimination of these gangsters from our area,” they demanded.

On the other hand, police officials said that majority of the criminals hail from Hub, Balochistan and every time an operation is carried out in the area, these men escape to Balochistan and even Iran.

Orangi SP Khurram Waris also held a press conference at the Mominabad police station on Wednesday evening. The SP assured that a heavy contingent of law enforcers has been deployed in the locality. The arrested suspects are being interrogated and some of them are those who were already wanted by the police, he said.

Cases will be registered against them after investigations are completed. Waris also informed the media that a police constable, Zahid, who had participated in the search operation, also sustained a bullet injury.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2010.

RAHIM YAR KHAN: National Assembly Standing Committee on Science and Technology on Wednesday took note of ‘corruption and irregularities’ in the construction of the office building of Pakistan Council of Renewable Energy Technologies (PCRET). The case was referred to the Pakistan Engineering Council to reassess the construction cost of the building.

According to an assessment report prepared by a three-member subcommittee led by Zafar Baig Bittani, the PCRET officials in collaboration with the contractor allegedly committed “massive corruption” during the construction of
the building.

Bhittani briefed the committee that as much as Rs35 million extra payments were made by overstating estimates in the records “without any logic.” He pinpointed that Rs6 million were paid to a consultant without any tender, who did nothing for the project
in exchange.

The documents further revealed that Rs56,000 had been paid per truck for transporting steel from I-9 to H-8, which is equal to the cost of transporting a truckload of goods from Karachi to Multan.

Besides, the cost of per ton steel was shown Rs85,000 against the market rate of  Rs65,000 during 2007-08. Surprisingly, the constructor also showed 10 per cent waste charges on steel.

The committee thought that both, the PCRET officials and contractor, committed the irregularities in connivance with each other and therefore felt a need to reassess the cost of the building. Assistance from Pakistan Engineering Council has been sought in this regard. The committee chairman Abdul Kadir Khanzada said that the case would be referred to the Federal Investigation Agency after assessment from the Engineering Council.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the performance of PCRET, the department has been directed by officials to come up with a 10-year vision plan within two weeks.

The Ministry of Science and Technology, under which PCRET falls, would be transferred to the provinces in the second phase of the devolution plan under 18th Amendment. “It has to prepare its future plan for alternative energy keeping the new setup in mind or the provinces would not accept the employees of the department to avoid extra expenses,” said an official.

Committee member, Anosha Rehman said that the PCRET had done nothing as far as its mandate was concerned since its establishment. “If it failed to evolve a visionary plan for future, then there is no reason for its existence,” she added.

Rehman said that the department had made an insignificant contribution in comparison to the huge amounts of funds allocated to it annually.

The committee also threatened to recommend abolishing of the department if it failed to follow the directions.

Anusha Rehman also pointed out that a machine was lying idle in the department due to non-availability of required electricity and another one was being imported, “which is sheer wastage of resources.”

Another issue which was highlighted with regards to the workings of the department was that a number of vacancies, including the slot of Director General, were lying vacant. “There have been no headways in filling these core slots,” said another official.

In reply to this, the secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology said that they had advertised the vacancies, but no positive response was
received. “The revised package, in a bid to attract reputed scientists, has been forwarded to the Finance Ministry,”
he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2010.

ISLAMABAD: The chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency said he had contacted Israeli officials to head off potential attacks on Israeli targets in India, according to an October 2009 US diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks.

Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, head of Pakistan’s spy agency, told former US Ambassador Anne Patterson that he wanted Washington to know he had been to Oman and Iran “to follow up on reports which he received in Washington about a terrorist attack on India”.

“Pasha asked Ambassador to convey to Washington that he had followed up on threat information that an attack would be launched against India between September-November. He had been in direct touch with the Israelis on possible threats against Israeli targets in India,” the Oct 7, 2009 cable reported.

An ISI spokesman had no immediate comment.

Pakistan has no diplomatic relations with Israel. Such contacts would infuriate militants waging a campaign to topple the government.

Visit http://tribune.com.pk/wikileaks/ for more stories/updates.

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Cabinet on Wednesday approved the transfer of five ministries to the provinces.

Senator Raza Rabbani said the employees belonging to the abolished ministries will be adjusted elsewhere in Islamabad.

Federal information minister Qamaruz Zaman Kaira said the transfer of ministries is a historic step and will make the provinces more powerful.

The session was chaired by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat in Islamabad, while chief ministers of all four provinces and all members of the Parliamentary Implementation Commission attended the meeting.

Ministries of Youth Affairs, Population and Welfare, Special Initiatives, Zakat and Usher, and Rural Development will be transferred to provinces.