Nisar assails Gilani for comments on Osama’s presence

ISLAMABAD: The Opposition Leader in National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Saturday said the whole nation including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will oppose the dismissal of army chief or DG ISI over memogate issue, FTNews reported.

Speaking at a press conference, the PML-N leader said that the prime minster should reconsider his statement regarding Osama bin Laden.

Nisar said that Gilani’s statement about bin Laden presence in the country was irresponsible. “Chief executive should not issue statements against security agencies of the country,” he added.

Answering a question regarding Javed Hashmi, he showed grief over his decision to leave the party.

“I will not say that he (Hashmi) left the party on the establishment’s behest, however I would say that the establishment was supporting Tehrik-i-Insaf,” said Nisar.

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Aitzaz concerned over Gilani’s remarks on army

LAHORE: Senior leader of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Aitzaz Ahsan on Saturday showed his concerns over contradictory statements of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani regarding Pakistan Army, FTNews reported.

Speaking during a ceremony organised for celebrating the birth anniversary of Quad-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, he said that the prime minister, while touring foreign countries says that “army obeys the democratic government,” but contradict himself by saying “it does not” in the Supreme Court.

He said that the rumours of martial law have ended after clarification given by the Army Chief Gen. Kayani. “Governments speculations were baseless,” he added.

“There are few ‘friends’ who want clash between army and the government,” said Ahsan.

He said that he had no plans of joining any other political party, however he welcomed Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) for becoming the third political force in the country. “December 25 rally of PTI in Karachi will be a historic gathering,” he added.

Ahsan praised Javed Hashmi as an honest and reliable politician. “PML-N will be dented by his departure from the party fold,” he added.

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Nawaz Sharif praises the services of Javed Hashmi

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif said on Saturday that good time was spent with Makhdoom Javed Hashmi. Now, will change the fate of country with the rest of party workers, FTNews reported.

Nawaz Sharif praised the services and efforts of Javed Hashmi.

While talking to media in Lahore, PML-N chief said that Hashmi has governed the party very well in his absence, it would have been good if he had informed before leaving.

He said that Javed Hashmi must have taken the decision after thinking properly.

Earlier, while addressing in an event at the Lahore Engineering University, Nawaz said that we will not let anybody attack the parliament and judiciary, if government cannot change the condition of the country for better, then they must take the way to their homes.

According to him, Pakistan is being pushed back on purpose.

Moreover, he said that in his regime developmental work was not done by begging, after the nuclear explosion, restrictions were imposed on the country but still they did not beg in-front of anyone.

According to Sharif, if he is given the power, he will again try to groom the country’s fate and will re-establish the respect of the green passport around the globe.

At the end of the event, he also took oath from the students.

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Season of rumors to end in March: Gilani

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday welcomed COAS Ashfaq Pervez Kayani’s recent clarifications on ‘military takeover’, FTNews reported.

The Army chief on Friday had dismissed rumours of a military coup as false speculation.

“The clarification from the army chief yesterday is extremely well taken in the democratic circles,” Gilani said.

“There will definitely be an improvement because of it.”

PM Gilani said that all political parties were united in the efforts to ensure democratic rule in the country.

Moreover, he said that the season of rumours would end in March, referring to the month in which Senate elections are scheduled to be held.

Speaking about veteran politician Javed Hashmi’s decision to join the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf, the prime minister wished the former PML-N leader success in his future ventures.

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Javed Hashmi of PML-N joins PTI

KARACHI: Veteran political leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Makhdoom Javed Hashmi announced his decision to join the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) on Saturday, FTNews reported.

The announcement, which came as Hashmi left for Multan airport to head towards Karachi, was not received well by PML-N workers, who Hashmi’s residence to show their disappointment.

However, the veteran leader said he had joined the PTI due to the party’s ideology, which was similar to his.

Pacifying the disappointed PML-N workers, he said the doors of his house will always remain open for them.

Press conference in Karachi

Hashmi was received by PTI Chief Imran Khan upon his arrival from Multan, following which the two leaders held a joint press conference, which also included PTI vice president Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

Speaking at the press conference, Hashmi said he had not made the decision to join Imran Khan’s party overnight. “I have waited four years to join Imran Khan.”

Welcoming Hashmi to his party, Imran Khan said the veteran politician has not placed any conditions on joining the PTI.

“This is an ideological revolution that he has joined.”

Hashmi said that every party first condemns the establishment, but eventually end up asking for their help.

“The time has come for the emergence of parties who do not need the establishment’s support,” he added.

Hashmi reaffirmed that he had no conflict with his former party’s leadership, and that he still had great respect for Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

Javed Hashmi also announced that his daughter Maimoona Hashmi was also resigning from her National Assembly membership.

Sitting alongside Javed Hashmi and Imran, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that a political tsunami had also begun to sweep over Sindh ever since his rally in Ghotki, where the former PPP leader had formally announced his decision to join the PTI.

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Suicide attack kills six troops in Pakistan: police

PESHAWAR: A suicide car bomb attack in northwest Pakistan killed six soldiers and wounded about a dozen others on Saturday, police said.

The attack took place in Bannu city where the bomber targeted the camp office of the paramilitary Frontier Corps troops, who are deployed in militant-infested North Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan.

“The bomber drove his explosives-packed vehicle into the FC building,” local police official Muhammad Shafiq told AFP.

He said the camp office was damaged in the attack.

Two local intelligence officials also confirmed the attack and feared the death toll could rise.

“There may be some more dead bodies lying under the debris of the single-storey building which was attacked from the back,” they told AFP.

Senior local police official Feroz Shah said the death toll stood at six, from an initial toll of five killed and 12 wounded.

No one has so far claimed responsibility for the attack on the camp, which is a base for Frontier Corps troops, also known as the Tochi Scouts, before and after deployments in North Waziristan.

Bannu is 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan.

Washington has called Pakistan’s semi-autonomous northwest tribal region the global headquarters of al-Qaeda, where Taliban and other al-Qaeda-linked networks need to be defeated if the 10-year war in Afghanistan is ever to end.

A covert US campaign of drone strikes against militants in the region has been halted following a Nato cross-border attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

The November air strikes plunged the precarious Pakistani-US alliance to its lowest ebb in a decade with both sides still in dispute about the precise sequence of events.

Islamabad has kept its Afghan border closed to Nato convoys since November 26, boycotted the Bonn conference on Afghanistan and ordered Americans to leave an air base understood to have been a hub for CIA drone strikes on the Taliban.

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