Musharraf to be arrested from the airport on his return: Prosecutor

LAHORE: Senior Special Prosecutor M Azhar Chaudhry said on Saturday that former president Pervez Musharraf will be arrested from the airport when he returns to Pakistan.

Speaking to FTNews, Chaudhry said that the former president had already been declared a proclaimed offender in the Benazir Bhutto Assassination Case and there was no need to get new warrants for his arrest.

Musharraf had earlier been declared a proclaimed offender by the Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi for his failure to cooperate with investigators in the case.

The senior prosecutor said that three important pieces of evidence had also been retrieved after the forensic report of Benazir’s BlackBerry had been completed. He said that the evidence had also been added to the charge sheet.

The former dictator, who now leads his own All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) political party and has spent the last three years in self-imposed exile, had earlier announced that he would return to the county in January.

Musharraf, who came to power in a military coup in 1999 and ruled Pakistan till 2008, is facing criminal cases in the Balochistan High Court for allegedly ordering the killing of Baloch tribal chieftain Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti in 2006.

Read more »

Posted in: NATIONAL

Petition in Islamabad court calls for arresting Mansoor Ijaz

ISLAMABAD: A petition in an Islamabad court on Saturday called for the arrest of Mansoor Ijaz, FTNews reported.

The petition was filed by Khalid Jameel Sati, an activist associated with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

The petition requested the issuing of arrest orders against Ijaz, the central character of the memogate scandal, upon his arrival in Pakistan.

The petition was first sent to Jawad Abbas, the secretary of the judicial commission probing the memo, who then forwarded it to an Islamabad session court judge.

Read more »

Posted in: NATIONAL

Alleged mastermind of attacks on telco franchises killed in Karachi

KARACHI: The alleged mastermind of attacks on telecommunication franchises in Karachi was killed in an encounter with Crime Investigation Department (CID) personnel on Saturday.

Sources said that the man, who has been identified as Yasin and is believed to be affiliated with a banned outfit, was killed in an encounter with the CID on Shahra-e-Faisal. Two of his accomplices were arrested and two CID personnel were also injured in the encounter.

Yasin was the chief of A banned outfit’s Balochistan chapter, sources added.

Two franchises of telecommunication companies had come under attack in Karachi within a span of two weeks. In the first incident, armed men had walked into a Telenor outlet and opened fire, killing two employees and injuring two others.

In the second incident, a Mobilink outlet was targeted and an explosive device was used in the attack. The outlet is located on Sher Shah Suri Road in the Hyderi area of North Nazimabad. It is just a few kilometers away from the Telenor outlet.

Read more »

Posted in: NATIONAL

Militants attack army camp, school in North Waziristan

MIRAMSHAH: Militants fired three rocket-propelled grenades at a Pakistan army camp in the town of Miramshah in the North Waziristan tribal region, military officials said. There were no casualties.

In a separate incident, militants set off explosives at a boys’ school in Miramshah, damaging part of the building.

The tribal region is alleged to be a stronghold of Taliban fighters targeting American and Nato forces in Afghanistan.

Read more »

Posted in: NATIONAL

Sehba challenges court order declaring Musharraf a PO

ISLAMABAD: Pervez Musharraf’s wife Sehba Musharraf on Saturday challenged a court order that declared the former president a proclaimed offender, FTNews reported.

Sehba filed a petition in this regard in Rawalpindi’s anti-terrorist court.

The petition states that Musharraf was declared a proclaimed offender in a faulty manner and on the basis of invalid sections and provisions.

The petition states that the court had used Section 87 against Musharraf. However, since Musharraf was residing outside Pakistan before the case began, the court should have referred to Section 93 in order to act against him, the petition says.

Subsequently, the anti-terrorist court issued a notice to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and adjourned the proceedings to Jan 21.

Read more »

Posted in: NATIONAL

Pakistan frees 180 Indian nationals from Landhi jail

KARACHI: One hundred and eighty Indian nationals, including 179 fishermen, were released from Karachi’s Landhi jail on Saturday, FTNews reported.

The prisoners were released on completion of their sentences.

The freed individuals, accompanied by policemen for security reasons, would leave the Malir jail in four buses and after travelling by road they would reach Lahore on Sunday morning and then Pakistani authorities would hand them over to their Indian counterparts at the Wagah Border between 10am and 11am.

Some 362 Indian prisoners are still being held in jails across Pakistan out of which 276 of the sentenced are fishermen.

Read more »

Posted in: NATIONAL