Slogan of Roti, Kapra and Makaan do nothing in Pakistan: Fazl

KARACHI: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) chief Maulana Fazlur-Rehman has said that slogan of Roti, Kapra and Makaan never provide relief to the people of Pakistan and the government should provide facilities to labours for an improvement of economy.

He was addressing a huge rally held at Baghe Jinnah here on Friday. The JUI chief has declared feudal system as oppressive system and has destroyed economy of Pakistan and this was remnant of British era.

He further said that our economy will never improve if we will not support the labours class and poor peoples.

The JUI chief said that we would not give permission to the rulers to decide public’s fate and demanded free and fair election. He said that if free and fair election not to happen in the country so many questions will be raised regarding the democratic system and those questions would be very serious.

He said that the government not implementing on the recommendation of the parliament regarding drone attacks and war against terrorism. He further said that those who not implementing on the recommendations were biggest criminal than militant groups.

Earlier hundreds of thousands of people thronged Baghe Jinnah Karachi, the venue of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JU-F) rally , a month after Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) held a massive public show at the same.

People from across the city and interior Sindh began filling the Baghe Jinnah near Quaid’s mausoleum shortly after Friday prayer , holding party flags and chanting slogans Allaho Akbar (God is great).

According to reports, a large number of seminary students also turned up to attend the rally titled as, “Islam Zinda Bad Conference ” .

Some analysts opined that the JUI rally outnumbered the PTI rally as far as participants are concerned, but a large numbers of participants of JUI rally were seminaries’ students.

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Musharraf will “certainly” be arrested if he returns: Gilani

DAVOS: Pakistan’s former president Pervez Musharraf will “certainly” be arrested if he returns to Pakistan, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Friday.

“In fact there had been murder charges against him, and there had even been some very grave charges against him, and the Supreme Court had already given a verdict against him,” Gilani told CNN from the Global Economic Forum in Davos.

“Certainly when he’ll come back, he has to face those charges and certainly be arrested,” he said.

Musharraf announced plans to return from exile in late January and to run in upcoming elections, but his party said he was reassessing those plans when the government warned that if he returned, he faced arrest.

Pakistan’s upper house of Parliament Senate passed a non-binding resolution early this week demanding Musharraf be arrested and tried for treason for unconstitutional acts during his regime. The charges against him are in connection with 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Musharraf, who has been living in London & Dubai since resigning in 2008, has denied allegations, arguing that Bhutto had police protection and took unnecessary risks, but a Pakistani court issued a warrant for his arrest.

Separately, Gilani admitted “a lot of challenges” in the war on terrorism, including militancy in the country’s northwest region. “We are fighting for our own selves, for our own survival, because these militants, they have killed 30,000 innocent people, 5,000 brave soldiers,” he said.

The fight against terrorism has caused a “loss of economy,” Gilani said, but investment in the country remains. “Yes, we are fighting a war on extremism and terrorism, and we’re a front-line state, yes, there are a lot of challenges,” he said.

“But it doesn’t mean that there is no investment coming to Pakistan. We have offered very lucrative incentives for investment in Pakistan and there were lot of investment coming to Pakistan.”

Gilani also said people in Pakistan are “bitter” over an attack by Nato forces last November that killed 24 Pakistani troops. “We have paid so much price for the war on terrorism. People should appreciate our struggle.”

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Pervez Musharraf decides to delay Pakistan return . . . again

DUBAI: Pakistan’s former president Pervez Musharraf has delayed his return home, the head of his party announced Friday after repeated threats by the country’s leadership that the ex-strongman would be arrested upon arrival.

“He finally decided today that he would accept the recommendations” of the executive committee of the All Pakistan Muslim League party to delay his return, party secretary general Mohammed Ali Saif told reporters.

“This decision (of returning) will be deliberated by the core committee of the party,” he said.

Friends and supporters had urged Musharraf to put off an imminent homecoming after Islamabad said he would be arrested if he returned from more than three years of self-imposed exile in London and Dubai.

Speaking to CNN in Davos, Switzerland, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said Musharraf would “certainly” be arrested if he set foot back in Pakistan.

Musharraf had promised to fly home to contest general elections as Pakistan’s government sinks deeper into a major crisis, squeezed by the military and the judiciary.

But he faces two Pakistani court warrants for his arrest in connection with the 2006 death of Akbar Bugti, a rebel leader in the southwest, and the 2007 assassination of ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto after her own homecoming.

In an interview broadcast on BBC radio earlier this month, Musharraf acknowledged he would be in danger in Pakistan.

“I do feel endangered. There is a danger certainly, but you take your own protection and then leave things to destiny. Nobody can ensure you 100 per cent protection,” he said.

He admitted that his arrest in Pakistan was possible but said he would “like to remain out” of the crisis engulfing the government, army and judiciary.

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Don't give us fish, teach us how to fish, Zardari asks world leaders

KARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari said on Friday that he has always asked world leaders to “teach us [Pakistan] how to fish rather than giving us a fish.”

Zardari was speaking in Karachi at the inauguration ceremony of Waseela-e-Haq-Sindh program. He said that during his meetings with international players, he talked about “trade and not aid.”

Speaking about the currency swap arrangement with Russia, China and Turkey, Zardari said he convinced countries to trade with Pakistan in local currency.

“My own state bank, however, was sceptical about the idea because it has the mindset of getting aid and preventing new approach,” he said.

BISP to create new middle class

According to the President, the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) will help raising the living standard of poor people and will create a new middle class.

“I was told that there are people who had earlier received money through BISP and are now in a position to return that amount,” Zardari said.

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MQM's rally 'last nail in coffin' of nationalists: Altaf Hussain

SUKKUR / KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement Chief Altaf Hussain on Friday said that his party’s massive gathering in Sukkur was the last nail in the coffin of nationalists spreading hatred amongst the people of Sindh.

Calling himself the son of the soil and hailing Sindh as his mother, Hussain said that the people gathered at the rally today have rejected hatred by coming here.

“The political manipulation has ended and the Mohajirs and Sindhis are standing here like an unbreakable steel wall,” Hussain said.

The MQM chief also said that Sindh’s contribution to the national revenue is about 70 per cent, which is more than any other province.

“If Sindh is given its due share of wealth, then it can prosper and will end the feudal system,” he added.

Division of Sindh an ‘unforgivable sin’: Sattar

With fingers raised at MQM’s Twentieth Amendment Bill, calling for the creation of Southern Punjab and Hazara provinces, MQM’s Farooq Sattar said that his party deemed the division of Sindh an “unforgivable sin”.

Sattar, speaking at a rally, snubbed the Sindh Assembly’s earlier opposition which called MQM’s Twentieth Amendment Bill a “furtive action” and said that it was meant to divide the province and carve out another province where MQM would control everything.

He said that the MQM does not want a “certificate” of being a Sindhi from anyone.

Sattar said that Sindh had played a vital role in the creation of Pakistan. “Had Pakistan Resolution not been passed from the Sindh Assembly, Pakistan would not have been created. Pakistan has survived on the basis of the resolution passed by the Sindh Assembly and the sacrifices made by the people of Sindh.”

He said that Pakistan can only prosper if Sindh prospers. “Sindh is the engine of Pakistan’s success.”

“Altaf Hussain does what he says,” he said. “We changed the map of Karachi with the little authority we were given. We changed the map of Hyderabad too. If we are given a chance to improve the condition of Sindh, we will change the map of Sindh.”

He said, “MQM has knocked out the whole team of feudals and the so-called nationalists with a single ball.”

“MQM is the last train for the prosperity of Sindh, if you miss this train, there will be no train coming after,” Sattar said.

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Rabbani says ministries formed after 18th Amendment 'unconstitutional'

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader, Senator Raza Rabbani said on Friday that the ministries formed by the government after the passing of the 18th Amendment were “unconstitutional”. Rabbani had earlier headed the Implementation Commission on 18th Amendment.

Rabbani was speaking on a point of order when Senator Nilofar Bakhtiar of Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML-Q) had informed lawmakers that the new Heritage ministry was unconstitutional.

Some lawmakers also linked the devolution of the Health ministry to provinces as a reason for the death of over 100 patients in Punjab. Rabbani said the argument was bizarre.

Speaking in the Senate on a point of order, Rabbani said he had written to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani that the decision to form new ministries was unconstitutional and said that nobody had listened to him.

Senator Professor Khurshid Ahmad of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) said that before the 18th Amendment, there was no justification for 11 ministries, but now they were unconstitutional.

“The federal government is resisting the process of devolution,” he said.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had created seven new federal and state ministries in 2011 to absorb leftover departments after devolution.

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AG, defence ministry issued notices over Balochistan situation

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to the attorney general and ministry of defence, directing them to procure daily secret reports submitted by Military Intelligence and Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) regarding law and order situation in Balochistan province.

A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez also directed respondents to apprise the bench on next date of hearing whether such reports were classified or otherwise.

The bench was hearing a constitutional petition moved by Hadi Shakeel and others under Article 184 (3), regarding protection to life and property of the residents of the province.

Director Legal Intelligence Bureau also submitted a report, terming it as classified. The bench directed the officer to submit it with the registrar office for their perusal.

The bench after going through the report remarked that the things mentioned in the report were already known to everyone.

The chief justice said that they were not satisfied with the report.

He directed the counsel appeared for the provincial government to prepare a summary of reports of special branch and others.

The bench said that the additional advocate general Balochistan should complete the task and adjourned the hearing of the case till February 6.

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Division of Sindh an 'unforgivable sin': Farooq Sattar

SUKKUR: With fingers raised at Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Twentieth Amendment Bill, calling for the creation of Southern Punjab and Hazara provinces, MQM’s Farooq Sattar on Friday said that his party deemed the division of Sindh an “unforgivable sin”.

Sattar, who was speaking at a rally in Sukkur, snubbed the Sindh Assembly’s earlier opposition which called MQM’s Twentieth Amendment Bill a “furtive action” and said that it was meant to divide the province and carve out another province where MQM would control everything.

He said that the MQM does not want a “certificate” of being a Sindhi from anyone.

Sattar said that Sindh had played a vital role in the creation of Pakistan. “Had Pakistan Resolution not been passed from the Sindh Assembly, Pakistan would not have been created. Pakistan has survived on the basis of the resolution passed by the Sindh Assembly and the sacrifices made by the people of Sindh.”

He said that Pakistan can only prosper if Sindh prospers. “Sindh is the engine of Pakistan’s success.”

“Altaf Hussain does what he says,” he said. “We changed the map of Karachi with the little authority we were given. We changed the map of Hyderabad too. If we are given a chance to improve the condition of Sindh, we will change the map of Sindh.”

He said, “MQM has knocked out the whole team of feudals and the so-called nationalists with a single ball.”

“MQM is the last train for the prosperity of Sindh, if you miss this train, there will be no train coming after,” Sattar said.

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Malik for judicial probe in spurious drugs case

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Friday hinted at setting up a judicial commission to probe the issue pertaining to spurious drugs that have claimed the lives of around 104 people in Punjab.

“I will discuss the matter with the top leadership and suggest the setting up of a judicial commission to bring the real culprits to task. I will recommend the inclusion of a representative of the media as a member in the commission,” he said.

Speaking to media representatives here today, he said that clear directives had been given to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to arrest whosoever was found involved in the drugs case.

He criticised the Punjab government for not checking up on the substandard medicines even when it had around 500 drugs inspectors.

Commenting on a statement from Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif regarding provision of security to Mansoor Ijaz in Punjab, the interior minister said that it was tantamount to contempt of court.

The minister said that the chief minister was attempting to divert the public’s attention from the spurious drugs case by issuing such statements.

He was of the view that Shahbaz Sharif, who also held the portfolio of provincial health minister, should at least have resigned from the minister’s slot after the deaths of 104 people.

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ECP announces new by-polls date

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday issued the schedule for by-elections on six National Assembly and four provincial assembly seats which are to be held on Feb 25, FTNews reported.

The commission said that the schedule for by-polls had been changed due to preparation of fresh electoral rolls for the concerned constituencies.

The ECP said that electoral rolls were being prepared in light of the order of the Supreme Court.

The commission expressed hope that updated rolls would be ready before the by-polls.

The commission had earlier announced Feb 20 as the date for by-polls but later decided to change it in view of the objections raised by the apex court over inaccuracy in voters’ lists.

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SC adjourns Khurram Rasool case to Feb 10

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned the hearing of contempt of court plea against DG FIA in the Khurram Rasool case to Feb 10, FTNews reported.

Moreover, the case against Rasool was sent to a trial court. Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry said that it was a fraud case and not a case for the banking courts.

Earlier on Jan 25, a three-member bench of the apex court, headed by the chief justice, had directed the FIA to immediately arrest prime minister’s former media coordinator and produce him in court today.

On Jan 26, Rasool had been convicted in a banking fraud case for minting Rs 71 million and the Rawalpindi Accountability Court had sentenced him to three years imprisonment.

During Friday’s hearing, DG FIA Inam Ghani told the court that Rasool was arrested from Islamabad’s Sihala bridge area earlier today. However, Rasool denied the claim and said that he had voluntarily surrendered himself to the FIA.

Justice Khilji showed his dislike over the FIA’s claim and asked: “Why are they (FIA) claiming the credit for something they have not done?”

However, the petitioner’s counsel, Raseed A. Rizvi, said that Rasool was a liar who had given four bogus cheques to the authorities.

Rasool said the petitioner was threatening him and his family and was sending him intimidating messages.

He further said that 80 per cent of the money had already been returned to the concerned authorities.

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Security for Mansoor Ijaz: 'Shahbaz's statement contempt of court'

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik has termed Shahbaz Sharif’s statements on providing security to Mansoor Ijaz as ‘contempt of court’, FTNews reported on Friday.

Malik said that he will file a request for a ‘contempt of court’ notice against the chief minister.

Shahbaz Sharif, on Thursday, said that he will take personal responsibility of providing complete security to Ijaz during his visit to Pakistan.

He said that he will welcome Ijaz and will provide him security till the last moment he is in Pakistan, and also offered the judicial commission probing the controversial memo to come to the province to record Ijaz’s statements.

In response to Shahbaz’s statements, Rehman Malik also said that the ‘cat is out of the bag’ now and that it was clear why Nawaz Sharif went to court for the Mansoor Ijaz case.

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Banking court orders auction of Rasool's property in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: A Rawalpindi banking judge has ordered that the property owned by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s former media coordinator Khurram Rasool Rasool in Islamabad be auctioned within a month.

The order was passed when the banking court released the verdict in the bank loan case.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan had earlier question why a banking court was taking action when the case was one of forgery and fraud. Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials told the court that the transactions had been made through a private bank, which is why the banking court had interceded.

Rasool was presented before the Supreme Court earlier today by the FIA.

Rasool had surrendered before the FIA late Thursday night in a corruption reference filed in 2009 after he defaulted on a bank loan. The Supreme Court had ordered the FIA to arrest him by January 27 (today).

According to FTNews, Rasool told the court that he had surrendered himself to the FIA and that he and his family was being threatened by the petitioner, Sameer Hussain. He added that he was receiving death threats via SMS.

The court questioned Rasool as to why he did not surrender before as he was being summoned since the past 11 months. He said that he was “hiding” because of the threats.

Hussain had alleged that Rasool defrauded the complainant of Rs630 million by promising him a quota for LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) and licence for oil supplies to Nato forces stationed in Afghanistan.

On April 28, 2011, the trial court declared Rasool a proclaimed offender for his absence from proceedings.

Rasool informed that court that he also runs businesses and owns factories outside the country and he did not serve as the PM’s media coordinator during the time he was handling his business.

He explained to the court that he did not default on the loan, but the payment was delayed due to a delay in the shipment.

Rasool had obtained a loan of Rs70 million from the bank using fake documents.

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11 bodies retrieved from mine near Abbottabad

BATKINALA, ABBOTTABAD: A 48-hour long rescue operation ended as 11 bodies were pulled out from the rubble of a phosphate mine in Abbottabad on Friday. The mine had caved in on January 25.

The accident occurred in Batkinala, a remote village in Abbottabad district, when 11 mine workers, including two owners, were buried alive as a heavy mass of the phosphate mine fell on them. They were reportedly having lunch at the mouth of the mine, sources said.

Attempts to launch a rescue operation were made as soon as villagers contacted police and district administration officials, but the mine is located at a steep point which is inaccessible by land.

A Rescue operation was carried out by the Rescue 1122 team and Pakistan Army personnel. Residents also helped carrying out the rescue operation.

Sniffer dogs were also used to find the bodies.

DCO Abbottabad Imtiaz Hussain confirmed that 11 mine workers had died. He said they were working on a private mine, which was not managed by the mineral department.

Villagers said that those feared dead are Nasim Shah, Waheed Shah, Naveed Shah, Razaq Abbasi, Sheikh Younas, Muhammad Javed, Muhammad Shabbir, Sardar Muhammad Waheed and Riaz.

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Imran Khan confident of becoming PM

DAVOS: Cricket legend and opposition politician Imran Khan predicted Thursday that his party will sweep the next national elections and he will become the country’s next prime minister.

The 59-year-old Khan entered politics 15 years ago when he founded Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or the Movement for Justice Party and struggled to translate his sporting fame into votes.

But his political fortunes changed in October. He said he was shocked that crowds he estimated at 250,000 people turned out to support him not only in Lahore but later in Karachi, apparently attracted by his pledge to fight corruption, promote real democracy, institute a welfare system, and change Pakistan’s relationship with the United States.

”Eighty per cent of the politicians have joined me … because their children have revolted,” Khan said.

”People basically want the same democratic rights that exist in the Western countries. They want the same democracy, the same freedom.”

National elections are not scheduled until 2013, but Khan and other opposition leaders have been pressing the government to hold earlier polls.

Despite Khan’s rising popularity, it’s unclear how much he can shake up the political scene in the 2013 elections.

Khan said he was not daunted by the parties which he called ”political mafias.”

”The struggle that’s coming up in Pakistan is between a huge population dying for a democratic change against these political mafias that have stunted our growth and sold the interests of the country,” he told several hundred business and political leaderws at a luncheon on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum sponsored by the Pathfinder Group which carries out a wide variety of services in 132 cities and towns in Pakistan.

”I don’t think we’ll win the election —I think we’ll sweep the elections,” Khan predicted. ”But I hope we get two-thirds (of the seats in parliament) and I think we will.”

If the party wins, he said he will immediately focus on instituting the rule of law, expanding health care and education, especially for women, collecting taxes and tackling the country’s energy crisis.

Khan said Pakistan also needs a new relationship with the United States —a friendly one but not one in which Pakistan is a ”client state.”

”We don’t want to be, as we have been, a hired gun being paid to fight their war,” he said. ”We want a relationship where we are a credible, sovereign government. … Surely, that is what the US should want a Pakistani government to do, and that is what an Indian government should want.”

Khan said he hoped that Pakistan will have a relationship with India where the only competition is on the cricket field or ”which country reduces poverty first.”

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US says wants Pakistan to be part of Afghan reconciliation process

WASHINGTON: The United States believes Pakistan has an important role to play in the Afghan reconciliation process and expects Islamabad to have an ample opportunity to stay engaged on the issue going forward, the State Department said on Thursday.

“We think Pakistan has an important role to play in supporting the reconciliation process. We very much like Pakistan to be part of this (Afghan-led reconciliation process) as do Afghans,” spokesperson Victoria Nuland said at the daily briefing.

She disagreed with the suggestion that Pakistan has been sidelined on the issue of Afghan reconciliation with the Taliban.

“We think they (Pakistanis) will have ample opportunity to remain engaged” and that Ambassador Grossman’s visit to Islamabad — which could not materialise due to Pakistan’s continuing internal review of relations with the US — “was not the sole opportunity” for engagement on the issue.

The spokesperson was answering a series of questions about US Special Envoy Marc Grossman not having been able to visit Pakistan and having an opportunity to meet with Pakistani officials during his current visit to several regional countries with the Afghan reconciliation being the focus of discussions.

The spokesperson said Washington had “complete understanding” for the Pakistani position on Grossman’s visit in view of Islamabad’s ongoing internal review of its ties with the United States.

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Rockets hit Pakistan military academy in Abbottabad

PESHAWAR: Attackers on Friday fired rockets at Pakistan’s top military academy, damaging its outer wall in a major security breach near the home where Osama bin Laden lived for years, officials said.

No one was hurt in the pre-dawn attack and it was unclear who fired the nine rockets from behind a mosque in mountains overlooking the Kakul academy.

The garrison city of Abbottabad was considered one of the safest parts of nuclear-armed Pakistan until American special forces on May 2 found and killed the al Qaeda founder in a compound where he apparently lived for five years.

Three rockets on Friday damaged the outer wall of the academy, which is just 500 metres (yards) from the site of the US Navy SEALs raid that seriously damaged already turbulent relations between Pakistan and the United States.

“Nine rockets were fired. Three rockets hit the boundary wall of the military academy and damaged it. No one was hurt in the attack,” Imtiaz Hussain Shah, a top local government official in Abbottabad told AFP.

“We have launched a search operation,” Shah added.

Mohammad Karim Khan, Abbottabad police chief, confirmed the attack.

“Three rockets hit the boundary wall. Three others landed in an open area and three others landed in a field,” he said.

Officials blamed terrorists for the attack.

Shah told TV channel Geo that police had recovered nine rocket-launching pads behind a mosque, about 500 metres from the academy.

“We have a security system and checkpoints on the roads, but the place they used as a launch pad is accessible from all sides and there are mountains at the back of this place,” he said.

“At this stage we cannot say who was involved, but they are terrorists and we are investigating how they managed to reach this place.”

Taliban and other militants are fighting an insurgency against the army, although there has been a marked decline in violence in recent months.

Considered one of the quietest towns in the northwest, nestled in pine-dotted hills and popular with day-trippers from the capital, Abbottabad is listed on Pakistan’s official tourism website as a “popular summer resort”.

But although it is mainly tranquil, it is close to more troubled areas.

A judicial commission is investigating how bin Laden managed to live undetected in Pakistan for so long, and whether there was any government or military collusion.

Pakistani-US ties have since reached a new low over US air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last November, leading Pakistan to shut its Afghan border to Nato supplies and conduct a review of its alliance with Washington.

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