Gilani bemoans ‘trust deficit’ with US

DAVOS: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza gilani said on Saturday there was “a trust deficit” between Islamabad and Washington as he criticised the resumption of US drone strikes on his country’s tribal belt.

Speaking the day after over 100,000 people massed in Karachi to protest the strikes, Gilani said they only served to bolster militants.

“Drones are counter-productive. We have very ably isolated militants from the local tribes. When there are drone attacks that creates sympathy for them again,” Gilani told reporters at the Davos forum.

“It makes the job of the political leadership and the military very difficult. We have never allowed the drone attacks and we have always maintained that they are unacceptable, illegal and counterproductive.”

Relations between the United States and Pakistan have deteriorated sharply over the last year, with Islamabad furious about the surprise deadly raid on al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabad last year.

The two sides have also been at loggerheads over a US air strike in November in which 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed.

The US halted drone strikes on Pakistan soil in the immediate aftermath of that strike but they have since resumed.

US officials say the northwestern tribal belt provides sanctuary to Taliban fighting in Afghanistan, al Qaeda groups plotting attacks on the West, Pakistani Taliban who routinely bomb Pakistan and other foreign fighters.

In public, Pakistani leaders always insist they are against drone strikes, which are deeply unpopular in the country, but US officials insist that they privately cooperate with the programme.

Gilani said that Pakistan now wanted to agree new rules of engagement with the United States.

“The unilateral action taken in Abbottabad, that was not liked in any quarter … We need assurances that such a unilateral action will not be repeated in the future. There is a trust deficit.”

The prime minister said it was in both countries’ interests to cooperate as partners and Pakistan had paid a high price at the hands of militant groups.

“We want to work together and we are fighting against militants and terrorists. We have paid a huge price for that.”

Insurgents largely based in the tribal border lands have carried out bomb and gun attacks killing nearly 4,800 people across Pakistan since July 2007.

Pakistan has battled a homegrown insurgency for years, with more than 3,000 soldiers killed in the battle against militancy.

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SC moved for recording Ijaz’s statement abroad

ISLAMABAD: Akram Sheikh, counsel for the central character of memogate scandal Mansoor Ijaz, on Saturday filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking permission for sending memo commission aboard to register Ijaz,s statement.

The US businessman had been summoned by the parliamentary committee and the judicial commissions investigating the case, but he refused twice to come to Pakistan despite assurances of proper security.

Shaikh said his client has a security threat if he comes to Pakistan and there was also a danger that he might be arrested on false charges and evidence might be taken away from him.

The judicial commission has also submitted a request in the court asking an extension to finish the investigation.

The commission has given Ijaz one last chance to present his version of events in person, inviting him to appear on February 9.

It categorically refused Ijaz’s application to record his testimony at a location of his choice.

A nine-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry will hear the memo case on January 30.

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OBL raid: Panetta concerned by Pakistan's treatment of Shakeel Afridi

WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has expressed concern about Pakistan’s treatment of a doctor who helped the United States find al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden.

The doctor, Shakeel Afridi, has been arrested and charged with treason by the Pakistani government.

In an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” program due to be aired on Sunday, Panetta acknowledged that Afridi, a Pakistani doctor in Abbottabad, the town where Bin Laden was found, had in fact been working for US intelligence, collecting DNA to verify the 9/11 mastermind’s presence.

US Navy SEALs killed Bin Laden on May 2 in a raid on a compound in Abbottabad, north of the capital Islamabad, and later buried him at sea.

“I’m very concerned about what the Pakistanis did with this individual … who in fact helped provide intelligence that was very helpful with regards to this operation,” Panetta said, according to excerpts of the interview.

“He was not in any way treasonous towards Pakistan,” the defense secretary said. “Pakistan and the United States have a common cause here against terrorism … and for them to take this kind of action against somebody who was helping to go after terrorism, I just think is a real mistake on their part.”

Panetta said he still believed someone in authority in Pakistan knew where Bin Laden was hiding before US forces went in to find him.

Intelligence reports found that Pakistani military helicopters had passed over the compound in Abbottabad, according to the interview.

“I personally have always felt that somebody must have had some sense of what was happening at this compound,” Panetta said. “Don’t forget, this compound had 18-foot walls … It was the largest compound in the area.

“So you would have thought that somebody would have asked the question, ‘What the hell’s going on there?’” Panetta told CBS.

The Pentagon chief said this concern contributed to Washington’s decision not to give Pakistan advance warning of the impending raid.

“It concerned us that if we in fact brought (Pakistan) into it, that -they might … give Bin Laden a heads up,” he said.

Panetta acknowledged he did not have “hard evidence” that Pakistan knew of the al Qaeda leader’s whereabouts.

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New provinces: Sindh nationalists strike against MQM bill

KARACHI: Sindh nationalists staged a strike across Sindh on Saturday in protest against Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) bill in the National Assembly for the creation of new provinces, FTNews has reported.

Businesses were shut and traffic was low in many areas including Larkana, Nowshero Feroz, Dharki, Ghotki, Kashmore, Dadu, Khairpur, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Badin, Nawabshah and Thatta.

In Hyderabad, Awami Tehreek and Sindhyani Tehreek took out a rally from Hyder Chowk to SP Chowk, during which the protesters clashed with the police, and a sit-in was also staged at Ponam Petrol Pump.

Rangers were also deployed along with the police to ensure security in the city during protests.

All shops were closed in Sukkur as well, and police and Rangers were deployed for security. While in Karachi, the situation seemed normal as businesses remained open.

Sindh nationalists expressed displeasure over MQM’s bill recently tabled in the National Assembly calling for the creation of Southern Punjab and Hazara provinces.

Jeay Sindh Tehreek chairman Dr Safdar Sarki had said: “The recent bill tabled by the MQM discloses its intention. If they (MQM) think themselves as genuine Sindhis, they should act and fight for the province where they live.”

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Contempt charges: Ready for jail if court desires, says Gilani

DAVOS: Much like the climes he’s in, the prime minister was ice-cold in his reply to a question whether he expects to go to prison for contempt: “If the court so desires, I have no objection.”

In an interview with CNN on Friday – fittingly enough from Davos, Switzerland – Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani reiterated his stand on the issue for which he is facing contempt of court charges back home: Disobeying the Supreme Court’s orders to write a letter to authorities in Switzerland to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

“The court decided to send a letter to the Swiss courts … we said, according to the Constitution he (the president) has a complete immunity not only inside Pakistan, but also transnational immunity … not only for the president, the prime minister and even the foreign minister,” Gilani said.

“That is an old case, which is pending since a long time for which the president had also completed about eight years in prison,” he added.

He also told CNN that former President Pervez Musharraf would ‘certainly’ be arrested if he returned to Pakistan.

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

“Certainly, when he’ll come back, he has to face those charges and certainly be arrested,” Prime Minister Gilani said in the interview, posted by CNN on its website.

Almost on cue, Musharraf’s party also announced on Friday that the former president had postponed his return indefinitely.

Gilani also said that people in Pakistan are ‘bitter’ over an air strike by Nato forces last November that killed two dozen Pakistani soldiers near the Afghan border.

“We have paid [such a high] price for the war on terrorism,” Gilani said. “People should appreciate our struggle.”

Aside from an assortment of interviews, the prime minister spent a busy day at the World Economic Forum – including a meeting with the former chief executive officer of Microsoft, Bill Gates, whose foundation contributes about $1 billion annually for the eradication of polio globally – Gates’ foundation has spent more than $85 million for the polio eradication programme in Pakistan.

The prime minister also appreciated Gates for his efforts to provide medical treatment to Arfa Karim Randhawa, the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional in the world.

He said Pakistan has named IT educational institutions after her and invited Bill Gates to visit Pakistan and help set up high-quality education centres for the youth.

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PML-N blasts petroleum minister in Senate

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) on Saturday severely criticised Federal Minister for Petroleum Dr Asim Hussain for his prior announcement of increase in petroleum prices and termed his statement illegal, FTNews reported.

Senator Ishaq Dar, the parliamentary leader of the PML-N in Senate, alleged that the pre-announcement was aimed at creating an artificial crisis in the country and advised the minister to avoid making similar pre-announcements in the future.

Moreover, Federal Minister for Law Maula Bux Chandio seconded Dar and told reporters outside the Parliament House that Hussain’s statement was illegal, saying he should not make such pre-announcements.

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Memo commission seeks more time for probe

ISLAMABAD: The secretary of a judicial commission formed to investigate the memo scandal in a month’s time has filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking more time for the commission to finish its job, FTNews reported.

The commission’s secretary filed the application along with a copy of the order of the commission.

The commission in its order issued on Jan 24 said that Mansoor Ijaz, the central character in the scandal, had not shown up to record his statement, therefore the apex court should grant the commission more time to investigate the case.

The Supreme Court had formed this commission and directed it to complete its work within four weeks. The stipulated time period would end on Jan 30.

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Two soldiers killed in Kurram blast

KURRAM: A roadside bomb killed two Pakistani soldiers when it exploded in the Jogi area of the northwestern Kurram tribal region, near the Afghanistan border, a local security official said.

Military and paramilitary troops launched operation in the area about a month ago and reported to have killed over 250 militants.

Security forces had launched a major operation in central Kurram last summer and declared that the area had been cleared of militants.

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