Zardari to return on Friday: Foreign Ministry

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari will return to Pakistan on Friday from a trip to Dubai, the foreign ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

“President Zardari has arrived in Dubai on a private visit and will return tomorrow,” Abdul Basit told Reuters.

According to an earlier report by the Associated Press, the president had left for Dubai where he would attend a wedding.

The officials said Thursday the president would be back in Pakistan on Friday morning and that the trip was not connected to the current crisis.

They didn’t give their names because they were not authorized to release the information.

The planned trip comes at time when Zardari is facing growing threats over a memo allegedly crafted by his former ambassador to the United States seeking help in preventing a coup by Pakistan’s powerful generals.

Zardari, 56, was released from a Dubai hospital last month after being treated for what Pakistani officials said was a transient ischemic attack, in which blood supply to a part of the nervous system is cut off, but not for long enough to kill tissue as in a stroke.

His trip to Dubai in December had triggered speculation that he might resign.

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Posted in: NATIONAL

SC moved against sacking of defence secretary

ISLAMABAD: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against the sacking of the defence secretary by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, FTNews reported.

Advocate Tariq Asad in his petition pleaded that Lt-Gen Naeem Khalid Lodhi was sacrificed by the government due to the Supreme Court’s orders in the memo case and the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case.

The petitioner further sought the court’s role in stopping the army leadership from taking any unconstitutional steps.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Prime Minister’s Office had said in a statement: “General Lodhi was dismissed for gross misconduct and illegal action…and for creating misunderstanding between institutions.”

Gen Lodhi, who took over as the defence secretary on November 28 last year, was considered to be a close confidant of Gen. Kayani.

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SC rejects EC’s request for deadline extension

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the request of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for more time to prepare the voters’ lists, FTNews reported.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry said if the EC would not complete the voters’ lists by Feb 23, then the law would take its course.

Election Commission told the apex court that the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) would not be able to complete its work in the given time.

Responding to which, Nadra officials stated that they would be able to complete the work in the designated time.

Subsequently, Chief Justice Iftikhar remarked that the EC was a part of the problem and that hurdles were being created to stop the process of completing the voters’ lists.

Calling on those trying to create “obstacles”, the chief justice said the court knew how to get its orders implemented.

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Posted in: NATIONAL