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SUNDAY MAY 26, 2013 RAJAB 15, 1434 I RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD I VOL, VI, NO. 37 I WWW.THESPOKESMAN.PK I PAGES 08 I PRICE RS. 10/-

PML-N eyesNA-48 seat

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Jacqueline, Sajidpart ways

PG| 07TTOODDAAYY’’SS WWEEAATTHHEERR

Not as hotwith a t-storm

HIGH: 39 LOW: 20

Rat Race onfor Washingtonappointment

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SAEED MINHAS

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: To end the zero sumgame of Baloch Sardars and Nawabs,a middle class representative ofBaloch Dr Abdul Maalik Baloch islikely to win the nomination of NawazLeague for the top clot of aninsurgency-hit province.Sources believe that after days ofconsultations and shuttling diplomacyof Shahbaz Sharif between provincialheadwaters of the country, NawazLeague has agreed to nominate

President of the National Party (NP),Dr Maalik as chief minister ofBalochistan. With eight of the 51 seatsresults either held by ECP or cancelled,Nawaz League has so far bagged 15MPAs after six independents joined itsrank and thus far is the largest singleparty in the house. National Party of DrMaalik with its seven seats andPakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party(PkMAP) of Mahmood Khan Achakzaiwith ten seats are the other leadingparties. JUI (F) is also sitting therewith six provincial assembly seats.

In the latest development it is learntthat PkMAP has endorsed Dr Maalik'snomination and has conveyed the sameto the PML (N) leadership. MaulanaFazalur Rehman has become lessambitious after refusal from the NawazLeague to give him a support in KP tostand up against Imran Khan.Interestingly, this is PML-N’s thirdendorsement for the top slot of theprovince in the past one week. Earlier,Sanaullah Zehri was dubbed as itschief contender for CM House butlater with the arrival of Jan Jamali and

Jangaiz Khan in the ring, NawazLeague immediately withdrew itsdecision. Sources believe that up tillfew days back Jan Jamali wasconsidered favourite in the Nawazleague circles but with the joining ofZafarullah Jamali, he too has to beshown the door by Nawaz league.PML (N) Leadership is learned tohave agreed with elderly Jamali andalso with Mahmood Khan Achakzai inthis regard. A formal announcementis yet to be made in this regard.Inside sources further revealed that

Sanaullah Zehri and Jangaiz Marriare still in the hunt and arepressuring the party leadership tokeep the top slot within the party.Both hailing from strong nationalistparties, however, are considered notacceptable to moderate forces withinthe provincial politics.Political observers believe that DrMaalik will be an acceptable choicefor all and might prove helpful inwinning the hearts and minds of thepeople as well as of separatists. Thisappointment will be the first indicator

that will show how much roomNawaz will allow the Army onstrategic issues, they believe. Manyout there still argue that JangaizMarri and Dr Maalik are two topcontenders left in the race now withDr Maalik likely to win the race.Dr. Baloch has been an MPA in theBaluchistan Assembly thrice, and hasalso served as a senator for six years inIslamabad. He was a member of thecabinet in Nawab Akbar Bugti’scabinet and served as provincialeducation minister.

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The power shortfall in thecountry has exceeded 7,000MW, causingload shedding up to 20 hours a day in severalareas across the country.Ministry of Water and Power says severalareas across the country continued tounannounced power outage due to the risingshortfall. OMcials said supply of furnace oilcould not be enhanced due to non-provisionof funds by the Finance Ministry, aNectingpower generation. They warned that unlessand until Rs 17.5 billion are supplied, thecountry would continue to face with severeloadshedding. Meanwhile, the KarachiElectric Supply Company has reported amassive reduction in gas supply which couldlead to increase in load shedding in the city.Talking to private TV channel on Saturday,KESC spokesman alleged that conspiracywas underway to push the people of Karachiinto darkness. He said gas supply to theKESC has been reduced by 50 percent whichis against the standards set by gas allocationpolicy. Fourteen tripped units of GudduThermal Power Plant and a technical glitchin Dera Murad Jamali grid station have beenfixed on Saturday morning. The powersupply to aNected parts of Sindh andBalochistan have also resumed following theremoval of technical faults. Earlier, KESCOsources said that power supply to JaNerabadand Nasirabad among various areas was

halted as a technical fault had occurred inDera Murad Jamali grid station.On the other hand, as soon as two units ofGuddu thermal tripped on Friday night,twelve more units also got oN after whichpower supply to various areas of Sindh andBalochistan were suspended.Massive electricity load shedding hastriggered protests in most aNected areas onSaturday. After remaining out of electricity,people went berserk to stage protests onroads. The power outages have createdsevere water shortage in most areas.Especially, Punjab and KhyberPakhtunkhwa (KP) have been subjected toprolonged and unscheduled electricity loadshedding varying between 18 to 20 hours aday. At present, the power supply across thecountry is 9,500 MW with demand around16,500 MW. Prime Minister Mir HazarKhan Khoso has taken notice of worseningelectricity shortage and directed Minister onWater and Power to take immediate steps toimprove the situation. However, the PowerMinistry seems unmoved despite premier’snotice. A petition was also filed in LahoreHigh Court Saturday seeking formation ofjudicial commission on electricity issue. Thepetitioner has asked court to issue directivesto end all the private power companies andrestore Water and Power DevelopmentAuthority (WAPDA). –ONLINE

OUR STAFF REPORTER

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The JudicialCommission (JC) hasrecommended one-yearextension in service of nineadditional judges of Sindhand Peshawar high courtsand regularisation of foradditional judges ofPeshawar High Court(PHC).Media reports said ameeting of the JC was heldhere under the chairmanshipof Chief Justice of Pakistan(CJP) Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry on Saturday,which was attended by thecaretaker law minister, therepresentative of PakistanBar Council and the attorneygeneral. The JCrecommended extension inservice of six additionaljudges of the Sindh HighCourt (SHC) and threeadditional judges of the LHC.During the meeting, thename of Justice HabiburRahman of SHC wasdropped.One-year extension inservice was recommendedfor Justice Azizur Rahman,Justice Aftab Ahmad,Justice Riazat Ali, JusticeSalahud Panore, JusticeFarooq Ali Channa andJustice Muhammad FarooqShah from the SHC andjustice Qaisar Rashid,Justice Waqar Ahmad Saithand Justice Nasir Hussain ofthe PHC. –ONLINE

KKAARRAACCHHII:: As many asnine persons were killed infresh spate of violence inseparate incidents onSaturday.In the area of Mangopeer, a group of bannedoutfit targeted a group ofMir Zaman group.Suddenly, they startedretaliation and threepersons including KhanBoos and Tor Khan diedon the spot. Upon receivinginformation, Policereached on the site andshifted the dead bodies toAbbasi Shaheed hospitalfor autopsy. Later on,Police claimed that theterrorist was killed inpolice encounter whilethey also recovered localbomb and two pistols fromthe dead body of a person.Meanwhile, in the areaof Sarjani town nearKhuda Ki Basti two morepersons were killed infiring while two moredead bodies namely TajMunir, Musa hailing fromrailway city colony andMansehra were recovered.In other incident, twomore tortured deadbodies were recoveredfrom Landhi. –ONLINE

KKAARRAACCHHII:: FFoorrmmeerr PPuunnjjaabb cchhiieeff mmiinniisstteerr SShhaahhbbaazz SShhaarriiff ttaallkkiinngg ttoo tthhee mmeeddiiaa oonn SSaattuurrddaayy.. –ONLINE

KKAARRAACCHHII:: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Shahbaz Sharif on Saturdayreiterated to end energy crisis in the country.Talking to the media after meeting thechief of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional here, the former andfuture-designate chief minister ofPunjab said the previous governmenthad done nothing to overcome energycrisis in the country. He said that aftercoming into power, his party wouldimmediately take every possible step toproduce electricity. He said the Thar coalproject would be activated.Sharif said the PML-N in the center wouldfacilitate all provinces to maintain law andorder situation, especially in Karachi andBalochistan. He said the center wouldcoordinate with the Sindh government torestore peace in Karachi which is thefinancial engine of the country.“The Pakistan Muslim League will helpthe local authority to end extortion, targetkilling, kidnapping and terrorism in Karachiand all over the province,” he said.Sharif vowed to introduce Lahore-likeMetro Bus System in Karachi. “As wepromised to the people of this city, the PML-N will immediately work on this mass transitsystem and I oNered my expertise to buildthe bus system in Karachi,” he said.He alleged President Zardari used hisadministrative powers in Sindh to interferein poll results added that the real mandateof Sindhi people has been stolen.

Sharif said his party did not believe inpolitical victimisation but people who wereinvolved in mega corruption would bebrought to accountability.He said the alliance with the PML-Functional would be in favour of the peopleof Sindh added that he invited Pir Pagaro toRaiwind and Islamabad to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Nawaz Sharif.Pir Pagaro, on the occasion, urgedunification of all factions of Pakistan MuslimLeague. He said all factions of PakistanMuslim League should be gathered on asingle forum and be united for betterment ofthe country. Pir Pagaro said that he had beensupporting Nawaz Sharif and would supporthim in future as well. –ONLINE

WWAASSHHIINNGGTTOONN:: President Obamatook pains to place the new restrictionson targeted killings he announcedThursday into the context of a broadreappraisal of the nation's anti-terrorism eNort.Drones are not "a cure-all forterrorism," he said in his speech at theNational Defense University. They arenot always "wise or moral," he said. "Allwars must end." But a large measure ofexpediency helped push thoseprinciples along, former US oMcialsand analysts say, says LA Times.The five-year surge in missile strikesthat Obama authorized after inheriting

the programme from George W Bushalready has accomplished most of whatit could, the analysts say."We're running out of viable targets,"said Mark Lowenthal, a former CIAassistant director for analysis. "To justkeep slinging drones for the sake ofslinging drones becomescounterproductive."At the same time, the political andinternational backlash against droneshas grown. And many experts believedrone attacks have become a recruitingmagnet for new terrorists.The drone program "has long been adeclining asset," said historian

Matthew Aid, whose 2012 book, "IntelWars: The Secret History of the FightAgainst Terror," looked deeply at droneoperations. "Lately, it's been mostlykilling small fry. And the nationalsecurity establishment has started toturn against it."By the time Obama made hisannouncement of more restrictive,targeting rules for drone strikes, thepace of such attacks had alreadydeclined sharply. So far this year, 13attacks have taken place in Pakistan,just a little more than two per month,on average, down from a peak of nearly10 a month in 2010, according to the

Long War Journal, a website thattracks drone strikes using mediareports. The site reports 10 strikes sofar this year in Yemen, where 42 tookplace last year. Strikes in Somalia havealways been infrequent.To be sure, few national securityoMcials believe the drone programshould be shelved entirely, which iswhy Obama's speech included avigorous defence of it.Drone strikes have killed "dozens ofhighly skilled Al Qaeda commanders,trainers, bomb makers and operatives,"he said. "Plots have been disrupted thatwould have targeted international

aviation, US transit systems, Europeancities and our troops in Afghanistan.Simply put, these strikes have savedlives." But what had been a looselycoordinated program run mainly bythe CIA — the standards for which hadalready been tightened in the last year— now will evolve into a diNerent sortof enterprise, oMcials said, one subjectto more review across the governmentand controlled mainly by the military.Obama left it to aides to address thedetails, and the targeting changeshinge on subtleties of language. Whereonce the US would mount a droneoperation against someone who posed

"a significant threat," now the standardis a "continuing and imminent threat”.And while a threat to "US interests"formerly suMced to justify a strike, nowthe threat must be to "US persons."The rules still give the presidentplenty of leeway.The Obama administration'sdefinition of "imminent," for example,is not the one found in Webster's. AJustice Department white paperrelating to the targeting of US citizenssaid an imminent threat does notrequire "clear evidence that a specificattack … will take place in theimmediate future." –MONITORING DESK

Drone programme has largely run its course: LA Times

Shahbaz ‘again’ vowsto end energy crisis

Nine morekilled in freshKarachiviolence

JC extendsservice of 9additionaljudges

Power outagesgenerate protestscountrywide

Dr Maalik likely to dent control of Sardars in Balochistan

� KESC warns of increased outages due to reduction ingas supply � Tripped units at Guddu fixed, power supplyresumes � Shortfall crosses 7500 MW mark

� Says after coming into power, his party willimmediately take every step to produce electricity

18 students, teacher burnt to deathGGUUJJRRAATT:: At least 18 children and a schoolteacher were burnt to death while eight sustained severe injuriesas the gas cylinder of a school van exploded in the Mangwal area of the city. Media reports said that childrenwere between eight to 15 years of age. According to details, the ill-fated Toyota Hiace met the disaster at 7:40am when it was going back to Jinnah Public School Mangwal after picking up the children from Rajay Ki andKot Khagga. Media reports revealed that the cylinder of the van exploded with blast, fire engulfed the wholevan and finally it burnt to ashes. Rescue sources informed that total 20-25 children were boarded in the vanand three real brothers were also among the dead. The dead bodies and injured were shifted to Aziz BhattiDistrict Head Quarter Hospital where two more children are in critical condition. DPO Gujrat Dar AliKhattak told media that driver of the van succeeded to flee from the scene but he would be captured soon,adding the incident took place due to short circuit not because of exploding the cylinder. PML-N PresidentMian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif expressed grave sorrowand woe about the tragic incident that took away lives of 18 children. President Asif Ali Zardari alsoexpressed deep shock and concern over the tragic incident. He expressed his heartfelt sympathies with thebereaved families over the irreparable loss of their loved ones. President Zardari also directed the concernedauthorities for an immediate report on the fatal incident and to provide best medical care to the injuredschool children. Meanwhile, All Pakistan CNG Association has issued statement denying reports of CNGcylinder blast that killed some 20 school children in Gujrat. –ONLINE

By the time President Obama announced the new limits, the campaign had been scaled back sharply, because of criticism and waning targets

CMYK

CMYK

Venom Inc. This should not be heldagainst me in a court of law as Isolemnly declare that these are

absolute lies, dirty whispers and wildspeculation that I have heard whilecrawling in the dark power corridors ofthe creepy Capital. You will believe themat your own risk Shh...If you have venomto spill please don’t hesitate to share withus on our blog at www.thespokesman.pk

Salman�@salman29793mMetro will help people reachfunerals on time.�@sumiyyaSpeaks: People

of Karachi want peace, SS wants to givethem metro�Ayla Malik �@AylaMalikPTI2mCRITICS are people who aren’t happy withthemselves and love to find faults inothers.....Faisal Qureshi �@faisalqureshi1mSocieties who ostracise their victims ncelebrate the oppressors hv come straihtfrom hell n r going right back thereakchishti �@akchishti34s#NayaPakistan has not worked out for #PTI

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

TahiR niaZ

ISLAMABAD: Political affiliation ofthe polling staff and attitude of thereturning officers during scrutinyprocess remained the majorconcerns for the ElectionCommission of Pakistan (ECP) duringthe May 2013 general elections.The ECP sources told �The

Spokesman� on Saturday that itwas all due to the returningofficers and the polling staff thatthe Commission has had to facecriticism and problems in conductof the smooth elections otherwise,they said, it was all good on partof the Commission, with fewexceptions. The sources cited aproposed amendment in theelection law which the parliamentdid not pass. �The ECP hadproposed that all those called forelection duty are considered to beon deputation for the time beingso that the Commission could takedirect action against the violatorsof its instructions includingdismissal from service� under theprevailing laws, the Commission

could only recommend actionagainst the violators and they goscot free�, the sources said.When asked where the ECP

lacked and what caused problemsfor the ECP in smooth conduct ofelections, the ECP sources saidpolitical affiliation of the polling staff

and attitude of the returningofficers during scrutiny processremained the major concerns forthe ECP. Citing an example, thesources said one of the Principal ofIslamabad School conducted therally of a candidate as stagesecretary as he knew that nobody

could touch him due to his politicalbacking. Similarly, they said, somepresiding officers sided withparticular candidates on polling day,knowing that the politicians wouldrescue in case some action isrecommended against them.Furthermore, there is no clearmention about taking action againstwho violates the election guidelines,the sources added.It is to mention here that majority

of the polling staff is taken from theeducation department which is underdirect control of the provinces. Theformer provincial governmentsparticularly in Punjab andBalochistan, days before theelections, granted permanent jobs tothose serving on contracts, may beto win their sympathies. The ECP sources admitted that

ROs caused embarrassment for theCommission by putting irrelevantquestions to the candidates duringscrutiny process. However, theCommission was unable to takeaction against them. The sourcesalso admitted lack of coordinationbetween the ROs and the

Commission, saying the Commissioncould not issue in time directions tothe ROs for scrutiny.The ECP also failed in taking action

against those violated the muchtouted code of conduct for thepolitical parties and candidates. TheCommission had deputed observersin different constituencies to monitorthe code of conduct violations buthardly any action had beenrecommended against the violators.PTI Chairman Imran Khan andMaryam Nawaz were summoned bythe concerned returning officers buthardly any action was taken againsthundreds of other violators as wasreported by different observers fromtime to time.The sources further said that

political parties could play vital rolein smooth conduct of elections but,they added, polling agents of thecandidates were not trainedproperly. In some cases, they werenot aware of their duties even, theyadded. The ECP has already startedexercise to identify the areas whereit needed improvement before thenext general elections.

Political affiliation of polling staff, ROs’attitude remained major concerns for ECP

saLMan aBBas

ISLAMABAD: In what appears to bea helplessness of CDA top bosses, for›mer Director of civic body�s MunicipalDirectorate, Mansoor Khan, cannot berepatriated to his parent departmentdespite being involved in numerouscases of alleged corruption.Recently, the management of CDA

decided to repatriate all those officials,working on deputation, to their parentdepartments against whom complainsof corruption were received. The issuewhich compelled the CDA manage›ment to do so was that the acts ofdeputationists were also damagingthe image of CDA further. And in asame line, the preparations weremade to repatriate Mansoor Khan toPresidency, which is his parent de›partment.A senior CDA official told The

Spokesman that letters were sent tothe parent departments of all the dep›

utationists and most of them havebeen sent back packing. However, dueto his close links with power corridors,Mansoor Khan succeeded to foil all themoves of CDA bosses against him. �Asthe official on deputation can be repa›triated after mutual understanding be›tween both parent and incumbentdepartments, Presidency refused toaccept Mansoor Khan, contendingthat no vacancy was available in thedepartment so far,� he added.After finding no way to teach Man›

soor a lesson, the bosses of CDA hasnow assigned him as Officer on Spe›cial Duty (OSD). �But it is feared thatafter a short period, Mansoor will onceagain take the charge of any impor›tant post in the CDA,� said the official.Number of inquiries was pending

against Mansoor Khan for his allegedinvolvement in illegal activities. A CDAofficial said that a detailed inquiry wasconducted to probe the matter relatedto allotment of kiosk in name of for›

mer interior minister Rehman Malik�sbrother. �And in that inquiry, Mansoorwas found involved of extending un›just favor to the Minister�s family mem›ber whereas the action was alsorecommended against the guilty offi›cials,� said the source. He said that the

authority has faced a loss of billionsdue to poor performance of DMA di›rectorate which remained under thecontrol of same personality for a longtime.A powerful official is also well known

for his tactics to create relations withthe influential personalities. CDA offi›cial said that Mansoor had played avital role for amendment in leaseamount of precious billboards allottedto Bahria Town administration at air›port chowk. The official said that inamended lease amount, the bahriaadministration was allowed to carryout their advertisement in return forpeanuts.While talking to The Spokesman

Mansoor Khan rule out all the allega›tions against him, saying that a con›spiracy was being hatched against himbecause he was the chairman of CDA�sofficers association and always raisedhis voice for the rights of employees.He said that the then Chairman CDA

allotted a kiosk to the brother of inte›rior minister and I have no link withthat allotment. However, sources said

that no kiosk can be allotted withoutconsent of DMA.�I have not been found guilty by ju›

Official involved in a number of alleged malpracticesA Deputationist from Presidency clings on to CDA

Zeeshan Javaid

ISLAMABAD: Lack ofcommunication between foreignoffice and ministry for water andpower is learned to have put boththe neighboring countries (Pakistanand Afghanistan) into uncertainityover the most critical trans›borderwater issue involving Kabul RiverBasin (KRB), particularly when thevolume of available water inPakistan is likely to decrese 6 timesin near future. Available documents in this regard

reveals that government ofAfghanistan initiated multi›purposewater projects on the tributaries ofthe Kabul River with assistance fromthe international community. Indiaplans to assist Afghanistan in thisinitiative, which will adversely impactPakistan. The documents also showthat the World Bank will providefunding for the 12 dams that will cost$7.079 billion.Pakistan and Afghanistan currently

share nine rivers with annual flows ofabout 18.3 million acres feet (MAF)of which Kabul River accounts for16.5 MAF, while River Chitral, whichoriginates from Pakistan, contributesabout 8.5 MAF. After it entersAfghanistan this river is called RiverKunar. It joins the Kabul River nearJalalabad and then re›entersPakistan.Hamid karazai, the president of

Afghanistan and former chiefexecutive of country Raja PervaizAshraf during one to one meeting in2012 to discuss the strategic bilateralissues, deliberated about water pactbetween both countries for utilizationof trans›border resources on thepattern of Pak›India Indus WaterBasin Treaty of 1960. However the ministry of water and

power and foreign office passed thebuck to each other regarding the

move initiated by Indian authoritiesto help Afghanistan to build morethan 12 small, medium and megahydropower projects over KabulRiver Basin (KRB), which is likely toadversely affect the irrigation systemand make Pakistani lands borderingAfghanistan barren in the comingyears.The ministry of water and

power�s top bureaucracy seemsleast interested, apparently toprotect their financial interests, toapply their energies to develop astrategy to resolve lingering trans›

boundary water issues with Indiaor even for that matter withAfghanistan. India has alreadyrestricted the flow of waters in theIndus, Jhelum and Chenab riversby building hydropower projects onthese rivers. Indians have alsointensified water war againstPakistan with a infrastructureassistance to Afghanistan to build12 hydropower projects on theKabul River.The US authorities have also

offered their services to facilitatea water treaty between Pakistan

and Afghanistan to ward off afuture water dispute between thetwo countries.But even on thataccount not much progress hasbeen made, revealed the sourcesin ministry of water and power.The energy sector top babusbelieve that they can only givetechnical advice but the materhas to be resolved by the foreignministry, where dozens of files inthis regard are gathering dust.They believe that foreign affairsdeparrtment has not evenreturned a single response on any

of the concerned issues raised byminister of water and power. A senior official of Indus River

System Authority on condition ofanonymity informed daily �TheSpokesman� that Afghanistan hasthe right to utilize water from theKabul River as upper riparian. Thetotal flow of Kabul River is 21,000Million Cubic Meter, but River Kunar,which contributes 15,000 MillionCubic Meter of water to the KabulRiver could be effected by unjustifiedconstruction of hydropower projectsover KRB without any water pact

India and Kabul seems to ganging up against Pakis

Critical Water wars gathering dust in foreign ministry: reveals eneregy sector experts

Recently, themanagement ofCDA decided to

repatriate all those officials,working on deputation, totheir parent departmentsagainst whom complains ofcorruption were received. Theissue which compelled theCDA management to do sowas that the acts ofdeputationists were alsodamaging theimage of CDAfurther

“

”

Sherry Rehman seems to have openeda pandora’s box for the government inwaiting by relinquising her charge

soon after the results of May 11 polls.Thereare bureaucrats, analysts of course I meananchors and how can we ignore the retiredboots, who are trying to remember MianSahb of nothing but their skin tight relationswith the Americans. One can hear so muchin and around Raiwaind palace that it ishard to believe that how far these aspirantscan go to convince the new Lord of theRing that they will not only remain loyal buttrue khadim to his majesty. One suchanchor has even presented his credentialsvia Rawalpindi, because he stronglybelieves that the new Lord of the Ring isintent on doing anything but other thanwhat they ’advise’. While such credentialswere discussed, some creepy old timerreminded the ring master when the sameanchor was picked up from his house foruttering some unwated remarks during hisIndian yatra and later with BBC. SurchargeAziz was quick to recall to his master of a1999 episode when he led a team ofeconomic babus to Washington for talkswith IMF.As the saying goes Mian Sahb justwanted to refresh his memory and was toldthat IMF refused point blank to even talk toSurcharge or for that matter any one frompakistani delegation and asked to set theirman free before expecting a call on fromthe top funders.Documents with the interiorministry even reveals all those details howwithin hours this anchor was pushed out ofdungeons. Well you must have got hisname by now, if not just have a look at hisface and see who he is. But then similaranecdotal items are surfacing about Fatemieven another Anchor who believes in doingdiplomatic juggalary only from Dubairesorts. But then the ball is in the court ofMian Sahb. lets see who he picks up fordeveloping his relations with Washington,especially at a time when Olson is calling onhim on such regular intervals that even PSand MS of Mian Sahb are wondering that dowe need one in Washington?

Rat Race on forWashingtonappointment

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

No FIR into murder of IG’sdaughter-in-lawIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: On the directives of theKP IG, the Peshawar police did notregister the case of daughter-in-law ofIGP Islamabad, even after lapse of oneweek. Sources said that policepersonnel have been deployed over thegrave of deceased Wahida Ali.Peshawar Town police have not beenregistered any murder case and hasneither taken any action in this regarddespite the lapse of one week, relativesalleged. Relatives of Wahida Ali toldOnline that they found that policepersonnel are performing duties onshifts basis over the grave of WahidaAli in H-11 graveyard. On the otherhand, when Online contacted ASPtown police station Peshawar, RanaUmar Farooq, he said that the reporthas been registered; adding that theincident was a natural calamity andmurder case will be registered uponreceiving detailed postmortemreports. When asked, ASP Rana UmarFarooq showed unconcern regardingthe involvement of IGP IslamabadBani Ameen Khan and his sons in thismurder case. Sources in town policestation while requesting anonymity,told Online that sisters of the deceasedWahida Ali had submitted applicationagainst the IGP and his sonsregarding the murder case but thepolice intimated sisters of thedeceased and that is why no was casewas registered despite the preliminarypostmortem reports. �ONLINE

Bokhari submits reply inNAB chief appointment caseIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Admiral (retd.) FasihBokhari on Saturday filed his reply inthe Supreme Court in connection witha petition challenging his appointmentas NAB Chairman. In his replysubmitted through Advocate LatifKhosa, Mr Bokhari said ChaudhryNisar challenged his appointment tomalign President Asif Ali Zardari andget political mileage. �ONLINE

Bomb injures 3 policemen DDIIRR:: A roadside bomb hit a police vanin Upper Dir on Saturday, injuringthree security personnel. It was animprovised explosives device (IED)blast, according to police. The policemobile was pasting from Sahibabadarea of Upper Dir at the time of theexplosion. �ONLINE

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The Higher EducationCommission (HEC) and Ministry ofInformation Technology have agreed to availone another experience in the field ofinformation technology for proliferation of ICTsector in Pakistan. It was agreed during thevisit of high level delegation of Ministry ofInformation Technology which paid visit toHEC Islamabad.The delegation was led by Federal

Secretary of Ministry of InformationTechnology Dr. Zafar Iqbal Qadir andcomprised of Mr. Muhammad IjazAdditional Secretary Ministry of IT, Mr. AliAsghar Joint Secretary Admin Ministry of IT,

Mr. M. Anwar Sheikh Joint SecretaryDevelopment Ministry of IT, Mr. Yasir QadirMember Telecom, Mr. Saleem AhmadRanjha Managing Director PakistanSoftware Export Board, Mr. Qaiser SohailDirector General Pakistan Computer Bureauand Mr. Rizwan Malik Executive DirectorElectronic Government Directorate. Prof. Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Executive Director

HEC welcomed the delegation and apprisedabout the working, functions and role of HECfor strengthening higher education sector inPakistan. He informed that the establishmentof the HEC in 2002 has heralded a revolutionin higher education in Pakistan; The HEC has

accomplished more in ten years since itsestablishment than was achieved in the first 55years of Pakistan’s existence. Research outputhas grown eight-folds since 2002 (from 815 in2002 to 6,200 in 2011). 90% of these researchpublications from Pakistan are coming fromHEIs. Output has more than doubled just inthe last 3 years and is expected to double againin the next 3 years.Speaking on the occasion, Chairperson HEC

Dr. Javaid R. Laghari said Pakistan today is aregional leader in ICTs which other countriesare following. The Digital Library providesaccess to 75% of the World’s literature (23,000e-journals and 45,000 e-books). The video

conferencing facility has been provided at 79sites of 32 cities throughout the country. Healso informed that due to revolutionaryreforms in the sector, Pakistani universitieshave been included among the top world andAsian universities and Pakistani highereducation model is being followed by otherAsian countries.During the meeting, HEC oNered unified

communication services; video conferencingfacility and file tracking system to the ministryand the ministry oMcials also assured theircooperation to HEC for connectivity of abouthundred colleges in Balochistan. Thedelegation appreciated the role of HEC in

brining vibrant and eNective changes especiallyin ICT sector of Pakistan. They acknowledgedthat HEC has functioned extremely well andhas delivered during the last decade. Theyremarked that they have been impressed byvisionary and capable leadership of HEC, thedevelopment strategy of HEC and various stepsundertaken to improve quality of teaching andresearch, IT infrastructure development andhuman resource development in Pakistan.Mr. Awais Ahmed Director General

Administration & Coordination HEC and Mr.Anwar Amjad Director General InformationTechnology HEC were also present on theoccasion. �ONLINE

HEC, ministry to collaborate for ICT sector proliferation

IIssllaammaabbaadd SSPP OOppeerraattiioonnss JJaammiill HHaasshhmmii sshhoowwiinngg wweeaappoonnss rreeccoovveerreedd bbyy TTaarrnnooll PPoolliiccee,, dduurriinngg aa pprreessss ccoonnffeerreennccee aatt RReessccuuee 1155 oo&&ccee.. �ONLINE

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: A postings and transfers processhas been started in federal police reportedly atthe behest of PML-N as part of its eNorts to winby polls in NA-48 at any cost.Police sources said PML-N has stepped up its

eNorts to regain national assembly seat inupcoming by polls which it has lost in generalelections on May, 11 in NA-48. Makhdoom JavedHashmi , MNA from PTI will quit this seat. PTI’s

Asad Omar and PML-N Anjam Aqeel Khan willbe the main contenders in electoral bout in thisconstituency .Well placed sources said Anjam Aqeel Khan

is all set to bag maximum votes from thepolling stations where his votes tally remainedon lower side during the general elections. Hewants to make his target achievable byexercising influence through police and the

recent move of reshuLing in federal police isbeing linked to maneuvering on his part toclinch victory.Police sources said SSP Islamabad has posted

Abid Ikram, SHO, Golra Sharif police station toSabzi Mandi police station as SHO besidestransferring SHO Sabzi Mandi police station toRescue- 15 and appointing Inspector MehrMunawwar as SHO Golra Sharif. �ONLINE

PML-N eyes NA-48 seat� Party leadership goes for reshuffling in federal police to get ‘favourable’ results

MMeemmbbeerrss ooff aa nnoommaaddiicc ffaammiillyy rreellooccaattiinngg oonn aa hhoorrssee--ddrriivveenn ccaarrtt oonnIIssllaammaabbaadd HHiigghhwwaayy.. �ONLINE

SSttuuddeennttss ooff CCiittyy SScchhooooll ppeerrffoorrmmiinngg iinn RRaawwaallppiinnddii AArrttss CCoouunncciill..

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The Executive Director of PolyClinic hospital Dr Shaukat Kayani has said thatall recruitment made in Polyclinic hospital weretransparent and on merit. In an interview, the EDsaid that he has written a letter to Ministry ofCAD in this regard and if they want they can re-conduct the interviews by appointing a grade 18oMcer. He said that a committee consisting ofsection oMcer CAD and two senior doctors ofpolyclinic was made for the recruitment of

technicians and other staN. He claimed that theentire recruitment process was transparent andbased on merit. He said that he had given explicitinstructions that if anyone was found indulgingin violation of merit than action would beinitiated against them. He said that Polyclinichospital has been made an exemplary institutionand homework has been completed for expansionof the hospital to cater to large number of patientscoming to the hospital. �ONLINE

Polyclinic recruitments on merit: ED

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The Capital Development Authority haslaunched operation against the encroached stalls set up atthe outside of shops and Parking area while also confiscatedfive trucks. On the special direction of DMA Director OMcerof CDA Hamza Shafqat, Assistant Director Imdad Hussainand other staN launched operation in F-6/4 at Abbas Marketand confiscated goods of ten shops that were encroached inparking area. He further claimed that the notices have been issued to all

of these shopkeepers several times for removal of these stallsbut they did not pay heed towards our notices. Meanwhile,AC also launched operation in Aabpara market, iram Café,Ali Baba restaurant including medical store and confiscatedall encroached goods from them. �ONLINE

CDA launchesoperation againstencroachments

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Justice Tasadduq HussainJilani will swear in as acting ChiefElection Commissioner (CEC). Sourcessaid that Chief Justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry will administerthe oath taking ceremony at 09:00 amhere in Supreme Court. It meritsmentioning here that present ElectionCommissioner Justice (r) Fakharuddin GIbrahim will leave for his foreign visit onMonday, while the senior judge ofSupreme Court Justice Tasadduq HussainJilani has been appointed as acting CECto run the oMce in his absence. �ONLINE

New acting CEC

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

THE SPOKESMANChief Editor: Huma Ali

Resident Editor: Saeed Minhas FAISAL KUTTY

A tipoT from a prominent Torontoimammore than a year ago appears tobe at the heart of arrests at the end ofApril in the alleged VIARail terror plotin Canada. In fact, counterterrorismpolice began their press briefing bythankingMuslim leaders.Even in the Bostonmarathon

tragedy, national and localMuslimorganizations have condemned thebombings. The largestMuslim civilrights group in the country, the Councilon American-Islamic Relations, evenaskedMuslims to oTer authorities anyleads that they have.Moreover, in aninteresting twist, mosques refused toarrange Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s janaza(Islamic funeral prayers). In fact, anumber of fatwas (religious opinions)have been issued recommending thatprominent individuals and imamsnot lead his janaza. Imam SuhaibWebb, a nationally recognized clericfrom Boston, said ”I don’t think Icould ethically lead a prayer for him,but I would not stop people frompraying upon him.” The intentbehind this is to send a clear messageto potential terrorists.Despite such proactivemeasures,

some self-proclaimed experts continueto pin collective blame onMuslims,citing the “radicalization” of thecommunity. In fact, someIslamophobes who have the ear ofgovernments both side of the borderhave had the audacity to claim that 80per cent of themosques in arecontrolled by radical imams and serveas incubators of “homegrown”terrorists. There is no credible evidenceto support such bald assertions. On thecontrary, the Triangle Center onTerrorism andHomeland Security atDukeUniversity released a study inFebruary titled “Muslim-AmericanTerrorism: Declining Further,” [PDF]which concluded thatMuslimterrorismwas not a significant threat.It had claimed 33 lives since Sept. 11,2001, compared with 200 victims offar-right terrorists and 180,000murders. The Center has alsodocumented the active role ofMuslimsin combating terror in theUS. Thesame can be said for Canada.Moreover, as national security

reporter Spencer Ackerman notes, “Injust the past year, themass shootings

that have captivated America’sattention killed 66 Americans.” This istwice the number fromMuslim-American terrorism in the 11 yearsafter 9/11 leading up to the Bostontragedy.Muslimsmust not be held

collectively responsible for the allegedactions of criminals among them. Noother community is put in such anunenviable position. Italians are notasked to condemn the actions of theMafia, nor were the Irish asked toapologize for the actions of the IrishRepublican Army. The general publicis not expected to take responsibilityfor the actions of the criminals whovandalizedmosques and discriminatedagainst or attackedMuslims since thetragic events of Sept. 11. In fact, the FBIhas documented a dramatic spike inanti-Muslim hate and this cannot bepinned on the average American.The vastmajority ofMuslims

condemn terrorism because evenclassical Islamic law explicitly classifieshirabah (terrorism) as a serious sin. Infact, indiscriminate killing and attacksare prohibited. Indeed, the Qur’an(6:151) proclaims: “Anyone who kills aperson (except pursuant to law) it is asif he has killed the whole of humanity.”Moreover, the ProphetMohammed’s

strict rules of engagement even intimes of hostility were blunt: “Do notkill women or children or non-combatants.” Such nuances are lost onthose with limited knowledge of theirreligion. Indeed, a 2010United StatesInstitute for Peace study [PDF] titledWhy Youth Join al-Qaeda ofmore than2,000 people whowere attracted toterrorism confirms this. Colonel JohnMatt Venhaus, the author of the report,found thatmost of these youth “havean inadequate understanding of theirown religion, whichmakes themvulnerable tomisinterpretations of thereligious doctrine.”Muslims wonder why theymust keep

distancing themselves from somethingso antithetical to their world view. Evenwhen they disown such conduct, it isunder-reported or dismissed as a PRexercise. That said, as part of ademocratic civil society theMuslimcommunity has a duty to the

mainstream to address the perceptionreal or imagined, about the extremistswithin.To its credit, the community has

risen to the challenge.Many imamsand scholars openly challenge jihadistideology. Frommy legal and activismexperience on both sides of the borderover the years, numerous individualsand institutions have organized anti-radicalization events and evenworkedwith counterterrorism oScials in theinterest of our collective security.As part of the same civil society, our

governments alsomust do their part.First, wemust re-examine our

foreign policy and its consequences. Itis high time to acknowledge that allinnocent lives lost, whether toterrorists or to the “war on terror,” areequally deplorable. Victims do notappreciate the diTerence between apressure-cooker bomb and a dronestrike. Disagree with their tactics asyoumay, it is undeniable that there aremany in the world who have legitimategrievances against our foreign policy,some of whommay allow anger toovershadow religious rules ofengagement.Moreover,Washington’s drone policy

has only contributed to greater distrustin both the global and domestic arena.As Farea Al-Muslimi, a Yemeni writer,testified [PDF] about a drone strikeagainst his village just before the April23rd Senate Judiciary subcommitteehearings into the issue, “the dronestrike and its impact toremy heart,much as the tragic bombings in Bostonlast week tore your hearts and alsomine.” He described the blowback fromsuch attacks. Second, at the domesticlevel, both of our governments havebeen on an undeclared and possiblyunintendedwitch hunt.Muslimcharities are unfairly targeted, Islamand its symbols are unnecessarilymadeinto an issue and intelligenceharassment is rampant. Terroristprofiling often is based simply on guiltby association, which just adds to thevicious cycle ofmarginalization,distrust and blowback.In theUS, between 2010 and 2012,

lawmakers in 32 states introduced billsto ban Islamic law, and seven states—

Oklahoma, Arizona, Kansas,Louisiana, SouthDakota, Idaho, andTennessee—enacted such bills into law.Asmany commentators havedocumented, these bills are essentiallya solution looking for a problem. Infact, these lawsmay have even createdadditional challenges for somewomenwho sought to advance their rights.Department of Justice (DOJ) figuresalso suggest [PDF] that anti-Muslim“zoning bias,” where towns refuse togrant building permits formosques, isa growing problem.In the Canadian context, some have

questioned the timing of the arrests(especially given that there was noimminent threat), which appearsplanned to push through TheCombating TerrorismAct that wouldrevive some provisions of Canada’sAnti-terrorismAct which had“sunsetted” after a five-year period. Thebill, passed two days after the arrests,revived two draconian provisions thathad expired: preventive detention forthree days without charges and“investigative hearings” under which asuspect who refuses to testify before ajudge could be imprisoned for up to ayear, as well as new restrictions ontravel. Third, government oScialsmust be careful not to alienate thecommunity by seeking advice onlyfrom those with an anti-Muslimagenda. Toomany hawks andIslamophobes have the ear of bothadministrations.Fourth, the accusedmust be given

their day in court in a fair, open andtransparentmanner. The trust andconfidence asked of the communitymust not be squandered by resorting tothe secret hearings and secret evidenceprovisions of the anti-terror legislation.Any attempt to deny due process andthe rule of lawwill certainly have animpact on co-operation.Finally, it must be understood that

themajority ofMuslims, who areneither secular nor ultra-orthodox,hold the key to any serious andproductive bridge-building. Ifgovernment agencies believe they canwin the “war on terror” byundermining front-line soldiers, theyhad better think again.

Block 11, G-6/1, Aabpara, Islamabad

Telephone: 051 260 7153-4

Fax: 051 260 7498

www.thespokesman.pk

ce@thespokesman.pk

Barack Obama's speechOn drone strikesPresident BarakObama in amajorpolicy speech has defended the use ofDrone technology for limited purposesto take out terrorists where feasible todo so, with asmuch little collateraldamage to civilian life.I have a serious objection to his

stance for two cogent reasons. No 1: Itis not possible with certainty that it willonly target bombers and terrorists andnot the innocent others. No 2: it isagainst human rights andhumanitarian laws. It is also against our

sovereignty and territorial integrity. It isviolation ofmany international lawsand basic principles of freedom andliberty. It will not be toomuch to ask ofhim to consider the concern for humanlives and sovereign principles of anation, which reserves the right toretaliate.

JAVED BASHIRISLAMABAD

Would KPK become amodel province under PTI?

According to election results of 2013PTI has won the land slide victory overANP, trouncing it into oblivion. Thecollective wisdomhas elected PTI tolead the province out of crises. Theseelectionsmay have gone against thepredictions andwishes of some analystsbut the people have spoken in favor ofone relatively new party to put themajor party. But the reality remainsthat the rule has passed to some othernew party.There can be diTerence of opinion on

this issue, but the results have come,and cannot be changed. Thedemocratic way is to accept them. ANPhas accepted the results without any

protest. The analysts agree that protestis the constitutional right, but the bestcourse of action is to file objections in apetition to the election tribunal for thedecision. In the present and cominglocal bodies elections biometric systemmust be introduced to avoid suchmassscale rigging and irregularities.Otherwise protest will continue aftereach and every election.During 1977 elections lesser degree of

rigging took place and in the end due tothemassmovements; pressure ZABhutto agreed to hold fresh elections.The deal wasmade to that eTectbetween the government and theopposition, but was not liked by theestablishment, andmilitary dictatortook over the rule.Now the possibility of that happening

isminimal, so protest should end. So itis in the interest of the protesters tocontinue to work on the same pay. Thechange that was expected has notoccurred andwill not occur. the caveatis to accept the results in the democratictradition. Only some elitist candidateshave lost the elections.Nawaz Sharif has emerged the front

runner in the elections and can formthe government without coalitionparties thus saving himself frompossible blackmail and politicalpressures from the partners in the

crime. Hewants to have friendlyrelations with India and open trade tiesbetween the two countries. Hemustweigh this policy before rushing into itblindly.The national interest should take

precedence over his desires. He canimplement his party's policies daringly.As for the PTO tsunami change hasoccurred in KP province giving it theright to form the government. Thedamage accrued to ANP by its victoryin the elections. The results weresurprising considering the sacrifices ofANP leadership andworkers. Theirsacrifices were ignored or rejected bythe voters at the polls. He canmake it amodel province for others. All eyes areon him to perform and succeed.A friend fromKP has written that

Khan got the sympathy vote for his falland severe injuries. But by the sametoken ANP lost the elections even itssacrifices and bloodwas forgotten to gofor ImranKhan.What a travesty ofnature one gets the benefit of fall theother does not get recognition of itssacrifices at all. ANPwas not allowedto contest election as a liberal party bythe terrorists groups working against it.It was not provided the level plain fieldto contest elections. Its campaignwasmarred by bomb blasts killing itsleaders andworkers alike.

Some people say ANP got what itsowed in the earth and reaped its cropof sins.Whether it is true or nor thereality is they have lost big time.Now it is the golden opportunity for

PTI and its leadership to prove theirworth and build the image of theProvince as themodel for others., andimplement its philosophy of changeand give a new direction .

J. BISLAMABAD

Fixing the economyShahid Kardar the ex- governor of StateBank and economist working privatelyhas opined in his letter to dawn aboutthe challenge faced by the nextgovernment to fix the economy. hisproposals are based on old school ofeconomics. The old fashioned fix willnot work in our circumstances. Theeconomy has declined consistently andgovernment has failed to intervene andstem the rot.We are facing credit crunch and

liquidity problems. The banks havetightened the already tight loanmarket.Cash poor companies are facingbankruptcies and bleak future. Thesharemarket swings sends terror in theinvestors. Foreign reserves aredepleting faster than ever

The next government will inherit lotof crises andmajor paradigm shift willbe required to revive the economy. Itmust set its priorities straight andworkon it from the beginning, the rest of thepieces will fall in place automatically.The economists in the government

has failed to arrest the decline bypursuing rotten policies. The team of itsfinancial experts have achieved nothingto show to the people to satisfy themabout their performance and stay in theoSce. They should have resigned orousted by the government. After allthey are paid by the tax payer's hardearnedmoney.The lack of propermonitoring and

accountability leaves us in extremelybad shape.Wewill have to bring backand restore the investors 's confidence.Provide liquidity in themarket, andgive soft loans to ease the expansionand increase the production in allsectors. The work is cut out for PML-Nto revive the economy and turn aroundthe decline into prosperity andprogressive economy.

JAVED BASHIRISLAMABAD

Please email your letters toletters@thespokesman.pk or postthem to our address in Islamabad.

USAmbassador RichardOlson called on PML-NChief and primeminister-in waitingNawaz Sharif and discussed ways to furtherimprove Pak-US relations. This was the secondmeeting afterMay 11polls. Olson said that theUSwanted strong ties with Pakistan and itwas also ready to help Pakistan overcome energy crisis. PML-N chiefNawaz Sharif said “Pakistan oTeredmore sacrifices than others in thewar on terror, and these sacrifices should be respected by the world”.He added that Pakistan-US relations should be based on equality andtheUS should respect the sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan.MianNawaz Sharif has done the right thing by reminding America ofPakistan’s contribution to the war on terror, and the losses incurred byPakistan inmen and treasure. By giving a little over 1 billion dollar ayear, and reimbursing what Pakistan spent on logistics for the armydeployed in FATA, America feels it has been generously helpingPakistan. TheUS should be asked to compensate Pakistan for thelosses to its economy after joining the war on terror.Disregarding the invitation from theUSSR, British trainedbureaucracymaneuvered to get an invitation fromAmerica, and primeminister Liaquat Ali Khan visited America. The visit was prelude toPakistan’s joining the defence pacts Seato, Cento and signing abilateral agreementwith theUS. In 1960, when theU-2 had taken oTthe Budber near Peshawar, theUSSRhadwarned Pakistan of the direconsequences. During 1965 and 1971wars, Pakistan’s allies includingtheUS acted as silent spectators. In late 1970, when Soviet forceslanded in Afghanistan, Pakistan became a frontline state, and SovietUnion had towithdraw its forces, and latter it disintegrated. TheUSditched Pakistan and invoked Pressler Amendment to stop economicandmilitary aid. After 9/11, Pakistanwas coerced into joining thewaron terror. America hadmade promises that it would establishReconstructionOpportunity Zones (ROZs) inKhyber-Pakhtunkhwaand tribal belt. But inNovember 2012, theUS administration shelvedthe proposalmooted by it in 2006, as theHouse of Representativesand Senate declined to enact the legislation. It is rather premature tovisualize as to howMianNawaz Sharif would deal with America in thepresence of a long list of American betrayals. Of course, America hasbeen accusing Pakistan of supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan andensconcing, what it says,members ofHaqqani network inNorthWaziristan. The PPP-led governmentwith stigma of corruption andineptness failed to deliver to the people, but signing of Iran-Pakistangas pipeline and handing over management of Gwadar Port to Chinacould be a balancing act. In a way,MianNawaz Sharif stands tobenefit from this shift, as America is likely to act with caution andresponsibility. Already China and America have oTered help toovercome electricity crisis. If there is genuine progress in this regard,Nawaz Sharif would be able to fix the economy, attract foreigninvestment and generate employment opportunities. With change inPakistan’s military doctrine, which considers internal threat as thereal threat to Pakistan’s security instead of India, an irritant betweenthe executive andmilitary has been removed.

Olson meets Nawaz

ROBERT FANTINATo observe the Republicans, one would thinkthat the USmilitary was involved in nothingmore controversial than aMarine holding anumbrella for President Barack Obamawhile hegave a speech in the rain. Sarah Palin, one ofthemany darlings of the rightwing, has statedthat most Americans hold their own umbrellas,despite pictures showing her disembarking aplane on a rainy day with a lackey holding anumbrella for her. Lou Dobbs, formerly of FoxNews, said it was ‘disrespectful, inconsiderate,classless,’ although one looks in vain for hissimilar comments when Presidents RonaldReagan, George Bush and GeorgeW. Bush hadsoldiers holding umbrellas for them. And theconservative blogosphere has been awash withcondemnation, criticism and great umbrageabout an action the president took, that hasbeen taken bymany presidents before him,includingmany of their heroes.Someone awakening after amulti-year sleep

and observing this would certainly believe thatsociety overall was in very good shape, if themost important things political activists had tocomplain about was aMarine holding anumbrella for the president. However, such apersonmight be deceived. Let us take a quicklook at another current issue that is somewhatless benign than an umbrella, and that no oneon the right or the left seems concerned with.

US drones, unmanned aircraft, have for sometime been bombing targets in Afghanistan,Pakistan, Yemen and other countries, all in thesacred name of the USwar on terror (whateverthat is). In the last couple of years, over 5,000people have been killed in US– initiated dronestrikes, and the frequency of these bombing isescalating rapidly. Their purpose, ostensibly, isto rid areas of Al-Qaeda operatives, astrategically important goal (we’ll not considerthemorality of it quite yet), as the US preparesto withdraw its forces fromAfghanistan, aftertwelve years of US-sponsored terrorism againstthe Afghani people.But what of the human debris left in the wake

of these bombings? IbrahimMothana, a youngYemeni writer, said this in a New York Timesop-ed last year: “Drone strikes are causingmoreandmore Yemenis to hate America and joinradical militants; they are not driven byideology, but rather by a sense of revenge anddespair.” Much as US citizens are told thatpeople throughout theMiddle East hate thembecause of their freedoms, it might be worthconsidering that the US is hated bymany in theMiddle East and other areas because the USgovernment keeps killing their loved ones. Inmoving testimony on April 24 of this year,another young Yemeni man, Farea al-Muslimi,who had lived in the US as a high-schoolstudent, told the Senate Judiciary

Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil RightsandHuman Rights, that his neighbors had feltpositively about the US, due to his experiencesthere as a youth. “Now, however, when theythink of America, they think of the fear they feelat the drones over their heads,” he said. “Whatthe violent militants had failed to achieve, onedrone strike accomplished in an instant.” Healso pointed out that the goal of one recentdrone strike, the death of a purported Al-Qaedaleader, could easily have been accomplishedwithout bombing the area. The leader, Mr. al-Muslimi said, was well known to the villagers,and could easily have been located andcaptured.Why it was necessary to bomb theentire village, killing several innocent people,was beyond his understanding, as it beyondthat of this writer.But perhaps it isn’t so diScult to understand.

The US does things simply because it can.Whether it’s the covert overthrow of ademocratically-elected government in CentralAmerica, the invasion of an oil-rich country intheMiddle East, or the bombing of civiliantargets anywhere in the world, who is going tostop the US?WhenUS government leadersbegin talking about the ‘war on terror’, thecitizen-lemmings tend to fall in line, waving aflag, singing the national anthem, and ignoringthe untold and unspeakable suTering that theUS inflicts on innocent victims.

But are not these victims just ‘collateraldamage’? Are they not just the unfortunate costof keeping the world safe for freedom anddemocracy? The answer to those questions is,of course, simply no. They are innocentvictims of US imperial aggression. AsCorporate America, with all its callous greedand complete disregard for human rights,lumbers across the globe, seeking neweconomic conquests, it knows that suchconquests cannot occur only in theboardroom. Third World peoples, with nointerest in corporate profits, who simply wantto live simple lives, raising their families andearning their livings on farms, must not standin the way of the almighty dollar, when theirfarms lay atop precious natural resources,coveted by the US So as the US moves in, andis resisted, those resisting them are said to be‘insurgents’, terrorists hating the freedomsthat US citizens so enjoy. Therefore, theymust be removed. Certainly, they are not allterrorists, but the ringleaders must bedestroyed, and if, in the process of killingthem, some innocent children are blown tobits in front of their terrified parents, well,that is simply war. One might see it as the costof doing business.And what is the result? Those parents, and

others, fill in the ranks of any oppositionleaders the US has managed to kill, inflating

the numbers of ‘insurgents’ (read: freedomfighters), causing the US to send more of itsbombs, thus killing more innocent people andfostering more hatred of the United States.One could ask if these facts are too

complicated for the US’ electedrepresentatives. It seems rather basic: killinnocent people, and their loved ones will notnecessarily grow fond of you. However, why isany of the relevant, when corporate lobbiescontribute vast amounts to elected oScials fortheir reelection campaigns?Who wouldn’twant to keep a job that requires showing up tothe oSce whenever you feel like it, provides all-expenses paid travel benefits, and pays well?What do integrity, honesty, upholding the lawand the Constitution have to do with thebottom line?The US’s never-deserved but self-

proclaimed image as a global beacon of peaceand freedom began to wear thin during theUS invasion of Iraq in 2003. While Congressand the president prefer to look the other way,and view the ‘war on terror’ as defendingfreedom and democracy, more and morepeople throughout the world see it for what itis, and until US government oScials decidedto see reality, hatred toward the US will onlycontinue to grow.

COUNTERPUNCH.COM

The enervation of American politics

Umbrellas and drones

Muslims and the war on terrorMuslims wonder why they must keep distancing themselves fromsomething so antithetical to their world view

Frederic Wehrey

THE House of Saud appearsstable amid the turmoil acrossthe Middle East. But tensions still

simmer below the surface. The youthare agitating for change, economicinstability looms, and the kingdom willbe influenced by the storms brewingaround it. In a new Q&A, Frederic Wehrey

discusses these evolving dynamics andthe endemic problem of risingsectarianism after his visit to SaudiArabia earlier this year. Wehrey saysthat the royal family�s current strategyof using co›optive and repressivetechniques to hold onto power will notalways be enough to limit thepopulation�s calls for change. Who are the primary actors driving

the lingering protest movement inSaudi Arabia?The agenda is increasingly being set

by the youth who are actively goinginto the streets and organizing throughsocial media. This is particularly evidentin the Eastern Province, where youthfulprotests have seized the momentumfrom older activists, intellectuals, andclerics who led the movement in the1990s. Two›thirds of Saudis are under the

age of thirty and in 2010, 80 percentof unemployed Saudis registered withthe Ministry of Labor were betweenthe ages of twenty and thirty›four.While material expectations andpolitical awareness have grown, thestate�s ability to satisfy its youth

population is declining. The dynamic is greatly impacted by

Saudis� increased access to highereducation�at home and abroad.During the 1990s and 2000s there wasthe massive push to send youth abroadon scholarships. They are now comingback with new ideas and newexpectations but are finding a countrythat cannot accommodate them. Thetypes of degrees that are beingawarded in Saudi Arabia are notallowing graduates to compete in theprivate sector or the global economy. The question is when the country will

reach a point at which the youth canpose a real challenge to the regime.Youth activists say that it will takeanother five to ten years for thismovement to mature. It�s also unclear at this point what

changes an organized youthmovement would push for. Somereputable polling in recent years hasbeen relatively surprising�77 percentof Saudi youth between the ages ofeighteen and twenty›four believe SaudiArabia is headed in the right direction,up from 56 percent in 2012. Is sectarianism a problem as it is

elsewhere in the Arab world? Sectarian tensions have ebbed and

flowed, depending on the regime�spolicies and regional events. Currently,it is a mixed picture. The regime has improved its efforts

to curtail sectarian attacks in officialmedia, and sectarianism is mentionedless in the media and in statements byclerics. Social media has facilitatedincreased contact between Shiareformists and Sunni reformists. Butat the same time, sectarianism hasrisen to the fore because of theescalating civil war in Syria, events inIraq, and, most importantly, thestructural discrimination that is builtinto the Saudi state. The removal earlier this year of

Prince Muhammad bin Fahd, the long›standing governor of the oil›richEastern Province (where much of theShia population is concentrated) andthe object of a great deal of animosityamong the Shia, was applauded andopens the window to change. But thereis still pessimism about the movebecause so much of the problematicpolicy is controlled by the Ministry ofthe Interior rather than the governorhimself. It�s a unifying concern that isincreasing contact between Shiareformists and Sunni reformists acrossthe country through Twitter andFacebook. The Sunnis are realizing thatthey have similar political reform goalsas the Shia. How strong is the country�s

economy? Can Saudi Arabia continueto rely on its oil wealth? Since the beginning of the Arab

Awakening, the government has

chosen to meet the challenge throughthe time›tested tactic of subsidies andhandouts. And this has largely workedso far. But Saudi Arabia is not doingenough to ensure that the economywill thrive in the future. There have been increases over the

past two years in public›sectorspending, but the private sectorremains stagnant. Only 6.5 percent ofSaudis are working in the privatesector, and the country is still importingcheap foreign labor despite recentefforts to deport foreignworkersviolating their work visas.There are few incentives for citizens orbusinesses to innovate. What�s the current state of human

rights in Saudi Arabia? The human rights situation in the

country remains dire by any objectivemeasure. But with the advent of socialmedia, the real truth is becomingincreasingly transparent to Saudis.This is particularly the case withpolitical prisoners. This is worrisome to the regime,

because its entire strategy has beendesigned to initiate calibrated, largelycosmetic reforms while keeping theopposition divided to play differentfactions off of one another. On women�s rights, there is some

room for guarded optimism. Womenhave been appointed to the ShuraCouncil, the legislative advisory body,

for the first time. But it�s a symbolicmove, and King Abdullah took that stepin the face of opposition from religiousconservatives. Women are increasingly educated

and frequently at the forefront ofprotests but suffer from highunemployment rates and still don�thave the right to drive, which comesalong with a whole cascade ofprofound and severe economicramifications. Is there a threat of unrest toppling

the regime?No. Not now. People of course have

been predicting the fall of the Houseof Saud for quite some time, but theregime can still effectively employ itstwin strategy of co›option andrepression. The question is how long this will

last. The time for buying off dissentthrough grants and subsidies is runningout. And the regime has skillfully

exploited what�s going on in the regionto solidify its control in Saudi Arabia.The Iraq war and its aftermath wereused to depict how moving down thepath toward democracy too quickly cancreate major problems. It is doing thesame with Syria now. One Saudiactivist told me that the Syrian war haseffectively delayed the Arab Awakeninginside Saudi Arabia for one to twoyears as people don�t want to go down

the path of reform for fear of internalchaos.How do Saudi rulers view the change

unfolding across the region?Saudi rulers are alarmed by the

turmoil in the region. This feeling isreflected in the term used to define thelast few years: Arab troubles asopposed to Arab Awakening or ArabSpring. Saudi Arabia often views the

uprisings through the lens of itsrelationship with the United States. Theregime is watching Washington�sreactions and policies very carefully. Beyond Syria, the Saudis are

concerned about an Iranian nuclearprogram, but they are actually moreworried about a potentialrapprochement with the United Statesthat sidelines Riyadh. While this seemslike a distant possibility at best, SaudiArabia doesn�t want Tehran to replaceRiyadh as Washington�s principlepartner in the Gulf. There is also a realfear of the Muslim Brotherhood inEgypt. Saudi Arabia and Egypt arehistoric rivals for Arab leadership, andan Islamist›dominated government inEgypt presents an alternate systemthat differs drastically from the Saudimodel. The Shia menace was thoughtto be the big threat to the Saudis forquite a while. But now the main threatis thought to be the Brotherhoodmenace. Correction: The original version

misstated the percentage of Saudisunemployed between the ages oftwenty and thirty›four. This Q&A has

YUNNAN: People in traditional costumes dance to pay their tribute to the ancestor of tea during theopening of 2013 International Tea Convention in Pu’er, southwest China’s Yunnan Province. Theconvention that opened on Saturday aims to promote tea culture around the world. � AGENCIES

DAMASCUS: Syrian PresidentBashar al›Assad’s government hasagreed ’’in principle’’ to take part in aUS› and Russian›sponsoredconference aimed at ending violencein Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministrysaid.Moscow learnt of the decision

during a visit by Syrian deputyforeign minister Faisal Mekdad,ministry spokesman AlexanderLukashevich said on Friday. Therewas no confirmation from Syria.Organisers hope to hold the peace

talks early next month in Geneva.Adding urgency to the matter is theescalating violence in Syria and theprospect of the conflict spilling intoneighbouring nations such asLebanon, where gun battles inTripoli erupted this week betweenpro› and anti›Assad factions.Syria’s decision to join the

conference had been expected.Russia, a force behind the peaceinitiative, is a crucial ally of theAssad government. Syria cannotafford to alienate Russia, whichhas scuttled anti›Assad resolutionsin the United Nations.AdvertisementThe peace initiative was unveiled

this month during a meeting inMoscow between US Secretary ofState John Kerry and RussianForeign Minister Sergei Lavrov.The US and Russian governments

have labelled the plan an extremelyurgent effort to end the civil war inSyria. Any negotiations resultingfrom the Geneva meeting would bethe first face›to›face talks betweenthe Syrian opposition and thegovernment. But many obstacles remain.

Although the Syrian government isgenerally unified, the opposition isnot. The anti›Assad bloc is afractured alliance of exiled activists,dissidents inside the country, armedrebels and others. Mr Assad’s willingness to send a

delegation would seem to putpressure on the opposition to attend.The Syrian National Coalition hasbeen meeting to hammer out aposition. �AGENCIES

Syria agrees Russian peacetalks in

ADDIS ABABA:Making his first officialtrip to sub›Saharan Africa, US Secretaryof State John Kerry on Saturdaydemanded that Nigeria respect humanrights as it cracks down on Islamistextremists and pledged to work hard inthe coming months to ease tensionsbetween Sudan and South Sudan.Kerry, attending the African Union’s

50th anniversary, backed theNigeriangovernment’s efforts to root out BokoHaram, an al›Qaida›linked radical sect.But he said there is no excuse for abusesby armed forces in Nigeria’s longneglected north, where PresidentGoodluck Jonathan has declaredemergency rule. "We defend the rightcompletely of the government of Nigeriato defend itself and to fight back againstterrorists," Kerry said. He added, however,that he has raised his concerns withNigerian officials to insist on the military"adhering to the highest standards andnot itself engaging in atrocities.""One person’s atrocities do not excuse

another’s," Kerry said. "Revenge is notthe motive. It’s good governance, it’sridding yourself of a terroristorganization so that you can establish astandard of law that people canrespect." Speaking to reportersalongside Ethiopian Prime MinisterHailemariam Desalegn, Kerry alsoblamed Sudan’s government for muchof the tension along its volatile borderwith South Sudan. He says residents inthe contested areas of Blue Nile andSouth Kordofan don’t want to besubjected to strict Islamist rules.Both areas border the new nation of

South Sudan, which gainedindependence in 2011 under an

agreement that ended decades of civilwar. Many residents are sympathetic tothe South, and both areas haveexperienced regular violence in recentyears. "There are very significant borderchallenges, but they’re bigger thanthat," Kerry said. "You have people whofor a long time have felt that they wanttheir secular governance and theiridentity respected." "They don’t wantindependence; they are not trying tobreak away from Sudan," he said. Buthe said the response from Sudan’sgovernment has been to "press on themthrough authoritarian means andviolence an adherence to a standardthat they simply don’t want to acceptwith respect to Islamism.""That’s the fundamental clash," Kerry

said. He acknowledged, however, theNorth’s concerns that the South isfueling rebels in the areas and said theUS would try to work with Ethiopia andother international partners to easetensions. He said he’d soon appoint anew American envoy to both countries.Kerry meets the foreign ministers of

both Sudans later Saturday. Hismeetings in Ethiopia’s capital alsoinclude the U.N. and African Unionchiefs and Egyptian PresidentMohammed Morsi. �AGENCIES

Kerry visits sub›Saharan Africa

Palestinian Authority PresidentMahmoud Abbas said Saturday thatpeace with Israel is still possible,and that the Palestinians "want tohave two states living side by side,"Palestinian news agency Ma’anreported.Speaking at the opening session of

the World Economic Forum on theMiddle East and North Africa at theKing Hussein Convention Center atthe Dead Sea, Abbas referred to thedemands he made earlier to USSecretary of State John Kerry.

He stated that "ending theoccupation of our land, releasingour prisoners, evacuating settlersand dismantling the apartheid wallare the elements that will makepeace and security for you [theIsraelis] and for us.Sparking a glimmer of hope in

what has been perceived as astalemate in peace negotiations,Abbas said: "This is doable, so let’smake peace a reality on the groundfor our present and futuregenerations to enjoy. "

Abbas said he hoped that effortsby Kerry would result in an end toIsrael’s occupation and guarantee aPalestinian state on 1967 borderswith East Jerusalem as its capital."We still say we want a

comprehensive and just peace, andwe want to have two states living sideby side in accordance withinternational resolutions, the RoadMap plan and the Arab PeaceInitiative," Ma’an quoted Abbas assaying.Referring to growing economic

development in the Palestinianterritories, Abbas urgedbusinessmen from Arab countries toinvest and create partnerships withPalestinian business leaders, Ma’anreported."Israel has prevented us from

exploiting our lands and naturalresources, however, Palestine haspromising opportunities and vasthorizons in the fields of tourism,agriculture, industry, informationtechnology, power generation,petroleum, natural gas, potassium

and other fields," Abbas said.The World Economic Forum on

the Middle East and North Africa isconvening from May 24›26 inJordan. It will convene over 900 ofthe foremost leaders from the GulfCooperation Council countries, theLevant, North Africa andinternationally, and brings togetherover 900 government, industry,media, civil society and youthofficials to advance understanding,dialogue and action on the mostimmediate and urgent priorities as

Two states ’side by side’ still possible: Palestine

Sudan suspends two biggestdailies for critical coverageKHARTOUM: Sudan’s security services temporarily suspended thecountry’s two biggest newspapers to punish them for writing aboutarmy operations against rebels and the future plans of President OmarHassan al›Bashir, editors said on Saturday. Sudan has clamped down onindependent media, think tanks and non›governmental groups since itdiscovered plans for a coup against Bashir’s government in November.Al›Intibaha, Sudan’s biggest daily owned by an uncle of Bashir, said thesecurity services had ordered it to stop publishing for one week becauseit published a report about the army’s fight in South Kordofan, home to arebellion against the government. "A security officer called us yesterdaywithout giving a reason," said editor Sadiq al›Rizigi. Al›Majhar al›Siyassi,Sudan’s second›biggest daily by circulation, said it had been ordered tohalt publication for three days after it criticized calls from some officialsurging Bashir, in power since 1989, to seek reelection in 2015. �AGENCIES

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

A new Saudi Arabia?

Syria regimeunleashes artillerybarrage on QusairBEIRUT: Forces loyal to SyrianPresident Bashar Assad shelled astrategic western town onSaturday in their heaviestbarrage of a week›long battle todislodge rebels from theopposition stronghold, activistssaid. The Britain›based SyrianObservatory for Human Rightssaid at least 22 people including18 rebels were killed and dozenswounded in the fighting inQusair. Pro›Assad troops,including fighters from theLebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah,have been trying to push rebelsout of Qusair. Syrian state mediahas said government forcessteadily gained ground, includingon Saturday. Local activists havedenied regime gains and saidrebel fighters are defendingpositions. Qusair is important toAssad because it sits on a landcorridor linking two of hisstrongholds, the capital ofDamascus and towns on the

12 dead asPhilippine troopsclash with militantsZAMBOANGA: Twelve peoplewere killed in the Philippines onSaturday as troops clashed with amilitant group blamed for thecountry’s deadliest terror attacks,the military said. The fighting leftseven Filipino marines dead andnine others wounded on theremote southern island of Jolo,military spokesmen said.Five members of the Abu Sayyaf

group were also killed in thefirefight, military spokesmanBrigadier›General Domingo Tutaantold AFP in Manila. "It was an early›morning firefight. Our forces weretracking those responsible for somerecent kidnappings in the area,including the wife of a soldier,"Tutaan added.The social worker wife of a

marine had been freed unharmedby the Abu Sayyaf on nearbyBasilan island two days after herabduction, he said.The wounded marines were

airlifted to a military hospital in thesouthern port of Zamboanga,Tutaan said, adding none of theirinjuries was life›threatening.Colonel Jose Cenabre,

commander of a marine brigade inthe area, said a marinereconnaissance team under himwas involved in the firefight."The close›quarter combat

resulted casualties on both sides,"he told reporters by telephone.Founded using seed money fromAl›Qaeda in the 1990s, the AbuSayyaf is blamed for the worstterror attacks in the country,including the fire›bombing of a ferryin Manila Bay and kidnappings offoreign tourists. �AGENCIES

4 candidates begincampaigning in IranTEHRAN: Four out of the eightIranian presidential candidatesapproved by the country�s GuardianCouncil have officially startedcampaigning. Presidential candidate,Saeed Jalili, who is the secretary ofthe Supreme National SecurityCouncil, kicked off his campaign onFriday. Jalili put ethics and foreignpolicy at top of his agenda as hespoke to his supporters about hisprograms, beliefs and ideals duringhis first campaign gathering since hisapproval as a candidate. AnotherPrinciplist candidate, Ali›AkbarVelayati, who is a senior advisor toLeader of the Islamic RevolutionSeyyed Ali Khamenei, also kicked ofhis campaign. Independentcandidate, Mohsen Rezaei, thesecretary of the Expediency Council,kicked of his campaign on Friday ashe spoke to his supporters about hisprograms at Laleh Park in Tehran.Meanwhile, Tehran Mayor,Mohammad›Baqer Qalibaf left thecapital for Bushehr to kick of hispresidential campaign in the southernIranian city. �AGENCIES

Female suicide bomberinjures 18 in Russian regionMAKHACHKALA: A female suicidebomber blew herself up in thesouthern Russianregion of Dagestanon Saturday injuring at least 18,including two children and five policeofficers, police said. The attacker waslater identified as a widow of twoIslamic radicals killed by securityforces. It was the first suicidebombing in Dagestan since theBoston Marathon bombings lastmonth. The Tsarnaev brotherssuspected of carrying out thoseattacks are ethnic Chechens who livedin this turbulent Caucasus provincebefore moving to the US TamerlanTsarnaev, the elder brother who waskilled a shootout with police daysafter the April 15 bombings, spent sixmonths in Dagestan in 2012.Dagestan remains an epicenter ofviolence in the confrontation betweenIslamic radicals and federal forces. �

AGENCIES

Riots in Sweden spreadbeyond the capitalSTOCKHOLM: Riots in Swedenspread beyond the capital on Saturday,the sixth straight night of unrest thatflared in Stockholm’s immigrant›dominated suburbs. It has sparked adebate over integration in a countrylong seen as an oasis of peace. Carsand buildings were torched overnightin the medium›sized towns of Oerebro,Uppsala and Linkoeping, thoughtensions showed signs of easing inStockholm’s suburbs. The unrest hassparked a debate among Swedes overthe integration of immigrants, many ofwhom arrived under the country’sgenerous asylum policies, and whonow make up about 15 percent of thepopulation. Firefighters responded toabout 30 or 40 incidents in the greaterStockholm area overnight, down from70 similar incidents the night beforeand 90 the night prior to that.�The pastnight was the calmest we’ve seen sofar,� Stockholm police spokesman KjellLindgren said. Police reinforcementswere called in from Sweden’s secondand third biggest cities, Gothenburgand Malmoe ›› which have bothexperienced riots in the past decade ››and volunteers patrolling the streets torestore calm had had a deterring effect

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

Funeral prayers of seven cops heldPESHAWAR: The funeral prayer ofseven policemen who were martyred interrorist attack offered in Matni onSaturday. Some unidentified miscreantson Friday had ambushed DPO KohatDilawar Bangash car resultantly sixcops died on the spot and theircollective funeral prayer was offered inpolice line. Later on, the dead bodieswere sent to their ancestral village forburial. Meanwhile, Amir Afridi funeralprayer was also offered in Peshawarpolice line who also died in targetkilling attack during search operationand his dead body was also sent to hisancestral village for burial. The funeralprayers were attended by largesegment of society including a largenumber of police contingents andofficial in both cities. —Online

PM opens new campus ofBalochistan UniversityDERA MURAD JAMALI: CaretakerPrime Minister, Mir Hazar Khan Khosoon Saturday inaugurated regionalcampus of the University of Balochistanat newly announced Sohbatpur district.The prime minister was told thatbefore the completion of the regionalbuilding of the varsity classes werebeing held at Degree College DeraMurad Jamali. After the establishmentof the campus in the area it wouldprovide financial relief to the studentswho earlier had to travel outside thecity. —APP

LHC moved for constitutionof JC on power crisisLAHORE: Lahore High Court hasbeen moved for constitution ofJudicial Commission to fixresponsibility in connection with theongoing power crisis in the country.Azhar Siddique, counsel for petitionertook the plea in the petition that allthe power distribution companies bedisbanded and WAPDA be restoredforthwith. The power crisis is artificialand a few people are taking suchsteps to serve their personalinterests, the counsel added. Heprayed the court to constitute judicialcommission to fix the responsibility sothat the persons found responsiblecould be brought to justice. —Online

Sindh Police Eaglet Forcepassing-out parade heldKARACHI: The 17th passing›outparade of Sindh Police Eaglet Forcewas held on Saturday morning atShaheed Benazir Bhutto TrainingCentre Razzaqabad, Karachi. Accordingto Directorate Press Sindh statement,Inspector General of Police SindhShahid Nadeem Baloch was the guestof honour and inspected the parade.He also witnessed the practicaldemonstrartion of anti›terrorismtraining. —Online

Student variety programme hailedRAWALPINDI: A variety programmewas held at Rawalpindi Arts Council inwhich the children of City School gavetheir performance. The children,colourfully dressed, presented culturaldances, which were applauded by a largenumber of participants. They alsopresented tableaus on current situationand national songs. RAC ResidentDirector Waqar Ahmed highly praised theperformance of the children and termedit �untiring efforts of their teachers�.Addressing at the occasion, WaqarAhmed said that children are the futureof the nation, if they were educated withenthusiasm, the future of the countrywould be in secure hands. —StAff rePOrt

Infant girl thrown fromsixth floor in KarachiKARACHI: A newly born baby girl wasovernight thrown out of a flat located inthe city area of Gulistan›e›Jauhar; theinfant died on the spot. According to thelocal people, it seems the child was borna few hours ago. The cruel parents killedher by tossing her out of their flat atsixth storey of the building. Police kick›started the investigations; however, no

LAHORE: Visitors taking interest in items displayed at an exhibition at Lahore Chamber of Commerce in connection to National

LAHORE: Caretaker Chief Minister Najam Sethihas said that Pakistan should focus its attentionto African region that is destined to becomeglobal growth center for having enormous tradeand tourism potential.The Chief Minister was speaking at 2nd

Lahore Chamber of Commerce and IndustriesAfrica Show on Saturday.LCCI President Farooq Iftikhar and Dean of

African Ambassadors, High Commissioner ofKenya Mishi Masika Mwatsahu, LCCI Senior VicePresident Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, Vice PresidentMian Abuzar Shad and Zafar Mahmood,Convener, LCCI Standing Committee onPakistan Africa Business Promotion also spokeon the occasion.Najam Sethi said that Pakistan should not lose

any opportunity to tap African market wherein theneighboring India had already made a greatpenetration. �It is not only the Gold, Diamondsand Oil reserves that are a great attraction but anumber of other untapped sectors includingEducation and Tourism provide a solid reason toPakistani businessmen to increase their interactionwith their African counterparts,� he said.He said that Pakistani diplomats working in

the outer world need to reset their priorities asforeign diplomats in Pakistan remain stick totrade and commerce and presence of largenumber of African Ambassadors and HighCommissioners in today�s event arranged by the

Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry isan ample proof of their commitment to theirrespective countries. The Chief Minister showed displeasure over

the absence of Foreign Office representative inmega Africa Show saying that they peopleshould participate in the Africa Show. TheChief Minister said that African great LeaderPresident Nelson Mandela is an amazing leaderbecause of his dedication and inspiration. Heencouraged the actions of others, andmotivated others towards acceptance ofpeople that are different.Speaking on the occasion the Dean of

Ambassadors Mishi Masika Mwatsahucongratulated the people and the govt ofPakistan for holding elections that manyinternational observers have described as freeand fair. This is a significant achievement forPakistan�s democracy. She said that Africa Dayis a day of significant importance to the peopleof Africa because it commemorates the day ofthe African Union. It is the day in 1963 that the30 out of the 32 independent African statessigned of founding charter in Addis AbabaEthiopia that established the defunctOrganization of African Unity the precursor ofthe African Union.The Ambassador said that last year while

celebrating Africa Day, the formation of theAfrica Pakistan Friendship and Business

Association was announced as a means tofurther consolidate the friendship and businessrelations between the Chamber and Africa. Shesaid that the work is in progress and nearconclusion. She said that desires and hopes ofthe people of Africa are to be free, happy andprosperous. As the inhabitants of the cradle ofmankind, the people of Africa also desire tohave genuine friends throughout the world.She also paid rich tributes to LCCI President

Farooq Iftikhar, Convener, LCCI StandingCommittee Zafar Mahmood for arranging AfricaShow. Speaking on the occasion, the LCCIPresident Farooq Iftikhar said that Africa is apotential market for Pakistani rice while Africancan supply us leather, fertilizers, cotton, textileproducts and agricultural products whichPakistan does not produce. He said thatexchange of students, doctors, teachers andscholars should take place on regular basis.The LCCI President said that visa policies

should be relaxed for each other to overcomeunnecessary bottlenecks.Earlier, the Chief Minister inaugurated the

exhibition, took a round of the exhibition hall andspent some time at stalls established by theembassies of Kenya, South Africa, Tunisia, Nigeria,Morocco, Egypt, Libya, Mauritius and Sudan.Meanwhile the Lahore Chamber of Commerce &Industry also hosted a dinner in honor ofAmbassadors at Governor�s House. —Online

Sethi urges to focus onAfrican region for trade

ali saJJad shah

RAWALPINDI: The demand for kickbackshas become an order of the day at DistrictAccounts Office here, as babus force teachersand other officials to pay them eight per centof their salaries to get their pay cheques orarrears.The rampant corruption in DAO has not only

exposed the good governance of Punjabgovernment but has also made it very difficultfor employees including teachers, healthdepartment officials and many others servingin various institutions to get clear their pendingbills or arrears as they have to pay hefty bribe.A total of eight per cent against the total

amount is being charged as bribe from theofficials for the issuance of all kinds ofcheques, i.e., pay or other arrears by the clerksand officials of computer section in DAO,reliable sources told The Spokesman.Following the footsteps of their colleagues, theclerks also charge Rs 100 for a single tokenissued to the government employees forsubmitting their files, the sources added.According to sources, a large number of

female teachers, who have been inducted ineducational institutions of Rawalpindi aftertransfers from other districts such as Jhang,Sialkot and Kasoor three months back, arestill working without salaries as babus in DAOare demanding kickbacks from them before

issuing cheques.Interestingly, a female teacher, who

belonged to Jhang and is teaching in a girlsschool in Rawalpindi, has been running frompost to pillar to acquire her three monthssalary Rs 50,000 despite paying Rs 4000 assweetener to babus in DAO, disclosedsources. However, the babus in ComputerSection have misplaced her file uponcontacting media, said the sources.When contacted, the victim teacher told

The Spokesman on condition of anonymitythat she paid Rs 4,000, which is almost eightper cent of her three months� salary andother arrears, to the officials of DAOComputer Section but they made

unprecedented delay in release of hercheque. She alleged that the officials of DAOComputer Section misplaced her file in a bidto teach her a lesson when she threatenedthem to leak the issue to media. Sheappealed Commissioner, Rawalpindi or otherhigher officials to take notice of plunderingexercise being run in DAO and provide thevictims justice.District Officer Account Mazhar Langrial was

not available in the office and his mobile phonewas switched off when he was contacted forhis comments on the issue. The babus force teachers and other officials

to pay them eight per cent to get their paycheques or other arrears, exposing exposed

Office accused of getting �commission� to release salaries

PESHAWAR: KP Governor EngineerShaukatullah said that it indeed is a correctapproach to building capacity of the heads ofeducational institutes with special focus onpromoting their technical knowhow on ensuringinformation technology based efficientadministration. Addressing at the concludingceremony of the first›ever 7›day long workshopwhich he hosted at Governor�s House, Peshawar,the governor said, �Making imparting of qualityeducation at every level especially at the primarylevel possible is beyond doubt a great challengewhich demands integrated approach to derivethe desired goals.�He appreciated the Higher Education

Commission for holding training workshops forthe principals of degrees colleges, affiliated to

various universities. �Being keen observer of theworking of primary schools in FATA, it is myearnest desire that the HEC should also comeforward and help us in making their functioningfully productive in all respects,� he remarked.The ceremony besides all the twenty principals

of different degree colleges from across theprovince was also attended by senators, IlyasAhmad Bilour, Haji Muhammad Adeel, HajiGhulam Ali and Mrs. Farhat Abbas besidesSenator Abdul Razzaq from FATA and some ofthe senior educationists of the province. It isworth mentioning that the moot was a part oflong series of similar events under which20,000 principals of degree colleges at thenational level will be offered opportunities toupdate their knowledge and administrative

skills and the next workshop is expected to beattended by 60 heads of the respectiveinstitutions in this province. The ceremony wasalso addressed by Syed Imtiaz Hussain Gilaniand the Regional Director of HEC Farmanullah.Highlighting certain aspects of the prevailing

scenario of education system, the Governorfurther pointed out that time of the newgeneration, especially at the primary level ismuch more precious. Syed Imtiaz Hussain Gilaniand Farmanullah earlier highlighting theimportance of the workshop said that it is aneffort to offer opportunity to the principals ofdegree colleges to have brain storming sessionsand get them up›dated on modern developmentsin education system coupled with the challengesexpected to confront in future in this respect. —

KP governor stresses technical training

KARACHI: People collecting oil which spilled from an oil tanker after it overturned at KarsazFlyover. —Online

FAISALABAD: Children studying outside their home during electricity loadshedding. —Online

KARACHI: A speeding oil tanker turnedturtle at Karsaz area in Karachi onSaturday, killing its driver on the postand injuring two others.The tanker overturned while taking a

sharp turn at Karsaz flyover. As a result, driver Abdul Jabbar died

on the spot and two others wereinjured. Thousands of litres of oilstarted to flow out of the tanker due totankerís leakage, suspending trafficflow.A larger number of people gathered

there and started filling up their bottlesand buckets with leaked oils.

Jamshoro road accident: Atleast five people, including a new

married couple, were killed and twoothers hurt following a collision betweena truck and a car here on Saturday.The accident took place on Indus

Highway in Jamshoro. The car wastraveling to Larkana from Karachi beforeit suffered a head›on collision with thetruck near Pitaro College. All the fivepeople riding the car died on the spot. The victims were identified as Naeem,

Shahida, SHO Hyderabad BashirSoomro, Dildar Ahmed and Sakina.The dead and the injured were shifted

to Liaquat Medical Hospital. Thedeceased were returning to Karachiafter attending a wedding ceremony inLarkana. —Online

Oil tanker�s driver killed

LAHORE: One more child who had beensuffering from measles died in Lahore onSaturday, taking the death toll in thecurrent outbreak in Punjab to 103.Punjab Health Department has failed

to control measles outbreak despitevaccination campaign. The victim is asix›year›old Adeel who was undergoingtreatment but unluckily he could notsurvive. According to hospital sources,the deceased belonged to Badami Bagh.The provincial government conducted

a measles vaccination drive in Lahoreearlier this month for children agedbetween six months and 10 years andimmunised over 2.9 million. Avaccination campaign will now belaunched on June 11 in 11 other high›risk districts. —Online

Rashid ali

ATTOCK: The government servant shotdead by two unknown person near villageKamra Kallan. According to police thatAhmed Khan s/o Khan Bahadur residentof Theekrian village Kamra Kallan iscoming from home on his bike at 7am andgoing to factory for his duty. When he reached Dera Khatran Kamra,

two unknown person who was alreadythere open fire with pistol on AhmedKhan. In case of firing Ahmed Khan diedon the spot. Attock Saddar policeregistered a murder case againstunknown killer. But no arrest had beenmade till the filling of this story.

NEW YORK: At the United Nations�Pakistan has called for resolving conflictsand disputes justly and addressing theroot causes of strife and hostilities.Speaking at a function held to mark

the "Vesak Day" that commemorates thebirth� enlightenment and passing of theBuddha� Ambassador Masood Khan alsocalled for eliminating abject poverty andsaving the fragile planet. He said the UNshould serve to unite us in our commondesire to create tolerant� respectful andpeaceful societies.In his message on the occasion�

Secretary›General Ban Ki›moon said theteachings of Buddhism can offersignificant insights on how to facetoday’s most pressing challenges. —

Another child dies of measles, toll rises to 103

Govt servant shot dead nearKamra Kallan

Pakistan calls forresolving conflicts�disputes justly

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

Arjit says he diversifies his personalityMMUUMMBBAAII:: Indian singer and music producer Arijit Singh, who has climbedpopularity charts after rendering his soulful voice to Aashiqui, has said that firsthe realised that he don’t have a chance in the playback field, so he decided todiversify. “I became a music producer and assisted music directors. But it was ablessing in disguise. That time helped me in becoming a better musician. And,these days all singers are trying to learn various aspects of music,” he says. Arijitstarted his musical journey way back in 2005, with a reality show. Though thesinger has come a long way since then, Arijit says a stint at the reality show didgive him a contract with a music label, but it took him a long time to find a solidfoothold in the industry. Interestingly, Arijit produced the music for Cocktail'sTum Hi Ho Bandhu and Balam Pichkari and Kabira. –AGENCIES

Karan curious about lives of othersMMUUMMBBAAII:: Karan Johar who turns 41 reflects on his relationships and his need to be aparent. “I have always liked people and been sensitive. I like to listen and not hear. I amcurious about the lives of others as against just talking about my own, which does nothappen in our fraternity as we like to talk only about ourselves. This makes others feelspecial. Also, I grew up as the only child and we did not have a large family. So for meand my mother, our friends tend to become our family,” he said. “At one point in time, Iwas trying to win the popularity contest and felt that I needed the sanction andvalidation of other people. At 41, that is settled and I feel comfortable in my own skinand don't seek other people's approval professionally or personally. I realised that I can'tchange who I am and people like me the way I am, so I decided to not make theadditional eKort to do that,” he said. –AGENCIES

CMYK

FROMChopard to Damiani andAmrapali to jewels designed byPankaj Surana, there was a lot

of bling on the red carpet at Cannes2013. Here's a look at some of ourfavourite pieces.Vidya Balan wore stunning gold anddiamond necklace with pataj workdesigned by Pankaj Surana to theopening ceremony. Cara Delevingnewore a suite of Chopard

diamonds to the Cannes 2013opening ceremony. SonamKapoor chose to wear astatement-making SunitaKapoor nose ring. Lana DelRey in Chopard jewels at thepremiere of The GreatGatsby.Freida Pinto too pickedChopard earrings for themovie's premiere. SharonStone wore a sparklingdiamond and emeraldnecklace to the premiere ofBehind the Candlebra.Jessica Chastain wore a

jewel from Elizabeth Taylor'sextraordinary collection to the50th anniversary screening ofCleopatra. Adriana Karembeu worediamond and emerald earrings with amatching statement ring to theCleopatra premiere.Jessica Biel wore a sparkling serpentnecklace to the premiere of Inside LlewynDavis. Jane Fonda in a diamond necklacewith a pink drop by Chopard at thepremiere of Inside Llewyn Davis. Alessandra Ambrosio flaunted awhite and black diamond de Grisognococktail ring at the premiere of All IsLost at the festival. Marion Cotillard in

Chopard at the premiere of her filmBlood Ties.Kristin Scott Thomas wore matchingdiamond and emerald earring and ringto the premiere of her film Only GodForgives. Don't miss the glitteringsnake cuK on her wrist. SolangeKnowles wore drop earrings byChopard. Alyson Le Borges woresearrings and a matching bracelet byChopard. Mallika Sherawat woreearrings by Damiani. Eva Longoriawore earrings by Damiani. –AGENCIES

Cannes 2013:

Jewellery on the Red Carpet

A Snews broke that actorSana Khan had allegedlytried to kidnap a 15-year-

old girl, the industry went abuzzwith rumours about what willnow happen to her Bollywoodcareer. The actor, who was signedon as the second lead for SohailKhan’s next Salman Khan-starrer,Mental, has apparently not beenreporting on the sets of the movieever since a complaint was lodgedagainst her.We get some reactions on theissue. Rahul Mittra, producerIt depends on the seriousness ofthe case. Such controversiessometimes help small time actorsbut that depends on the actor’scredibility.Sanjay Gupta, filmmakerRight now, none of us are clearabout the case. There have beenso many instances whencelebrities have been draggedinto such issues without anyrhyme or reason. So, at thispoint, no one should jumpthe gun and issue a verdicton Sana’s career. Let’s waitand watch.This controversy willdefinitely hamperher career. Ifthere’s any waythat she’sproveninnocent,even thenthere will becertain peoplewho will behesitant and mighthave problemsworking with her.This news is reallyshocking. She seemed to be a

very sweet and helpful girl duringour stay in the Bigg Boss house.Navjot Singh Sidhu, formercricketer and commentatorLet the law take its own course;she lived with dignity in the BiggBoss house.The Sana that I know (from BiggBoss) cannot be involved inanything criminal. She is a naivegirl. Prahlad Kakkar, admanShe’s gone from being a nobodyto a nationally-known figure. Themedia is always looking for somenews out of such controversies. Iam sure that she will get lots of

publicity out of thisissue. That willbring her lots ofoKers. –AGENCIES

CCAANNNNEESS::When actor Eliyas Qureshiswapped Bollywood for Hollywood 15years ago, the only roles for Indianactors were "cab drivers, doctors andterrorists".Since then, the 42-year-old NewYork-based actor says he has playedevery south Asian stereotype in thebook, from a would-be suicideattacker in Sacha Baron Cohen's "TheDictator" to Michael Douglas's taxidriver in "Wall Street".Although things have started tochange "drastically for the better" inparts of the industry, many roles forsouth Asian actors remain just"caricatures", Qureshi told AFP thisweek at the Cannes Film Festival.Faced with permanenttypecasting, Qureshi has takenmatters in his own hands and joineda growing army of businessmenmaking money from selling Indianfilms to the rest of the world."The industry is a superficialindustry and it becomes problematicwhen you end up doing the same rolestime after time," he said."Denzel Washington dealt withstereotyping in his career and hebroke it. I will break it by making myown movies and producing and acting

in content that tells stories thatappeals to a wider audience," he said.US-based film producer anddistributor Raaj Rahhi said the olddays of Indian film being too India-specific for overseas marketsbeyond other south Asian countriessuch as Pakistan and Afghanistanwere long gone.Indian movies have been popular inRussia for many years and actorRajnikanth has long been a huge starin Japan, he said."I find film from India can be sold inLatin America, in Europe, in parts ofthe world we never thought of beforebecause human emotion and dramaare the same everywhere," he said.For decades Bollywood, the namegiven to the state of Maharashtra'smovie industry, religiously churnedout song and dance routines wrappedup in predictable melodrama of littleinterest to anyone except SouthAsians and the diaspora, saidproducer Debasish Bhattacharjee."We were very loyal to ouraudience. We knew exactly what ouraudience wanted to see and havebeen delivering it for a very longtime," he said."If it was mindless it was probably

because you can't take the poor man -who has saved up to go the (cinema)theatre for something opulent wherethe underdog strikes it rich andmarries the wealthy guy's daughter -back to his own world."Now, however, a "new generation" ofdirectors, often from other Indianstates, who didn't come up thetraditional Bollywood route hademerged and were making films about

diKerent subjects that could be sold tothe rest of the world, he said.These filmmakers were typified bythe four directors of "Bombay Talkies",the anthology film released to markthe 100-year anniversary of Indiancinema earlier this month and whichwas also shown at Cannes.One of the films tackled the subjectof gay relationships, a massive tabooin India.

"The film schools brought about arevolution. The students got exposedto international cinema, they learnedthe language of international cinemaand they adapted Indian stories to betold in a much better cinematiclanguage," he said."That is how the 'parallel movement'(of new directors), as we call it,happened. That was also supported bya huge number of theatre actors likeOm Puri and Naseeruddin Shah whowere not glamorous enough to fit intoBollywood but were brilliant actors."Together these actors and directorswere making films that could be soldaround the world. Non-Indiancompanies were eyeing both theopportunity to sell movies to India,which has a large English-speakingpopulation, and to work with Indiancompanies selling Indian filmsabroad, said Ajit Andhare, CEO ofViacom18 Motion Pictures which hasa tie-up with Paramount to distributeits films in India."The (domestic) market is heavilyunder penetrated, for a population of1.2 billion. If you compare us withsome of the developed markets we'reonly beginning to consume cinema,"the CEO said. –MONITORING

Salman comes out in support of SanaSALMANKhan who has kept himself away from Twitter for quite a long,today came in support of her leading lady in his home production filmMental. Sana has an arrest warrant issued against her by the Mumbaipolice in connection with kidnapping of a minor girl. Expressing his views,Salman posted on twitter, "Poor Sana, so sad. First let her become famousthen try and get some publicity from her. This is the problem chappo any

thing galat bhi ho toh.” Taking the issue further, hewrote on Twitter, "Y wld a girl kidnap a 15 year old?For money? To get her married, at 4pm in apopulated area. investigate the complainants.Kamaal hai yaar." While Salman's third tweet was,"Obviously must be scared and running aroundand hiding, they have arrest warrant on her, 5dharas, jail is not big boss's house dude.SAD."Finally hitting back on the those who have framedthe charges against Sana he wrote, "Obviously thosepeople must have some ulterior motives. Workedwith her on bigg boss, you have seen her for 3months every day what do u think?” –AGENCIES

Manyata to promoteSanjay Policegiri

AS Sanjay Duttspends his daysin Pune's highsecurityYerwada Jail,his wifeManyata isstepping it upto ensure her

husband's unfinished businessesare taken care of. She hasdecided to step out and promoteDutt's Policegiri to ensure it getsthe right mileage. The film,directed by KS Ravikumar, isscheduled to release on July 5and Manyata will join the adcampaigns from the next week."Bhabhi is very dear to all of usand we will maintain theintegrity of this situation,” saidRahul Aggarwal, producer of thefilm. “Before surrendering,Sanjay had told his familymembers that he had given hisblood and sweat to the film andhe believed that the film hadtremendous potential as it washis one of his solo releases in along time. He had asked Manyatato do all she can to ensure thefilm gets its due.” –AGENCIES

Rajpal conviction incontempt case stayedNNEEWW DDEELLHHII::The Delhi HighCourt stayed theconviction ofIndian filmactor RajpalYadav and hiswife Radha forcontempt afterthey breached undertakings givento the court for repayment of loanto a financial company in a civilsuit. The recovery suit was filed byMurli Projects Pvt Ltd after Yadavcouple failed to re-pay five crorerupees which they had taken asloan to make their Hindi debutfilm Atta Patta Lapatta in 2010. Abench of Justice BD Ahmed andJustice Vibhu Bakhru stayed thesingle judge's May 13 order whichhad held Yadav couple guilty ofcontempt of court and fixed May27 for the sentence. “There shallbe stay on the operation of May13 order passed by the singlejudge,” the bench said and askedYadavs to give fresh undertakingwithin a week on the appeal filedby the couple against convictionorder. –AGENCIES

Sana’s careergoes for a toss?

Indian movie makers eye worldwide sales

THREE years after they met and fell inlove on the sets of Housefull 2, Indianfilmmaker Sajid Khan and actressJacqueline Fernandez have decided topart ways. The 42-year-old filmmakerand the 28-year-old former beautypageant from Sri Lanka took thedecision early this week. The couple hasso far been quite committed to therelationship.Sajid met Jacqueline's parents inOctober last year and there were reportsthat they were pretty close to gettingmarried as well. Curiously enough,though Sajid never shied away fromconfessing his love for her, Jacquelinehas always evaded all questionspertaining to her boyfriend. Despite thefact that they graced several socialevents, parties and photo calls together.Confirming the development, a sourceclose to the two said Sajid andJacqueline were having serious issuessince February this year. “But they havemany common friends who alwayshelped them patch up. Their eKortsworked for a while, but the cracks keptresurfacing,” he said.Sajid's earnestness as a lover may havekilled the fledgling romance. "He was

always protective, but at times toopossessive of his girlfriend," said asource, adding, "Jackie brought out hisprudish side... he had issues with theway she dressed, her roles... everything.”Industry insiders say this costJacqueline her coveted roles in Jism-2and Krrish-3.Sajid apparently prohibited her fromkissing Hrithik Roshan on screen orshooting sensual scenes with ArunodaySingh and Randeep Hooda. "Sajid'sbear hug was stifling Jackie, and thoughit was a painful decision, they decided it

is best to remain friends and end up asbickering lovers," it said. A friend of thefilmmaker called to say that the partingwas amicable.“There is no animosity. Now, bothSajid and Jacqueline want to focus onlyon their respective careers. Post Race-2,Jacqueline has been getting many oKers.As for Sajid, he wants to bounce backwith vengeance after Himmatwala."What remains to be seen is whetherJacqueline finds pride of place in Sajid'snext film starring Saif Ali Khananymore. –AGENCIES

Jacqueline, Sajid part ways

�Actresses not appearing on Mental’s sets

BSF soldier killedin Loc mine blastJJAAMMMMUU:: An army jawan was killedand another got injured when a landmine exploded near the Line of Control(LoC) in the Poonch district of Jammuand Kashmir. Lance Naik NareshKumar was killed on the spot andanother Jawan got injured when theystepped over the mine along the LoC inKrishna Ghati sector of Poonch districtlast night, a Defence spokesman wasquoted as saying. The two victims werepart of the Road Opening Party (ROP)when the incident took place, he said,adding that the body of Kumar will besent to his native place in Haryana aftercompletion of all formalities. –ONLINE

Jamshed Dastinot to join PML-NMMUUZZAAFFFFAARRGGAARRHH:: Ex-PPP MNAJamshed Dasti has decided not to joinPakistan Muslim League–Nawaz(PML-N). Talking to the media,Jamshed Dasti said he has decided toproceed to the National Assembly as anindependent candidate. He, however,added that he would vote for PML-Nchief Nawaz Sharif for the role of primeminister and hoped to work towardsthe prosperity of the country. –ONLINE

‘Umpire Asad Raufwill fight to clear name’KKAARRAACCHHII:: Troubled Pakistani umpireAsad Rauf will fight to clear his name inan ongoing spot-fixing scandal in Indiaand has returned home in Lahore,according to family sources. TheInternational Cricket Council (ICC) thisweek withdrew the 57-year-old umpirefrom the next month’s ChampionsTrophy in England in the wake ofmedia reports that he was under policeinvestigations. Rauf ’s family said hereturned home in Lahore a few daysago. “Rauf has nothing to hide, hereached Lahore after completing hismatches in the Indian League,” a familysource told a foreign news agencywithout elaborating. Rauf, who hasoverseen 48 Tests and 98 one-dayinternationals, was one of the umpiresduring the Indian Premier League(IPL) at the centre of the corruptionprobe. –ONLINE

Peshawar policearrest six terrorists PPEESSHHAAWWAARR:: The city police,conducting a raid on a house, arrestedsix terrorists including woman andseized explosive material, suicide vestand bombs. According to details, policeconducted raid on a house located inthe city’s suburbs of Tarnab Farm andarrested six alleged terrorists includinga woman. According to police sources, asuicide bomber is among the arrestedmiscreants. According to DSP ShaukatKhan, police recovered 60-kilogramexplosives, a suicide jacket and areadied seven-kilogram bomb from thehouse. –ONLINE

Government formationat final stageIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Consultations amongthe political parties have entered thefinal stage to form governments in thecentre and all the four provinces. Thestate-run radio reported that thePakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) which bagged 125 seats inthe National Assembly has emerged asthe single largest party afterindependent candidates joined it.Election on women seats underproportionate system is expected totake its strength in the Lower House upto 190 seats. Although PML-N iscomfortable to form new governmentat centre yet it is following the strategyof reconciliation and it has initiateddialogue with small parties in all thefour provinces to form a broad-basednational government. –ONLINE

ISAF chief meets kayaniIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Gen Ashfaq ParvezKayani, Chief of Army StaO, PakistaniArmy and Gen Joseph F Dunford,commander of the InternationalSecurity Assistance Force (ISAF), metSaturday as part of the continuing eOortto strengthen cooperation and regionalstability. This was Dunford's secondvisit to Pakistan as the commander ofISAF. During the session today, the twoleaders discussed a variety of issuesrelated to strengthening cooperationand pressuring militants who threatensecurity along the Pakistan-Afghanistanborder. "Today's meeting was part of anongoing dialogue to address securitychallenges of mutual concern.Communication and cooperationbetween ISAF, Pakistan, andAfghanistan is critical for regionalstability," Dunford said. –STAFF REPORT

SUNDAYMAY 26, 2013THE SPOKESMAN - RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD

cMyk

Published by Ahmad Waleed from Yasmeen Majeed Printing Press 69 Cricket Stadium Rawalpindi.

LLOONNDDOONN:: Reports of attacks to onehelpline have increased more than sixfold in the days since Wednesday’satrocity, allegedly carried out byIslamic fanatics, says The Telegraph.They have included “focused, veryaggressive attacks”, a spokesman said.A number of people were appearingin various courts around the countryfor a series of unrelated alleged racistincidents. Police in Newcastle werealso bracing themselves for a rallyorganised by the English DefenceLeague and arrested three peopleahead of the event for allegedlymaking racist tweets.Faith Matters, which works toreduce extremism, said its helplinehad been inundated with reports ofattacks, including some on mosques.Before the Woolwich murderbetween four to eight cases a daywere reported but it had received up

to 150 in the last few days.Fiyaz Mughal, director of FaithMatters, told BBC Radio Five Live:"What's really concerning is thespread of these incidents. They'recoming in from right across thecountry. "Secondly, some of them arequite aggressive very focused, veryaggressive attacks. And thirdly, therealso seems to be significant onlineactivity ... suggesting co-ordination ofincidents and attacks againstinstitutions or places where Muslimscongregate."A 22-year-old man was appearingbefore magistrates in Lincolncharged with making maliciouscomments on Facebook.Benjamin Flatters, from the city,was arrested on Thursday aftercomplaints were made toLincolnshire Police about commentsmade on the social networking site

which were allegedly of a racist orantireligious nature, a LincolnshirePolice spokesman said.Avon and Somerset Police arrestedand bailed two men for makingalleged oOensive comments onTwitter about the murder.A 23-year-old and a 22-year-old,both from Bristol, were held underthe Public Order Act on suspicion ofinciting racial or religious hatred.Detective Inspector Ed Yaxley ofAvon and Somerset Police said:"These comments were directedagainst a section of our community.Comments such as these arecompletely unacceptable and onlycause more harm to our communityin Bristol."People should stop and thinkabout what they say on social mediabefore making statements as theconsequences could be serious."

Two men, from London, were alsodue to appear at Thames MagistratesCourt charged with religiouslyaggravated threatening behaviourover an incident in an east Londonfast food restaurant on Thursday.Labourer Toni Latcal, 32, wascharged with religiouslyaggravated threatening behaviourand causing criminal damagewhile plasterer Eugen-AurelianEugen-Beredei, 34, was chargedwith religiously aggravatedthreatening behaviour.Surrey Police said a 19-year-oldman has been charged in connectionwith comments placed on a socialmedia website following the murderof the soldier.In Surrey, Mohammed Mazar, 19,of Balmoral Drive, Woking, has beencharged in connection withcomments placed on a social media

website following the murder of thesoldier. He was freed on police bail toappear at South West SurreyMagistrates' Court on June 11.Superintendent Matt Goodridgesaid: "Surrey Police will not toleratelanguage used in a public place,including on social media websites,which causes harassment, alarm ordistress."Adam Rogers, 28, of KingsmanStreet, Woolwich, has been chargedby police after allegedly posting anoOensive message on Facebook.He was to appear at BrightonMagistrates' Court accused ofsending an "oOensive, indecent ormenacing message" online.Meanwhile, a 23-year-old womanhas been charged with allegedlysending a "grossly oOensive" messageon Facebook, HampshireConstabulary said. –AGENCIES

Woolwich attack provokes anti-Muslim sentiment

PPEESSHHAAWWAARR:: Samiullah Afridi,counsel for Dr Shakil Afridi, hassaid it will make no difference ifhis client has assisted CIA and norcan he be convicted on this groundas Pakistan and US are allies sincelong in war against terrorism.He said this while talking toBBC here. He held thatAbbottabad Commission reporthas been cited in US media whichhas not been made public inPakistan so far. Such reports

cannot be trusted much.He went on to say If the reportspublished in US print media provetrue even then it will make nodifference as Shakil Afridi cannotbe convicted on the basis of thesereports.“I had met Shakil Afridi 8months before in jail. Since then Ihave been filing applications withthe jail authorities but I have notbeen allowed to meet Shakil Afridiso far,” he stated.

According to him even therelatives of his client are not beingallowed to meet him. It may be recalled that US mediahad claimed on the basis of certainparts of the report that Dr ShakilAfridi was in contact with CIAsince the last five years and he hadbeen working with CIA as its spy.It was further said in the reportsthat Dr Shakil had made requestto seek political asylum in US inthe wake of deteriorating law and

order situation in FATA.Khyber Agency administrationhad awarded rigorousimprisonment for 33 years in jailunder FCR on the charges ofabetting the miscreants andconspiring against the securityforces. The accused hadchallenged his conviction throughan application in the court ofcommissioner Peshawar. Thejudgment in his case has beenreserved till June 13. –ONLINE

LLAAHHOORREE:: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI) on Saturday nominatedMakhdoom Javed Hashmi as itscandidate for the slot of PrimeMinister. The decision was takenafter a meeting of the PTIParliamentary Party chaired byImran Khan in Lahore.PTI also announced its candidatesfor the slot of Speaker and DeputySpeaker in the National Assembly.Shahryar Afridi, the MNA-electfrom Kohat, was nominated tocontest for the Speaker while PTI’sWomen Wing president MunazaHasan was nominated for the slot ofDeputy Speaker.Talking to reporters after themeeting, PTI Vice-chairman ShahMehmood Qureshi said the partywould play the role of a responsible,eOective and vibrant opposition inthe National Assembly. He addedthat the party has decided to field itscandidates for all the parliamentaryportfolios in the National Assembly.The former foreign ministerfurther said that PTI MNA-electfrom Karachi, Dr Arif Alvi, willrepresent the Parliamentary Party ofPTI. “Ghulam Sarwar Khan willrepresent the part in BusinessAdvisory Committee of the NationalAssembly,” he maintained.He said Imran Khan was in verygood health and spirits, adding thathe chaired the whole meeting in avery fresh mood. “He is doing fine,but if the first session of the NationalAssembly is convened on May 28 hewill not attend it. As per his doctor’sadvice, he will stay in Lahore forsome time,” he maintained.Imran Khan also thanked andappreciated PTI workers andsupporters for participating in theprotest at the Election Commission

of Pakistan (ECP) in Islamabad onFriday, Qureshi said. ECP should payheed to PTI’s demands because theywould be helpful in by-elections,local government elections and thenext general elections, Qureshiadded. He said the ECP had issuedthe notifications of the winningcandidates and asked candidateswith complaints filed against themthose to go the Election Tribunal.“Our demand is that the number ofelection tribunals should beincreased so that the decision of anycase couldn’t take more than 120days as described in the law.”Qureshi said several parties hadraised questions about thecredibility of elections in Karachi,adding that PTI would keepunfolding its strategy about protestsafter the assembly session. “We havegot our strong protest registeredand will continue to devise ourstrategy about this from time totime.” PTI’s central leadership,including Dr Arif Alvi and ShafqatMahmood, were also present at themeeting. –AGENCIES

Shakil Afridi cannot be convicted: counsel

LLAAHHOORREE:: IInnddiiaann fifisshheerrmmeenn rreelleeaasseedd bbyy PPaakkiissttaann sshhoouutt ssllooggaannss aass tthheeyy rreettuurrnn ttoo tthheeiirr hhoommeellaanndd ffrroomm WWaaggaahh BBoorrddeerr.. –ONLINE

LLAAHHOORREE:: Following thepattern of independentcandidates joining theparty in power, formerprime minister MirZafarullah Khan JamaliSaturday announced tojoin the Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz.Talking to the mediaafter an hours-longmeeting with thevictorious PML-N chief,Jamali said he decided tojoin Nawaz’s League inthe interest of thetroubled province ofBalochistan.He said Balochistanneeds to be handledcarefully as previousgovernments did nothingfor the betterment of theprovince. The ex-PM saidpackages could not makeany diOerence in thelong-ignored provinceand added solid stepswould be taken to win thetrust of Baloch people.Earlier, Jamali called onPML-N President MianNawaz Sharif at hisresidence in Lahore onSaturday. Jamali has wonthe elections fromBalochistan, a restiveprovince facing terrorismfor last few years. Hefelicitated Nawaz Sharif onhis party’s victory in thegeneral elections. ThePML-N has emerged asthe leading party in thegeneral elections held afortnight ago and over 40independent candidateshave joined it so far. –ONLINE

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Punjab Caretaker ChiefMinister Najam Sethi, known for hisinsight analysis as a journalist, may beappointed as next ambassador to UnitedStates, media quoting sources reported onSaturday. According to sources, Sethi hasgood links with US oNcials and powercircles as well as in good book of PakistanMuslim League Nawaz.Sherry Rehman, the ambassador to USfrom Pakistan, has already resigned fromher post following winning of PML-N inpolls on May 11. Pakistan People’s Party, towhich Sherry belongs, had to face a wipeout throughout the country except Sindh.The situation will be clear in next fewdays as soon as Nawaz Sharif takes oath asnext prime minister of the country, facingimmense challenges of economic woes,lawlessness and power crisis.Whatever the situation is, Najam Sethi,

who often refers his analysis to a ’Chirrya’or ‘Sparrow’, has emerged as a strongcontender for next envoy to US, which hasa spiky type of relations with the SouthAsian country. Another contender mightbe Tariq Fatemi, who assists PML-N oninternational aOairs. –ONLINE

Najam Sethi likely tobe ambassador to US

Former PMJamali joinsPML-N

PTI namesHashmi asPM candidate

KKHHYYBBEERR AAGGEENNCCYY:: Security forces haveclaimed to kill three militants andinjured four of them in jet strikesconducted on Saturday here in Maidan,the far-flung area of Tirah valley of tehsilBara, sub-division of Khyber agency.Sources said that the forces warplanesimpounded suspected hideouts of themilitants, located in Maidan anddemolished three of it beside withinflicted of life loss to the militants.However the claimed could not beconfirmed by the militants sources due toremote area and lack oftelecommunication means.Meanwhile, Khasadar force recovereda huge cache of explosives from a pick-up

and arrested three persons.A Jamrud political administrationoNcial told reporters that the Khasadarpersonnel were busy in routine duty atBagyari check post, when they stopped apick-up van, bearing registration NoLKL-680 for general checking. Duringsearch 1750 kilograms of sophisticatedexplosives were recovered hided incavities of the vehicle, sources said.Three persons, identified as Khalid,Mutahir and Safar, residents of ZekhaKhel area of tehsil Landi Kotal werearrested. The detainees along withimpounded vehicle were shifted toJamrud tehsil for investigation,sources said. –STAFF REPORT

Jirga barspaying power duesHHAANNGGUU:: Barring the localsfrom paying power dues, thegrand tribal jirga of Hanguhas imposed a fine of Rs200,000 on those whoviolate the decision. Thegrand tribal jirga of Hanguhas decided not to payelectricity dues in an effort tomark protest against theprolonged hours ofloadshedding. According to areport, the citizens of Hanguare facing 22 hours ofloadshedding while theintense power cuts have alsoresulted into water shortage.The next jirga will be held onMay 27. –ONLINE

No decision yet onjoining govt: MQMKKAARRAACCHHII:: The MuttahidaQaumi Movement (MQM) onSaturday clarified that theparty had yet to take adecision on whether it wouldoccupy the treasury benchesor sit on the oppositionbenches after a statement bythe party’s chief AltafHussain on Friday wasmisinterpreted. In astatement, the MQM saidthat their chief ’s message toparty workers on Fridaywhere he had pointed out thequest for power for those whohad won the elections andserved in assemblies was butnatural. –AGENCIES

Three militants killedin jet strikes in Tirah