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06 News captured French ‘Qaeda’ man headed to Somalia ISLAMABAD aFP
Officials on thursday said a French al Qaeda militant, linked to the 9/11 attacks, was probably heading to somalia when he was captured near the iranian border. Naamen Meziche was detained in May after disclosures by Younis al-Mauritani, captured in pakistan last year and apparently tasked by Osama bin Laden to plot attacks on Australia, europe and the Us. “Meziche was probably on his way to somalia when he was caught,” one security official told AFp on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. the official said it was difficult to know exactly what route Meziche was taking on the day of his arrest. Western experts said he had been en route to the tribal Areas. But another security source suggested he was in transit from iran, en route to somalia. “Recently lots of al Qaeda people left pakistan to move to Yemen or somalia.
Friday, 22 June, 2012
Malik Riaz gets 7 more days to arrange lawyer ISLAMABAD OnLine
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He supreme Court on thursday granted a week to Malik Riaz in the contempt of court case to arrange his defence counsel, as most of lawyers have been avoiding him to show solidarity with the sC. A three-member bench headed by Justice shakirullah Jan heard the proceedings of the case. Malik Riaz told the sC that he had not been able to arrange a counsel as no lawyer was ready to represent him. He requested sC to grant him 10 days to arrange a lawyer. Justice shakirullah Jan remarked, “it is your problem if you have not arranged a lawyer, you have to respond over the is-
sued show cause notice.” Riaz told the sC that he had contacted four lawyers and they have demanded some time to think. He stated it was a matter of grave concern that Raymond Davis could get a lawyer, but not him. He told the court that two resolutions were passed in islamabad District Bar that directed all lawyers not to defend him. Justice shakirullah Jan said annoyingly that bars should not pass such resolutions that created hindrance in providing justice to the masses, because every citizen had the right to be able to defend himself through a lawyer. the petitioner of the case informed the court that no one was stopping Malik Riaz from hiring a lawyer for his defence, as he had a full legal team that was defending him in various cases in courts. Malik Riaz
Court issues arrest warrants for Malik Riaz, 6 others in land scam raWalpinDi: An anti-corruption court on thursday issued arrest warrants for real estate tycoon Malik Riaz, his son Ali Riaz, along with six others accused in a case regarding the illegal transfer of 1,350 kanals of land. special Judge Ameer Chaudhry Khan, while issuing the arrest warrants, ordered the police to produce the accused before the court on June 25. in addition to the real estate magnate’s son, other accused include Muhammed Ashfaq, Milad Bibi, iqbal Hussain shah and sheikh sajidur Rehman. the court has issued arrest warrants of seven people, including Malik Riaz and his son Ali Ahmed Riaz in connection with a land corruption case filed in 2005.journed the hearing until June 28. oNLiNe assured the sC that he would arrange a lawyer after 10 days. Justice shakirullah Jan said in case Riaz was unable to arrange
a defence lawyer, the state would provide him one. the sC later granted seven more days to Riaz to arrange a lawyer and ad
Politicians in power better than general in control: Fazl ISLAMABAD OnLine
JUi-F chief Fazlur Rehman said it was better for a politician to be in power, than a general taking over the reigns of the country. talking to reporters after holding a meeting with pML-Q president Chaudhry shujaat Hussain, Fazl expressed deep concerns over the “current domination of the supreme Court judges [in political affairs]”. He said he had never underestimated the majority of the ppp, adding that during his talks with shujaat, a consensus had been reached over the issue of reelection of the prime minister and over the general socio-political situation in the country. “i am not under any false impression of my party’s position in parliament, and had entered the pM’s race due to challenges and issues facing the federation,” he said. Meanwhile, shujaat said he would hold consensus with his party, in order to vote for “Maulana sahib”, adding that had it been the issue of an individual vote, “i would have voted for him”.
child among 3 killed in landmine blast NASEERABAD inP
At least three persons including a child were killed in a landmine blast in the city’s suburban area of sohbatpur on thursday. According to details, unidentified miscreants planted a landmine in the border area of Dera Bugti and RD-238 of sohbatpur. the explosive device went off after a motorcycle ran over it, resulting in the death of three persons, including a child. police arrived at the blast site and shifted the bodies to a sohbatpur hospital and started search for the miscreants after erecting pickets on several places.
guJranWaLa: People block the main road during a protest against electricity load shedding on Thursday. oNLiNe
indonesia military plane crashes into houses, kills 10 JAKARTA aFP
woman dies in fireworks explosion MANDI BAHAUDDIN sTaFF rePOrT
A woman was killed in an explosion on thursday while making fireworks in her house in Mohallah tariqabad. Zahida and her husband Fazal Hussain produced fireworks in their house, for which they had stored explosive material which suddenly exploded. the explosion was so strong that it caused cracks in the walls of the surrounding houses. Zahida died on the spot. At the time of the incident, Zahida’s husband was not present at home. Rescue 1122 reached the spot and extinguished the fire. the dead body was shifted to District Head Quarters hospital for autopsy.
An indonesian air force plane crashed into a military housing complex in Jakarta on thursday, killing all seven crew on board and two children and an elderly woman on the ground, officials said. the ageing turboprop Fokker 27 split in two as it smashed into the military airport compound while on routine training, igniting a blaze that ripped through homes and sent thick smoke into the sky. An AFp correspondent saw dozens of firefighters battling the blaze at the Halim perdanakusuma compound, and what appeared to be the plane’s wing sticking out from the roof of a house. “All seven crew and three people on the ground were killed,” air force spokesman Colonel Agung sasongko Jati told reporters. “the plane has split into two.” the three who died on the
ground were two cousins, aged two and six, and an elderly woman, Jati told AFp, adding the six-year-old’s mother was in critical condition. there were no immediate reports of other victims. indonesia, a sprawling archipelago, relies heavily on air transport but has one of the world’s poorest aviation safety records, and military plane crashes are relatively common. in early May, a Russian sukhoi jet crashed into a dormant volcano in Java when it was on a promotional demonstration, killing all 45 aboard. thursday’s crash happened at 2:45 pm (0745 GMt), after the plane took off from Halim at around 1:10 pm. Mukhlis, 42, was at home in the complex and said she heard the plane flying low seconds before it crashed 700 metres (2,300 feet) from her home. “A few seconds after i heard the plane flying low, i heard a loud boom. i quickly ran outside and saw a column of smoke and flames in the distance be-
hind my house where it crashed,” said Mukhlis, who like many indonesians only goes by one name. A rescue team with torches was helping military personnel search for more victims on the ground in the dark early evening. “the aircraft was conducting training and there were no passengers aboard,” another air force spokesman, Asman Yunus, told AFp. Yunus said the military would look into the cause of the crash. Military spokesman iskandar sitompul said the plane was more than 20 years old. indonesia is in the process of updating its ageing military aircraft and equipment, procuring Russian and American warplanes, boats for its navy and parts for its transport planes. Another recent crash saw a New Zealand pilot and two indonesians killed in March after a helicopter chartered by the indonesian arm of Us mining company Freeport-McMoRan went down in remote papua province.
Talks underway but no breakthrough on NATo supplies: US WASHINGTON OnLine
talks with pakistan on the restoration of NAtO supplies are underway but no breakthrough has taken place so far, the Us state Department said. “We are continuing conversations at a political level, but i don’t have any progress to report,” state Department’s spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters at her daily press briefing late Wednesday. Replying to a query regarding the political situation in pakistan, she said: “We spoke about this a little bit yesterday. We’ve been able to work with the pakistani government throughout this period. they’ve now announced plans of their own for their own political transition, so our hope and expectation is that we can continue to try to work through these issues.” Nuland said the Us had seen cross-border militancy for more than a decade. “it is important to have action against terror on the pakistan side, on the Afghan side, and for Afghanistan, pakistan and isAF to continue to work together,” she said.