KHI 04-12-2011_Layout 1 12/4/2011 1:45 AM Page 28
Sunday, 4 december, 2011
memogate commission parliament’s task, not SC’s, says SCBa chief
Memogate onus will be on me: Gilani g
Pm says he will be the first to go if any ‘sacrifice’ is needed g Says Nawaz’s petition unnecessary
LAHore
LAHore
stAFF REPORt
Criticising the Supreme Court’s decision to constitute a commission for a transparent enquiry into the memogate scandal, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president and secretary on Saturday said the formation of the commission was the duty of parliament, not of the court. Addressing a press conference at the SCBA Lahore office, President Yaseen Azad and Secretary Aslam Zaar said every institution should perform their duties within their limits. Azad said, “It will harm the country if institutions go beyond their limits.” He said it would be premature to comment on the memogate issue since the matter was sub judice. He said that political stakeholders should solve issues in parliament and should not involve the judiciary in all matters. He said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif should have discussed the issue in the National Assembly since his party had 90 seats. He said the SC did not provide an opportunity to the federal government to explain its point of view before the court. Azad said, “The attorney general was present in the SC during the hearing but he was not allowed time to take directions from the federation.” The SCBA representatives praised the government’s steps after the NATO attack on the Salala checkpost, and said Babar Awan’s press conference could not be deemed contempt of court. He urged the government to implement the SC’s verdicts in letter and sprit and write letters to the Swiss authorities to reopen corruption cases pending against President Zardari and others. The SCBA office bearers criticized the Pakistan Army and asked it to focus on securing borders. Speaking in the context of the recent NATO airstrike, they said, “People did not need such a large army if it could not respond to enemy aggression on the borders.”
Pakistan has right to self defence, so does US: Pentagon Monitoring Desk With Pakistan vowing to respond with “full force” to any future aggression in the wake of the deadly NATO strike, the Pentagon has said that Islamabad has the right to self defence and so does the US, Times of India reported. “I’ve seen the comments attributed to General Kayani. I’m certainly not going to speak for him or for the government of Pakistan. “But every sovereign nation has the right of selfdefence and the right to order their troops to defend themselves. That’s what my understanding is what he did, He reiterated their right of self defense. We certainly respect that right of his. We have it as well,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters. He was responding to questions about army chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani ordering his troops to respond with “full force” to any further “act of aggression” by NATO forces. Kirby also said, “I think it’s safe to say that the incident has had a chilling effect on our relationship with the Pakistani military, no question about that. Both sides deem it to be as serious as it was.”
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RIME Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday said he was ready to face the outcome of the “memogate” inquiry, saying he being the chief executive was responsible for everything related to the government. Chairing a meeting of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Punjab leaders at the Punjab Governor’s House, Gilani categorically denied President Asif Ali Zardari’s involvement in the scandal, adding that conspiracies were being hatched to get him involved in it. The PM said that he would be the first to go if any “sacrifice” was required. Gilani said he had summoned Husain Haqqani and asked him to resign over the alleged memo scandal and appointed Sherry Rehman as the new ambassador to the US. “The allegations of the opposition are baseless and ground-
less,” he asserted. Expressing displeasure with Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif’s petition regarding the “memogate” scandal, he said there was no justification for this since an enquiry was already being conducted by a parliamentary committee. Criticising Nawaz, he said it “makes no difference who is at the helm of affairs; but parliament should continue whether we stay in power or not”. He said a commission had been formed to investigate the issue and he had himself called Senator Raza Rabbani to head the investigation. Gilani said parliament was the supreme organisation and its premier committee was investigating the issue, adding that those hatching conspiracies should learn politics. The prime minister also took parliamentarians into confidence over the stance of the government on the Mohmand incident. Earlier, the meeting discussed the initiation of a ‘Wafaq Bachao’ movement.
Khosa declines to head memogate probe islAMABAd: Former director general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Tariq Khosa has refused to head the commission formed by the Supreme Court to probe into the “memogate” scandal. Khosa formally informed the Supreme Court that he would not be able to head the commission, leaving it for the apex court to appoint someone else in his place. According to a source, a letter was delivered to the chief justice of Pakistan in his chamber regarding the refusal of Tariq Khosa. Meanwhile, Geo News reported that former FIA DG Rafiq Haider could be assigned the task in place of Tariq Khosa. The PPP had expressed its reservations on the appointment of Tariq Khosa as the head of the commission. Questioning the formation of the commission by the Supreme Court under Khosa, former law
Islamists sweep early results in Egypt election CAiro AFP
Early results from Egypt’s first postrevolution election showed Islamist parties sweeping to victory, including hardline Salafists, with secular parties trounced in many areas. Partial figures trickled in for the areas of the country that voted in record numbers on Monday and Tuesday, confirming earlier predictions that Islamist parties would win at least two thirds of the ballots cast. In northern Port Said, the moderate Islamist alliance led by the previously banned Muslim Brotherhood triumphed with 32.5 percent of votes for parties, while the hardline Al-Nur party gained 20.7 percent, the Al-Ahram daily said. The liberal Wafd party won 14 percent, while another Islamist party, Al-Wassat which advocates a strict interpretation of Islamic law, recorded 12.9 percent, according to the state-run newspaper. In the southern Red Sea district, the Brotherhood’s alliance won 30 percent, while secular coalition the Egyptian Bloc came in second with 15 percent, it said. Full results after the first voting – which saw 62 percent turnout – were initially meant to have been published on Wednesday but have been delayed several times. There appeared few bright spots for the liberal secular movement which played a key role in the overthrow of the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak in February after an 18-day uprising. It has since splintered and been outgunned by the more organised Brotherhood, well known to Egyptians because of its decades of opposition to the Mubarak regime and its extensive charitable and social work. Mohammed Abdel Ghani, a liberal candidate, told the independent AlShorouq newspaper that his movement needed to counter Islamist propaganda that “non-Islamist candidates were infidels”. In Cairo, the rising star of the movement, Amr Hemzawi, won a seat
minister Babar Awan had on Thursday said that the formation of the commission was the prerogative of the executive. STAFF REPORT
indian general court-martialed in land scam neW DeLHi
cAiRO: An elderly Egyptian raises slogans in favour of the ruling military council during a rally in Abassya. AFP
ONLINE
Former Indian military secretary Lt Gen Avadesh Prakash was on Saturday found guilty on three counts by an army court in Guwahati in the Sukna land scam involving transfer of 71 acres of land adjacent to the military station in West Bengal. He is the senior-most army officer to face court martial, the Indian media said. However, the court gave him benefit of doubt on the fourth count of committing a civil offence. Prakash was held guilty of misusing his position under the Army Act section 45 (conduct unbecoming of his position as an officer) and section 52 (intent to defraud) by the General Court Martial at the 51 sub area of the army station at Narengi. The court martial was conducted after Prakash was indicted by an army court of inquiry early last year for his role in the illegal transfer of land adjacent to the Sukna military station near Siliguri in West Bengal to a private realtor for constructing an educational institution in 2008. Indian army had earlier punished another senior officer and former 33 Corps Commander Lt Gen PK Rath in the same case and had awarded punishment involving loss of seniority and some part of his pension.
army delegation cancels US visit in the upmarket Heliopolis district, but elsewhere leading figures of the revolution were either struggling or had been beaten. In Tahrir Square, the epicentre of protests against Mubarak, demonstrators returned last week to protest against the military rulers who took over when the strongman quit, but their numbers had dwindled to a few hundred on Saturday. “Everyone that we had faith in has betrayed us,” 25-year-old protester Mohammed El-Assas told AFP. According to independent daily Al-Masri Al-Yum,
no women were elected in the first round, with television presenter Gamila Ismail, actress Tayssir Fahmi and Wafd candidate Nihal Aahdi all eliminated. Aahdi told the paper that the failure of women candidates was because “religious parties dominate Egyptian society and the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists dominated the results”. It was only the opening phase of a parliamentary election that is taking place in three stages, but the returns reveal the political trends that will shape the country’s transition to democracy.
MoHMAnD AgenCY NNi
A military delegation cancelled a scheduled visit to the US in the wake of the NATO attack on a security checkpost in Mohmand Agency. A 15-member delegation of Joint Staff Headquarters was due to leave for the US for an official visit. Lt Gen Muhammad Asif was to lead the delegation. However, the military decided to cancel the visit in response to NATO and ISAF attacks. Pakistan has already decided not to attend the upcoming Bonn conference.
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