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Monday, 28 November, 2011
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US embassy deletes ‘designation field’ from employees’ Ids ISLAMABAD TAHIR NIAZ
The United States seems to have learnt a lesson from the Raymond Davis saga, when in a failed attempt the super power employed various tactics to declare the killer of two Pakistanis a ‘diplomat’ with his identity card stating otherwise, as its embassy in Islamabad has issued new identity cards to its employees after removing the ‘designation field’, sources told Pakistan Today on Sunday. The Davis episode was the turning point in relations between the two countries. The arrest of the US intelligence contractor also led to the resignation of former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who declared in unequivocal terms that Davis had no diplomatic accreditation with his ministry a basic requisite for the entitlement to immunity. Qureshi was convinced that Davis was involved in activities “inconsistent with the status of a US diplomat” and that he did not qualify for diplomatic immunity. The US government kept insisting that Davis was a diplomat and qualified for immunity but no one in Pakistan accepted it. Ultimately, he was released on court orders after the families of the deceased pardoned Davis after receiving blood money. Sources said the new identity cards issued by the US embassy do not contain the ‘designation field’ in order to conceal the identity of US employees in case of a mishap. The alarming aspect of the move suggests more Davis-like incidents in Pakistan. However, when contacted, the embassy’s acting spokesman Robert Raines denied the issuing of new identity cards to US embassy employees. Initially he said the employees’ identity cards did not contain the designation column, but when reminded of Davis’s identity card with his designation on it, he said, “The US embassy has not issued any fresh cards.”
Pakistan hasn’t delivered: India NEW DELHI ONLINE
Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram supported fruitful engagement with Pakistan on trade, visas and other issues, but regretted that the country had failed to deliver in “matters concerning terror and India’s internal security”. Pakistan had not acted against key Mumbai attack conspirators, he told Indian newspaper the Hindustan Times.
GHOTKI: Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi addresses a public meeting on Sunday. Qureshi has joined forces with Imran Khan. Afp
Kayani reviews situation after NATO attack g
Military, political leadership considering shift to independent defence pESHAWAR
C
ONLINE
HIeF of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani spent some time with 11corps commander on Sunday after attending the funeral of soldiers killed in the NATO attack and visiting the injured at Combined Military Hospital (CMH), as the Pakistani military and political leadership reportedly considered a shift from US-led coalition to independent defence. While receiving updates and ground details from the operational command here, the army chief underlined options and limitations after the “intentional” attack by the NATO forces that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. “The chief’s participation in the funeral was to value the blood of martyred soldiers,” an official said. The official told Online on condition of
anonymity that the 11-corps commander and other relevant high officials that attended the funeral of the soldiers along with the army chief afterward had an informal session to review the critical situation that has emerged after the attack. “They unanimously described it as an intentional attack,” the official said. According to the official, the army chief took the operational command on board regarding the decisions of the Defense Committee of the Cabinet. The 11-corps commander also briefed the informal meeting about the situation on the ground in Mohmand Agency, where the posts were attacked. INDEPENDENT DEFENCE: The Pakistani military and political leadership is reportedly considering a shift from US-led coalition to independent defence. A well-placed military official told Online on Sunday that one way of revisiting the policies of cooperation with the International Security Assis-
tance Force (ISAF) could be to switch from coalition to independent defence. “In the option of independent defence, we would make it clear to them (ISAF) that if they enter [Pakistani territory] in future they’ll be shot on sight as an enemy,” the official explained. According to the official, the military leadership has advised the government to quit the coalition if it fails to investigate and punish those responsible for the attack. To a question, the official said the exercise to revisit and review the policies of cooperation with the international coalition would be carried out at the level of the DCC. “Obviously, the military and political leadership would have to move in an exemplary unison to deal with the most critical situation of the entire era of Pakistan’s cooperation in the war against terrorism as a frontline state,” he said. “There is no room for ambiguity this time.”
A violent start to Muharram as 5 killed in Karachi riots KARACHI TARIQ HABIB
At least five people were killed, two of whom were burned alive, and 16 others were injured in riots that erupted in Karachi after an attack on a protest rally at Numaish Chowrangi in Karachi on Sunday. The protesters were demonstrating against the NATO attack on Pakistani soldiers in Mohmand Agency when unidentified gunmen opened fire at the rally and later fled the scene. Two people were killed on the spot while three others received bullet injuries. Another man succumbed to his injuries on the way to
Nisar resigns as pAC chairman
hospital. The bodies and injured were rushed to the hospital while riots erupted in the area and the enraged protesters set ablaze 30 motorcycles, four cars, an SUV and a rickshaw as security forces stood by. Later, however, a heavy contingent of Rangers and police reached the spot and tried to cordon off the area but failed. Security forces made several unsuccessful attempts to disperse the protesters, following which they used teargas and aerial firing, which cleared the area briefly. A little while later, the protesters returned and besieged a mosque and tried to take the people inside hostage, but were headed off by police, who drove sev-
eral armoured vehicles through the swarm of protesters and rescued those stranded inside the mosque. On their way out, the vehicles were attacked by the mob but police kept it at bay by firing shots into the air repeatedly. Security personnel warned the protesters on loudspeakers to leave the area but they did not take notice and shot back at the police from three sides when police fired in the air in an attempt to disperse them. Several people received gunshot wounds and were taken to Civil Hospital and Jinnah Hospital. Ahsan Kohati, a reporter of a private TV channel, was shot twice in the chest and was rushed to Agha
Khan Hospital in critical condition.The protesters also allegedly caught six men in security forces’ uniform moving towards Imam Baargah Shah-e-Khurasan and roughed them up. They claimed the men belonged to the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan. Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Wassan said police and Rangers arrested 14 peopleand also seized weapons. After violence at Numaish Chowrangi, riots erupted across the city. Unknown people set ablaze a motorcycle along with its rider while another motorcyclist was torched in Patail Para. Another two people were shot dead at Nagan Chowrangi and Manghopeer.
ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
After a four-month long indecisiveness, National Assembly Opposition Leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan finally announced his resignation as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Sunday and alleged that the government was conspiring to block smooth functioning of the parliamentary watchdog. “The appointment of a blue-eyed and controversial person (Akhtar Buland Rana) as Auditor General of Pakistan has exposed the government’s intention to block the working of the PAC,” he told reporters at a press conference. Nisar also demanded the government convene a joint session of parliament on the NATO air strikes in Pakistan. Nisar had first threatened to resign from the post in August this year after differences developed with the government over the appointment of Rana as the new auditor general. He had also disbanded special and sub-committees of the PAC and had alleged that the government had given the position of auditor general to a controversial figure, which laid bare the government’s intentions. The ruling Pakistan People’s Party is likely to replace Nisar with former information minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, who has been recently inducted as a member in the PAC, or Yasmeen Rehman.
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