KHI 12-12-2011_Layout 1 12/12/2011 1:37 AM Page 3
Monday, 12 December, 2011
News 03
FOrEIgN NEwS
ArTS & ENTErTAINMENT
SPOrTS
putin says he’ll listen
you’re bindass, Shah Rukh tells lady gaga
australia win fourth straight Champions trophy title talking to the taliban:
COMMENT A proposition with its pros and cons.
Now that she’s gone: Not a thing to politick over.
dr mubarak ali says: Mysticism as empowerment: The spiritual orders of yore had much power.
waqqas mir says: A tale of two partitions: Why don’t we relive 1971 like we do 1947.
mansoor alam says: The audacity of failure: Obama can’t position himself as anti-China.
Story on Page 18
Story on Page 17
Story on Page 20
Articles on Page 12-13
Gilani acts to repair damage from Qureshi’s departure g
Ali Musa gilani put in place to defeat Qureshi’s man in NA-148 g Allegations of pre-poll rigging rife ISLAMABAD
P
4 NATO oil tankers snatched in Balochistan QUETTA INp
Unidentified armed men hijacked four NATO supply oil tankers returning back to Karachi along with drivers on the Quetta-Karachi Highway on Sunday. The containers carrying oil for NATO forces in Afghanistan were returning back to Karachi in a convoy after the Balochistan chief minister ordered the tankers parked at the PakistanAfghanistan border at Chaman to clear the area due to the fear of attacks by the militants. The convoy was heading towards Quetta under the guard of Levies and the Frontier Constabulary (FC) when unidentified armed men hijacked four containers along with drivers on the Quetta-Chaman Highway and drove them towards an unknown destination. Sources said that levies and FC personnel had cordoned off the area to locate the hijacked containers and free the abducted drivers. MILITAry HOLDS DOzeNS Of AfGHANISTAN-BOuND CONTAINerS: The Pakistani security forces on Sunday held dozens of Afghan transit trade containers on the suspicion of carrying goods for NATO forces in Afghanistan, sources said. They said the security forces held back several containers carrying goods under Afghan transit trade at the Takhta Beg check post in Jamrod. NATO supplies, including petroleum products, have remained suspended for the 16th day. Pakistan blocked NATO supply lines after an attack by NATO forces on Pakistani border posts in Mohmand Agency killed 24 soldiers.
mIaN aBRaR
RIME Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani is making hectic efforts as part of damage control measures adopted by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to counter the blow it suffered after former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi revolted against the party. In the traditionally strong PPP support base South Punjab, Gilani is planning to field candidates in each constituency to replace those who left with Qureshi. While the PPP has already announced Ali Musa Gilani, the younger son of the prime minister, will contest the by-election from NA-148, Qureshi seems in two minds on whether or not to field his candidate, giving a clear lead to the PPP nominee in this fight. “Prime Minister Gilani is making efforts to repair the damage done to the PPP by the resignation and initiative of Qureshi in Sindh against the PPP. Gilani has put all his horses in the race to win the by-polls from the home constituency of Qureshi,” said a source privy to the developments. The source said Ali Musa
enjoyed full support from the Punjab government under a silentt deal with the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) leadership as Nawaz Sharif wants to teach Qureshi a lesson for joining the PTI. Makhdoom Javed Hashmi has put his support behind Gilani to dent Qureshi’s plans since Hashmi’s daughter is married to one of Gilani’s relatives. He said initially, the prime minister had succeeded in winning the support of Makhdoom Murid Hussain Qureshi, the younger brother of Shah Mahmood, who was annoyed with his elder brother for fielding Zain Qureshi for the NA-148 bypolls. “However, the elder Qureshi has now been able to mend fences with his brother Murid who has considerable influence in the NA-148,” added the source. “The government is working hard to win support of major political players of Qureshi’s constituency, however, despite initial success, the ground is yet not favourable for a win for the prime minister’s son,” a PPP leader told Pakistan Today, adding that the premier had resolved to defeat the candidate of Shah Mahmood Qureshi at all cost, which would be a major dent to Qureshi as well as the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI). The source said the Punjab gov-
ernment had directed the Multan district police officer (DPO) and city police officer (CPO) to help the Gilani’s nail down Qureshi’s candidate in the bypolls. Moreover, the Election Commission of Pakistan has also yet not announced by-election schedule for NA148 as Qureshi’s resignation has not been accepted. Malik Abbas Raan, leader of a PPP rebel group in the Punjab Assembly and a close confidant of Shah Mahmood Qureshi, alleged gov-
ernment resources were being utilised by the PM in Multan to win the by-elections. Asked whether or not Dr Akhtar Malik, another MPA from the area, was with Qureshi, Raan said he was loyal to the group while dozens of MPAs in Punjab Assembly were with them. However, a PM’s House spokesman rejected Raan’s allegations that the PM’s focus was limited to Southern Punjab. “Nothing fishy is going on in Multan and the by-elections will be held free, fair and in a transparent manner,” he said. Meanwhile, a PPP leader from Multan said the PM had already made up his mind to introduce his older son Abdul Qadir Gilani from his constituency who had already launched his campaign from NA-151, the constituency where Prime Minister Gilani had won the election. “Recently, Qadir Gilani held his first public meeting in Suraj Miani Multan and announced to contest in place of his father. While the PM is weighing options but it is likely that he would contest future polls from NA-152 or NA-153,” said the source. NA-152 falls in Shujaabad from where Nawab Liaquat Ali Khan had won polls on a PPP ticket while Deewan Syed Ashiq Hussain Bukhari had won from NA-153 on a PML-Q ticket.
No to US slavery: JI
Haqqani to learn fate of appeal
rAWALPINDI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) ameer Munawar Hassan said on Sunday that the US slavery had sabotaged the law and order situation in the country, adding that the JI would not allow the government to act upon the dictation of outside forces. He was speaking at a gathering, held in connection with the mass contact movement, at the Liaquat Bagh. He urged the government to take the public into confidence on the memogate scandal. He said that the government should close the NATO supply lines permanently and all the airbases, besides the Shamsi airbase, should be vacated by the US. He criticsed the government’s policies were being coward, adding that they had led to America’s undeclared war against Pakistan. Munawar said that the conflict between the government and the state institutions had led to serious threats to the country’s security. Munawar said that the sensitive places of the country were not safe from the US and NATO attacks, adding that the issues could not be resolved without a release from the slavery of the US, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. He said that once the JI comes into power, it would abandon the pro-US policies and rid the country of all the problems being faced by them. Staff RepoRt | pHoto oN page 7
ISLAMABAD: An appeal filed by former ambassador to United States Hussain Haqqani against the objections raised by the Supreme Court (SC) Registrar’s Office on his plea against the court’s orders on December 1 in the memogate case is likely to be referred to a judge today (Monday) to decide whether it had any legal grounds to be entertained. Haqqani had filed an appeal on Saturday through his counsel Asma Jahangir against objections raised by the Registrar’s Office over his plea. According to constitutional expert Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, Haqqani’s plea seeking reversal of the court’s order on December 1 was not admissible, thus it was rightly rejected by the Registrar’s Office. He said that although Haqqani’s appeal against the rejection of his plea by the Registrar’s Office had no legal grounds, however it was likely to be referred to a SC judge for the former ambassador’s satisfaction. To a query, he said that no appeal could be filed against any SC order, but only a review petition could be filed against it. Staff RepoRt
N Koreans offered $0.5m cash bribe: Ziauddin Butt Monitoring Desk General (r) Ziauddin Butt, former chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has claimed that North Korea had attempted to bribe him by offering US $0.5 million during the tenure of Benazir Bhutto as prime minister in 1995, a private TV channel reported on Sunday. “They wanted an expedited cooperation between the two countries on the missile programme, which was going on between the two countries in that era,” said General (r) Ziauddin while talking to the TV channel at his Lahore residence. Butt, was heading the Directorate of Combat Development, currently known as Strategic Plans Division (SPD), and was directly in-
volved in Pakistan’s defence agreements with North Korea. While answering a question, the retired general said that a bag full of dollars was actually dropped in his office by a North Korean General Kang who at that time was serving as Defence and Commercial Attache at the North Korean Embassy in Islamabad. Butt asked General Kang why he was giving him such a large amount of cash. The North Korean general told him that his government was distributing money among the relevant officers dealing in defence cooperation with his country. Butt said that he immediately informed the then Chief of General Staff (CGS) General Jahangir Karamat who spoke to the then Chief
of Army Staff General Abdul Waheed Kakar who was on a foreign trip at the time. He added that General Waheed consulted with prime minister Benazir Bhutto and ordered him to return the money after two or three days. “General Kang was called at the Headquarters of the Military Intelligence, General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, where the money was returned to him by the then MI Chief, Major General Ali Kuli Khan in my presence,” said Butt. Ziauddin Butt is living a retired life in Lahore these days. He was nominated Chief of Army Staff by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on October 12, 1999 soon after the removal of General Pervez Musharraf.