e-paper pakistantoday 23rd april, 2012

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Hollande beats Nicolas Sarkozy in French vote, both in second round

Bangladesh propose series against South Africa

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Rs 15.00 Vol II No 296 22 Pages

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Karachi Edition

Shaheen Air plane makes emergency landing in Karachi, fuel leakage in another plane detected in lahore prior to take off g Defence minister says all private airlines must obtain requisite technical clearance certificates g

PML-N rejects Bhoja crash commission because CJP not consulted PAGE |03

Monday, 23 April, 2012 Jamadi-ul-Sani 1, 1433

Private airlines grounded as two planes escape disasters in Karachi, Lahore

LAHORE/KARACHI

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AgeNCIeS/STAff RePoRT

efence Minister chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar ordered the grounding of all private airlines until they obtained requisite technical clearance certificates, just as two planes of Shaheen Air International narrowly escaped accidents at Lahore and Karachi airports on Sunday.

Talking to reporters, the defence minister ordered for inspection of planes of all private airlines to ensure safety of passengers.

He said all private airlines had been given a shakedown message to ground their planes for thorough checking by the civil Aviation Authority from tomorrow.

Mukhtar said if proved that the recently crashed Bhoja airline plane was not fit for flight‚ the license of the airline would be cancelled. earlier, only hours after a Shaheen Air plane made an emergency landing at Karachi airport due to busted tyres, another plane of the same airline avoided an accident at Lahore airport, officials said.

Airport officials said the airline’s plane carrying more than 200 passengers was stopped at Lahore before it was about take off for Mashhad, Iran, as authorities noticed a leakage in the fuel tank and directed pilots not to take off.

Officials said Shaheen Airline’s Boeing 737 had arrived from Dubai and was heading to the Iranian city when technicians noticed its fuel tank leaking.

Officials said the leaking was caused by loading the plane beyond capacity.

All passengers were taken off the plane and transferred to the international lounge where they staged a protest against the potentially fatal error and demanded a new plane to carry them to Mashhad.

Hours earlier, another passenger plane of the same company escaped a major disaster at Karachi airport on Sunday. According to airport officials, the rear landing gear of the Shaheen Airline’s Boeing 737-400 broke down during landing at Karachi airport. The commercial passenger flight ML-112, carrying almost 162 passengers was at the end of its flight from Islamabad. fire tenders and rescue workers of the civil Aviation Authority cordoned off the plane and took immediate safety measures.\ fire brigade vehicles surrounded the aircraft soon after it made a crash landing with burst tyres, which broke its landing gear, forcing the plane’s right wing to drag along the runway.

All passengers and crew remained safe during the emergency landing; officials said, adding that airport was closed for all flights until the faulty aircraft was removed from the main runway.

Meanwhile, passengers of flights diverted to other airports after the Karachi incident suffered in heat, as shortage of fuel, forced the planes to shut the air cooling system.

All airplanes approaching Karachi from Islamabad Gwadar, DG Khan and Lahore were diverted to nawabshah airport.

However, the passengers of these flights, more 500 men, children and women, were confined to these flights for more than five hours.

Among the passengers were the PIA MD and federal minister faisal Saleh Hayat; both of who were accorded full protocol while the rest of the travelers singed in heat inside the planes. The Karachi airport was reopened for operations after eight hours.

KARACHI: Perturbed passengers stand in front of flight information board, as several flights were delayed after the tyres of a Shaheen Airlines aircraft burst during landing. The Karachi Airport remained closed for several hours after the incident. online

india finally accepts reality of Azad Kashmir, at least in textbooks NEW DELHI oNlINe

At least two new secondary education textbooks for class three in schools run by the Indian Army and government, accepted the ground reality of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) by depicting the map of the disputed region exactly according to Pakistan’s claims, Indian media reported on Sunday.

The Indian government officially used to call this part of the disputed territory between he two nucleararmed countries as “Pakistan-occupied Kashmir region”, but the new textbooks have now shown it as “Azad Jammu and Kashmir”, a term used by Pakistan to describe the region, the report said. further, the books showed that the Gilgit-Baltistan region, which falls in the part of valley under Pakistani control, is called the northern Areas.

Indian opposition Bhartia Janata Party (BJP) leader Mukhtar Abbas naqvi has said that the education Ministry must get to the bottom of the matter. “The education Ministry must look into the matter immediately.

They must find out if this was a mistake

or done deliberately,” he said.

“This is a serious matter because Jammu and Kashmir is a controversial topic. If wrong information about the country’s boundaries is being taught to young children, then it must be stopped at once because it goes against the good of the country,” he added.

Meanwhile, congress leader Rashid Alvi said that action would be taken against those responsible.

“We do not have information on the issue. If such a thing has been done, action will be taken,” he said.

Reportedly, some Indian Army commanders have now asked some of the school principals to get back to them with the books so that they could take a look. In the meantime, the Indian army has decided to write to the education Ministry regarding the issue.

The Indian army has been maintaining that its position vis-àvis the issue is “very clear” since the army is not a publishing authority.

Also, the book was published by a leading publishing house based in Karol Bagh in new Delhi, which means that probably the education Ministry will take notice.

An image of the map from the Indian textbook which shows Azad Kashmir along with Northern Areas.

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02 News Today’s

Monday, 23 April, 2012

lAhorE

nEWS

Yasin Malik says there can be no peace without Kashmir

Imran opposes unilateral troop withdrawal from Siachen

Story on Page 07

Story on Page 05

cArToon

Quick look

Two schools destroyed in Peshawar, DI Khan PESHAWAR: Militants blew up two schools in Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan, as police claimed to have foiled two bomb plots in others schools, officials said on Sunday. According to police, suspected militants first planted explosives in a primary school building in Peshawar. As soon as police reached the site after the first explosion, it immediately diffused the other 12 kilogramme bomb planted in the same vicinity. The other bomb exploded in a middle school for boys in Dera Ismail Khan. Two rooms of the building were completely destroyed while police diffused another bomb. However, no casualties were reported in both the incidents as schools were closed on Sunday. oNlINe

Ali Moosa Gilani returns home to face charges ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s son Ali Moosa Gilani returned to Pakistan on Sunday from South Africa through a private airline. Ali Moosa has maintained that he went to South Africa on a honeymoon trip, but departed on April 10, 2012, soon after having been named in the Rs 7 billion ephedrine drug scam.

Meanwhile, the Supreme court has formally named Ali Musa among the eight accused for their alleged involvement in the scam. INP

Govt taking steps to instill reading habit in youth: Gilani ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Sunday said the government was taking steps to inculcate the habit of book reading in the younger generation. Speaking to writers and intellectuals at a dinner hosted at the residence of Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah, the prime minister urged youth to read books and gain the power of knowledge to change their life for the better. Gilani praised writers, poets, artists and intellectuals for their role in creating awareness among people and for promoting the culture of reading. He said he was sure that Pakistan had a bright future as now there was a vibrant civil society and nobody could dare to think of unconstitutional steps in the country. “Media, journalists and writers have made the society so aware that people are well equipped with information to protect their basic rights,” he added. He stressed on the need for dialogue among people from all walks of life to resolve fundamental issues of society. The prime minister talked about the tradition of maintaining libraries and said the culture of Multan and Sindh had many similarities. “Sindh and Multan are known for their old civilizations,” he said adding that Multan had a history of 5,000 years and it was among the oldest living cities of the world and could be compared to Damascus. Gilani said his love for books went back to his younger days and the first book which he read was “India wins freedom” written by Abul Kalam Azad.

“Abul Kalam quoted an incident in which Gandhi and Quaid-eAzam signed an agreement and when Gandhi went back, his colleagues told him that he committed a mistake and he should not have agreed to the agreement. When Gandhi again met Quaid-e-Azam, he told him that his inner voice says that he should not have signed the agreement. Quaid-e- Azam responded, ‘Why don’t you admit that you have committed a mistake,” Gilani said. APP

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WB allocated $1.8b for development projects: minister WASHINGTON AgeNCIeS

finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh informed that the World Bank had allocated an unprecedented amount of $1.8 billion for Pakistan’s development projects for the current year, mainly in energy sector.

He was talking after holding a meeting with Vice President of the World Bank Isabel Guerrero. “This is a big sign of confidence in Pakistan’s ability to accomplish development for its people that the World Bank is allocating an unprecedented amount in one year,” Dr Shaikh said. The World Bank vice president was appreciative of Pakistan’s economic performance in these difficult times of global economic and regional challenges,” the finance minister told a news agency.

The World Bank leader expressed satisfaction with the measures Islamabad has taken to enhance its revenue generation (which has increased by 25 per cent over the last nine months), the continuing strong performance of the external sector, both exports and remittances and a healthy 4 percent GDP growth expected this year.

Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States Sherry Rehman also attended the meeting which took place during the IMf-World Bank annual spring gathering of economic leaders from around the world. The amount, follows last year’s $ 1.2 billion assistance, and will be spent on upgradation and completion of development projects in energy and water sectors as well as infrastructure, social and reforms programmes. The World Bank also expressed agreement to assist with financing for a multi-year Dasu Dam to be built in Kohistan area on Indus River with a 1,500 MW power generation capacity. The WB board has already approved power generation enhancement project.

Grief-struck families bury victims of plane crash ISLAMABAD NNI

A number of affected families on Sunday buried their loved-ones killed in friday’s plane crash in Islamabad.

All 127 people on board were killed, as investigators probed the causes of the fatal incident.

The Bhoja Air flight from Karachi came down in fields near a village in the outskirts of Islamabad on friday evening, in the city’s second major fatal air crash in less than two years.

Thirteen of those killed were buried late on Saturday in Islamabad and funerals for 36 other victims were held in Karachi and other cities early on Sunday, with more ceremonies expected in different cities throughout the day.

Television broadcasts showed footage of distraught relatives, weeping and hugging each other as the dozens of coffins left Islamabad’s Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences hospital

where the remains had been taken.

About nine bodies have not yet been identified and would undergo DnA tests, a hospital official said. The disaster was the city’s second major plane crash in less than two years – an Airblue plane came down in bad weather in July 2010, killing 152 – and victims’ families have voiced fury at the authorities. civil Aviation Authority (cAA) chairman nadeem Khan Yusufzai said the plane suddenly dropped from 2,900 feet to 2,000 feet as it made its final approach to land, and vanished from the airport radar.

“The flight data recorder has been recovered and will be sent abroad for analysis, and the overall investigation could take up to a year to complete its work,” he told reporters on Saturday.

Interior minister Rehman Malik said a committee had been set up to investigate the crash and the head of the airline, farooq Bhoja, had been included in the “exit control list”.

Zardari takes notice of targeted killings in Karachi KARACHI INP

President Asif Ali Zardari, while taking notice of the deteriorating law and order situation in Karachi and repeated incidents of targeted killing, has summoned an important meeting of all allied parties at the Bilwal House on Monday. According to sources, the meeting would take stock of the worsening situation in Karachi and other political issues. The president has also issued directives to all relevant security authorities to conduct above board action against all miscreants disrupting law and order in the port city. The meeting would be attended by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Awami national Party (AnP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-functional (PML-f). The participants are also expected to discuss the upcoming fiscal budget.

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Monday, 23 April, 2012

forEIGn nEWS

ArTS & EnTErTAInMEnT

Turkish PM lashes out at Iraqi counterpart, denies meddling The evil queen is crazy: Julia Roberts

SPorTS

News 03 coMMEnT

Junaid to play for lancashire this summer

Poisoned chalice: Politics in this neck of the woods

After the crash:

Regulation and introspection

Waqqas Mir says: Our legislative dilemma: Solutions that are easy and simple but wrong

Arif Ansar says: The security dilemma: What’s boiling up in the Gulf region

Muneeb farooq says: PTI’s sojourn: The last one year for PTI’s tsunami

Story on Page 17

Story on Page 15

Story on Page 18

KARACHI: A relative weeps while sitting next to the coffin of Altabish Khan, a victim of Bhoja Air plane crash, ahead of funeral prayers in the port city on Sunday. ONLINE

Articles on Page 12-13

PML-N rejects Bhoja crash commission ISLAMABAD INP

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eADeR of the Opposition in the national Assembly nisar Ali Khan on Sunday vehemently opposed the prime minister’s mandated judicial commission to probe the Bhoja Airline crash and hinted at challenging it before the Supreme court.

Addressing a press conference at the Punjab House, nisar said the formation of the judicial commission was without the consultation of the chief justice of Pakistan.

“PcO judges are members of the investigation commission that is why it cannot be termed a judicial commission,” he opined.

He said every controversial person had connection with President Asif Ali Zardari and the persons included in the commission were remnants of Pervez Musharraf.

“Prime Minister Gilani and his party is trying to

conceal the reality and playing with people’s emotions,” he said, adding, “The government is suppressing all facts behind the Abbottabad raid, Mehran base attack, Hajj scam and others. It is only free in doing corruption.”

He said the PML-n would take up the issue in parliament, adding that the government had invented new ways of doing corruption and hiding it. expressing grief over the Bhoja tragedy, he said the people who were involved in the incident had been favourites of the government and opined that the government was not showing seriousness into the investigation of such a big tragedy that took more than 120 precious lives.

The tragedy would have not occurred if the government had taken safety measures after the Airblue plane crash, he lamented.

To a query regarding international cricket’s restoration in the country, he said other teams would come to tour Pakistan if the government maintained peace in the country.

Bhoja Air shareholders put on eCl: Malik ISLAMABAD STAff RePoRT

citizens suffer as power shortfall remains at 5,500MW ISLAMABAD: citizens continue to suffer from hours-long power outages, as the shortfall of electricity persists at 5,500MW, affecting life across the country, including the federal capital. People have been forced to bear around 12 to 14 hours of load shedding in urban areas, while the duration in rural areas has reached 18 hours. In Islamabad, unscheduled load shedding in various sectors also continued. The most affected sectors were G-8, G-9, I-8, I-9 and I-10 where power remained out for two hours at a stretch. According to a PePcO official, the total power demand had reached to 14,776MW, while the production remained at 11,227MW. In Multan, citizens staged a demonstration against load shedding and excessive billing. Hundreds of people came out in Qadirpuraan area of the city on Sunday and protested against excessive bills.

They warned that if MePcO did not amend the bills, they would cordon off its office against the high handedness. The protestors also blocked Multan-Khanewal road by burning of tyres. AgeNCIeS

Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Sunday said the names of possible suspects in the Rawalpindi air crash, including the shareholders of Bhoja Air, had placed on the exit control List (ecL).

Talking to reporters at his residence, he said Bhoja Air was issued license to operate flights during the government of the Pakistan Muslim League. The airline was first permitted to operate flights in Pakistan in 1992, he added.

Malik said farooq Bhoja, the said owner of Bhoja Air, held only five percent shares in the company, while the rest of shares were owned by other people.

“Arshad Jalil holds 40 percent, Mrs Arshad Jalil 20 percent, Umer Jalil 20 percent, Zeeshan Kirmani 7.5 percent, Mazhar Husain 7.5 and farooq Bhoja holds

only 5 percent of the shares of the airline,” he said, adding that the names of all shareholders had been placed on the ecL. He said Mr and Mrs Jalil were presently in china and had been asked to come to Pakistan and join the investigations.

Talking about the probe into the cause of the tragic air crash, Malik said the plane’s Black Box and sound recorder had been found.

He said the prime minister had constituted a commission for investigating the crash, which would hopefully probe into the matter in an impartial manner to bring the responsible to justice.

Malik underlined the need to revisit all licenses and agreements with private airlines.

He said some people pilfered valuables from the fateful flight from the scene of the crash and they would be booked under the law.

CAA responsible for permitting obsolete B737-200s for commercial use SpECIAL CORRESpONDENT Boeing 737-100/200 is the first generation of this series of aircraft, which ceased production in 1988. The first aircraft was delivered in 1969 and after 40 years of service, they have been phased out for all types of service within US airspace since March 31, 2008, after US authorities suspended their scheduled operations in 2006, with last flight operated by Aloha Airlines. They continued to fly in canada, where their scheduled operations were suspended after a crash on August 20, 2011, near Resolute Bay in nunavit.

The Boeing 737-300 in use by the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is the second generation of this aircraft, which remained in production until 1999, and this generation extends to B737400/500. now it is the Third Generation B737-600/700/800 aircraft which are being produced.

B737-200 is being used in Asia and Africa by non-scheduled airlines. Pakistan

civil Aviation Authority (cAA), dominated by retired officers of the Pakistan Air force (PAf) and army aviation allowed Shaheen Airlines owned by PAf’s Shaheen foundation to operate these aged aircraft without proper verification of airworthiness status, as it does not have the technical capability and the independently employed personnel to carry out detailed boroscopic inspection of aircraft hull, fuselage, landing gears and engines.

The cAA permitted Bhoja Air to operate these Boeing 737-200s despite the airline previous track record and the controversy surrounding its ceO Arshad Jalil, who owns a maintenance provider company. Although the cAA is a profitable state-owned corporation with billions of rupees in reserve cash flow, it continues to rely on the expertise of officials on deputation from airlines that the cAA is required to regulate – a flagrant violation of the basic principles of conflict of Interest. The cAA, instead of focusing on commercial corporate interests and ventures, should have given priority to its basic

objective and regulatory function to ensure that flight safety was not compromised by any airline operator.

The authority must invest in procuring latest radar, navigational and landing guidance systems, and train its manpower besides hiring trained experts from the market pilots, rather than relying on the officials on deputation who are on its payroll, and becoming a “welfare job providing body” for retired military officers and political nominees.

Unfortunately, the cAA’s profitability and vast revenue potential has become its biggest curse. After having caught between the two lobbies, retired military personnel and political nominees, the future of Pakistan’s aviation industry looks doomed unless immediate corrective measures are not taken. for instance, all major cAA-managed civil airports have been declared dangerous for bird hazard, because the cAA, in collusion with the cantonment Board and army welfare projects, has failed to ensure a sterile zone around the periphery of all airports.

The difference between the experience of military aviation and commercial aviation is as vast as the difference between an animal husbandry doctor and an oncologist or a cardiologist. commercial aviation is a highly regulated service industry subject to IcAO rules and regulatory controls of the state of registry and regulatory bodies of all countries where the airline lands or flies, apart from meeting passenger needs, comfort and maintaining published schedules.

Military aviation is a security apparatus subject solely to the chain of command for all operations within the country’s airspace.

If this present state of affairs continues, the national aviation industry will meet the fate of Pakistan Railways, or even worse, sink to the role played by the country’s motor vehicle inspectors whose performance is obvious in the messy road transport system. A cursory review of the senior executives of the cAA will reveal that the authority is dominated by mediocrity, as a close relative of a VVIP was appointed as the cfO to the DGcA, who was an old classmate of

the same VVIP, besides the presence of nominees of the prime minister and retired military officers and bureaucrats.

The least that the cAA and this government owes to the unfortunate victims of Bhoja and Air Blue, or the travelling public, whose taxes fill their coffers, is to conduct an independent investigation by an Accident Investigation Unit, which should not be under the administrative control of both the Defence Ministry and the cAA. Both of them under this prevailing system are involved in granting permission for AOc to airlines that operate within Pakistan and they own and manage all airports as well as the equipment installed there, including air traffic control (ATc) and ground control, weather radars, and all other advisory and warning systems in use by airlines that in case of malfunction or mishandling can lead to an accident. nobody to date has been punished or penalised for the criminal act of installing passenger seats against the emergency exit of an aircraft owned by Shaheen Airlines.

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04 News

Monday, 23 April, 2012

US backdoor contacts with Taliban fail to resume talks ISLAMABAD

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oNlINe

MeRIcA’S backdoor diplomacy is in no way going to end the ongoing deadlock in talks between Taliban and the US, which is likely to continue somewhat indefinitely.

The stalemate is due to persist over “no political will of Washington to fulfill promises”, a senior Taliban commander said on Sunday.

Taliban sources, while stressing that “empty promises” and “hollow claims” would not be entertained anymore, have stressed on involving the issue of release of prisoners in Guantanamo as essential for resumption of the talks in Qatar that were suspended by Taliban a month ago, over their concerns that US was just wasting time, doing nothing concrete.

The sources informed that behind the scenes, the US was constantly striving to convince Taliban leadership for resumption of talks.

“We never beg for peace though we respect it,” a senior Taliban leader in a telephonic conversation told Online.

During the telephonic conversation, Akbar Agha, a cousin of Taliban top negotiator Tayyab Agha and veteran commander, said that the US promised as a first

step towards confidence building measures that it would release Taliban detainees as demanded, but has ever since failed to do so.

It was in the last months of 2011 that Taliban and US agreed to kick off political dialogue in Qatar in January this year.

Though sources among the senior leadership of Taliban did not rule out the resumption of peace talks with the US in Qatar, yet they also visualised the inability of Washington to materialise the basis of the confidence Building Measures agreed in the initial talks.

Taliban are demanding the release of some of their fellows detained in Guantanamo, including Mullah fazil Akhund, their former chief of army staff who surrendered part of Afghanistan in late 2001; Mullah nurullah noori, a former senior governor in the north; and Mullah Khairullah Khairkhawah, a former interior minister.

The US on several occasions had urged Taliban to resume the talks and even reportedly sought Pakistan’s help in this regard.

In a statement, Taliban Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid had declared that they wanted to resolve issues with the international community through dialogue, and the opening of political office in Qatar was the proof of this

willingness of Taliban.

“It negates the criticism about Taliban being inaccessible and their (Taliban’s) whereabouts being unknown to contact them for negotiations.

He nevertheless made it clear that attacks against nATO forces in Afghanistan would not be toned down even if negotiations were going on.

Analysts, privy to the development, said that release of detainees is possible in next few months if Qatar could guarantee that the released Taliban leaders would not travel back to Afghanistan for the next few years. commenting on the US efforts, Akbar Agha said that Americans had made promises, but the implementation remained a problem.

When asked about the chances of the detainees’ release after US elections, he said the game was going on before the elections, as Obama administration was politicking in the United States. Once the elections are over, the negotiations would become further complicated, he added.

Taliban sources said that informal contacts, rather than spontaneous interaction for the resumption of negotiations, was going on, adding that if the US takes things seriously, and removes certain hurdles, things could resume rather officially.

fAISAlABAD: People stage a demonstration to protest against the killing of a young boy at Jail Chowk. online

Rebels in new attack on strategic town: Sudan army KHARTOUM AfP

Sudan claimed to have inflicted heavy losses on Sunday on rebels who allegedly attacked a strategic southern town on the same day South Sudanese forces ended their occupation of a key oilfield.

Insurgents from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-north (SPLM-n) attacked Talodi at 8:00 am (0500 GMT), Sudanese army spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad told reporters. “fighting is still going on,” he added in a late afternoon briefing which gave no other

details.

A rebel spokesman reached by AfP had no information and said “things are not clear.” The rebels besieged Talodi for several days into early April before government troops regained control.

Officials said roughly 30,000 people had been affected by that unrest but had begun returning to the town.

US President Barack Obama has called on South Sudan’s government to “end its support for armed groups inside Sudan”, but the South denies giving such backing.

The South said on Sunday it had completed its

pullout from the Heglig oilfield, about 130 kilometres (80 miles) southwest of Talodi, although Khartoum claimed it had forced them out.

South Sudan occupied the field on April 10, in a move that coincided with waves of air strikes against the South and sparked fears of wider war.

Sudan does not allow independent reporting in South Kordofan and tightly restricts access for journalists, diplomats and aid workers, making the situation on the ground hard to verify. ethnic minority fighters

egypt scraps israel gas accord CAIRO AfP

egypt has scrapped a 2005 gas export deal with Israel, which relies on egyptian natural gas for 40 percent of its supplies to produce electricity, the chairman of a government holding firm said on Sunday.

The accord was “annulled on Thursday with the east Mediterranean Gas co (eMG) which exports gas to Israel because the company failed to respect conditions stipulated in

the contract,” Mohamed Shoeib of egyptian natural Gas Holding co (eGAS) told AfP. The sale of gas to Israel, which signed a peace treaty with egypt in 1979, has always been controversial in the Arab world’s most populous country.

It was the largest trade deal between the two former foes.

A pipeline in the Sinai Peninsula that has been used to supply egyptian gas to Israel and Jordan was hit by a bomb blast on April 9, in the 14th such attack since the uprising

which toppled president Hosni Mubarak in february 2011. egypt has been gripped by security-related problems since the revolt.

Gas deliveries to Israel, agreed under Mubarak, have come under heavy criticism in egypt. Israel generates 40 percent of its electricity using natural gas, and egypt provides 43 percent of its gas supplies.

While there was no immediate reaction from Israel on the termination of the gas accord, a holding company with a

share in eMG, an Israeliegyptian consortium, said it was considering legal action against eGAS. “eMG considers the termination attempt unlawful and in bad faith, and consequently demanded its withdrawal,” Ampal-American Israel corp said in a statement. “eMG, Ampal, and eMG’s other international shareholders are considering their options and legal remedies as well as approaching the various governments,” the company

said. “eMG is seeking compensation from eGPc and eGAS for damages resulting from their contractual breaches.” exports to Israel were launched in 2008, three years after the accord which came in for heavy criticism from egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood.

Under the 15-year deal worth $2.5 billion, eMG was to sell 1.7 billion cubic metres a year.

In January, a lawyer defending Mubarak told a cairo court that there was not a shred of evidence linking the ousted

hollande beats Sarkozy egyptian strongman to the controversial gas deal. farid al-Deeb said egypt’s spy agency negotiated the deal in line with international norms. “There isn’t an ounce of evidence that Mubarak was involved in the deal to import gas to Israel,” costing the state $714 million (553 million euros) in losses, Deeb told the court.

“The negotiations concerning the export of egyptian gas to Israel were carried out in accordance with international norms,” he insisted.

congress presses investigation of US Secret Service scandal Two republican house chairmen back Secret Service chief g Senate homeland Security committee to hold hearings g republican King says ‘several’ more to leave Secret Service g

WASHINGTON ReuTeRS

Two senior House of Representatives Republicans expressed confidence in the head of the U.S. Secret Service on Sunday despite the agency’s colombia prostitution scandal while a Senate committee chairman planned hearings into the matter.

Senator Joseph Lieberman, an independent, said that the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee that he chairs will send specific questions to the Secret Service this week about the scandal before the panel holds public hearings. Other congressional committees also are investigating.

The Secret Service, which protects the president, vice president and other prominent U.S. political figures, said on friday that three more of its employees resigned. That brought to six the number who have departed in connection with alleged misconduct involving prostitutes in colombia this month before President Barack Obama’s trip to the seaside city of cartagena. The Secret Service also said a 12th employee had been implicated in the investigation into an incident that also involved 11 U.S. military personnel. Representative Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security committee, told the nBc program “Meet the Press” that he expects several

more Secret Service agents to leave the agency “within the very near future.”

At least 21 women were brought back to a beach front hotel and the behavior of the Secret Service men was exposed when one of the colombian women complained that she had not been paid enough, resulting in local police getting involved.

Lieberman also said the White House should launch its own internal review of all White House personnel and advance teams who were in cartagena “to make sure that no one working for the White House was involved in any of the same kind of inappropriate behavior that the Secret Service agents were.”

Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan was given an endorsement on Sunday by King and a second Republican House committee chairman.

“Director Sullivan, from the moment this broke, has moved effectively and this investigation is going full speed ahead,” King said. “I believe Director Sullivan has done a fine job.”

King added that procedures must be put in place “to ensure it never happens again.” Representative Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee, told “Meet the Press” that he has “great confidence” in Sullivan’s handling of the investigation into the matter. Asked whether he has confidence in Sullivan,

Lieberman said, “I do at this point. ... I think he’s conducting a comprehensive investigation.”

‘MORE SERIOUS THAN JUST A FROLIC’: Lieberman said his committee’s investigation will seek to determine whether the actions in colombia were part of a pattern of behavior that happened over time elsewhere and what steps will be implemented to prevent any such actions in the future.

“It’s more serious than just a frolic. History is full of cases where enemies have compromised people and security or intelligence of positions with sex,” Lieberman said on the program “fox news Sunday.”

He told the cBS program

in the SPLM-n, who once fought alongside rebels now ruling in the South, have been battling government forces for months in South Kordofan and Blue nile states. foreign aid workers say that a relentless bombing campaign by Khartoum has prevented agriculture and that 200,000 to 250,000 people face food shortages in South Kordofan, with similar hunger expected in August in Blue nile state.

Sudan has cited security concerns in severely controlling access for foreign relief agencies to the two states.

“face the nation”: “for Secret Service agents who have the responsibility to protect the president, to act as these people did in cartagena, as if they were college kids on a spring break, is reprehensible.”

King’s office released a letter he sent to Sullivan, dated friday, asking for answers to 50 questions about the matter, including whether any White House officials were involved in the incident in cartagena.

David Axelrod, senior advisor to Obama’s re-election campaign, said the president has confidence in Sullivan and the Secret Service. “But this is really disturbing. We have to get to the bottom of it and I’m sure that we will,” he told nBc’s “Meet the Press.”

CONTINUED fROM PAgE 22 Sarkozy’s camp put a brave face, insisting that with the votes of the Le Pen camp and that of centrist francois Bayrou the right had not had a bad night and that Sarkozy would bounce back before May 6. “The message from the french, which we heard loud and clear, was that this was a vote in a time of crisis,” said Jean-francois cope, leader of Sarkozy’s UMP and a possible future presidential candidate. “from tomorrow morning, we will no longer be in a case of nine candidates against nicolas Sarkozy, but we will be one-on-one, nicolas Sarkozy against francois Hollande ... then I think the match will be different.” far left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon was beaten into fourth place with around 11.7 percent, a disappointment for his supporters after a barnstorming campaign, and called on the left to unite to oust Sarkozy.

Turnout was high at at least 80 percent: down on the 84 percent turnout of 2007 but up significantly on the 72 percent of 2002 and belying fears that a low-key campaign would be capped by mass abstention.

The left has not won a presidential election in a quarter of a century, but with france mired in low growth and rising joblessness, opinion polls had long predicted the left would beat the right-wing incumbent.

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raisani was made cM on my advice: Khursheed Shah KARACHI STAff RePoRT

federal Minister Khursheed Ahmed Shah has said that the brother of Lashkri Raisani was made the Balochistan chief minister on his advice. Talking to reporters, he said he would go to Balochistan to handle the situation within 10 days, adding that the situation was serious in four to five district of Balochistan. To a question, Shah said fuel should not be poured on simmering fire. “When the PPP came to power, Mengal was in jail. Our government set him free without any condition. The president sought pardon from Baloch people. for the first time in the history of the country, the ISI and army chiefs were called by parliament. We opposed army cantonments in Balochistan,” Shah said in defence of his government’s steps for Balochistan. He said he did not know why journalists were not writing the truth that employment quota of Balochistan had been doubled. Some forces were afraid that if all issues were settled, their agenda would be left incomplete. “That is why they are trying to make the situation worse,” he said.

haqqani ‘receiving threats on social networking sites’ WASHINGTON INP

former Pakistani ambassador to United States Husain Haqqani has said that some elements are threatening him on social networking websites. According to Haqqani, he received threats on facebook, Twitter and other social networking websites. The former envoy has also lodged a complaint and submitted proof in the US federal Bureau of Investigation (fBI) to track the culprits. Haqqani had to resign after Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz had claimed that he was asked by the Pakistani ambassador to deliver a memo to the former US military chief General Mike Mullen seeking US support to avert a military takeover following the killing of Osama bin Laden in May.

MuZAffARABAD: People try to pull a sports utility vehicle (SuV) out of water after it got stuck in the stream due to heavy rains in the state capital on Sunday. inP

Imran opposes unilateral troop withdrawal from Siachen g

PTI chief says PM wants to become a martyr LAHORE

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STAff RePoRT

AKISTAn Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Sunday said the Siachen front was costing both India and Pakistan’s a lot of resources and should be demilitarized, but opposed a unilateral troop pullout by Pakistan.

Talking to reporters at Lahore airport

on his return from Quetta, the PTI chief called for the demilitarization of Siachen. commenting on the tragic air crash near Islamabad that led to the deaths of all 127 on board, Khan urged an impartial and free investigation into the incident. criticising the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government, he said anyone could do anything with the help of bribery.

Imran said the prime minister was “willing to go down as a political martyr

to conceal corruption”.

He said the only solution to Balochistan’s problem was political.

Khan also urged President Asif Ali Zardari and nawaz Sharif to hold public gatherings in Quetta.

He called his party’s public gathering in Quetta a “record rally”, claiming that they had managed to hoist the Pakistani flag where no other party had managed to do so.

Khan said there would be a PTI

tsunami on one side and vested interests on the other in the next elelction.

He said those calling the PTI tsunami handiwork should see their Quetta meeting, adding that a general could create the PML-n and IJI, but could bring a tsunami.

Khan said the government had not implemented the Supreme court’s verdict in rental power case, adding that the person who was declared an accused had been appointed as federal minister.

French election: four ways Nicolas Sarkozy got screwed MONITORING DESK The president of france is in deep trouble, and he would like to have his countrymen think they are, too, if they do not reelect him, writes christopher Dickey in an article on the Daily Beast.

As voters go to the polls today in the first round of balloting to decide whether to give nicolas Sarkozy another five-year term or simply to be rid of him, opinion surveys show he will manage to make it into the decisive runoff on May 6. He is expected to be up against socialist candidate françois Hollande. But those same opinion polls show that Sarkozy will lose that match up by a landslide. So Sarkozy, 57, is doing his best to convince the french that disaster looms if Hollande replaces him. france’s economy and europe’s are in a perilous state. Indeed, europe is “a convalescent,” Sarkozy says. Paraphrasing the ominous words attributed to Louis XV, “après moi le déluge,” Sarkozy told the right-wing daily Le figaro, “I’m not saying, ‘After me, chaos.’” But of course he was. If any president reduces the pressure to bring down deficits (read: Hollande), “we’ll be swept away,” says Sarkozy. “france does not have the right to make a mistake!”

Hollande, 57, who cast his ballot this morning in the little town of Tulle deep in central france, has managed to build the momentum he has without the help of charisma or an impressive record.

A protégé of the late socialist president françois Mitterrand, Hollande himself has never held a cabinet post. He constructed his political base mainly as the head of the Socialist Party from 1997 to 2008, a period when the socialist presidential candidates (including his ex-partner and the mother of his four children, Ségolène Royal) fared very badly indeed. In 2002 the socialist candidate didn’t make it to the second round. In 2007 Sarkozy trounced Royal in the runoff.

But Hollande got lucky. Sarkozy’s most dynamic opponent a year ago seemed sure to be former finance minister and then–International Monetary fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

But DSK suddenly flamed out in scandals in new

York and france before he ever had a chance to announce he intended to run. And once Hollande got the nomination, he made what now appears to have been the wise decision to present himself as the candidate of “normal.” even his campaign T-shirts proclaim that bland virtue.

Hollande can have a sharp tongue on the podium, and he has adopted some predictable lefty stances in the campaign (the kinds of positions that Sarkozy threatens will bring on the deluge). Hollande wants to keep government jobs, not cut them. He calls big financial interests the “adversary.” He talks about taxing marginal income over €1 million ($1.32 million) a year at a rate of 75 percent. He (along with nobel Prize–winning economist Paul Krugman and IMf chief economist Olivier Blanchard, among others) questions the relentless austerity pressed on the continent by Germany. But Hollande famously told British financial interests, in english, “I am not dangerous.” Hollande’s greatest virtue in the minds of the french, in fact, is essentially negative. More than half of those who’ve told pollsters they’ll vote for Hollande in the second round have said they’ll do so because he’s not the incumbent.

So, how did Sarko—arguably one of the most brilliant political tacticians in french history—get so screwed? four overlapping factors seem to have played key roles. first of all, as the dinner-table cliché goes, “it’s not what he does, it’s who he is” that so many french find hard to stomach. Short and pugnacious, intense and vulgar, Sarkozy is not the kind of man with whom many french want to raise a glass of wine. In fact he drinks little or none at all. And neither is he one whom they naturally look up to. He never made it to the top of the elite schools that groomed most of the country’s leaders (including Hollande), and early in his presidency he gave the impression that big money with bad taste, or, as the french press would have it, “bling,” impressed the hell out of him.

In the first few months of Sarkozy’s first term he partied at the glitzy champs-Élysées restaurant fouquet’s on election night and then celebrated further

on a friend’s yacht. His wife and adviser, cécilia, dumped him rather than endure as his first lady. So, months later, Sarkozy remarried former supermodel carla Bruni.

There was a vaguely Kardashian quality to the Sarkozy household in those days, even before anyone in france knew who the Kardashians were, and right up until this last week Sarkozy has been apologizing for his behavior back then. (He blames his unhappiness with cécilia for his erratic behavior at the time.) neither classy nor notable for a common touch, Sarkozy’s slightest gesture can leave audiences uncomfortable. Recently he stripped an expensive watch off his wrist just before diving into a sea of well-wishers who wanted to shake his hand. Was he afraid they’d see it? Or steal it?

Secondly, Sarkozy had the extraordinary bad luck to be a president who came to office embracing the global economy when, a year later, the global economy tanked. He had promised more money for more work, and in boom times young voters, especially, found that an alluring idea. But he’s been stuck since 2008 with unemployment hovering around 10 percent, which means for many people no work at any price. could he have handled the crisis better? There has been endless second guessing, and it’s not unreasonable for him to think, as he does, that he should get points for helping to keep europe from flatlining. But it’s hard to make bragging rights out of that word he uses for europe’s present condition: “convalescent.”

Thirdly, after three years trying to present himself as a centrist open to all political currents and leftist celebrities, including several socialist stalwarts he brought into senior government positions, Sarkozy decided in 2010 to ditch that whole approach. In regional elections the socialists had wiped his party off the map. So Sarkozy decided to go back to his roots—the tough-guy “top cop” right-wing posturing that had helped him ascend from the Interior Ministry to the presidency in 2007. In that election he’d used carefully calculated anti-immigrant rhetoric to siphon off a huge amount of support from Jean-Marie Le Pen, the fiery curmudgeon of the ul-

traright. But over the last two years Jean-Marie has handed over the reins of the far right to his daughter Marine Le Pen, who took full advantage of the fact that Sarkozy’s stands on immigration and citizenship started to make her look moderate. fourthly, and finally, as the pressure has mounted on Sarkozy, his behavior has become more erratic, not less. And this just at the moment he’d like to present himself as a leader with a steady hand.

One can understand his frustration. Over the last year, nothing he could do had much of an impact on his abysmal approval rating. He led a successful war to oust Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, and that accomplishment barely made a blip in the public’s appreciation. More recently, and much to his embarrassment, he has been at pains to deny what was known as a fact: that he tried like hell to sell Gaddafi a nuclear reactor back in 2007.

Sarkozy and carla had a baby girl, but even this foray into late-in-life fatherhood did not soften the harsh impression the president left on the public.

Sarkozy already has three sons from his two previous marriages; carla had one from another liaison. neither the president nor the first lady make convincing homebodies.

In the closing weeks before today’s vote, Sarkozy started grabbing at policies like a man who’s besieged, looking frantically in the closet for a weapon he could shoot, or swing, or maybe just throw. Suddenly he started adopting some of Hollande’s positions: among them a call for the european central Bank to play a bigger role in relaunching the european economy (which would contradict its charter), rent control for french apartments, and so on. To such an extent has Sarkozy suddenly embraced policies he previously rejected that the satirical and investigative weekly Le canard enchaîné dubbed him Mr chameleon.

Maybe this sort of behavior suddenly will be portrayed as sweet reason, or at least reasonable pragmatism, in the debates and speeches before the final vote on May 6. But unless Sarkozy can quit running against himself, it’s Hollande who will walk away with the french presidency next month.

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PPP leadership’s massive corruption ruining country: lM LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-Likeminded (PML-LM) on Sunday issued a ‘white paper’ document over the functioning of the federal government. The paper says that for the first time in the country’s history, the president, the prime minister along with his sons and 15 other federal ministers had been accused of large scale corruption. Mian Muhammad Asif, the information secretary of the PML-LM’s provincial chapter, read out the document at a press conference, saying the rulers, instead of offering themselves for accountability, had been picking a quarrel with the superior judiciary. “every Pakistani national is burdened with Rs 1,200 billion loans, while major institutions like WAPDA, OGDcL, Steel Mills, PIA, Railways, nIcL, PSO and others are heading towards disaster,” he said. He added that inflation and unemployment had forced 19,000 persons to commit suicide. About electricity and gas load shedding, he said the industrial sector had suffered a loss of Rs 275 billion, and the national economy had lost Rs 400 billion. INP

HYDeRABAD: Sindh university students hold placards and banners during an awareness walk titled ‘Save the earth’ on the eve of International earth Day. online

Won’t allow use of democracy to protect looted national wealth: Nawaz LAHORE

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INP

AKISTAn Muslim Leaguenawaz (PML-n) President nawaz Sharif has said that no one would be allowed to protect the looted national wealth under the garb of democracy.

Talking to the party’s US-based leaders, Dr Khalid Luqman and Shakila Luqman, at

his Raiwind residence on Sunday, nawaz said that inept and corrupt rulers had destroyed the country, while unemployment, price hike, electricity and gas load shedding had made the lives of the people miserable.

He said that Pakistanis living in various parts of the world were worried about this state of affairs in their country. nawaz praised the overseas Pakistanis for their contributions towards their motherland and in building its image

abroad. While on the other hand, the rulers are least worried about the country and its poor people, nawaz said.

“There is corruption all around and as a result, the problems of the people are increasing day by day,” he said. The PMLn chief said the rulers were trying to save their plundered money under the pretext of democracy but the people would foil all such attempts and they would have to bring back the looted money.

PPP, PMl-n subservient to US dictates: Munawar OKARA: Jamaat-e-Islami chief Syed Munawar Hasan has said that the United States has been persuading both the PPP and the PML-n to reach an understanding before the next general elections. While addressing Okara press club here on Sunday on telephone, the JI Amir said both the parties had reconciled at different times during the past four years due to US insistence which was evident that they were subservient to Washington dictates. He held the government responsible for Bhoja airline crash, law and order situation in Balochistan, target killings in Karachi and the Siachen tragedy. He said the rulers were trying to please the people by promising Seraiki province in public meetings while a procedure exists in the constitution for this purpose. INP

Hidden victims: the plight of Pakistan’s child incest survivors MONITORING DESK An alarming number of children, especially girls, are abused by older family members, who know that their country’s legal system and social mores make it unlikely that they will be punished. In her recently published article on the Atlantic, Habiba nosheen has unveiled the abominations prevailing in the conservative Pakistani society, raising fresh concerns on the incidents of incest and child abuse, and violations of human rights.

The slim woman I’ll call Zoya is in her late 30s, writes nosheen. She sits inside the home of her good friend, one of the very few people who she has trusted with a dark secret that has haunted her for years.

“It’s a very difficult topic to talk about it’s something very hard for me,” she says.

Zoya’s voice shakes at times. Dressed in a white shalwar kameez, her shoulderlength hair is pulled back. “My father had been abusing me since the time I was little kid.” Tears roll down her face and she recalls the details of her abuse. She was four when she first came to suspect that what was happening to her might not be normal.

One day, “when everyone was sleeping, my father picked me up, took me to another room, undressed me,” Zoya says. “I found myself lying in bed naked and I was frightened, I didn’t understand why.”

Later, Zoya tried to tell her mother. “I said, ‘Papa is taking me — mama, papa is taking me at night to another room and he takes off my clothes and does things.’

“Her mother answered, “Don’t tell anybody.” It’s a common phrase for victims of sexual abuse in Pakistan to hear from their mothers.

Manizeh Bano, executive Director of a Pakistan-based nGO called Sahil that

works against child sexual abuse and exploitation, she says that the country’s harsh gender restrictions makes it difficult for mothers to protect their own children. “It is the most difficult because mothers don’t have options, they often have to live within that same family, they can’t get up and go anywhere,” she says. cases like Zoya’s aren’t uncommon, according to Bano, and lack of support that exists for women in Pakistan makes them often unable to help their daughters get out of the situation. In Pakistan most families are still overwhelmingly financially supported by men. Bano says that if a mother learns that her husband is sexually molesting her daughters, she has nowhere to turn because there is little to no state assistance for battered women in Pakistan if they chose not to live with their husbands.

In 2010, a total of 2252 cases child sexual abuse were reported in the news, according to Sahil. That’s almost a 12 percent increase from the previous year. The Human Rights commission of Pakistan (HRcP) states that these numbers are a fraction of the actual problem. It suspects that many cases of sexual violence are simply covered up, especially when they happen at the hands of a family member.

Zohra Yousuf, the chairperson for Human Rights commission of Pakistan, says that she doesn’t suspect that the increase in number of reported cases in the media means that more crime of incest are happening, she says it could be that because Pakistanis are finally starting to come forward and discuss a type of crime that she believes is very prevalent in Pakistan but severely under-reported.

Incest and child abuse happen all over the world. But, according to a report by equality now, an international

human rights organization, victims of incest in Pakistan face additional barriers in seeking justice.

The report also notes that, in the very few cases where a victim does come forward, the case rarely makes it past the procedural hurdles in the justice system. even police officers, who are usually the first line of contact for these victims, sometimes refuse to file a complaint, sending the victim home and telling her that she is immoral for saying such things against her own father, according to Bano. The report by equality now also notes that perpetrators are never apprehended in most case or are often released without charges.

Prosecuting these abuses can be difficult as there are no specific provisions against the crime of incest in Pakistan’s Penal code. Incest is treated as any other rape, without any additional protection for the victim.

Many young victims are also deterred from coming forward, Bano suggests, especially because rape cases can be unusually slow to prosecute in Pakistan. even if they do get in front of a court, they are often are encouraged, sometimes even by the judges, to settle the matter out of court for the honor of the family, through a process dubbed as “compromise,” by accepting a sum of money in exchange for silence. This compromise, Bano says, has been the biggest challenge her organization faces in bringing the perpetrators to justice. After spending months working with the victim, in most cases, families “compromise,” ensuring that the perpetrator is never convicted for his crime.

According to Sahil, incest is the least likely form of child sexual abuse to be reported because the adults most likely to intervene are often complicit or unwilling

to turn in their own spouse or family members. Bano has found that families will often throw up their hand and say something like, “What has happened has already happened, what’s the point in having someone from our family go to jail.”

Sarah Zaman, who heads the Karachi-based nGO War Against Rape, says that combating predatory incest has been particularly difficult in Pakistan, where it can be difficult for political and social leaders to admit that such things could happen in an Islamic country.

“Absolutely!” Yousuf tells me when I ask about this theory. “That’s totally taboo and totally denied here because it’s not supposed to exist in Islamic society.”

“There is this state of denial that this cannot happen in our family, it cannot happen in our country,” Yousuf explains. “I think it’s really under reported because it’s linked to a family’s honor in many ways. It’s a crime that’s covered up by the family.” every time that Zoya would turn to her family for help, she says, she was given the same false promises: he’ll stop abusing you.

“Oh, don’t worry about it, your father won’t do it,” an uncle once told her.

And she wasn’t alone. Zoya’s two younger sisters weren’t spared by their father.

When Zoya was 18, one of her young sisters took her own life by hanging herself. Two weeks later, her other sister did the same. Over a decade later, their deaths haunt her. She said she still feels guilty that she wasn’t able to protect them from her father.

“I am still alive although my sisters are gone,” Zoya says.

“In this society, we pretend it’s not happening,” Zoya says, “even if people

know it’s happening they’ll turn their face and say, “We don’t want to get involved.’“ The abuse only got worse after she told her mother, Zoya says.

“After that, my father would not let me talk to anybody, anyone at all, not even my family, not anybody,” she says. “And that way he managed to keep me isolated for most of my life. I was always afraid.”

Tauqeer fatima Bhutto, the Minister of Women Development for the province of Sindh, says the government is trying to work on the issue.

“The government has continued to work on legislation dealing with sexual abuse and domestic abuse of women and children. If you say, ‘Well Pakistan just doesn’t have laws,’ Pakistan has everything available, but we just need people who will work on these issues,” she says.

Sahil, the nGO, is producing animated short videos, which it distributes to public schools as a teaching tool, on the dangers of sexual abuse. The video series, titled Meri Hafazit which means “my protection” in Urdu, teach about various forms of sexual abuse in gentle, kidfriendly language.

Zoya’s nightmare finally came to an end with the sudden death of her father.

“He died pretty violently. I’d rather not talk about it. He was murdered.” She says she doesn’t know who killed him.

“I have no idea. The police never found out. As for me I was glad that he was dead. My only regret for he didn’t die earlier. That is my only regret.”

Habiba Nosheen - Habiba Nosheen is a Pakistani born freelance journalist based in New York. She is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

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To be a woman in Pakistan: Six stories of abuse, shame and survival 07

After 8 hours, Karachi airport back in business ■ cAA to fitness-check all private airlines’ aircraft from today KARACHI

T

AAMIR MAJeeD

He runway of the Jinnah International Airport Karachi, which was closed for flights following an emergency landing of a malfunctioned Shaheen Air International aircraft, has been reopened for operation after eight hours.

According to reports, Shaheen Air International’s Boeing 737-400, with over 100 passengers onboard, escaped a crash while landing at the Karachi airport.

Sources in the civil Aviation Authority (cAA) said that the landing gear of the Shaheen Air International flight had stopped functioning while landing at one of the Karachi airport’s runways.

They said, “The pilot was asked to use emergency breaks to stop the aircraft amid the malfunction of the gear just after landing at the runway.”

The pilot used emergency breaks and saved the aircraft from crashing, but its tyres burst with a loud bang, they added.

They also said that the aircraft was tilted to the left side and stationed at the runway with the support of its wing. following the blast of the tyres, cAA fire tenders reached the runway, but there was no fire in any part of the aircraft, they added.

Then, they went on to say, the rescue

operation started and all the passengers were pulled out of the malfunctioned aircraft by using an emergency ladder.

Initially, they continued, women and children were pulled out of the plane, and later, men were rescued by using the emergency ladder. none of the passengers or crew members was hurt during the incident, they added.

In a statement issued by the cAA, the authority’s spokesman Pervez George said that the Shaheen Air International’s flight number was nL-122.

George said, “The tyres of the wheel landing gear exploded while landing.

The plane went forward, but then screeched to a halt at the runway.”

He said that Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar has directed the cAA director general (DG) to check the aircraft of all the private airlines.

He also said that all the private airlines have been issued notices and their aircraft have been grounded for fitness checking.

He further said that the fitness checking of all the aircraft would start from Monday (today) and would be completed in two days.

“Only those aircraft would be allowed for operation that meet the criteria of the international aviation law. The pilots would also undergo a similar test,” he added. cAA DG nadeem Khan Yousafzai has ordered an immediate inquiry of the landing incident and asked for the report to be submitted at the earliest.

Yousafzai requested the Pakistan International Airlines for support in removing the malfunctioned aircraft from the runway.

He directed the cAA staff to remove the aircraft from the runway as early as possible for restoration of local and international flights.

Due to the emergency landing of the

Shaheen Air International aircraft at the Karachi airport, 20 national and international flights were postponed.

The postponed flights included PK787 (Karachi to London), UL-183 (colombo to Karachi), UL-184 (Karachi to colombo), PK-304 (Karachi to Lahore), PK-308 (Karachi to Islamabad), eU-606 (Karachi to Jeddah), PK-730

(Karachi to Riyadh), eK-602 (Karachi to Dubai), PK-732 (Karachi to Jeddah), and D8-356.

However, Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-303 (Lahore to Karachi) was landed at the nawabshah Airport, whereas the international flight TG-507 (Thailand to Karachi) landed in Muscat, Oman.

Children clean up i’ve stopped linguistic Clifton beach on riots, eliminated targeted killings: Qaim earth Day KARACH

QAZI ASIf

children and US consulate employees hard at work, cleaning up the clifton beach on Sunday morning.

KARACHI STAff RePoRT

School children joined the US consulate employees on Sunday morning to remove trash from the clifton beach in recognition of earth Day 2012. earth Day, first celebrated in the United States in 1970, has over the decades become an international day of celebrating our global natural environment.

Speaking to the students, Public Affairs Attaché Kevin Murakami applauded their efforts, saying, “Thank

you to all the young people who have come out this morning to show their commitment to the environment.”

Murakami said, “Whatever nationality we are, whatever religion, young or old, today we are all citizens of planet earth. I applaud each and every one of you for being here this morning and doing your part to make our environment cleaner and brighter.”

Speaking on the occasion, Press Attaché Amanda cauldwell appreciated the students for caring about

Karachi’s natural environment.

“I’m so happy to be here today with such energetic, enthusiastic students, and we can already see how great the clifton beach looks after we’ve picked up all the trash,” cauldwell added.

Participating in the cleanup, in addition to many consulate employees, were english Access students who take english classes through a programme sponsored by the consulate, as well as younger students who came from many schools across the city.

Sindh chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah said on Sunday that he would not claim that his government has succeeded in curbing crime completely.

Speaking to a press conference at the chief Minister’s House, Shah said that he has succeeded in stopping linguistic riots and eliminating targeted killings in the city. He said that nobody would be allowed to create a ‘no go’ area in Karachi.

“Our coalition partners have agreed on a targeted operation in the city. They have promised that they will not support any criminals.

Strong action will be taken against criminals in Orangi Town,” he added.

He said that if injustice is done during a targeted op-

eration in Lyari, it would be investigated. “There will be no compromise on the law & order situation in Lyari,” he added.

He also said that his government was striving to provide “roti, kapra aur makaan” (food, clothing and shelter), for which important steps have been taken to reduce unemployment in Sindh.

Around 1.6 million youth in the province have been provided with training, and they have started different kinds of jobs, he added.

Shah said, “More than 65 percent population of the province depends on the agriculture sector. The government is taking steps to strengthen this sector. During the past four years, growers’ conditions have stabilised.”

CHACHAR RETURNS TO

PPP: Haji Khan chachar, an influential of the Ghotki district, has announced to rejoin the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). A former Member Provincial Assembly of the PPP, chachar had left the party many years ago.

federal Minister Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah, Member national Assembly faryal Talpur, Shazia Marri, Anwer Khan Maher and others were also present on the occasion of the announcement.

PPP’s Abdul Salam Thaheem laid to rest KARACHI STAff RePoRT

The Sindh Minister for Technical education and a senior leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Abdul Salam Thaheem passed away at a local hospital on Sunday morning. Thaheem had been ill for quite some time, as he was suffering from an ailment of the kid-

ney.

The deceased was a PPP Member Provincial Assembly from the Sanghar district. He was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard in the evening.

Thaheem belonged to an upper middle class family and was a very loyal member of his party. He was at the forefront of and played an important role in the Move-

ment for the Restoration of Democracy in the 1980s, and rendered many sacrifices for the cause and his party.

In return for his support for democracy, the Pakistan Army attacked Thaheem’s village and killed several residents, including some of his close relatives. He was made the minister for education in the first government of the PPP.

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PakistaN today

08 karachi

Monday, 23 April, 2012

To be A womAN iN PAKiSTAN: Six stories of abuse, shame and survival Interviews with a handful of the country’s 88 million women and girls

Brides-to-be wait during a mass wedding ceremony in Karachi. REUTERS THE ATLANTIC

A

ZARA JAMAl

CCORDINg to a 2011 poll of experts by the Thomson Reuters foundation Poll, Pakistan is the third most dangerous country for women in the world.

It cited that more than 1,000 women and girls are murdered in “honour killings” every year and reported that 90 percent of Pakistani women suffer from domestic violence.

Westerners usually associate the plight of Pakistani women with religious oppression, but the reality is far more complicated.

A certain mentality is deeply ingrained in strictly patriarchal societies like Pakistan. Poor and uneducated women must struggle daily for basic rights, recognition, and respect.

They must live in a culture that defines them by the male figures in their lives, even though these women are often the breadwinners for their families.

Quietly, slowly, in piecemeal legal reforms, female empowerment is coming in Pakistan. You meet inspiring women daily here.

Sympathetic employers sometimes give protection and assistance, as do other women who’ve fared better. nGOs and charitable organisations try to help empower women, but not all women take advantage of these resources.

They fear their husbands believing that attracting unwanted attention somehow hurts the honour of their families, or, often, they simply do not know that help exists. With female literacy at 36 percent, many women are too uneducated to know their rights.

A difficult irony for women in Pakistan is that, should a victim speak up about physical or sexual abuse, she is seen as having lost her and her family’s dignity.

Many rapes go unreported as the victim fears she will become worthless in Pakistani society. Often, women will turn to their employers; families they can trust. It’s a typically unnoticed form of charity but one that can be crucial to their survival.

These are the stories of six poor, working women of different ages, backgrounds, and life experiences in the Pakistani city of Karachi, where I grew up and where I met them.

In the interviews, which I have translated, edited, and condensed below, they told me about their lives and struggles within a cycle of poverty and, often times, violence.

These women have consented to share the stories

and photos so that the world might better understand the challenges they face. for their safety, I have not used their full names.

AYESHA, AgE 18: every poor girl wishes for more education, for the opportunity to learn and go to school; for a childhood.

But many of us are not that fortunate. The day my brother was born was bittersweet; I was no longer allowed to go to school.

Due to the increased household responsibilities, my father told me that I must stay home and eventually begin to work.

On the night of his birth, while my whole family was celebrating, I went to my uncle’s house to get more bread.

I didn’t know a young man was there. In the empty home, he took advantage of me; he did things that I didn’t understand; he touched my chest.

Before I could realise, there was a cloth over my mouth and I was being raped. I was having trouble walking back home; I felt faint and I had a headache.

This happens a lot in villages. Young girls are raped, murdered, and buried. no one is able to trace them after their disappearance.

If a woman is not chaste, she is unworthy of marriage. All he did is ask for forgiveness and they let him go as it was best to avoid having others find out what had happened.

He didn’t receive any punishment even though he ruined me. People may have forgotten what he did, but I never forgot. now, he is married and living his life happily. I blame my own fate; I am just unlucky that this happened to me.

When I began working, I was afraid. I guess it was natural, I was only ten. I consider myself lucky though.

In the homes where I worked, I was responsible for taking care of the children; getting them ready,

feeding them and playing with them.

I used to have so much fun. I felt like I was a child among them. I was able to relive my own childhood.

Soon, I became so used to working that I began feeling safer and happier at work than in my own home and village. Our village is full of intoxication and indecent and disrespectful men; men like my own father.

At the moment, we live in Karachi in a small home with one room and the floor is broken. Whenever I would visit my parents, either I would witness abusive arguments between them or something far more disturbing.

Since I was young, my father had always beaten my mother shamelessly. My entire family is aware of my father’s abuse; it is no secret.

My mother is very obedient; she never says no to my father. She leaves home for work at 8:00 am and only returns at midnight. even if she is tired, she does everything to make him happy; she runs our home and cooks whatever he wishes.

All the men in our village beat their wives; it is a norm and women continue to let it happen. Maybe it is fear, maybe it is desperation, I never quite understood.

As sad as it may sound, part of me does not fear the physical abuse anymore. I fear much bigger things.

As I grew older, my father changed. He began smoking, drinking, and maybe even using drugs with my income.

He began sleeping next to me. In the middle of the night, he would touch me inappropriately and remove my clothes.

Because I was afraid, I would act like I was sleeping and would turn the other way. After his first time sexually abusing me, every night I slept in my home in fear.

I kept dreaming that my father is raping me. I get so scared. I have heard that if you don’t share your dream with someone else, then it never happens. So I never shared what happened to me.

After these incidents, the only person I could turn to was my employer. She is aware of what happens in my home and I know I can trust her.

In January, I feared I may have been pregnant, and she took care of all my medical expenses without letting anyone find out.

Thankfully, I was not, but she was ready to take care of me if I was. A woman’s reputation is so fragile in Pakistani society.

I have requested for her not to let me go for vacation time, and to keep me in her home where I feel

safe.

Without judging me, she accepted me, and has given me a place in her home like a daughter; a place even my own parents could not give me.

REHANA, AgE 37: My life is no different than that of any other woman living in poverty in Pakistan. My husband is abusive and I am the primary breadwinner.

I am striving to get my children educated, as they are my last hope. The only difference in my story is that I could have maybe had it all if one incident had not occurred in my life.

I grew up in a home where my parents were barely earning enough to support our family of 14. My father used to make medication boxes, while my mother worked in homes as the help. We learned to survive on very little.

When I was about 14, I was engaged to nasir.

Being with him was the best time of my life. He was a kind man and earned a decent living. even though we never really spent much time together, I felt like I loved him. I guess no one ever forgets their first love.

Then, one dreadful night before I got married, a few young men snuck into our home in the middle of the night, around 3:00 am.

They tied up my parents and beat them. I was sleeping with my two sisters in the next room. As I was the eldest, they took me out of my bed and tied me up.

I knew they wanted to rape me. I explained that I would lose everything if something happened to me.

I grabbed a knife and told them that I would kill myself if they continued. finally, they decided to let me go.

I was saved, but the damage was already done.

When nasir and his family heard the news, I was considered “used” and was no longer worthy of him.

Just last night, six boys snuck into a home and

KHI 23-04-2012_Layout 1 4/23/2012 4:03 AM Page 9

Monday, 23 April, 2012

THE ATLANTIC

A

ZARA JAMAl

CCORDINg to a 2011 poll of experts by the Thomson Reuters foundation Poll, Pakistan is the third most dangerous country for women in the world.

It cited that more than 1,000 women and girls are murdered in “honour killings” every year and reported that 90 percent of Pakistani women suffer from domestic violence.

Westerners usually associate the plight of Pakistani women with religious oppression, but the reality is far more complicated.

A certain mentality is deeply ingrained in strictly patriarchal societies like Pakistan. Poor and uneducated women must struggle daily for basic rights, recognition, and respect.

They must live in a culture that defines them by the male figures in their lives, even though these women are often the breadwinners for their families.

Quietly, slowly, in piecemeal legal reforms, female empowerment is coming in Pakistan. You meet inspiring women daily here.

Sympathetic employers sometimes give protection and assistance, as do other women who’ve fared better. nGOs and charitable organisations try to help empower women, but not all women take advantage of these resources.

They fear their husbands believing that attracting unwanted attention somehow hurts the honour of their families, or, often, they simply do not know that help exists. With female literacy at 36 percent, many women are too uneducated to know their rights.

A difficult irony for women in Pakistan is that, should a victim speak up about physical or sexual abuse, she is seen as having lost her and her family’s dignity.

Many rapes go unreported as the victim fears she

will become worthless in Pakistani society. Often, women will turn to their employers; families they can trust. It’s a typically unnoticed form of charity but one that can be crucial to their survival.

These are the stories of six poor, working women of different ages, backgrounds, and life experiences in the Pakistani city of Karachi, where I grew up and where I met them.

In the interviews, which I have translated, edited, and condensed below, they told me about their lives and struggles within a cycle of poverty and, often times, violence.

These women have consented to share the stories and photos so that the world might better understand the challenges they face. for their safety, I have not used their full names.

AYESHA, AgE 18: every poor girl wishes for more education, for the opportunity to learn and go to school; for a childhood.

But many of us are not that fortunate. The day my brother was born was bittersweet; I was no longer allowed to go to school.

Due to the increased household responsibilities, my father told me that I must stay home and eventually begin to work.

On the night of his birth, while my whole family was celebrating, I went to my uncle’s house to get more bread.

I didn’t know a young man was there. In the empty home, he took advantage of me; he did things that I didn’t understand; he touched my chest.

Before I could realise, there was a cloth over my mouth and I was being raped. I was having trouble walking back home; I felt faint and I had a headache.

This happens a lot in villages. Young girls are raped, murdered, and buried. no one is able to trace them after their disappearance.

If a woman is not chaste, she is unworthy of marriage. All he did is ask for forgiveness and they let him go as it was best to avoid having others find out what had happened.

He didn’t receive any punishment even though he ruined me. People may have forgotten what he did, but I never forgot. now, he is married and living his life happily. I blame my own fate; I am just unlucky that this happened to me.

When I began working, I was afraid. I guess it was natural, I was only ten. I consider myself lucky though.

In the homes where I worked, I was responsible for taking care of the children; getting them ready, feeding them and playing with them.

I used to have so much fun. I felt like I was a child

among them. I was able to relive my own childhood.

Soon, I became so used to working that I began feeling safer and happier at work than in my own home and village. Our village is full of intoxication and indecent and disrespectful men; men like my own father.

At the moment, we live in Karachi in a small home with one room and the floor is broken. Whenever I would visit my parents, either I would witness abusive arguments between them or something far more disturbing.

Since I was young, my father had always beaten my mother shamelessly. My entire family is aware of my father’s abuse; it is no secret.

My mother is very obedient; she never says no to my father. She leaves home for work at 8:00 am and only returns at midnight. even if she is tired, she does everything to make him happy; she runs our home and cooks whatever he wishes.

All the men in our village beat their wives; it is a norm and women continue to let it happen. Maybe it is fear, maybe it is desperation, I never quite understood.

As sad as it may sound, part of me does not fear the physical abuse anymore. I fear much bigger things.

As I grew older, my father changed. He began smoking, drinking, and maybe even using drugs with my income.

He began sleeping next to me. In the middle of the night, he would touch me inappropriately and remove my clothes.

Because I was afraid, I would act like I was sleep-

ing and would turn the other way. After his first time sexually abusing me, every night I slept in my home in fear.

I kept dreaming that my father is raping me. I get so scared. I have heard that if you don’t share your dream with someone else, then it never happens. So I never shared what happened to me.

After these incidents, the only person I could turn to was my employer. She is aware of what happens in my home and I know I can trust her.

In January, I feared I may have been pregnant, and she took care of all my medical expenses without letting anyone find out.

Thankfully, I was not, but she was ready to take care of me if I was. A woman’s reputation is so fragile in Pakistani society.

I have requested for her not to let me go for vacation time, and to keep me in her home where I feel safe.

Without judging me, she accepted me, and has given me a place in her home like a daughter; a place even my own parents could not give me.

REHANA, AgE 37: My life is no different than that of any other woman living in poverty in Pakistan. My husband is abusive and I am the primary breadwinner.

I am striving to get my children educated, as they are my last hope. The only difference in my story is that I could have maybe had it all if one incident had not occurred in my life.

I grew up in a home where my parents were barely earning enough to support our family of 14. My father used to make medication boxes, while my mother worked in homes as the help. We learned to survive on very little.

When I was about 14, I was engaged to nasir.

Being with him was the best time of my life. He was a kind man and earned a decent living. even though we never really spent much time together, I felt like I loved him. I guess no one ever forgets their first love.

Then, one dreadful night before I got married, a few young men snuck into our home in the middle of the night, around 3:00 am.

They tied up my parents and beat them. I was sleeping with my two sisters in the next room. As I was the eldest, they took me out of my bed and tied me up.

I knew they wanted to rape me. I explained that I would lose everything if something happened to me.

I grabbed a knife and told them that I would kill myself if they continued. finally, they decided to let me go.

I was saved, but the damage was already done.

When nasir and his family heard the news, I was considered “used” and was no longer worthy of him.

Just last night, six boys snuck into a home and stole everything they could. When the parents resisted, they threatened to take the daughter with them.

This is very common in our neighbourhood. It is so easy for a young girl to lose her dignity and to stain her reputation because of uncontrollable circumstances.

When I turned 15, I married my husband, fakhir,

karachi 09 PakistaN today

out of desperation. His mother asked for my hand in marriage, as there was no one to cook in their home.

I married for their convenience. I am fakhir’s second wife. He said he loves his first wife, Rukhsana, and has two children with her.

I think he uses my salary to support her as well. fakhir is unreliable; he goes to work sometimes, and takes the rest of my salary for gambling.

We fight over money all the time. I want to educate my children. My time to spend on myself is gone. now I just earn for my children and our home. On pay day, if I do not give my husband my salary, he won’t let me leave my home and he will beat me.

However, I secretly keep the fees and rent because I don’t trust what he would do with it. I am the primary breadwinner.

When I had my last baby, she was only seven months old, and I had to get back to work. even though doctors have told me to stop working because I have a worm in my stomach, I know I cannot rely on fakhir. The medication I was prescribed costs Rs 3,000, so I cannot afford to treat myself either.

The domestic violence started two months after my marriage, and hasn’t stopped even 14 years later.

Broken limbs, broken teeth and miscarriages became a routine for me. Why he beats me, I don’t know.

Maybe he sees me as an animal with no rights, or a punching bag for his frustrations. He surely does not see me as a living and breathing human being.

Wherever I have worked, I have felt as though I have been treated like a person, not the way I am treated at my home. I realise that I deserve to be considered a human being.

NARgIS, AgE 18: When I was young, we lived in our village with our entire extended family in a threebedroom home.

My mother used to raise cattle. She would sell the milk and run our home with her income. My father didn’t help.

He never really contributed; he was too selfish.

Before he married my mother, he was married to her sister.

When she passed away, my family told my mother that she was best to take of her sister’s children, so she married my father. We are a family of eight, so our home survived on close to nothing.

When I was a child, I was never able to buy anything I wished for, but I had the chance to attend school.

I was really passionate about learning. My favourite teacher, Kiran, loved me. She would tell me to sit in her chair and help her teach other children.

I even used to wear a scarf like her and would assign homework to others. Those were my best memories. I was able to learn Urdu. At the moment, my employer helps me learn english.

In our home, women are the breadwinners, while my father and brothers work when they feel like it.

My father collects the income that we all earn. He is wasteful; he will go out with his friends and won’t return for four or five days sometimes.

He never fulfilled his responsibilities as our father, never earned for us, and he didn’t want us to go to school.

My father was uneducated, so he won’t let anyone else ever study. I wish my childhood lasted longer than it did.

My parents sent me off to work in homes in Karachi when I was six or seven years old. In my village, at the age of four, young girls first learn to do sweeping and washing dishes.

At the age of six, we learned to iron and wash clothes. By the time we turned 10, we’d learned to cook everything.

When I was really young, I got hurt because my brother was playing cricket and the bat had ripped my head open.

I needed stitches. My parents took me on a bicycle to the hospital and the doctors gave me medication.

In the area where I live, we didn’t have any real treatments, so my mother did a lot of healing at home.

She used onions, oil, dough, and bandages. In our home, we never really saw any happiness. Our parents were never able to bring peace in our home. My father was very abusive. He used to beat my mother and I witnessed it since I was young.

I remember once when I was cleaning, I was sweeping the floor and my father told me to come to the store to help out.

I told him I was coming; I wanted to finish what I was doing. He got impatient and he picked up a wooden stick with sharp edges and he hit me with it.

I was five at that time. All I remember is screaming

and crying.

My most horrific memory was when I was eight or nine years old and I saw my father beating my mother for no apparent reason.

He began beating my mother with a faucet and an iron rod. After he was done, we all lay down to sleep.

I slept next to my mother. I remember being so afraid, I couldn’t sleep all night. I remember my mother telling me, “no matter what happens, promise me you won’t scream.”

My father had kept the faucet and iron rod under his bed. My brother and I snuck out in the middle of the night with the iron rod and faucet and buried it far away in the sand outside so my father would not be able to use it.

In the morning, he woke up so angry that he picked up a wooden log and beat my mother, accusing her of stealing the items from under his bed.

I ran up to him to give him a hug to calm him down. My father stopped finally. He loves me the most.

Memories like these are unforgettable. Growing up in an abusive environment and seeing the torturous ways of my father has led me to lose faith in my own future.

My only ray of hope comes from my work environment where I am loved and treated as a child. My work makes me feel worthy that I may be special.

Maybe there is something better out there for me.

NAZNEEN, AgE 41: There is only one time in a woman’s life where she is truly free and that is when she is a child. She can play and laugh.

We were three sisters. My younger sister used to go to school and my older sister married at a young age.

I studied a little bit; I know how to read and write a little. I studied until fourth or fifth grade but I don’t remember much.

We lived in a home made out of mud and sticks in our village called Thatta. We came and spent a few years in Karachi to do our schooling and lived in a rental home.

Then we returned to our village. My parents both used to work; my dad used to earn more income. My father did labour work; he earned well enough.

My mother used to work in a school and take care of kids. When mom left work, I began working and had to leave my education.

After childhood, as soon as a woman gets older, household responsibilities begin to weigh her down and then she marries.

If she is unfortunate, she marries the wrong man and is burdened for the rest of her life. When I got engaged, I started sewing from home to make money and prepare for my own dowry.

If we did not provide sufficient dowry, there was a chance the marriage would not happen. As soon as I turned 16, I was married to my cousin nabeel.

Within three years of marriage, I had my son Sameer. He was born prematurely at seven months and I had to have an operation. Until 10 months later, my husband never came to get me. I went back to his home by myself. everyone began mistreating me when I returned.

My mother-in-law and his sisters didn’t give me spending money, food, and worst of all, no one loved my son.

I began earning my own money and taking care of my son in their home. nabeel may never have beaten me, but he managed to scar me emotionally.

He never accepted our child as his own. He married another woman behind my back and created a whole new family with his new wife.

They have children together. His mother and sisters were all involved in his second marriage. How could they do that to their own niece, their own cousin? My life has been filled with misery after marriage.

I came to live with my family after this incident.

When Sameer turned three, I went off to work. At times, I would not be able to see him for a month.

He calls me by my first name, and calls my mother ammi (mother in Urdu). I am the primary breadwinner in our home, making merely Rs 6,500 a month and I barely cover our expenses of food, medications, and clothing.

Sameer has only studied till fifth grade as I could not afford the fees for higher learning. There is a reason why the poor remain uneducated generation after generation; we simply cannot afford it. It isn’t that we do not want to study; it is simply because we can’t.

KHI 23-04-2012_Layout 1 4/23/2012 4:03 AM Page 10

PakistaN today

10 karachi

Karachi: home of 2.5 million people

WEAThEr UPDATES

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TUESDAy WEDnESDAy ThUrSDAy 34°c I 23°c

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PrAyEr TIMInGS fajr 4:43

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Starting time in Karachi

cITy DIrEcTory EMErGEncy hElP PolIcE 15 BoMB DISPoSAl 15, 99212667 fIrE BrIGADE 16, 99215007, 99215008 EDhI 115, 32310066-2310077 KhIDMAT-E-KhAlq foUnDATIon 36333811 rED crEScEnT 35833973 GovErnor’S hoUSE 136 chIEf MInISTEr’S hoUSE 99202051 MoTorWAy PolIcE 130

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Monday, 23 April, 2012

99261300-06 99261261-8 99244141-9 99215754-7 99217501-3 111128128, 34100541-7 111922478 35090961-7 111422422 35861039-40

uMeR fIRoZ PIRZADA

B

ORn and living in Karachi, I’ve seen many variations of ups and downs here in my lovely city. Gone are the days when strikes and agitations used to be held for weeks, and riots and chaos erupted so suddenly that nobody could have imagined.

Karachi has seen the best and the worst, and now its population has exceeded 2.5 million people.

One of the ever-changing megacities, Karachi has seen exceptional progress and development during the tenure of city Mayor Syed Mustafa Kamal who has done wonders in a very short period of time.

The current government has shown no guts to allow the continuation of development and the progress-based city district setup, and since then, the city doesn’t see much development as compared to the time when Kamal was striving hard to make this city one of the model cities of the world.

Apart from the discontinuation of the city district setup, Karachi’s peace-loving citizens have been experiencing one of the worst phases of terrorism in the shape of targeted killings and riots, which have been resulting in the deaths of five to 10 innocent people every day at the hands of “unidentified elements”.

Surprisingly, the presence of personnel of the law-enforcement forces, like the police, Rangers, fc and fIA, in Karachi exceeds the number of personnel operating in any other city in Pakistan.

But it’s very easy to shrug your shoulders and say, “We are unable to do anything.” Then what the hell are they being paid for?

Is it acceptable that law-enforcement agencies are unable to curb the bloody game being played in the city of Karachi? Is it because many do not see the people of Karachi as sons

of the soil?

If this is the case, then we should address the grave issue or else, God forbid, we are only fanning the little problems until they turn into bigger problems.

The people of Karachi are very much aware of the fact that some political parties that have no mandate in the city are trying to take a piece from the cake.

In the era of the city district setup, there were so many projects that were supposed to take off, but due to the ever-changing government policies and interests, the city district setup was not adopted, so the city nazim, who had many aspirations regarding development of the city, could do nothing. four years have passed now, but there is not a single megaproject that could be counted as development.

Unfortunately, the Karachi Master Plan remains untouched since the mayor’s departure.

Traffic, law & order and transportation are the major issues that the people of Karachi are facing, and yet the government seems helpless to do anything.

It is roughly estimated that on a daily basis, more than 700 vehicles, including 400 motorcycles, start plying the roads after being registered in Karachi, which increases the fleet on the road, but there is no sign of expansion or improving public transportation.

Karachi needs more people like Kamal, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul ebad Khan, Dr farooq Sattar, Haider Abbas Rizvi and so many others who really belong to middle-class families of Karachi and who really own this city.

I hope that in the coming days and months, the government will change the administration of Karachi and the soaring issues will be resolved.

I also hope that development projects will be started and many burning issues will be addressed, and in the end, the peace loving people of this city will be free of terror and fear.

It is widely believed that a single day of strike in Karachi causes a loss of more than Rs 4 billion. It simply means that the economic activities in the city give around Rs 1.3 trillion to the national excheq-

uer every year, which is more than 67 percent, but what it gets in return is pitiful.

We need to give the people of Karachi their rightful share so that new investment and economical activities can be started, and in return, the country will flourish. not too long ago, Pakistan’s GDP was 8.5, but I’m sorry to say that in 2011, the GDP has come down to as low as 2.4, and it’s very unfortunate that instead of progress and development, we are lagging far behind.

The major reason of this deterioration is the corrupt and selfcantered bureaucracy, politicians, generals and many institutions that are damaging the country and concentrating only on their own interests.

We need to realise our problems and try to pinpoint some areas of improvement, like introducing equal education to all its students, sufficient health and employment facilities.

Above all, justice should prevail without any discrimination and all the citizens of Pakistan should be treated equally.

PJBf strengthening Pak-Japan ties KARACHI PReSS ReleASe

tention to ensure that there is consistent economic policy, law & order and

an egalitarian society that embraces education and peaceful coexistence.

The fourth annual general meeting of the Pakistan Japan Business forum (PJBf) and the celebration of 60 years of Pakistan-Japan friendship was recently hosted by PJBf chairman Abdul Kader Jaffer at his residence.

Jaffer stated that the Joint Dialogue 2012, the Multilateral conference and the Business Matchmaking programmes were great efforts of the PJBf, which indeed revealed opportunities for the business community of Pakistan and Japan.

Koji Suzuki, the International Business Division Manager for the Rohto Pharmaceutical Japan, operating in 80 countries, thanked the PJBf and announced its business collaboration with a Pakistani pharmaceutical company.

Suzuki said that Rohto would start its operation soon in Pakistan and would provide the best healthcare products to Pakistanis.

Masaharu Sato, the consul General of Japan in Karachi and PJBf Patron, said that Pakistan could make steady economic progress if it pays at-

THe JAM SeSSIoN

HeAlTH ASIA

pHOTO EXHIBITION STARTS ApRIL 23 AT 5:00 pM VENUE: VM ART GALLERY

EXHIBITION/CONFERENCES FROM ApRIL 24 TO 26 VENUE: KARACHI EXpO CENTRE

US consulate General presents ‘The Jam Session’ from April 23 to 30 at the VM Art Gallery. call 34940411 for more information.

exhibition and conferences on health from April 24 to 26 at the Karachi expo centre. call 111-222444 for more information.

The evening concluded with entertainment programmes.

KHI 23-04-2012_Layout 1 4/23/2012 4:03 AM Page 11

Monday, 23 April, 2012

Editor’s mail 11

Proper coverage Amar Guriro’s report covering Bhoja air crash (22 April) in your paper has touched a very sensitive subject while dwelling on journalism ethics. His analysis is realistic and totally reflects the ground realities as to what happens after every accident or air crash. Undoubtedly, such national disaster requires special coverage for the general information of the people, especially the aggrieved families but with greater sense of responsibility. It is true that initial focus after the crash is reaching to the crash site, recovering plane and bodies, assisting victim families and determining what caused the crash. The media immediately turns to who caused the disaster where it should show responsibility. The biggest disappointment is the way some news

coal power plants channels give their airtime to the people who really don’t know what they are talking about. Some reporters say this is not verified, if it is so why it is being aired.

Won’t it be advisable to wait? DG cAA in his press conference also highlighted this point to journalists not to jump to conclusions and wait for the inquiry as outside agencies were also involved.

The immediate task is to reach the site of the crash and allow unhindered movement of various government agencies involved in rescue work. But practically it does not happen and different TV channels enter in to race to reach the place of crash to be the first one to cover the event but this adds to the problems of the rescue teams. We should stop playing with the sentiments of the victim families, and instead give them

strength and share their loss. Showing parts of bodies, shoes, jewellery items only adds to further miseries. All over the world in such cases crash site is shown with rescue workers and the news is restricted to few occasions instead of running commentary like cricket match. normally, three principles govern media coverage of stories. The first is simplification. To reach the largest audience possible, story is boiled down to its simplest and most basic elements, complexity is to be avoided at all costs.

Second principle is personalisation.

Mention of abstract entities such as organisations and institutions is to be avoided. The third is symbolisation. The stories must be reduced to words, phrases and objects or actions that viewers can identify them.

each air crash immediately attracts mass media, the public, and the government. The media coverage is immediate and continuous as is media speculating regarding causes of crash.

Government teams rush to investigate, offer condolences and promise to find the cause. It is also true that media is not conversant with the working of air lines and cAA and their SOP’s.

It is high time civil Aviation Authority arranges regular seminars in major cities of Pakistan for the information of all TV channels, especially for those who cover aviation matters.

Once it is done we can expect better understanding and greater sense of responsibility while covering such events.

MUKHTAR AHMED Karachi

caring for our planet This beautiful planet we call home is teeming with life. In trying to build better homes for ourselves we have done more harm than good to our other earth. natural disasters have caused some arts of world to be destroyed but the primary cause of environmental crises is man himself. exhaust fumes from cars and chlorofluorocarbon (cfc) from everyday product like refrigerators, hair spray etc are also increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air and has destroyed the ozone layer. The depletion of ozone layer has left us exposed to the harmful ultra violate rays and cases of skin cancer have increased. Another result of air pollution is global warming which has caused the temperature to rise and change the climate erratically.

Water pollution exists in the form of oil spills from water tankers and industrial discharge from factories has polluted river and oceans thus causing death to marine life. Like air and water, land has not been spared from pollutants. People dispose of their rubbish burying it in dumping ground. every individual must contribute as much as possible towards saving the earth. We must throw litter in litter bins not in drains or in the ground. Products made from biodegradable must be used.

This can only be possible if we work with the government and take care of our environment.

HUMAIRA MoHSIN Karachi

Bhojja crash A Boeing 737 crashed killing 127.

Mourning goes on throughout the country. Hair raising scenes can be seen on TV of their families. The crash will go in oblivion in a few weeks time and like Air Blue, it will be forgotten. new developments will happen which will replace this tragedy. The government has set up commissions to probe into this unfortunate accident. The PM has set up a commission, Interior Minister has set up an inquiry committee, cAA will hold its own inquiry and so on. Defence Minister is so far quiet.

In a country like ours where unemployment is rampant a few hundreds got jobs to do. Inquiry commissions and committee will set up their offices. Typists and helping staff will get down to work. Drivers, couriers, trips abroad, office staff, telephones, etc will all get engaged. The 100-page report will be prepared after 12 to 16 months.

The report will be presented to the President and then the PM in a ceremony in Islamabad. The report will be shelved in a beautiful cabinet already full up to the last drawer with other reports.

Meanwhile, opposition will have dug something of its own. The debates on TV will begin. Anchors will have something to shout about. It will become hot-shot political debate. The channels will have more expensive TV commercials to accumulate more. And that’s it. The mourning families will have second death anniversaries. The government’s obligation is over. It will blame media for its biased opinion when truth is spoken and the media will create its own defence for freedom of speech. The usual blame game starts. But the government will not plug the basic loopholes which lead to such tragic accident.

AMJAD H MIRZA Lahore

Build bridges instead of walls My excitement knew no bounds, when I was listening to our national anthem in Quetta. fair winds of change entered a freakish environment. Pakistani flags were waving all around. I congratulate PTI, for paving a path towards Balochistan. We must appreciate this step as it will help in making a level playing field for further dialogues. Balochistan has been neglected since very long, with mounting magnitude of issues, so it was important to divert our attentions towards them. The gap that was widening rapidly in the sharp of harsh feelings will come to loose momentum. But as history reveals, that the promises that were done to our Balochi people, must come in to practice. every political party of Pakistan must get together and take modest steps so that the problems of Balochistan must get resolved. It is the right time to involve our Baloch people in the main stream line.

The shadow of heartedness will disappear by introducing a new era of social and economic development. An important point that must be kept in consideration is to fulfil the demands of our people by starting a chain of healthy dialogues. Our neighbouring countries china and India have also started massive development in Tibet and Kashmir. They are trying to uplift these communities so that the anti-state sentiments must vanish. Military operations are not the key to resolve the issues, as they ignite a different environment. We have to burry the fire of conflicts in Balochistan. The differences that are trying to create disturbance in the nation must be addressed in a rational manner, with a need to build a partnership with an essence of respect and mutual coordination.

MUHAMMAD UZAIR NIAZI Mianwali

smart way to go.

When a professor is teaching and at the same time the students are emailing, texting or on facebook, the value of the lesson is degraded because the one learning obviously doesn’t care enough to put all their attention on the lesson. The students are not putting their full attention on their lecture; therefore, they don’t learn. Why put your education on hold and not you social life?

Technology makes Americans lives

nawaz Sharif at Siachen!

practical, it’s a good thing. But having too much of a good thing can turn in to a bad thing. What I mean it can turn in to an addiction for example when someone becomes addicted to a drug or alcohol.

Most of the time you don’t even notes when you have become an addict and it’s something you adapt to because it brings satisfaction in to your life. Take a break from the virtual life and live your life.

AREEBA HUSSAIN Karachi

It has been more than 10 days since the Pakistani soldiers have been trapped buried under the snow avalanche at Siachen. The whole nation is praying for the frost warriors and expecting a miracle that those 135 lives are safe.

PML(n) chief nawaz Sharif’s visit to Siachen was an important highlight of the week. His visit was not only been broadcasted on electronic media but was also trending on social media. In general, Pakistan’s people appreciated nawaz Sharif’s gesture of gratitude and solidarity towards the brothers trapped under snow. nawaz Sharif, despite the bad weather, reached Siachen which was appreciated not only by masses but journalists like Hamid Mir, Mubasher Lucman and Dr Shahid Masood.

It’s high time for both sides, India and Pakistan, to realise that they are not gaining much by losing precious lives. nawaz Sharif’s visit was not only important to show solidarity towards the brothers fighting there but also showed his concern for his people. His gesture should be appreciated.

MAJID TAMooR Lahore

associated with shisha smoking.

People adopt shisha smoking as a part of social activity, but gradually, they tend to get so addicted to it. A research has shown that around 60 percent people start smoking shisha at age of 16 to 18 during their college life. A resolution against smoking shisha in restaurants and public places was unanimously passed during the Sindh Assembly session in May 2011 and shisha was banned in cafes in Pakistan for people under 18. Though the government has recently again imposed a ban on shisha smoking, there is no following of the law anywhere in the country. One wonders if we are living in a state governed by any government or is it anarchy in disguise

waiting to be unveiled at any given moment.

Shisha smoking has become a cause of worry. It is considered to be a fashion to smoke shisha, despite the fact that it is tremendously dangerous to health.

People are of the belief that shisha smoking is less toxic, as compared to cigarette. However, this is unfortunately not the truth and the reality is that it can cause as much damage as the cigarette smoking. It seems like whenever you break out the shisha there’s always a crowd of people interested in it and willing to try it. So, be cautious about the use of shisha and smoke in moderation.

NIMRAH AMJAD Karachi

Technology and us everywhere I go, I see people on their phones or on their iPods or some other kind of gadgets. People can’t live without technology these days; it’s how the world goes round. We have become dependent on these gadgets that we can’t live without. People get to the point where their lives depend on their phones. Their lives are affected by this in a good way and in a bad way. It makes thieves practical and efficient, but practical and efficient is not always the healthy or

I do not know why the PPP-led government is keen on installing 10 nuclear power plants to cover the energy needs of Pakistan. nuclear power plants are more dangerous then coal power plants. nuclear power plants have very long decommissioning time, and generate radiated waste that has to be stored underground for decades and centuries. for example the Vandellos-1 480MW nuclear reactor in Spain had a production life of 18 years, but it will take more then 40 years and billions of dollars to decommission the plant.

On the other hand, if the government of Pakistan installs coal power plants and develops local coal production, we can produce cheap energy for decades. All developed countries in the world rely on coal power plants for their energy needs. coal power plants can produce environmental damage, but with cheaper energy cost some of the taxes on these plants should be utilised for reforestation efforts in Pakistan, the country which had one of the largest forest covers in South east Asia, has less than five percent forest cover these days. Using latest techniques of forest management and drip irrigation large areas of land can be converted into forests helping reduce the effects of the coal power plants.

Also by converting the current oil/gas based thermal power plants into coal powered plants, we can help reduce the cost of electricity production and our dependence on imported oil. As coal power plant technology is very common and very cheap. With the development of a fast moving coal supply chain across Pakistan and easy availability of coal in markets across Pakistan, many private investors will start investing industries related to coal. coal can be burned to produce ‘Syn-Gas’, which can then be processed into more then 300 different products including, methanol, aspirin, paracetamol, dyes, insecticides, fertilisers, explosives, synthetic fibers, rubber, finger polish, ammonia etc. It will create new industries, new jobs and new export income for Pakistan.

SHAHRYAR KHAN BASEER Peshawar

Shisha: a fashion or addiction?

Shisha refers to the flavoured tobacco used in the smoking process using a hookah, also known as waterpipe.

The origin of the shisha is India and Persia. Smoking shisha has gained popularity in India and the Middle east, and is gaining popularity in America, europe and Australia.

Although it has been a traditional practice in rural areas for generations, smoking shisha has become very popular in the cosmopolitan cities of Pakistan.

One can see many cafés in Pakistan offering shisha smoking to its guests. even lots of households have shisha for smoking or decoration purposes. It comes in different flavours such as vanilla, apple, strawberries and many more.

Is shisha harmful? While many may argue that shisha smoking is not harmful, medical experts say otherwise as tobacco product in any form contains nicotine. nicotine is addictive and quite injurious to health. The common belief is that smoke is filtered by the water when in actual fact, nicotine is not watersoluble. Reuters reported that the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that a single session of smoking shisha yields a nicotine intake equivalent to more than one pack of cigarettes. The average shisha session typically lasts more than 40 minutes, and consists of 50 to 200 inhalations that each range from 0.15 to 0.50 litres of smoke. Several kinds of cancer and gum diseases are

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-36298302. E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk. Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively.

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12 comment Poisoned chalice Politics in this neck of the woods

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ntrigue is rife here, to paraphrase mercilessly the fascinating and fascinatingly racist account of the legendary nineteenth century anthropologist Sir Richard Burton about our part of the world. And, he added, much disputes are settled by that ancient tool of statecraft in the orient: poison.

With the possibility arising that the late leader of the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz Bashir Qureshi died due to poisoning, another reminder emerges of how medievalist our state remains in certain matters. It is premature to jump to conclusions at this stage; only the possibility hasn’t been denied. But this is because activists and followers rarely come to terms with deaths, that too, young deaths, without suspecting foul play. The narrative of victimhood can be based on the truth; it can be based on falsehood. And it can even be based on falsehood genuinely believed by those propagating it, from the very beginning, to be the truth. narratives hold when they have takers.

The late Bashir Qureshi was a fine man, genuinely respected by many. As opposed to the MQM and the AnP, which are not ethnic officially but that is somehow their lot, the JSQM is overtly ethnic. However, like the PkMAP’s Mahmood Achakzai, Mr Qureshi was rarely found to have been indulging in rhetoric that could have reasonably been construed to be racist. At least not against those within the province of Sindh.

Aggrieved parties are what they are: aggrieved. And their demands, whims as they might appear to some, should be entertained to their satisfaction. The PPP government in Sindh has shown this courtesy to the party, which is its traditional ideological nemesis in capturing the imaginations, if not the votes, of Sindhis. A sample is to be sent to London for analysis.

Meanwhile, violence rages on. JSQM activists are on a rampage. This could be cathartic but it is to no one’s benefit, least of all the urban poor, who, in Sukkar at least, emanate from the ethnicity the JSQM purports to serve.

After the crash Regulation and introspection

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n MIT study says that approximately eighty percent of accidents in aviation are a result of human error. A full twenty percent (one in five) is still too large for other errors and more on that later, but genuine human error, the sort that leads to road accidents by experienced drivers, plays a big role.

The remaining errors, tied to this first sort (one doesn’t know where one ends and the other starts) can be really bad weather, faulty calibration avionics with air traffic controllers or other aircrafts and plain bad regulation.

The Air Blue crash of two years ago, the Bhoja air crash from a couple of days ago and the near miss in Karachi by Shaheen Airways would imply that, given a Poisson distribution of human error, something also might be lacking on the regulatory front.

Regulation, not only in terms of what safety precautions have taken place but also what protocols are to be adopted in case of difficult conditions and also how to respond once the accidents have taken place.

Accidents happen all over the world. nowhere should this be interpreted as an argument for complacency. There should be a thorough investigation into the causes of the accident and if indeed it was a most human error, perhaps certain stimuli of pilots’ behaviour could be looked into.

The broadcast media’s behaviour, as far as coverage of the event goes, has been far from ideal. There were illinformed assertions about what could have happened and assigning blame where there shouldn’t have been. A culture bred on Indian revenge-drama movies tends to seek out the moustache twirling villain and the vultures found in the airline’s eponymous owner (who claims to own just a five percent share) the perfect candidate.

Perhaps if the pitchforks could be kept aside before a clearer picture comes through?

As a last note: though there should be increased, more vigilant regulation of our airspaces and the commercial aircraft that ply them, there should also be increased regulation of our media houses in how to interact with the bereaved. Shameful attempts at cornering the tear-jerk market.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36298305-10 Fax: 042-36298302 Karachi – Ph: 021-34330811-3 Fax: 021-34330900 Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287414-6 Fax: 051-2287417 Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Monday, 23 April, 2012

our legislative dilemma Solutions that are easy and simple but wrong

By Waqqas Mir

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n its Saturday essay feature, Wall Street Journal reminded me of a most useful point; every complex question has an answer that is easy, simple and wrong. This seems tailor made for you guessed it, an overwhelming majority of the talk shows aired on the plethora of Pakistani news channels.

The electronic media in Pakistan has, for the most part, done to discourse what Twitter has done to language; import an almost undesirable simplicity and remove nuance. To be fair, both Twitter and Pakistani media have done a lot of good as well but the lack of nuance is a tragedy I cannot ignore.

I am still not clear whether most talk shows hosts are supposed to be impartial or are they unabashed ideologues pushing a certain viewpoint? There is nothing inherently wrong with a biased talk show – as long as the host makes the bias known and drops pretences of impartiality.

Talk shows seem to feed into the ageold fetish of simple solutions. The alleged experts who are invited on to these shows often end up quoting themselves since anyone else lacks credibility. We are told about enormously complex social and economic issues and then the guests are asked, “what is the solution?” in a five minute sound-bite. And people who appear as experts on most shows actually do think that five minutes are all they need to present a solution. This tragedy is also apparent in the many emails I receive after most columns; “you did not propose a solution.” Asking questions is apparently not enough. There is, ostensibly, little merit in debate because we need simple solutions.

Most experts seem to think that corruption is the root of all evil – let history, context and any comparative analysis be damned. feed the people what they want to hear. If corruption is what bothers these experts and the media then killing nuance is yet another form of corruption.

Apart from the lack of nuance, another pervasive feature is the skewed definition of who counts as an expert. now, don’t get me wrong. everyone should have the right to partake in the discussion about laws and constitutional provisions but everyone should not have the right to do that while pretending to be an expert.

In the debate on the Domestic Violence Bill many civil society activists just ended

up sounding silly since a) they were too busy screaming to ensure they heard nothing but the sound of their own voices and b) they chose simplistic jingoism rather than nuance. One’s argument, whatever it maybe, sounds more credible if one confronts the counter-argument. The many nGO activists were far too busy painting anyone opposing the law as patriarchal conservatives. That might have been true in a minority of cases but a lot of people had legitimate reservations about the vague language of the legislation. But none of this was acceptable to the nGO activists since they had the “right solution” – their fetish of a solution being fulfilled.

The fact that they were shunned by a female Speaker of the national Assembly and courageous female parliamentarians who sponsored the said legislation speaks volumes about the damage that many nGO activists did to the discourse. forget moral stances. Just think effective lobbying. Alienating the representatives of the people and the people themselves through aggressive posturing was never going to help. I am not sure what makes anyone a liberal in Pakistan but most of these nGO activists call themselves liberal. But the total lack of civility displayed by many of them on talk shows seemed to confirm recent research in the US that liberals often display lack of patience to listen to conservatives. This noisy allegedly liberal rant was joined by many talk show hosts who, apart from limited exceptions, seemed to have decided that any objectors to the legislation were to be given little airtime.

I have been raised by a ferociously independent Pathan mother who taught me respect for women before anything else that I can remember. I have not been raised to be a conservative when it comes to women’s rights. But many independent and secure women would side with me on the argument that rights are better secured when people are actually willing to make an argument rather than pretend that they have come up with the one-magical solution to the problem of domestic

violence. criminalise domestic violence if you want but be smart about it. Your egos may be satisfied if a badly drafted highly contentious version of the law is passed but laws are not self-enforcing. Laws that divide societies often cause just as many problems as they solve. The most telling news? Your rants actually ensured the legislation didn’t get passed during this session of Parliament. now we are also hearing about a campaign to criminalise forced conversions to Islam. forced conversions are a real problem but criminalising the practice is likely to hurt non-Muslims even more. I promise to write more on this soon but sadly the nGO activists are not likely to engage in this debate either. Anyone opposing them is labelled conservative and opponent of the status quo. The media’s lack of willingness and ability to question the loopholes in the case made by nGO activists skews the debate.

It is rather torturous for a lawyer to be watching every Tom, Dick and Harry dissecting provisions of proposed legislation with no need to receive input from someone who actually went to a law school. You need not be a conservative to see the loopholes in the rigid arguments of nGO activists on TV. God will help these alleged liberals the day conservatives get their act together and bring intelligent lawyers on board.

Looking silly is hardly the way to gain support for important legislation. coming up with simplistic arguments is not going to do them any favors either. But then again since when did I, a mere mortal, gain the right to tell anything to the oh-we-have-itall-figured-out nGO brigade? What I do promise to do is to give each one of their inane arguments the strong rebuttals that they deserve.

The writer is a Barrister and an Advocate of the High Courts. He is currently pursuing his LL.M in the US and can be reached at wmir.rma@gmail.com or on Twitter @wordoflaw

Regional Press

US plans in Afghanistan Daily pashtun post

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ith the start of strikes against Afghanistan in the name of the war on terror, any chance and hope for peace in the region were dashed. The US actions, one after the other, backfired and contributed more to instability and violence in the war-torn region than contributing to peace and stability.

It is because the land of Afghanistan has proved to be area of defeat for the allied forces.

The US was here in Afghanistan with an aim of seeking permanent bases in the country but it seems that it will not be able to fulfil this aim as it is facing interminable losses on all fronts in Afghanistan and its ailing economy will be hard-pressed to sustain any kind of prolonged military presence in the country.

This is why they want to cut their losses and run now. The proof is in the fact that the Americans are seeking talks with the Taliban for peace and have duly opened an office at Qatar for the same purpose.

The question is whether the plan to have a military presence

in Afghanistan by the US has yielded any result or has the US realised the mistake it committed in plunging into the region without thinking the entire thing through.

Pakistan should be praised for the role it has played in the larger interest of the region. not only has Pakistan hosted millions of homeless Afghans for decades, it has also ceaselessly continued with its efforts for lasting peace in the region through cooperation with regional and global stakeholders.

The talks intended for peace in the region among various stakeholders cannot shun the importance of Pakistan to the whole process. But in the ultimate analysis, it is the Afghans who must have a solution of their liking. A solution that has been manufactured to cater to the interest of other stakeholders and powers will not sit well with the Afghans and will be doomed to fail from the start, as history has proved. Thus, the process must ensure that the Afghans are freely able to decide what is best for them.

– Translated from the original Pashto by Abdur Rauf Khattak

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Monday, 23 April, 2012

The security dilemma What’s boiling up in the gulf region

PoliTact

By Arif Ansar

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n the last two months or so, UAe has witnessed some puzzling and unprecedented activities indicating early signs of trouble. for example, after egypt, UAe arrested a few western nGO workers for allegedly interfering in its political affairs. On the other hand, the country has also made arrests of six individuals that maintained links to extremist personalities and organisations that pose a threat to the national security of UAe. Meanwhile, tensions between UAe and Iran escalated dramatically when President Ahmedinejad made a controversial visit to the disputed islands of Abu Musa. While this was going on, Gulf cooperation council (Gcc) moved closer to join the American Missile Defense Shield. The above developments reflect on the complex threat and security perception of UAe and Gcc. In May 2011, The New York Times had reported that Abu Dhabi’s crown prince appointed the founder of notorious private security company Blackwater to establish a battalion of 800 foreign security personnel for the UAe. The newspaper had acquired documents that showed eric Prince’s new firm Reflex Responses setting up the squad with 529 million dollars from the UAe. The mission was to carry on special operations, foil internal revolt, and protect skyscrapers and pipelines from attack.

The Times further added that the decision to appoint a foreign security battalion was made before the ongoing Arab uprisings.

After the recent events in egypt, UAe also intensified its crackdown on foreign nGOs. egypt had put 43 people on trial over the funding of nongovernmental organisations. It was alleged that support from these groups might have assisted in triggering protests against the egyptian military. At the time, Washington had warned that it would review aid to

egypt if it did not respect rights of nGOs. The US government ultimately paid $5 million in bail to secure the March 1 release of American nGO workers trapped in egypt. These included Sam LaHood, the cairo director of the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the son of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

In the case of UAe, it shut down the regional office of national Democratic Institute (nDI) just days before clinton visited the region. The country alleges that nDI had been operating without a license and had no legal right to operate in UAe. Moreover, nDI was writing things that were not true. On the other hand, some US officials have contended that UAe is acting on the behest of Saudi Arabia, which has objections on nDI’s program for women. following the UAe crackdown, a US State Department official stated to the Foreign Policy magazine: “As the Secretary has said many times, we believe nGOs play a valuable and legitimate role in a country’s political and economic development.

They should be able to operate consistent with regulations and standards and without constraints.” earlier, Pakistan went through somewhat similar circumstances after the Raymond Davis incident and over the arrest and activities of Dr Latif Afridi. After these episodes, Pakistan evicted all foreign security personal and curtailed its intelligence sharing with US. The events in Pakistan may have triggered alarm in the Middle east regarding the crossover between social work and covert operations. However, just like Pakistan, Gcc is also caught in a complex web of dependencies on the West. While Pakistan has more of an economic dependence on the West, the Gcc countries need the western backing for its security and defense needs.

Since the uprisings in Tunisia, egypt, Yemen and Syria, the Gulf countries are increasingly fearful of a similar revolt in their own backyard, and thus are wary of any activity that provides impetus to such an outcome.

This worry causes them to be more cooperative to western interests in the region, as witnessed during the Libyan and present Syrian crisis. In these cases, UAe, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have gone out of their way in supporting regime change. At a deeper level, the Gcc countries aspire to undercut the influence of Iran and Turkey in the

region. These traditional rivalries play out in a similar fashion in the Middle east as India does in the case of Pakistan. Just as Pakistan needs American ties as a buffer against growing Indian clout, Gcc countries need US support against Iran.

The foreign ministers of the six Gulf monarchies have joined together in their condemnation of Ahmedinejad’s visit to the disputed Abu Musa island. earlier, Abu Dhabi had recalled its ambassador to Tehran “for consultations” a day after denouncing Ahmadinejad’s visit as a “flagrant violation of UAe’s sovereignty over its territories.” However, Iran called the visit a purely domestic issue.

The threat of Iran has pushed Gcc closer to the American Missile Defense shield. chairman of Russia’s State Duma International Affairs committee, Alexi Pushkov recently stated, “The building of a missile defense shield is a political step, which signals the possibility of a military strike against Iran.” He made these comments after Hillary clinton announced building a missile defense shield in the six Persian Gcc states.

The Russian lawmaker said that the Iranian nuclear issue is not moving towards resolution, and the likelihood of the full-fledge war is high, as the diplomacy has persistently failed.

He said that strike against Iran could escalate into a global war, as Iran would definitely respond and the reply could be asymmetrical in nature.

On the other hand, Iranian Defense Minister has criticised the move saying the move is against regional security. “This missile defense shield is a US-Israeli project and anyone who gets involved with this project is, in fact, implementing the US and Israel’s plot,” he said.

Thus, the security challenge of Gcc countries and Pakistan has a parallel. Both are wary of western ambitions in their respective regions.

However, Pakistan’s economic dependence and Gcc’s defense reliance on the West, puts them in a bind. The trajectory of the unfolding events in the Middle east conveys that depending on others for security needs can become a liability in the long run, just as economic dependence, and can be exploited.

The writer is the chief analyst for PoliTact (www.PoliTact.com and http:twitter.com/politact) and can be reached at aansar@politact.com

comment 13

PTi’s sojourn The last one year for PTI’s tsunami

By Muneeb Farooq

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his critique and evaluation is not about the person but about the policies and standards Imran Khan has set so far. The last one year has been extremely phenomenal for Imran Khan’s PTI as it rose and ranked at an extremely rapid pace.

Imran Khan’s struggle which kicked off on the basis of principles and anti status quo mantra finally earned him some results. The success of dharnas against drones started getting the attention and the sentiment paid off, as PTI holds a good ground on the country’s political spectrum. Imran Khan has established himself as a crowd puller and the master of bashing. Imran Khan captivated the masses not with his haywire speeches but with his persona as The Imran Khan. The jalsa at Quetta was yet another testament of this success. However, it again had less substance and more bashing.

Treating PTI as a modern day rocket, it ran the risk of being mishandled and that’s exactly what happened with it. even Mr Khan admits that PTI went out of control after the historic Lahore jalsa. Lahore’s jalsa was perhaps the first time when Imran Khan realised that he had the sharpest knife in his hand to cut the support of his proclaimed political opponents. Interestingly, this also was the time when Imran Khan’s self defeating moves triggered off. IK claimed way back in 1990s in his first election campaign that “Pakistani qaum dobara wo andhera nehi daikhna chahay ge. Azmayay hoay logon ko dobaara nei azmayay ge”, meaning that the people of Pakistan wouldn’t want to elect the tested and old faces in politics. It was completely the opposite that happened after 30th October 2011. The infamous “coalition of crooks” is now a part of the PTI. The ideological supporters of PTI were deeply astounded by the moves IK made.

They believed that Imran Khan should have challenged the might with what he had, the gusto and passion of new faces. I find them right in saying that people came for Imran Khan and not for Mian Azhar and Mian Mehmood ur Rasheed. If IK is right to say, which he is, that it’s the leadership which makes the policies and standards to follow, then why take these relics of the past on board.

Make no mistake that Lagharis, Tareens, Kasuris, Qureshis and Hashmis are nothing but relics of the past and IK’s change agency would always struggle with them. not just these big names but people who were once nazims in Musharaff’s regime are now part of PTI. They don’t cling on to PTI for a national cause but for their own political survival.

Their role was marginalised in their parent parties hence they found themselves a new band wagon. However, there is nothing wrong with this practice if one does power politics but it simply doesn’t go with IK’s rhetoric of change. Remember, IK wooed to change the system and wasn’t just power hungry. I still condone whatever has taken place so far since Imran Khan puts up a valid defence that his Parliamentary Panel will have the final word in giving tickets. However, I have reasons to be doubtful about it.

Taking it further, PTI’s response on 20th Amendment was again a case of misplaced anger. firstly, the passage of 20th Amendment was necessary after the Supreme court’s clear instructions regarding the fate of 28 seats of national and provincial assemblies. Secondly, after the 20th Amendment, the role of the President of the country, who IK had all the doubts about, in forming caretaker setup, was completely taken out and was shaped into a multi staged process. It’s not someone’s fault that PTI doesn’t have any representation in the Parliament so far.

Moreover, IK’s decision to boycott the bye-elections was again a gross miscalculation. PTI boycotted under the pretext that the electoral rolls had not been revised and carried fake voters list. firstly, this was a case of misinformation for PTI and IK. The election commission had revised the electoral rolls of the constituencies where the bye-elections were held. The Sc was informed and the election commission had even issued a press release in this regard. for instance, just in PS 57-Badin, 27000 duplicate votes were taken out. now either election commission is lying or IK had been misinformed in this regard.

Secondly, PTI lost what could have been an excellent litmus test for IK’s voters turn out.

The stalwarts like Shah Mehmood Qureshi have been found dreading and criticising this decision by PTI. nevertheless, PTI should now make all the efforts to translate the strength of its rallies and jalsas into electoral votes. The membership campaign by PTI is a welcome move and it will enable the leadership to devise a strategy for the upcoming general elections. I hope Mr Khan is mindful of people’s expectations which have simply gone to another level.

The words like “Hope” and “change” have a different meaning in Pakistan’s politics now.

The writer hosts a prime time talk show. He can be contacted at muneebfarooqraja@gmail.com

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Monday, 23 April, 2012

I am not the only multi-talented one: Ali Zafar

f

NEWS DESK

eW could’ve asked for the start Ali Zafar got in Bollywood with his first venture ‘Tere Bin Laden’ followed by ‘Mere Brother ki Dulhan’ and then ‘London Paris new York’.

Where he rendered his services as an actor and a singer in the first two, he was asked to take charge of writing, composing, singing and producing the music for his latest love story, with his famous monologue in the end, ‘London, Paris, new York’. This makes him a

bundle of talent that can pretty much step into any shoe. A spot was missing since the late Kishore Kumar and which gives Zafar an extra edge. A good looking intelligent guy who can sing, dance, act, write, compose and in fact paint too, but when enticed to boast about his unique position Zafar said “ We are just a channel through which nature bestows its glory. The higher you go in life, the more your feet need to be firm in the ground. I think I am not the only one. There must be many people with many talents, waiting to be explored. We are all unique and talented in one way or the other.” But what has gotten Zafar excited recently is his new venture ‘chashme Baddoor’ set to release this summer for which he has been spending some quality time in Sajid Wajid’s studio dubbing for his songs in the movie. “There are about four songs for which my voice is required so I am busy dubbing those. It’s a pleasure to work with the duo. We joke, laugh and have a good time and in the process the songs is dubbed after which I am going to take some time off and reconnect with practicing classical music and meditation at home.” So what’s in store for Zafar next. Rumour is that he is shedding off his shy side to showcase the macho action hero in the Hindi remake of ‘Vettai’. “I like to experiment with my looks and roles and not just stick to one genre. I have been making and writing comic books as a child so action thrills me. Unfortunately, I can’t comment on Vettai as of now. Will share details in time.” Well, with this attitude, it seems he’s bound to make a mark which is here to stay for a long time.

fauzia Mirza launches trendy women’s wear line KARACHI NeWS DeSK

fauzia Mirza launched a ladies clothing line at the café 9. Her aim is to provide stylish, trendy, affordable and smart clothes for women. A marketing media guru with a passion for creativity, Mirza has evolved to launch her very own design house. Her desire for art and creativity developed her skills to appreciate true love for design with finely crafted perfection.

This was a natural progression of her career that started from advertising and led to event planning. After creating her mark in the media industry and establishing her creative design for event planning, fauzia

in limelight

KARACHI: fauzia launched a womenMirza wear clothing line. ’s PH oTo S BY: IM RA N Al I

still longed to fulfil her dream of launching a design house that saw no borders. A brand inspired by the cultural richness of the subcontinent and elegant silhouettes tailored to compliment all forms of beauty. The design and product finesse are not the only factors that make fauzia Mirza stand out in the fashion industry.

While her design team works on one-of-akind collections for upcoming seasons, the creative begins way before with trend forecasting, selection of luxe fabrics, and creating patterns and silhouettes by Mirza herself. The fauzia Mirza philosophy is to create wearable design inspired by elegant and rich cultural roots fused with finer product craftsmanship.

Shahid files complaint against stalker MuMBAI: finally, the identity of the girl who was accused of stalking Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor has been revealed. Earlier when the news emerged, Shahid refrained from disclosing the name of the accused as she was the daughter of a Bollywood veteran. however, when things went out of hand, the actor had to resort to police action. A complaint has been filed against vastavikta, the daughter of actor raj Kumar for following him at odd hours, claiming to be his wife and even dodging security to ring his doorbell at 3am in the morning. According to reports vastavikta, who made her Bollywood debut in the supernatural thriller ‘Eight’, moved next to Shahid’s apartment building, raj classique, on yari road after she fell in love with the ‘Kaminey’ actor when she first met him at Shiamak Davar’s dance classes a few years ago. Sources also confirmed that her mother had even written an apology note to Shahid for vastavikta’s behaviour. vastavikta believes Shahid to be her husband. Shahid had earlier tried to brush off small incidents but the matter came to a head last week when she scaled the society`s wall and dodged the security guards to reach the actor’s apartment on the 13th floor. on the behalf of the ‘Jab We Met’ actor, his manager submitted the complaint accusing the actress of harassing Kapoor. AgeNCIeS

‘Teri Meri Kahaani’ will be a memorable film: Priyanka Chopra MuMBAI: Bollywood actress Priyanka chopra says that her upcoming film ‘Teri Meri Kahaani’, a story of eternal love, will be a memorable movie. "The movie will be a memorable one. The story takes us through a journey of eternal love between a couple who have vowed to love each other not only in this life but in every life to follow. Their love is so strong that even destiny wants to bring them together," Priyanka said. The film stars Shahid Kapoor in the lead opposite Priyanka and has been directed by Kunal Kohli. “The story starts in 1960 Bombay with Govind and ruksar, then moves ahead to present times, 2012 England with radha and Krish and then goes back in time to Punjab, 1910 with Aradhana and Javed," said Priyanka. “It is three different love stories but I enjoyed the 2012 episode the most," she added. Describing Shahid as a "really good actor", the 29-year-old actress said, "I was playing the real character of 1960s as ruksar. It was fun to play those parts.” Asked whether she had any plans to act in hollywood movies, she said "I don`t want to be a small part of a big movie. I am happy with Bollywood, Telugu, Tamil and Punjabi movies." AgeNCIeS

Salman Khan sets his eyes on ‘Partner’ sequel MuMBAI: If sources are to be believed, we would soon be seeing a sequel to another hit movie from actor Salman Khan. Speculation has it that the actor is all eager to act in a sequel to his 2007 movie, ‘Partner’. It had earlier been learnt

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The evil queen is crazy:

Julia Roberts J

15 Daniel radcliffe plans to pen novel in future

LOS ANGELES AgeNCIeS

U L I A Roberts says the evil queen she plays in ‘Mirror Mirror’ ‘is crazy’. She's best known for her roles in ‘Pretty Woman’ and ‘erin Brokovich’, among others. Julia Roberts, the woman with the million-dollar smile was most recently seen in the comedic adaptation of the classic fairy tale ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’, ‘Mirror Mirror’, as the evil queen.

"The evil queen is such a great character and so crazy too. Director Tarsem Singh really gave us a playground to let us do what we wanted. It was fun to play this villain, because there aren't real rules of syntax or reality that apply to her. I could do anything, and just go off the rails in any direction at any time, and it would make sense to me. It was fun to say whatever awful thing popped into my head. Those bits where I improvised lines from real life were my favourite from the film. It was like my little dream come true," says the actor about her role. In the film, the evil queen goes to great lengths to remain youthful. naturally, the question that comes is if Julia herself needs a lot of care to stay the way she is. "My family keeps me looking young and good. You've got to keep up with your maintenance, right? It's just happiness and the love of a good man. I think that keeps you. I've got my Prince charming, I'm good," she said.

Beatles unseen photos to be sold LONDON: The pictures were held in a family album by Peter Allchorne who never considered them valuable. The 20 black-and-white images show the band as they made their first film, ‘A Hard Day's night’, in March 1964. Taking pictures on the closed set was banned, but Pinewood Studios props manager Peter Allchorne went about taking snaps unhindered. Allchorne put the images in a family album where they have stayed until now. The 87-year-old from Preston, Lancashire is putting his pictures up for sale on 19 May. The photos show the band with their instruments, but also between takes in off-guard moments, with one picture of Ringo Starr resting on bricks to boost his height for the cameras. Allchorne's daughter Jacqueline Griffin said her father was largely unaware of the growing fuss surrounding the Beatles and thought of them as just another band he had got to know through his work. “He's never held any value on them because he was not into the Beatles, he was just working on the films. He didn't like the music, he was into jazz,” she says. A menu card - signed by the four Beatles - from the band's trip aboard a London to new York flight, will also go under the hammer at the sale. A second unsigned menu card from their return flight features the misspelling "Beattles", making it a novelty expected to attract extra interest from bidders. The remaining photos taken in London, along with the original negatives, have been given an estimate of £2,000. The entire lot has an estimate of £10,000. BBC

that David Dhawan had several sequels of ‘Partner’ in mind, but Salman wasn’t satisfied with any of the scripts. however, seems like Salman has finally given his much-awaited nod. The movie, if the grapevine is to be trusted, goes on floors next year. So now that Salman is already shooting for his ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ with ex-flame Katrina, will we see the sizzling two on screen for the sequel of ‘Partner’ as well?

Buzz has it that Katrina Kaif will no longer be seen in the sequel of ‘Partner’, and Dhawan has supposedly roped in Zarine instead. While Dhawan has still not given the green signal yet, but it is expected that he will do so soon. AgeNCIeS

Kareena

LONDON AgeNCIeS

Daniel Radcliffe, best known for his movie portrayals of Harry Potter, has revealed that he plans to follow in J K Rowling's footsteps and turn his hand to writing. Rowling is presently putting the finishing touches to her debut book for adults, ‘The casual Vacancy’. "I really want to write professionally in the future," the Telegraph quoted Radcliffe as saying. "I try and write at the moment. I don't know if I'm any good, as, normally, when I write I'm so self critical that it's not long before I have to throw away what I write." The 22-year-old is yet to inform Rowling.

Perhaps, I should get in touch with her for some help," he added.

Taylor Swift may star as Joni Mitchell in ‘Girls like Us’ LOS ANGELES AgeNCIeS

Taylor Swift as Joni Mitchell? Maybe! According to Variety, the pop star is hoping to play the famed singer-songwriter in ‘Girls Like Us’, a drama about Mitchell, carly Simon and carole King. Before you get too excited (or too infuriated, depending on your feelings for TaySway), consider these caveats: Swift hasn't been offered the role just yet, and the movie itself doesn't have a green light. Per Variety, it's “tentatively skedded” to start this year. Swift has long sought an entrance into feature films. She was reportedly on the shortlist of actresses to play eponine in Tom Hooper's highly anticipated adaptation of ‘Les Miserable’, along with Lea Michele and Scarlett Johansson. Unfortunately for Swift, the role ended up going to relatively unknown stage actress Samantha Barks. On the bright side, Swift has appeared in the feature film ‘Valentine's Day’ (opposite then-boyfriend Taylor Lautner), and provided her voice to the 2012 blockbuster ‘The Lorax’. She also sorta acted like Katniss everdeen in the video for ‘Safe and Sound’, Swift's contribution to the ‘Hunger Games’ soundtrack. Mitchell, who turns 69 this year, is one of the most renowned singers all time. Her classic albums include ‘Blue’, ‘Ladies of the canyon’ and ‘court and Speak’.

Brett Ratner

‘excited’ about playing ‘queen’

wants to work with hrithik again

MuMBAI: Kareena Kapoor is set to star as a mighty queen in the hindi remake of a 2009 south Indian blockbuster ‘Arundhati’. After bagging the lead role for Madhur Bhandarkar’s much hyped ‘heroine’, ‘Arundhati’ would be another female centric movie getting added to Bebo’s kitty. “I am excited to do this (movie) that had the importance for the female character,” the 31-yearold said. AgeNCIeS

MuMBAI: Hollywood filmmaker Brett Ratner, who worked on Hrithik Roshan-starrer ‘ Kites’, has shown interest to work with Bollywood star once again as he finds him to be one of the most happening people in India. Ratner had edited the english version of Hrithik and Mexican actress Barbara Mori starrer Kites, and since then they share a strong friendship. Hrithik recently saw Ratner's ‘Tower Heist’ and was left impressed. He took to micro-blogging site Twitter to congratulate the filmmaker. "Brett Ratner long time! Just watched 'Tower Heist'! Super film! Brilliantly directed! You are the man Brett! hope all is well...Cheers my friend," the 38-year-old tweeted. To that, the 43-year-old filmmaker replied: "Hrithik thank you... I heard you are in the biggest hit in India. Can't wait to see it... Working on a big idea for us to collaborate." from what it seems, there's a Hollywood-Bollywood collaboration in the pipeline. AgeNCIeS

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16 Foreign News Israel cabinet oKs break-up of big conglomerates JERUSALEM ReuTeRS

Israel’s cabinet on Sunday approved a plan to break up some of the country’s largest conglomerates, aiming to increase competition and bring down prices after protests over the cost of living last year.

Israel has one of the highest concentrations of corporate power in the developed world with the government estimating that the country’s 10 largest business groups control 41 percent of the market value of public companies.

“The government’s decision today is another step in lowering the cost of living,” Prime Minister Benjamin netanyahu said in a statement. He told the cabinet that getting rid of cartels and monopolies would increase competition. conglomerates will have to choose between owning major financial or nonfinancial companies. Holding companies structured like pyramids will have to limit how many tiers of subsidiaries they have. existing groups, which currently hold listed subsidiaries that in turn have their own subsidiaries, will be allowed no more than three tiers of subsidiaries. new conglomerates can have two. companies will have four years to comply.

Protesters say Israel’s conglomerates are partly to blame for driving up prices of basic goods. Protests are expected to resume in coming weeks.

According to the recommendations, companies cannot hold a financial firm with assets above 40 billion shekels ($11 billion) at the same time as a nonfinancial company of more than 6 billion shekels of revenue.

As a result, the IDB Group would have to divest clal Insurance or other key holdings such as cellcom , Israel’s largest mobile phone operator.

Delek Group would have to decide between keeping insurance company Phoenix and brokerage excellence nessuah or its fuel business — which includes a number of offshore natural gas fields.

Private equity firm Apax Partners would need to choose between food maker Tnuva or the Psagot brokerage.

Monday, 23 April, 2012

Violence persists in Syria as Annan urges truce compliance g

Activists report army assaults near Damascus, Idlib g Authorities say ‘terrorists’ bomb army convoy, train BEIRUT

S

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YRIAn soldiers stormed a town east of Damascus on Sunday and rebels bombed a military convoy in the north of the country as international mediator Kofi Annan urged both sides to work with an expanded team of U.n. ceasefire monitors.

The group of unarmed military monitors has been operating in Syria for a week, overseeing a 10-day-old truce agreement that has curbed some of the violence but failed to bring a complete halt to 13 months of bloodshed.

The U.n. Security council agreed on Saturday to expand the mission to a 300-strong observer team, part of Annan’s plan to halt the killing and launch a political dialogue between President Bashar al-Assad and opponents seeking his downfall.

Annan said the council’s decision was a “pivotal moment in the stabilisa-

tion of the country” after more than a year of turmoil in which more than 9,000 people have been killed.

The former U.n. secretary-general called on both Syrian government forces and opposition fighters to put down their weapons and consolidate the ceasefire accord. “The government in particular must desist from the use of heavy weapons and, as it has committed, withdraw such weapons and armed units from population centres,” Annan said.

Assad’s opponents say his forces have continued shelling opposition strongholds in violation of the truce, while authorities say “terrorist armed groups” have kept up a campaign of bombings against government targets.

Opposition activists said security forces killed at least six people on Sunday. Soldiers backed by tanks charged into the town of Douma, east of Damascus, while security forces opened fire in the northern province of Idlib, they said.

Internet video footage which activists said was filmed in Douma on

Sunday showed grey smoke rising from buildings and the sound of heavy gunfire in the background. One clip showed soldiers in helmets and bullet-proof vests next to a tank. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that at least four soldiers were killed when a bomb hit an armoured personnel carrier outside Douma.

The official news agency SAnA made no mention of fighting in Douma but said that at least one officer was killed by a bomb which struck a convoy of army officers and cadets in the northern province of Aleppo. Another bomb targeted a freight train transporting flour in Idlib province, it said.

OBSERVER MISSION: U.n. observers toured the central city of Homs on Saturday, bringing a degree of calm to the rebel stronghold which has endured weeks of shelling by the army.

Two observers stayed overnight in the city, a U.n. spokesman said.

Activists in Hama, north of Homs, said they expected the monitors to visit

their city on Sunday. Hama, where Assad’s father crushed an armed Islamist uprising 30 years ago, killing many thousands of people, has been quieter since the ceasefire came into effect, according to a local activist who identified himself as Musab.

“We don’t see the tanks any more, they just hide them in government installations,” he said. “But the troops are still around. The truce has an effect but not to the extent that we can demonstrate freely.” Western and Arab ministers meeting in Paris last week described the observer mission as a “last chance” for peace in Syria. The United States said that if Damascus did not permit an adequate monitoring process, the Security council should work towards imposing sanctions on Syria. On Saturday the Security council unanimously adopted a Russian- and europeandrafted resolution authorising an initial deployment of up to 300 unarmed military observers to Syria for three months, a mission to be known as UnSMIS.

NeW YoRK: occupy Wall Street movement activists protest while lying down on the floor of the grand Central Terminal. REUTERS

Dutch politics fragmented as elections loom AMSTERDAM ReuTeRS

The netherlands, a core euro zone member, was drawn into europe’s debt crisis at the weekend when the government failed to agree on budget cuts, making elections almost unavoidable and casting doubt on its support for future euro zone measures.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose centre-right coalition has been in power since October 2010, said on Saturday that crucial talks on budget cuts had collapsed and that new elections were inevitable.

In the short term, the government must seek support for budget cuts from the opposition parties.

But uncertainty over the makeup of a new government, and waning voter support for bailouts and austerity measures, raised questions over Dutch backing for a fiscal responsibility pact seen as crucial to helping europe cope with its debt crisis.

An opinion poll published on Sunday showed the netherlands remains highly fragmented politically, suggesting that it could prove difficult to form a new coalition quickly. The Maurice de Hond poll, conducted after the budget talks collapsed, showed that no single party would

have a majority if elections were held now, though Rutte’s Liberal Party has strengthened its lead, followed closely by two leftist parties.

The poll also showed that a majority of those surveyed favour smaller budget cuts than those stipulated by the european Union, a further sign that the notoriously frugal Dutch are suffering from “bailout fatigue” and resent the high cost of rescuing profligate peripheral euro zone countries.

“Voters from different parties share the same view - disgust or disappointment over the political action and the political parties,” De Hond said in a statement, adding that two thirds of those polled agreed with the statement “I’m tired of all the party politics”.

BUDgET SINNERS: Rutte and finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager - who flew back from IMf talks in Washington when the crisis broke - are among the euro zone’s harshest critics of “budget sinners” like Greece and Portugal, and the netherlands is seen as close to Germany in calling for tough austerity measures. That is about to change.

“The netherlands can no longer be a role model to others. There may be a reac-

tion in other countries: ‘If they don’t do it, why should we?’ This risk exists, which is unpleasant,” said Jaap Koelewijn, an economist and professor of corporate finance.

Annual budget cuts of 14 to 16 billion euros are needed for the netherlands to meet european commission targets.

Without them, its public deficit is forecast to hit 4.6 percent of GDP in 2013, well above the 3 percent agreed with the commission. If the netherlands does not cut spending and breaks eU budget rules, it is likely to lose its coveted triple-A credit rating, leading to higher borrowing costs.

The level of state debt rose to 65.2 percent of GDP at the end of 2011 from 62.9 percent in 2010, Statistics netherlands said last month. Ratings agency fitch recently warned the netherlands it must get its finances in order or risk a ratings downgrade, while in a report last month, citibank went as far as to say it no longer deserved to be considered a core member of the euro zone because of its fiscal woes. The uncertainty over budget cuts and reforms, and the time it takes to organise elections, will probably lead to higher interest rates and higher yields on Dutch government bonds.

“The cost of finance for the nether-

lands will go up slightly compared to Germany, but our debt is mostly long-term.

The netherlands doesn’t have high refinancing needs in the next few years,” said economist Sweder van Wijnbergen.

CATALYST: The catalyst for the crisis was Geert Wilders, whose anti-euro, antiIslam freedom Party had pledged to support the minority government in parliament and give it the majority to pass legislation. But after seven weeks of talks, Wilders suddenly backed out just when a deal appeared close. Wilders’ supporters are against budget cuts, particularly cuts in welfare, health and unemployment benefits, and there was talk, which he denied, that the freedom Party was split over the proposed cuts.

“We don’t want to make our pensioners bleed for the sake of diktats from Brussels,” Wilders told reporters on Saturday.

“This was a package that would damage our economy over coming years and increase unemployment. And all that to meet a demand made by Brussels, accepted by the Liberals, of reaching a 3 per cent deficit in 2013.” De Hond’s poll showed that a clear majority of Dutch people think the budget cuts demanded by the european Union were excessive.

Asked whether the netherlands should cut less than the european Union wants, 57 percent of respondents agreed.

Supporters of the populist freedom Party and of the leftist Socialist Party were particularly set against cuts.

The poll showed that the Dutch were most strongly opposed to spending cuts that would have a direct impact on standards of living, 56 percent of respondents opposing the introduction of a new, modest prescription charge, and 47 percent opposing an increase in value added tax.

The cabinet is set to meet on Monday to discuss what it should do next to agree a budget and whether to resign. The Queen could accept its resignation, paving the way for elections, or ask the prime minister to form a new coalition.

If elections are called, Sunday’s polls showed Rutte’s Liberals would win 33 seats in the 150-seat parliament, up from 31 now, followed by the eurosceptic Socialist Party with 30 seats and the proeurope Labour Party with 24 seats.

Rutte’s coalition partner, the christian Democrats, and the freedom Party, until Saturday his main ally, have both slipped in the polls and would win 11 and 19 seats respectively.

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Monday, 23 April, 2012

Foreign News 17

fifteen killed in northern Mexican bar shootout CIUDAD JUAREZ ReuTeRS

fifteen people were killed and at least one seriously wounded in a suspected drug-related shootout on friday in a bar in northern Mexico, a region that has been brutalized by fighting between criminal gangs.

On friday night, armed men entered the bar in chihuahua, capital of chihuahua state, and opened fire on various people inside suspected of involvement in drug dealing, the local attorney general’s office said in a statement on Saturday.

A local press association said two men killed in the attack were journalists, adding to the tally of media casualties from Mexico’s rampant gang violence.

The attorney general’s office also said two other people were shot dead in a separate bar attack in the city, bringing friday’s death toll to 17.

Since 2008, chihuahua, and in particular the city of ciudad Juarez on the border with Texas, has been the area worst hit by bloody turf wars between drug cartels during the crackdown on gangs launched by President felipe calderon.

The gang violence and clashes with security forces have killed more than 50,000 people in Mexico in the past five years. However, the number of murders had eased somewhat in chihuahua over the past year, with some counts suggesting the more easterly border state of nuevo Leon had suffered more violence in the first months of 2012.

Watergate figure charles colson dies

CHANgSHu: Rescuers carry an injured passenger out from a damaged bus at an accident site on the Yanjiang expressway, Jiangsu province. Thirteen people were confirmed dead and 21 people injured after a tour bus from Shanghai drove through the barriers in the middle of the expressway and collided with a heavy truck coming in the opposite direction on Sunday morning. ReUTeRS

Turkish PM lashes out at Iraqi counterpart, denies meddling ISTANBUL

WASHINGTON ReuTeRS

charles colson, a Richard nixon White House operative who went to jail over the Watergate scandal and later founded a prison ministry, died on Saturday at age 80, the ministry said. colson, who compiled nixon’s infamous “enemies list” before Watergate brought down the president in 1974, died of complications from a brain hemorrhage after being admitted to a hospital in fairfax, Virginia, on March 31, Prison fellowship Ministries said in a statement on its website.

“It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that chuck colson - our friend, founder, and brother in christ has passed away,” the ministry’s ceO, Jim Liske, said in the statement.

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URKISH Prime Minister Tayyip erdogan on Saturday rejected charges he sought to inflame sectarian divisions in Iraq with recent criticism of its government and accused his Iraqi counterpart of trying to gain “prestige” in an escalating war of words between the neighbours.

The row heated up on Thursday when erdogan accused Iraqi Prime Minister nuri al-Maliki of acting “self-centred” and inciting tensions between the country’s Shias, Sunnis and Kurds amid a constitutional crisis in Baghdad. Maliki in turn branded Turkey a “hostile state” and said erdogan’s remarks “represent another return to flagrant interference in Iraqi internal affairs,” according to a statement on his website on friday.

“We don’t differentiate between Sunnis or Shias. Arab, Kurd or Turkmen, they are all our brothers,” erdogan told reporters in comments reported by the nTV news channel. “If we respond to Mr. Maliki, we give him the opportunity to show off there. There is no need to allow him to gain prestige.”

Turkey, which is majority Sunni, has been seen as a key ally and even a role model for Iraq, because of its secular constitution and close relations with the West, including membership in nATO. Iraq is Turkey’s second largest trading partner after Germany, with trade reaching $12 billion last year, more than half of which was with the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

INTERFERENCE: Baghdad has occasionally accused Ankara of meddling in its affairs since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Saudi Arabia, Iran and Syria have also been accused of destabilising

their neighbour.

The bitter exchange between Maliki and erdogan came after the Turkish leader met Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish region, who has cultivated close relations with Turkey’s government. erdogan also met Iraq’s Sunni vice president, Tareq al-Hashemi, who fled Iraq in December after a warrant for his arrest was issued, sparking the current political crisis in Baghdad. Hashemi is wanted on charges he ran death squads.

Turkey’s foreign Ministry weighed in on the dispute and issued a statement that said Turkey has no intention of interfering in Iraq or any other neighbour’s internal affairs.

“The foundation of the political crisis in which Iraq finds itself is that Iraqi politicians seek to consolidate power and exclude others, rather than (follow) politics that are based on democratic and universal principles,”

it said in a statement.

“It is a fact that behind the misperceptions that led to the accusations against Turkey by Prime Minister Maliki, who instigated the crisis in Iraq, this wrong understanding of politics can be found,” it said.

As long as they present no obstacles, Turkey seeks friendly relations with its neighbours, the statement also said. erdogan previously has warned that Turkey would not remain silent if a sectarian conflict erupted in Iraq. He is also a vocal critic of erstwhile ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown against a largely Sunni uprising.

Turkey is worried that the violence in Syria and growing tensions in Iraq could lead to a wider conflict between Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims in the region.

Relations with Iran have also soured over Turkey’s opposition toward Tehran’s ally Assad.

Int’l Committee of Red Cross aide abducted in Yemen g

four militants killed in air strike SANAA/ADEN ReuTeRS

JAlAlABAD: An Afghan child receives polio drops on Sunday. ReUTeRS

Armed men kidnapped a french official of the International committee of the Red cross as he was travelling from north Yemen to the Red Sea port city of Hudaida, the IcRc said on Sunday.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the kidnapping but seizing foreigners or Yemenis in order to secure releases of jailed relatives is common in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state. Most hostages are freed unharmed.

Dibeh fakhr, an IcRc spokeswoman in Sanaa, said the frenchman, who works in the northern city of Saada, was kidnapped late on Saturday some 30 km (18 miles) from Hudaida.

“He was with two Yemeni drivers who the kidnappers released shortly afterwards,” fakhr said. “Until now we have no contact

with the kidnappers or our employee.”

Yemen slipped into chaos after the outbreak of protests more than a year ago that eventually ousted autocratic President Ali Abdullah Saleh under a deal brokered by Yemen’s rich Gulf neighbours, including regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia.

Separately, in Lawdar, four Islamist militants were killed by an air strike, residents said, as battles with government forces continued around the southern city for the third week.

On Saturday, a soldier was killed and 10 wounded in clashes with Ansar al-Sharia, the al Qaeda-linked group, a security official said, adding that one militant was also killed. fighting continued in the southern city of Zinjibar, where the army killed at least 18 militants on friday. A defence ministry website said government forces advanced in eastern and southern parts of the city that the militants seized a year ago.

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Monday, 23 April, 2012

nadal hammers Djokovic to win eighth Monte carlo crown Page 21

Bangladesh propose series against South Africa DHAKA CRICINfo

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He Banglades cricket Board after dumping Pakistan has invited South Africa to play a series against their national team. cricket South Africa (cSA) is considering a request from the Bangladesh board president Mustafa Kamal for South Africa to play Bangladesh in May, cSA's acting chief executive Jacques faul has said. Kamal made a request to cSA president Willie Basson last week and offered to pay all the costs, whether the series takes place in Bangladesh or South Africa.

"We have received the request and we are in the process of checking whether it would be possible," faul told eSPncricinfo.

"We've got nothing against it, it's just about scheduling. At the moment, I can say it is a request we are looking at." faul will meet with the South African cricketers' Association (SAcA) and national coach Gary

Kirsten next week to discuss the possibility of playing the series. He said the decision will be based on South Africa's schedule and whether this fixture can be included without causing fatigue. "We always want to play cricket and foster cricket but we've got to be careful with how much preparation and how much rest we give our team," faul said. "It is quite important how we pace the team." Bangladesh have no international cricket scheduled before the World Twenty20 in September. Their trip to Pakistan, for an ODI and a T20 later this month, was put on hold after a court order placed a four-week embargo on the tour, and their visit to Zimbabwe in August was postponed because of work being done on the pitches in Harare and Bulawayo. By contrast, South

Africa's schedule is busy. Having already spent a month in new Zealand, they will go to england for more than two months in early July, head straight to Sri Lanka for the World T20, tour Australia in October and november and then host new Zealand during the home summer. even if all parties agree the BangladeshSouth Africa series should go ahead, it will face a number of logistical problems.

With the IPL only ending on May 27, South Africa could be without some of their key players.

Twenty South African players, including limited-overs captain AB de Villiers and bowlers Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, are involved in the IPL. Bangladesh, though, only have two players in the competition - Shakib

Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal.

Another issue will be location. The matches are unlikely to be held in Bangladesh because of the heat in summer and faul confirmed South Africa, where it will be winter in May, was the only possibility as a venue. "Winter will be a factor for sure," faul said. "Durban is a possible venue but the Highveld [Johannesburg and centurion] will be out." cape Town, where in rains in winter, will also not be a possibility. Another option would be for the series to be held in Zimbabwe, who were approached by the BcB to participate in a tri-series with South Africa.

While Zimbabwe cricket officials could not be reached on Sunday for confirmation on whether they received the request and were considering it, cricket can be played there during their winter. They will host South Africa for five T20 matches, which have not been given international status, in June before maintenance work on their two main centres begins.

Bangladesh in hunt Captains: follow Clarke’s lead for a new coach exPeRT CoMMeNT DHAKA

CRICINfo

Bangladesh's hunt for a head coach may prove easier this time, with one candidate throwing his hat in the ring and another acknowledging he was considering an offer.

This, even before the board has formally advertised the vacancy left by Stuart Law - a sea change from the past, and credited to Bangladesh's recent successes on the field and off it. Days after Dean Jones, the former Australia batsman tweeted that he'd been contacted by the board and was considering the offer, Dermot Reeve, the former england allrounder, said he was keen to succeed Law when he steps down at the end of June. It is also understood that some of Law's current colleagues on the coaching staff are interested in replacing him. Reeve, 49, has coached Somerset and central Districts in new Zealand and has also been bowling coach of the new Zealand Twenty20 side and of Pune Warriors in the IPL. He is currently working as a television commentator and says there hasn't been an offer laid on the table. "Yes, I would be very interested in the job," Reeve told eSPncricinfo, "but there have been no offers or formal talks or anything like that. coaching Bangladesh would be a wonderful opportunity. I honestly believe they will win world cups one day and there is no reason it shouldn't start with the World T20 in Sri Lanka in September. "There is a huge amount of talent within the Bangladesh setup. Shakib Al Hasan is ranked the no. 1 allrounder in the world in Tests and ODIs; others can do that if they follow his commitment and acquire his mental toughness.

They just need absolute, total belief and some fine tuning to turn them into one of the world's leading sides." According to the BcB, the candidates will be asked to send in their applications with a forwarding letter to the acting ceO, nizamuddin chowdhury,

by May 15. The board's cricket operations committee chairman enayet Hossain Siraj said that they have only just begun the process so there's no question of a favourite, but he was happy to learn that coaches are interested in the job. "This is a positive [development] and think it has come about, firstly, through the BPL, where the foreign coaches understood that the working environment in Bangladesh is favourable," Siraj said. "Second, of course, is the Asia cup performance of the team where the world has learned that success is possible for Bangladesh. "We have only just started to look for a coach so by the deadline we have provided, we will draw up a shortlist and then process our requirements."

IAn chAPPEll Michael clarke is quickly establishing a well-deserved reputation for brave and aggressive captaincy. His entertaining approach is based on one premise: trying to win the match from the opening delivery. This should be the aim of all international captains, but sadly it isn't.

In every era there are Test captains who prefer to attain a position of safety before they go all out for victory. These captains are frightened stiff of the Michael clarkes, who make it obvious they are not interested in a draw. At least 50% of international captains consider a draw to be a good result and when that option is removed they easily panic.

The first thing a captain like clarke understands is that he will lose some matches in constantly striving for victory. Once that premise is accepted the captain has reached the stage where he hates to lose but doesn't fear it. There's a huge difference: the latter is a positive state where the captain will do everything in his power to win; the former a mindset where the captain sets out not to lose. An important indicator

of a captain's thinking is his field placings. A positive captain will always make the opposing batsmen feel their very existence is threatened. Through his field placings he allows his bowlers to turn at the top of their mark and see where a wicket (other than bowled, lbw or through the batsman's stupidity) can be claimed.

A bowler operating to a purely containing field is like Zorro without his sword; he's not very threatening. There has been plenty of discussion on whether the shorter forms of the game will adversely affect batting techniques and turn bowlers into cannon fodder.

What the 50- and 20-over matches have actually had a marked influence on is field placings.

Whereas the no. 1 priority, by a wide margin, used to be taking wickets, followed by saving singles, and then, way off in the distance, stopping boundaries, in the mind of the modern captain the last one has assumed far too much importance.

The almost robotic use in Test matches of a deep cover point and a backward square leg on the boundary, regardless of whether the ball is being played in that direction, borders on mindless captaincy. When a fieldsman is unemployed for half an hour but the captain still retains him in that position, you have to wonder: who appointed this captain?

The change in attitude to field placings is perfectly summed up with some typical caribbean humour and common sense. former West Indies fast bowler Herman Griffith was captaining a Bar-

bados club side in the 1930s once, and called on his debutant offspinner to have a trundle. "Where do you want the field?" asked Griffith politely.

"I'd like a deep-backward square leg, a midwicket on the boundary and a long-on and long-off," replied the youngster. "Give me the ball," growled Griffith. not unreasonably, the young man asked, "Why?" "You intending to bowl shite," came the forthright answer. nowadays, most bowlers would be horrified if the captain didn't automatically give him a number of protective fielders in the deep. clarke is not such a captain.

Sadly, his latest gambit - a challenging declaration at the Queen's Park Oval, which was answered with equal bravado by Darren Sammy, failed because of inclement weather. nevertheless, it's to be hoped their positive endeavours have acted as a sharp reminder to the administrators.

In Test cricket the captain is allowed free rein. We've seen in the case of clarke and Sammy what's possible when two captains use a bit of imagination and have a desire to produce a result. It's impossible to legislate for captaincy imagination. In the 50-over game, which is highly regulated through a variety of Powerplays, and bowling and field restrictions, there is less real captaincy involved.

Wherever possible, the captaincy should be left to the skippers, and those with imagination will prosper. Hopefully those who lack inspiration and the nerve to face a challenge will be quickly replaced by the selectors.

Junaid to play for lancashire this summer LAHORE STAff RePoRT

Left-arm pace bowler Junaid Khan is set to join Lancashire county cricket club as their overseas player this year, the club said in a statement. Khan, who has been out of the Pakistan squad since theTwenty20 international against england in february, will join the county side in June and is expected to see out his contract until the end of the county season, unless he is called up for national duty. Lancashire reached an agreement with the Pakistan cricket Board on the pacer’s county stint, which makes him available for the national side as and when required. The county champions recruited Khan last year in their twenty20 squad for the friends Life T20 tournament on the recommendation of their former left-arm pace bowler Wasim Akram. Khan has been out of the Pakistan team since february, when he picked up a knee injury in the United Arab emirates. The injury kept him out of the Asia cup winning squad but the bowler is believed to have recovered and is fit to play.

Teams reach city to take part in national Boxing LAHORE STAff RePoRT

The country’s top boxers have reached the city to take part in the 34th addition of the national Boxing championship being played from April 23 here at The Punjab college of commerce Hall. Secretary Punjab Boxing Association, Mohamamd Yousuf Butt, who is also the organising secretary his body is holding the event in collaboration with the PBf as there were no sponsor to support the weak long activity, "It will be a grand boxing event in which a record number of 150 boxers are participating to show their prowess and technique in various weight categories," he said. He said that all the teams have reached the city and their weigh in will be held in the morning which will be followed by draws while the event will start at around 4 pm. "fATA who has been given playing rights is making their debut in the competition and we welcome them under the fold of PBf," he added. The teams of all the four provinces, Islamabad, Army, navy, PAf, Railways, Wapda, Police, Higher education commission, Rangers and fATA are taking part in the event. The PBA secretary informed that despite several efforts there was no company to sponsor the event and he has been able to lure some small sponsorship to hold the event. He informed that President Pakistan Olympic Association Lt Gen (r) Syed Arif Hasan will inaugurate the national championship whose finals will be played on April 27.

Ashes ‘too hot’ for our openers ANDREW WU former West Indies great Michael Holding does not believe Australia can win the Ashes in england next year with David Warner and ed cowan at the top of the order.

The bowler-turned-commentator has not been impressed by Australia's openers this series and fears they will be easy pickings for england's ''dynamic six''. cowan and Warner, after strong campaigns against India at home, are yet to excel on the sluggish caribbean wickets although they have twice registered opening stands of 50 or more.

Individually, they have reached double figures in each of their four innings but nei-

ther has registered a half-century against a Windies attack Holding rates as inferior to england's. england's Test success under Andy flower has been built around a pace core of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, chris Tremlett, Tim Bresnan and Steven finn while Graeme Swann is one of the world's best spinners. ''I don't think the Australian openers are that hot, I think they have a lot of work to do, a lot of learning to do,'' said Holding, who has called the first two Tests in the caribbean. ''I do not think these two will be good enough to do a good job in england for the Ashes because england's fast bowlers - in england - are a dynamic six. ''Under these conditions, against this bowling attack on

these pitches they should be making more runs.'' Holding said veteran Ricky Ponting, should he be around for the Ashes, needed a strong opening pair to take the sting out of the quick bowlers. ''And if you don't get two openers who can take the shine off the ball, take the energy out of the bowlers, I think the middle order will struggle. ''I don't think this is a great middle-order.

Michael clarke [is] a fantastic player, Michael Hussey is no longer a youngster, Ponting is no longer a youngster so you need two openers that can give you a solid foundation.''

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Monday, 23 April, 2012

Marsh half-century wins it for Kings XI Punjab MUMBAI CRICINfo

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HAUn Marsh's fighting half-century defied a Mumbai Indians side that featured the return of Sachin Tendulkar, a different mix of internationals - James franklin and Thisara Perera instead of Richard Levi and Davy Jacobs - and a strangling spell from Kieron Pollard to give Kings XI Punjab a hard-fought win. Kings XI have extended their dominance over Mumbai to six wins from nine matches in IPL history and has got their 2012 campaign back on track, after they lost four of their opening six fixtures.

A spirited and committed performance in the field allowed Kings XI to keep Mumbai to a manageable total. But, not for the first time in this IPL, they fell behind with the bat after a solid start. Marsh had to contend with Pollard's near heroics, as he nipped out Mandeep Singh and David Hussey, who were both well settled. The required run-rate soared to over 11 runs to the over but Marsh whittled the total down, before striking two decisive blows, off Munaf Patel and Perera in the last two overs. Both shots went for six, giving Kings XI room to breathe and David Miller four deliveries to get the winning runs.

Kings XI's reply began methodically, right down to the scoring pattern. The openers scored 10 runs off the first over and six off the second, in that pattern, for six overs. As the start grew from solid to threatening, an increasingly frustrated

Munaf, who was being targeted by the opening pair, was guilty of misfields and a mini-tantrum. If Mandeep and Saini were shaken by the sparks that were flying around them, they hid it well, and accumulated their runs through a series of proper cricket shots, elegant pulls and well-timed drives.

They gave Kings XI an ideal start. But the course of their innings changed when Saini was out lbw to Pragyan Ojha and Mandeep skied a Pollard slower ball to deep midwicket fielder who had been placed there as a trap. Pollard dried the runs up, using wily changes of pace, and ensured Kings XI's path to victory would not be a simple one.

Shaun Marsh and David Hussey had to rebuild without losing sight of the required run rate, a juggling act that was tricky to balance. Hussey made the mistake of taking on Pollard and charged down to the West Indian, who saw it coming and dropped it short, leaving Hussey to hole out to deep square leg.

Apart from one Azhar Mahmood six, Marsh had to see the game to its conclusion himself. He pulled Munaf over mid-wicket to leave Kings XI with nine to get off the last over. Marsh all but finished it off with a one-handed six over deep point off the first ball of the last over, a low full toss, to ensure Kings XI's efforts in the field did not go to waste.

Mumbai Indians' batting was pedestrian for the most part and it took an explosion between overs 11 and 15 to propel them to a competitive score. After choosing to

Shamyl steers Changoz to big title win

lAhorE: The players of changoz and lotto carpets in the final. nADeeM iJAz LAHORE STAff RePoRT

Shah Shamyl Alam steered changoz to a comfortable win over Lotto carpets in the final to lift the LccI Polo cup here at the LPc ground on Sunday. Shamyl hammered all the six goals changoz scored while allowed Lotto carpetsjust one.

Shamyl masterminded three field goals which included two solo efforts while the remaining three were the

penalties with two spot and a 40yarder. The only goal of the match the losing side got came through the mace of Abdul Rehman Monnoo in the inal chukker when he successfully converted a 30 yard hit. Shamyl scored two goals each in the first three chukkers to give changoz a dominating position.

In the end, chief guest Rana Muhammad Iqbal, Speaker Punjab Assembly presented the trophy to the winning team. earlier in the day,

caanchi & Lugari edged Diomand Painst aside after a tough battle. caanchi & Lugari beat Diamond Paints 6-5 with the winning team’s goals coming from Ahmed Ali Tiwana who converted five of the six goals while Babar Monnoo completed the tally with his single hit across the polls. Omer Asjad Malhi and Saqib Khan Khakwani shared the five goals scored by Diamond Paints with the former scoring three and the latter getting two.

sports 19 Seven league matches decided in second phase LAHORE

bat, on a beautiful surface, they stuttered off the starting blocks.

Their first run came after eight balls to and it was not until the 14th delivery that they found their first four. They reached the end of the 11th over on 65 for 2, with Sachin Tendulkar having showed glimpses of his exceptional touch in his comeback match before being run-out.

It was only then that franklin decided to take his foot off the brake. He smoked left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt into the stands for the first six of the Mumbai Indians. Dinesh Karthik also took a boundary off an over that cost 19 runs and Mumbai had woken up.

Karthik swept and reverse swept David Hussey, punished Mahmood's full toss and short ball while franklin continued to launch on the leg-side, off Kumar.

Their partnership looked dangerous and should have continued to flourish but Karthik was run out, against the run of play. He was looking for a second run after lofting the ball over extra-cover but franklin backed out and Karthik could not make his ground at the non-striker's end.

The run-out pegged them back considerably. no over after that had more than nine runs scored from it, even the 20th which included four wides. Mumbai managed only 34 runs in the last five overs to end the innings as they started it: too slowly.

SCORES: Kings XI Punjab 164 for 4 (Marsh 68*, Pollard 2-14) beat Mumbai Indians 163 for 6 (franklin 79, Awana 2-23) by six wickets.

STAff RePoRT

Another seven matches were decided in the 2nd phase of LccA Super cricket League in the various grounds of the city.

In the ist match P&T Gym beat Township whites at Township ground. In the 2nd match YU slim beat Shining club at Imtiaz Academy ground. In the 3rd match Mughalpura Institute outplay nAyar Soch club at Mughalpura Institute ground. In the 4th match ghari Shaho gym beat Aamir memorial club at Iteefaq hospital ground. In the 5th match Young Model Town club beat Mughalpura Sports at new iteefaq ground.In the sixth match Model Town gym down fayaaz Memorial club at Model Town ground while in the 7th match LAhore Gym beat Mughalpura XI at Bagh-e-Jinnah ground.

Shining club outplay Tauseef club LAHORE STAff RePoRT

Shining club won the opening league match of 15th Tauseef Trophy cricket championship when they outplayed Tauseef club by 102 runs played at Wahdat colony ground.

Tauqeer Ali Shah, president West Zone cricket Association was the chief guest.

Scores: Shining club 304/8 in 40 overs. Asif Khan 102, Muntazar Mehdi 80, Imran farhat 27, USman MAlik 24, Moazam Sikandar 21, Saeed 14. Sher Baz Khan 4/38, Israr Baig 1/56. Tauseef club 202/9 in 40 overs. M Arif 56, Ibrar Baig 21, Waqas Khan 18, M Ahmed 17, Sher Baz Khan 34, Israr Baig 22, M ALi Rana 14. Imran farhat 5/35, Usman Malik 1/48, M Saeed 1/26, M Mubashar 1/22, Salahuddin 1/26.

United blow two-goal lead to draw 4-4 with everton LONDON ReuTeRS

Manchester United and everton fought out an astonishing 4-4 draw at Old Trafford on Sunday as United blew the chance of moving eight points clear of Manchester city at the top of the Premier League, at least until city played Wolverhampton Wanderers later. everton, who opened the scoring through nikica Jelavic after 33 minutes, trailed 3-1 and then 4-2 before salvaging a point with a Steven Pienaar equaliser six minutes from time. It was the sixth goal in a 25-minute second half spell.

United now have 83 points from 35 games compared to city's 77 from 34. The advantage in the title race though has swung slightly in city's favour. If they beat Wolves as expected later and then beat United at home on Monday week, they will be top of the table on goal difference. United wiped out everton's lead and went 3-1 ahead themselves with goals from Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and nani with 60 minutes played. Marouane fellaini made it 3-2 after 66 minutes before Rooney struck to make it 4-2 after 69 minutes. Jelavic made it 4-3 after 83 minutes before Pienaar completed the scoring one minute later. (Reporting by Mike collett; editing by clare fallon) REAL HERO RONALDO SHEDS TAg OF BIg-gAME FLOP: cristiano Ronaldo may have finally shaken off the tag of big-game flop after he scored a dramatic winner for Real Madrid at bitter rivals Barcelona on Saturday, all but wrapping up the Spanish. Ronaldo's 73rd-minute strike was his third goal in his last three visits to the nou camp and extended his La Liga record tally this season to 42, one more than Barca forward Lionel Messi, who succeeded Ronaldo as World Player of the Year.

Messi, who had scored 13 times in 18 previous 'clasicos' compared to five in 15 for Ronaldo, had a quiet night by his high standards and cut a forlorn figure at the end of the game as the Real players celebrated wildly.

The win, a first for the club in eight league games against Barca, put them seven points clear of their bitter rivals with four matches left and within touching distance of a first La Liga title in four years. Ronaldo, who now has 54 goals in all competitions this season to

Messi's 63, had earned a reputation as a player who failed to perform in important matches but Saturday's exhibition will help dispel that image. "It was a very important goal because it earned the three points for us," the Portuguese told reporters.

"I have scored the last three games I played here, but the key to the match was the team," added the 27-year-old, who became the world's most expensive player when he joined Real from Manchester United three years ago.

"The seven-point lead leaves us in a comfortable position, but we have to remember that the next games are also key. "The team is in good shape, on form, happy, filled with desire and aware of its responsibilities." Ronaldo has another chance to prove he can produce when it counts when Real seek to overturn a 2-1 deficit in Wednesday's champions League semi-final second leg at home to Bayern Munich. Real are seeking a 10th european crown and could play Barca again in next month's final if the holders can recover from Wednesday's 1-0 reverse at chelsea in their semi-final second leg on Tuesday.

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20 sports KVITOVA EARNS

Monday, 23 April, 2012

MOSCOR: Jelena Jankovic celebrates her victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova in Fed Cup semifinal. REUTERS

OSTRAVA: Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova reacts after she defeated Italy's Francesca Schiavone in their semi-final singles match of the Fed Cup World Group. REUTERS

CZECHS’ SPOT IN FED CUP FINAL OSTRAVA ReuTeRS

Petra Kvitova put defending champions the czech Republic into the fed cup final with a 6-4 7-6 win over Italy's francesca Schiavone on Sunday.

Kvitova's 10th consecutive win in the team competition put the czechs 3-0 to the good and clinched a final against either Russia or Serbia.

Schiavone, who had been suffering a neck injury during the weekend, showed plenty of grit and looked set to push the world number three to a deciding set.

However, Kvitova came back from 2-4 down in the second set to force a tiebreak against the world number 12 and then cruised through the breaker 7-1.

"The weight was rather on my back today. I'm happy with how I handled it and getting a 10th straight victory," Kvitova said.

Playing at home for the first time in two years, the czechs never allowed Italy a glimmer of hope as they won all the singles matches in straight sets.

Italy had won the last four meetings between the nations, but with Kvitova in such good form for her country they are now poised retain the trophy they won by beating Russia in last year's final which was their first success since winning it as czechoslovakia in 1988.

Spain’s Gomez wins European title EILAT ReuTeRS

Spaniard Javier Gomez won a third european championship triathlon title on Saturday to remain favourite for gold at this year's London Olympics.

Gomez triumphed in one hour 55 minutes and 48 seconds, 20 seconds ahead of Russia's Alexander Bryukhankov and 54 seconds ahead of Ivan Vasiliev, also of Russia, who was third. The Olympic standard race comprises a 1.5kilometre swim, a 40-kilometre cycle race and concludes with a 10-kilometre run. The swim was held in the Red Sea and the races in the desert areas around the Israeli city of eilat. "It was a tough race in hot and windy conditions, the course was tough too and it was very complicated but I felt good the whole time," Gomez told reporters.

Westwood conquers fatigue to retain indonesia title JAKARTA

LONDON

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World number three Lee Westwood successfully defended his Indonesian Masters title after completing 32 holes at the Royale Jakarta Golf club on Sunday. The Briton returned to complete his third round before closing with a two-over-par 74 for a winning total of 16-under-par 272 in the weather-hit tournament. former Asian number one Thaworn Wiratchant finished two strokes adrift after carding 67 while the Indian duo of Gaganjeet Bhullar and Shiv Kapur shared third place a further two shots behind. "Today was hard. It is never easy playing in these conditions and I had to play 32 holes," said Westwood who went into the final round with an eight-shot

ReuTeRS

lead. "It was draining out there and I was really feeling it on the back nine. When you are in contention and under pressure, it seems to zap your energy faster."

"You never know how to play with such a big lead. You don't know if you should attack or defend. It is quite hard to get your mental attitude around it.

Grace lifts China Open to join elite club BEIJING ReuTeRS

TIAnJIn: Branden Grace of South Africa poses with the trophy after winning the European PGA Tour china open at Binhai lake Golf club. ReUTeRS

Kipsang, Keitany win as Kenyans dominate in london

South African Branden Grace lifted the china Open on Sunday with a closing three-under-par 69 and became only the second european Tour player to win three titles in the season after coming through the qualifying school.

The 23-year-old finished 21-under to win the $3 million event co-sanctioned by the OneAsia Tour by three shots from defending champion nicolas colsaerts of Belgium.

"I thought my first win was around the corner (this season). To have three before May is literally unbelievable, but I've been playing well so I've been feeling like I can win and I've been giving myself opportunities," he said.

Grace not only matched the three titles Johan edfors Of Sweden won in 2006 after coming through qualifying school but also became only the third

South African - after ernie els and Retief Goosen - to win three times in a season.

Only two players - Seve Ballesteros (1977) and Sandy Lyle (1979) - have won three european Tour titles in a single season at a younger age.

Grace carded four birdies against a solitary bogey in his final round and maintained at least a two-shot cushion over colsaerts who also returned 69.

"I stayed really calm today. I kept hitting the ball well. I missed a couple of shots the first couple of holes but regrouped well and made the birdies where it counts on the par fives, and just stayed with it from there," Grace said.

"I'm definitely here to win every week I play now."

Richard finch finished one shot behind after a final round of 66, while fellow Briton Ian Poulter finished 10-under after an identical card at Tianjin's Binhai Lake Golf club.

Wilson Kipsang and Mary Keitany completed a Kenyan double at the London marathon on Sunday as the east African country once again dominated the races by taking five of the six podium places. Kipsang, second fastest man in the world over the distance, won in two hours four minutes and 44 seconds, just four seconds off the course record set last year by Kenyan emmanuel Mutai. Keitany became the third fastest woman in the marathon as she retained her title in 2:18.37 ahead of world champion edna Kiplagat and Priscah Jeptoo. florence Kiplagat and Lucy Kabuu completed a Kenyan sweep of the top five women's places. London was the final chance for the athletes to impress the Kenyan selectors with the Kenyan Olympic marathon team due to be announced at the end of the month. Kipsang, whose personal best of 2:03.42 is three seconds off the world record, surged to the front of the men's race just after the halfway stage. He was joined by ethiopia's feyisa Lilesa at around 25 km and twice world champion Abel Kirui then came though strongly to reach them at 30 km. The trio went through to 35 km when Kipsang accelerated again and took an unassailable lead. "I knew when I went away they would have to work very, very hard to beat me as I was feeling very good in myself," Kipsang said. Kenyan Kirui dropped off the pace and eventually finished sixth. Three-times London winner Martin Lel made up some ground late in the race and out-sprinted ethiopia's Tsegaye Kebede on the home straight up The Mall to make it a Kenyan one-two.

The last few strides I was so pleased to beat him," said Lel. "When the winner went off today, I knew I didn't have it in me to go with him. I'm very pleased to get second place today. It shows that my form is getting back to where it was." World record holder Patrick Makau dropped out of the race at around the halway mark.

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Monday, 23 April, 2012

MOSCOW: Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic hits a return to Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova during the semifinal of the Fed Cup. REUTERS

sports 21

Calamitous mistake hands French inshore win

wATCh iT LiVe GEO SUPER IPL-5: Rajasthan Royals v Royal Challengers 07:30PM

visa denial of Davis cup player

by Iran irks BD DHAKA ReuTeRS

PrETorIA: caster Semenya (127) of South Africa takes part in the women's 800 m yellow Pages third series olympics qualifier competition. ReUTeRS wrong one. "It's the first time in my ITAJAI ReuTeRS

Spain's former Olympic champion Iker Martinez made a crucial error to turn his Volvo Ocean Race-leading Telefonica boat way off course in Saturday's in-port race to slide from first to last and gift victory to french team Groupama, their closest overall challengers.

World sailor of the year Martinez, who won gold in the Athens Games and silver in Beijing, chose to round the wrong turning buoy and his crew sailed several hundred metres off course before correcting their error.

"We had sailed a nearly perfect race until then," said Martinez, who will launch a bid for his third Olympic medal running in the London Olympics.

"We were leading and that is enough. After we rounded the windward mark it was very confusing.

There were two marks and I chose the

life I've ever made a mistake like that so I feel terrible for the shore crew who had worked so hard."

The result closes Telefonica's lead at the top to just 16 points over Groupama who celebrated their first in-port race victory at the sixth attempt in this edition.

U.S. boat Puma, which won the treacherous Leg 5 from Auckland to Itajai in southern Brazil through the Southern Ocean and around cape Horn, bounced back from a timing penalty to take third behind camper (Spain/new Zealand).

The fleet next sails to Miami on Sunday in the sixth stage of the 39,000-nautical mile, eight-month race which is scheduled to finish in July in Galway, Ireland.

Overall standings: 1 Team Telefonica (Spain) 149 points, 2 Groupama (france) 133, 3 camper (nZ/Spain) 124, 4 Puma (U.S.) 117, 5 Abu Dhabi 58, 6 Team Sanya (china) 25.

Nadal hammers Djokovic to win eighth Monte Carlo Crown MONTE CARLO

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AgeNCIeS

ORLD number two Rafael nadal thrashed top seed novak Djokovic 6-3 6-1 in the Monte carlo Masters final to win the claycourt title for an eighth consecutive time. nadal, who had lost his previous seven finals to the Serb, wrapped up a one-sided match with an ace after 78 minutes.

On a windy and sunny afternoon by the Mediterranean, the Spaniard became the first player ever to win a tournament eight times in a row as he clinched his 47th ATP Tour title.

Djokovic, who calls nadal the "king of claycourt" despite upsetting him in last year's Madrid and Rome Masters events, struggled to mount a challenge as he made numerous unforced errors throughout. The victory also marked the end of a seven-match losing streak in finals to the Serb world number one, whose last vic-

tory over nadal came in a six-hour Australian Open final. nadal's victory was his 42nd in a row at the Mediterranean venue and marks his 47th career trophy and 20th in a Masters 1000 tournament, the first to achieve that honour. The win was also his first ATP trophy since winning Roland Garros last June. "I've always felt unbelievable here," said an emotional nadal.

"It's unbelievable to win this historic tournament eight times. I always feel great when I come here.

"I had lost to novak seven times, so losing eight would not have been much different. But to win this one makes a big difference.

"Hopefully I will stay healthy and go to Barcelona (next week) and play a good tournament."

Djokovic won the first game of the match to love but slowly found himself losing grip at the cliffside club on the shores of the Mediterranean.

Djokovic, who also played and lost

MonAco: rafael nadal of Spain poses with his trophy after winning the final of the Monte carlo Masters. ReUTeRS the 2009 final against nadal, and was competing this week after learning of the death of his grandfather in Serbia.

He had rallied from a set down in two of

his four previous rounds.

The Serb world number one was playing in his 45th ATP final and now stands 30-15. He trails nadal 14-17 in their career series. Monte carlo is one of only two Masters 1000 tournament that Djokovic has not won (cincinnati is the other).

"I'm sorry for my performance today, Rafa played well and deserved to win today," said Djokovic, who went down in 78 minutes. "I'm still very happy to reach the finals for the second time. "This is one of my favourite events at the most beautiful centre court in the world." Djokovic stands 24-3 on the season with titles at the Australian Open and Miami. nadal advanced as he fired his only ace of the final on match point after saving the lone break point he had faced two games earlier.

The Spanish winner now owns a 441 record in the principality, with titles in eight of his nine appearances.

Bangladesh's tennis authorities on Sunday said they will lodge a complaint against Iran after one of their players was denied a visa for a Davis cup tie.

A four-member Bangladesh team left Dhaka for Tehran on Sunday to participate in the Davis cup Asia Oceania Zone-III, to be held in the Iranian capital from April 25 to 28.

Bangladesh said they applied for visas for four players and a non-playing captain for the competition, but the Iranian embassy in Dhaka issued visa only for three players - Amal Roy, Henry Prethul and Ranjan Ram. Bangladesh' Dipu Lal was denied a visa for reasons unknown to the Bangladesh authorities.

"We had contacted the Iranian embassy several times to know why he was not given visa, but did not get any answer," Shahriar Alam, the president of the Bangladesh Tennis federation told reporters. Local media speculated Dipu was not granted a visa as his elder brother Shibu Lal, also a tennis player, is a U.S. citizen. The ITf punished Bangladesh in 2010 after an Israeli player was denied a visa for an agegroup tournament in Dhaka in february that year. Bangladesh, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel, had been fined $2,500 and Bangladesh's right to host two ITf tournaments was cut to one for the visa denial. "If we can be punished for not granting a visa to an Israeli player, I think Iran also should be penalised for doing the same thing with us," said Shahriar.

Judo referees course concludes LAHORE STAff RePoRT

The course for Judo Referees organized by the Punjab Judo Association concluded here in which a total of 22 participants including four female players took part in this three day activity.

The course was conducted by Mahmood naveed and the course material included the latest rules of sports Judo as defined by the International Judo federation.

This was a Level – I course in which the participants were introduced to the rules of Score-Board keeping, ne-waza Timing, Overall Tournament control and Record Keeping. With the completion of this course, the participants have become qualified to act as officials in any category – III Judo tournament.

After the completion of the course, the participants were awarded certificates by the Punjab Judo Association in a colorful ceremony held in a local hotel.

The next Judo Referees course, which will be a Level – II course will be held in the month of July 2012.

Amar Cables, Textile Tigers in Veterans Cricket final LAHOE STAff RePoRT

Amar cables beat SPM Bucks by 5 wickets while Textile Tigers defeated SPM Stags by 1 wicket to fix a final day of the 1st Lahore Veteran cricket champion Trophy.

In the first semi-finalat Ali Garh cricket Ground, SPM Bucks batting first 163 all out after 29.5 overs. Muhammad Shahbaz 32, Toseef Mughal 32, Qadeer Shah 21, nadeem Baig 19, Saud cheema 17 and Sohail

Imran 15 runs. Tariq Rasheed 4/32, Rouf Wain 3/24, Tariq Hussain 1/22 and Ameer Akbar 1/4 wickets. In reply Amar cables 164/5 after 27.2 overs. Amer Ilyas Butt 41, Dastgeer Butt 26, Zahid Umar 20, Ameer Akbar 49 runs not out & Shahid Mansoor 26 runs not out. SPM Bucks bowling Ashfaq Aslam 2/33, Imtiaz Shah 1/37, Zahid Khan 1/37 & Sohail Imran 1/19 wickets.

Rasheed Bhatti, Qaisar Waheed Umpire & Syed najam-ul-syed was the scorer. end of the match chief Guest nadeem Aslam give

away man of the match award to Rouf Wain. Amer Ilyas Butt & Hassan Butt is also present.

In the second semi-final, at cricket center Ground SPM Stags batting first 242/4 after 30 overs. Test cricketer Zahoor Ilahi 73, Kamran Khan 66, Shahid Anwar 25, Shakeel Malik 23 & Javeed Hayyat 40 runs not out. Textile Tigers bowling Azhar Hussain 1/46, Maqsood Ali 1/47, Hafiz Saeed 1/48 & Asif Qureshi 1/18 wickets. In reply Textile Tigers 243/9 after 30 overs. Asif Qureshi 40, Khalid Habib 21,

Muhammad nadeem 30, Rehan Rouf 37 & Best innings Saleem Iqbal 51 runs not out. SPM Stags bowling Javeed Hayyat 3/49, Zia-ud-din 2/36, Sajjad Akbar 1/23, Shahid Anwar 1/12, & Zahoor Ilahi 2/30 wickets.

Muhammad Asif, Masood Khan Umpire & Abdul Hameed was the scorer. end of the match chief Guest Rizwan nisar give away man of the match award to Saleem Iqbal.

The final between the two sides will be played on Thursday (April 26) at the LccA ground.

lAhorE: chief guest nadeem Aslam gives away man of the match award to rouf Wain. Amer Ilyas Butt and hassan Butt are also present on the occasion.

KHI 23-04-2012_Layout 1 4/23/2012 4:05 AM Page 22

Mpmday, 23 April, 2012

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Hollande beats Sarkozy in French vote, both in second round

US wants to use NATO supply route beyond 2014 ISLAMABAD SHAIQ HuSSAIN

The United States plans to use the nATO supply line through Pakistan for years, if not decades, even after the withdrawal of bulk of its troops from Afghanistan to ensure smooth supplies to the proposed American military bases in the war-torn country, but Islamabad has yet to come up with a nod in response to this tough demand by Washington. The nATO supply line, which was blocked by Islamabad soon after nATO airstrikes on its border posts that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in november last year, is likely to be reopened soon and US Special envoy Marc Grossman is arriving in the next few days to discuss this vital issue along with other conflicting matters with Pakistani authorities, such as drone attacks. “Generally it is assumed that US would use the nATO supply lines until it withdraws bulk of its troops from Afghanistan for which 2014 has been set as a deadline. However, the US authorities have also conveyed to Islamabad their desire to use these supply lines beyond 2014 so that different vital supplies could be extended smoothly to its proposed military bases in Afghanistan,” said a diplomatic source here on Sunday seeking anonymity. currently, Pakistan and the US are discussing modalities for the reopening of nATO supplies through the diplomatic channels and conclusive talks on this matter along with related aspects such as taxation to be imposed by Islamabad on nATO trucks, oil tankers and containers when Grossman would arrive later this week. A few days back, the parliament came up with new guidelines on nature of ties with the US and it also banned the supply of weapons and ammunition to Afghanistan through Pakistani soil. “This is a tough demand on part of US and Islamabad has not yet given any response to US on its desire for a prolonged use of nATO supplies that could stretch to several years even after 2014,” the source said. On its part, the US is willing to use the nATO supplies only for food, oil and medicines to Afghanistan and no lethal supplies to the war-torn country and it has conveyed this to Pakistan. “This issue will be discussed with ambassador Grossman and other senior American officials in the coming days and months,” he said. The source said the US also wanted Pakistan to take responsibility of ensuring safety and security of nATO supplies once they resume. “However, this issue too is not yet settled and it will also be discussed at length in the forthcoming Pakistan-US talks,” the source said.

pARIS AfP

S

OcIALIST challenger francois Hollande stamped his authority on the french presidential race Sunday, beating nicolas Sarkozy in the first round of polling in which the far right also made major gains.

As expected, Hollande and the wounded right-wing incumbent will now face off in a May 6 run-off for the presidency, but the big surprise of the night was the record score for anti-immigrant, anti-eU flag-bearer Marine Le Pen.

Hollande won between 28 and 29 percent of the vote in the first round, to Sarkozy’s 25.5 to 27, according to estimates compiled from ballot samples by several polling agencies and obtained by AfP from multiple sources. “firstly, I am tonight in the lead among the candidates,” he declared before supporters in his rural political stronghold of Tulle. “I am today the best placed candidate to become the next french president. The second major lesson to draw from this election — and this is undeniable — is that the first round was a punishment and a rejection of the in-

cumbent,” he said, to cheers.

Le Pen, won between 18 and 20 percent — her national front party’s best ever showing — and a result which complicated forecasts for the second round, as she is unlikely to urge her supporters to back either frontrunner.

Sarkozy is the only incumbent to lose a first round-vote in modern french history and opponents of all stripes queued up to pronounce his political obituary in live broadcasts and speeches to supporters. Marine Le Pen’s father, national front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, refused to say who

iran military claims copying US drone DUBAI ReuTeRS

Iran’s military has started to build a copy of a US surveillance drone captured last year after breaking the software encryption, Iranian media reported on Sunday.

General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace division, said engineers were in the final stages of decoding data from the Sentinel

aircraft, which came down in December near the Afghan border, Mehr news agency reported.

Iran said the unmanned aircraft was shot down, but Washington disputes that and says the security systems mean Iran is unlikely to get valuable information from the Lockheed Martin corp drone. “The Americans should be aware to what extent we have infiltrated the plane,” fars news agency quoted Hajizadeh as saying. “Our experts have full understanding of its components and programmes.”

Iran’s military regular announces defence and engineering developments, but some analysts are sceptical as to how reliable those reports are. US Senator Joe

Lieberman, a member of the Armed Services committee, voiced his own doubts. “There’s a history here of Iranian bluster, particularly now when they’re on the defensive because of our economic sanctions against them,” Lieberman said in a television interview.

The RQ-170 Sentinel has been widely used since 2010 in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It played a role in the raid in which Osama bin Laden was killed last year, analysts say.

An Iranian defence official said recently that Tehran has received numerous requests for information on the craft and that china and Russia have shown most interest. The loss of the plane sparked some concerns that sophisticated technology could fall into the hands of countries developing their own unmanned planes. The main worry centres on the special coatings on the craft’s surface.

Published by Arif Nizami for Nawa Media Corporation (Pvt) Ltd at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore.

Editor: Arif Nizami, Executive Editor: Sarmad Bashir

he would vote for now that his daughter has been eliminated, but added: “I think Sarkozy is finished.”

His daughter went further, hitting out at both sides and boasting of having exploded the two-party duopoly of power, at a remarkably triumphant rally for a candidate who went out at the first hurdle. “The battle of france has just begun,” she told a wildly cheering crowd. “nothing will be as it was before ... the people of france have invited themselves to the table of the elite.”

CONTINUED ON PAgE 04