India seizes Pakistan cricketer’s passport over marriage

HYDERABAD, India (Reuters Life!) – Indian police Monday seized the passport of the Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik — soon to wed Indian tennis player Sania Mirza — and questioned him in connection with allegations that he already has a wife, officers said.

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Two of South Asia’s best known sports personalities, Malik and Mirza planned to marry in April and settle in Dubai.

But in a case whose twists and turns have gripped India, a woman called Ayesha Siddiqui filed a police case against Malik claiming the two married in 2002 and has demanded a divorce.

Malik arrived in India last week and is staying at Mirza’s house in the southern city of Hyderabad, where police questioned him for nearly two hours. They have also alerted Indian airports not to allow the cricketer to leave the country.

“The case is under investigation. We have come here for investigations,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police R. Ravinder Reddy Monday.

Malik, 28, has been fighting a 12-month ban by the Pakistan Cricket Board for poor performance and indiscipline.

The 23-year-old Mirza was the first Indian to win a WTA tour event in 2005 and reached her highest world ranking of 27 two years ago although she has since slipped to 92nd.

Marriages between citizens of old foes India and Pakistan are not entirely uncommon, with Muslim families who migrated to Pakistan after the nation was carved out in 1947 maintaining ties with families who remained in India.

The marriage had already sparked controversy with the hardline Hindu group Shiv Sena, who said Mirza’s heart could not be truly Indian if she chose to marry a Pakistani.

(Writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Alistair Scrutton)

Stepped-up campaign of drone strikes batter Al-Qaeda, allies in Pak

A stepped-up campaign of American drone strikes over the past three months in the tribal area of North Waziristan has reportedly battered the Al-Qaeda and its Pakistani and Afghan units.

According to the ‘New York Times’, the strikes have forced the militants to abandon satellite phones and large gatherings in favour of communicating by courier and moving stealthily in small groups in an area which was once a free zone for the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

The strikes have also sharpened tensions between the local tribesmen and the militants, who have dumped bodies with signs accusing the victims of being American spies in Miram Shah, the main town in North Waziristan.

Meanwhile, the people from North Waziristan said there were multiple strikes on some days, and in some weeks the strikes occur every other day. “The strikes have become so ferocious, it seems they really want to kill everyone, not just the leaders,” The newspaper quoted a militant, who is a mid-ranking fighter associated with the insurgent network headed by Jalaluddin and Sirajuddin Haqqani.

Earlier, several officials in the Obama administration had acknowledged that strikes on suspected militant targets had been intensified in North Waziristan and South Waziristan since the combined Taliban and Qaeda suicide attack at a U.S. base in Khost Province of Afghanistan in December last year.

According to Pakistani and American accounts, in the first six weeks of this year, more than a dozen strikes killed up to 90 people suspected of being militants.

Pakistan got 970-mn dollars and not 3-bn dollars from US

Islamabad, Sep 17 (ANI): The United States has provided 970 million dollars in aid to Pakistan since the PPP-led Government came to power and not three billion dollars as claimed by US Ambassador Anne Patterson, a Pakistani Finance Ministry official has said.

The statement of US Ambassador to Pakistan, Anne Patterson, about giving 3 billion dollars assistance to the Zardari Government even surprised the top economic managers of the country. They were completely clueless about the figure of 3 billion dollars floated by the US.

“Out of the total 970 million dollars funding, a major chunk of 550 to 600 million dollars was in shape of the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) as it was the money which was spent by Pakistan on military’s movement and it took several months for clearance from the US authorities,” The News quoted a a senior official of the Finance Ministry, as saying.

The US has provided less than one billion dollars to Pakistan since the PPP-led government came into power, he said.

The US provided 497 million dollars in shape of CSF in May 2009. Earlier, the US provided around 100 million dollars on the same head a couple of months back – at the end of last financial year.

Around 300 million dollars were provided through USAID during the last financial year. Recently, the US authorities provided over 100 million dollars for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of the Malakand Division.

“The US ambassador should provide details of 3 billion dollars assistance given to Pakistan during the last one and a half years period,” the official said.

Official sources pointed out that Pakistan was bearing the borrowing cost owing to delays in payments from the US related to the CSF. (ANI)

Pak Army claims that it has killed 16 more militants in Swat

Islamabad, Sep.14 (ANI): Security forces killed 16 more militants, at least two of them senior Taliban members, while one soldier was killed in clashes during searches in Swat on Monday, the military said in a daily update.

Over 1,700 militants have been killed since Pakistani security forces launched the military operation against Taliban militants in the month of April.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Sunday, the top Taliban leader in the Swat valley, about 120 km northwest of Islamabad, was surrounded, adding the back of the Taliban insurgency had been broken.

The military’s chief spokesman, however, was more cautious, saying efforts were being made to capture the Swat Taliban chief, a self-styled cleric called Fazlullah, but media reports of his imminent capture were speculation.

‘We’d like to capture him today,’ the official said, while declining to say when he might be tracked down.

The Pakistani Taliban under the overall command of Baitullah Mehsud were held responsible for a wave of attacks across the country from 2007, including the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in December that year. (ANI)

Osama declares decades of war on ‘powerless’ Obama

Islamabad, Sep 14 (ANI): Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has said that US President Barack Obama is “powerless” to stop the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a transcript of a tape released by the terrorist organization’s media wing.

Al Qaeda’s As-Sahab Media released a video featuring a still image of Osama and audio statement entitled “A statement to the American people,” said the organisation IntelCenter.

SITE Intelligence Group, a terrorist-monitoring firm that translated the address, says Osama blames the wars on the “pro-Israel lobby” and corporate interests.

IntelCenter, another company that monitors terrorist propaganda, reports that the 11-minute video is an address to the American people, two days after the eighth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

The group described the release as an address to the American public. Osama usually releases a statement around September or October each year, The Times reports.

In his last previous known message in June, Osama said US President Barack Obama had planted the seeds of “revenge and hatred” towards the United States in the Muslim world and warned of decades of conflict to come.

That audiotape aired on Qatar’s Al-Jazeera news channel less than an hour after Obama landed in Saudi Arabia.

Obama “has followed the steps of his predecessor in antagonizing Muslims… and laying the foundation for long wars,” Osama said in the June release, referring to deadly clashes in Pakistan between the US-backed government and Islamist militants.

“He gave his orders to (Pakistani President Asif Ali) Zardari and his army to prevent the people of Swat from applying Sharia (Islamic) law,” he said.

“Obama and his administration have sowed new seeds of hatred against America. Let the American people prepare to harvest the crops of what the leaders of the White House plant in the next years and decades,” said the Al-Qaeda leader. (ANI)

Swedish-origin ex-Guantanamo Bay detainee held in Pak’s tribal area

London, Sep. 11 (ANI): Mehdi Ghezali, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee of Swedish origin has been arrested in Pakistan.

Before being arrested at a checkpoint in the southern town of Dera Ghazi Khan, Ghezali was travelling with a group of foreigners to the South Waziristan tribal region, an al-Qaeda stronghold region, Times Online reports.

A laptop and 10,000 dollars were seized from Ghezali.

Ghezali is among three Swedes and four Turks who are now being interrogated by the Pakistani Intelligence on suspicion of entering the country illegally and to see if they have links with militants, the report adds.

According to Pakistani army sources, Ghezali had entered Pakistan via Iran.

Ghezali, 30, was arrested in December 2001 near the Tora Bora mountains in eastern Afghanistan and was handed over to the US military.

He spent more than two years at Guantanamo Bay before being released in 2004. (ANI)

Arrest warrant issued against ex-Pak diplomat for issuing fake passport to Indian

Islamabad, Sep.11 (ANI): An arrest warrant has been issued against Pakistan’s former Consul General in Houston (US) on charges of issuing a Pakistani passport to an Indian national.

Assistant Consul General Muhammad Naeem, who is under the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) custody for the last 17 months, told a three member Supreme Court bench that former Pakistani Consul General, Ghulam Rasool, has been asked to appear before the court while issuing an arrest warrant against him.

It may be recalled that Naeem was also arrested for issuing a forged Pakistani passport to an Indian national named Aziz Moosa.

The passport issued by Naeem was in the name of Sayyed Ali.

After the hearing the court rejected Naeem’s bail plea and disposed of the case with directions to the NAB to decide the case within three months, The Daily Times reported. (ANI)

A Q Khan’s nukes to Iran claims hold no ‘official status’: Pak diplomat

Washington, Sep.10 (ANI): Hours after disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist Dr AQ Khan claimed that Pakistan had helped Iran acquire the nuclear technology with the aim to jointly emerge as a ‘strong bloc’ in the region, a Pakistani diplomat has out rightly rejected Khan’s claims.

Spokesman of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, Nadeem Kiyani, said Khan’s statement has no ‘official status’.These are the views of a person who has been rendered ineffective, and his network has been completely shut up,” The Nation quoted Kiyani, as saying.

Kiyani said Islamabad does not want proliferation of nuclear technology in the region and is doing everything to keep a tab on such activities.

Meanwhile, a proliferation expert has said that Dr. Khan has many secrets regarding the transfer of nuclear know-how’s to other countries, but is not willing to disclose the details.

“Khan has ‘always threatened to tell more, perhaps who authorised the transfer of designs and samples of technology, if not more, to several states,” said Stephen Cohen, a proliferation expert at the Brookings Institution.

Referring to the television interview in which Khan had disclosed that he provided nuclear details to countries like Libya and Iran with an aim to counter international pressure and ‘neutralize’ Israeli power, Cohen said: “Khan appeared to hold back a lot in the interview.” (ANI)

KNP to hold Black Day on Oct.22

London, Sep.8 (ANI): The Supreme Council of the KNP held an important meeting in Luton on September 6, which was presided by the party Chairman Abbas Butt. The meeting discussed and analysed the current situation of the Kashmiri struggle and made important decisions.

The Supreme Council strongly condemned the government of Pakistan’s latest attempts to grab territory which is legal part of State of Jammu and Kashmir. The SC said Pakistani governments have never been sincere with the cause of Kashmir and always have formulated policies to snatch Kashmir; and have deliberately deprived people of their fundamental human rights.

The SC said people of Gilgit Baltistan deserve to have their basic human rights which have been denied since 1947; but no one should be allowed to implement their imperialist designs in name of giving rights to people of the region. The KNP leaders said, if Pakistani authorities were sincere they could have discussed the issue with the people of the region and given these rights without making the region a ‘province’ of Pakistan.

PPP government claims to advance rights of people and democracy, but their policies are designed to deprive people of basic rights and advance undemocratic and unconstitutional practises. They tried to make Pakistani Administered Kashmir a province after the Shimla Pact and they plan to make Gilgit Baltistan a province and pave way for division of Jammu and Kashmir.

KNP leaders said some people of Jammu and Kashmir hold Black Day on 27th October, as that is the day when Indian army landed in Kashmir. KNP leaders said in our opinion their wisdom is misdirected. We have to look at the root cause. Indian army came after the tribal invasion and subsequent ‘Provisional Accession’.

KNP Supreme Council said, ‘It was the Pakistani tribesmen supported by the Pakistani government of the time which violated the Standstill Agreement and invaded parts of the State territory. It was these tribesmen which contravened the State sovereignty and killed thousands of innocent Kashmiri men and women. It was because of this unprovoked and unjustified attack on our sovereignty which seriously threatened life, honour and property of people that the Maharaja was compelled to seek help from India.

KNP leaders said we have serious issues with India on their Kashmir policy, as we believe Kashmir is not their internal part; but as for the Black Day is concerned we should have Black Day on 22 October because this is the day when our troubles and miseries started.

KNP SC has decided to take a lead on this matter and hold a BLACK DAY on 22 October; and in this regard various responsibilities have been given to Dr Shabir Choudhry and Nawaz Majid who will liaise with other like minded people and parties. The meeting was addressed by ZubairAnsari, Nazam Bhatti, Nawaz Majid, Asim Mirza, Abbas Butt and Dr Shabir Choudhry.

Earlier KNP held an Iftar Party in which more than eighty people were present; among them were leaders and political activists of various Kashmiri parties who spoke against the new package for Gilgit and Baltistan and condemned designs of Pakistani government. In the meeting pro Pakistan and nationalist leaders were present, and they all strongly spoke against this new package and demanded that it must be taken back.

A unanimous resolution was passed which strongly criticised the new package and demanded from government of Pakistan to withdraw it as it will seriously damage our struggle for right of self determination. The resolution fully supported fundamental rights of people of Gilgit Baltistan; but added that the State of Jammu and Kashmir is one political entity and it must not be divided. (ANI)

US wants to establish ‘Mini Pentagon’ in Islamabad: JUI chief

Islamabad, Sep.6 (ANI): Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) chief Fazlur Rehman has said the United States want to create a mini Pentagon in Islamabad.

The Nation quoted Rehman as saying that US’ plans are threatening the country’s sovereignty.

He warned that the presence of the controversial US firm ‘Blackwater’ inside Pakistan would cause bloodshed.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Embassy has clarified its concerns over US expansion plans.

Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Luo Zhaohui had told a press conference here: “China has concerns over expansion of US embassy in Islamabad and the United States should expand its embassy by materializing rules and regulations of Pakistan.”

A second statement issued by the Chinese Embassy said that Zhaohui’s comments were misinterpreted by the media.

It also denied the presence of armed personnel in the Embassy and added that the security of the Embassy was looked after by the Pakistani Government. (ANI)

Is Pak Navy building new base for US Marines in Sindh ?

Islamabad, Sep.3 (ANI): While the United States has repeatedly denied reports about a surge in US marines in Pakistan, an unconfirmed report has revealed that Pakistani Navy is secretly constructing operational facilities in Gharo, Sindh, which is meant to serve as a base for about 200 US marines.

Highly placed sources within the Pakistan Navy have disclosed that the Special Service Group Navy (SSGN) is constructing a massive complex in the Gharo comprising of halls, residential units, and storage facilities, the PKKH reported.

Speculations are rife that with the construction of the base near the coastal area, the SSGN would allow more US Marine ‘trainers’ to land on Pakistani soil on the pretext of training the country’s naval commanders in newly-acquired weapons and tactics.

It is worth mentioning here that Washington is planning to spend a whopping one billion dollars for revamping its main embassy building in Islamabad and increase the strength of its staff.

The Obama Administration is about to spend 405 million dollars for the reconstruction and refurbishment of the main embassy building and 111 million dollars for constructing a new complex for 330 personnel. A further 197 million dollars would be spent for construction of a housing unit for about 250 personnel.

Eighteen acres of land has already been acquired by the US for the project for a one billion rupees, and a Turkish firm has already built a 153-room compound for the embassy.

The US is also planning to send about 1000 additional staff to Pakistan, where 750 US officials are already stationed against a sanctioned strength of only 350 personnel.

But what is more worrying for Islamabad is that this surge would also boost the number of Marines by over 350.

However, Washington, time and again, has rejected reports regarding stationing of Marines in Islamabad. (ANI)

Imran Khan, Benazir Bhutto were an item, claims book

London, Aug 19 (ANI): Author of a new biography of Imran Khan claims that the cricketer-turned-politician was romantically involved with late former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto when both of them studied together at Oxford University.

In his book, Christopher Sandford writes that Bhutto became infatuated with Khan, and the pair enjoyed a “close” and possibly “sexual” relationship.he author has also alleged that Khan’s mother even tried to organise an arranged marriage between the pair, but to no avail.

It was believed that Khan and Bhutto had always been at loggerheads, both politically and personally.

In fact, Khan openly criticised the former Prime Minister just days before her death.

But Sandford, who interviewed both Khan and his ex-wife Jemima for the book, claimed that a source told him that Bhutto was 21, and in her second year of reading politics at Lady Margaret Hall, when she became close to Khan in 1975.

The source also revealed that she had been “visibly impressed” by Khan, and might even have been the first to call him the “Lion of Lahore”.

“In any event, it seems fairly clear that, for at least a month or two, the couple were close. There was a lot of giggling and blushing whenever they appeared together in public,” the Telegraoh quoted Sandford as having told the Daily Mail.

He added: “It also seems fair to say that the relationship was “sexual”, in the sense that it could only have existed between a man and a woman. The reason some supposed it went further was because, to quote one Oxford friend: ‘Imran slept with everyone.’”

However, the former Pakistan cricket captain has rebuffed these claims, saying that he never had a sexual relationship with Bhutto.

Although he agreed to having been interviewed for the book, but claimed to have not read it as yet.

“Yes, I was interviewed, but I know nothing about the rest of what has been written. So it is not official,” he told the Daily Mail.

“It is absolute nonsense about any sexual relationship or my mother and an arranged marriage. We were friends – that’s all,” he added. (ANI)

Pakistan requires ‘months’ for Waziristan push, says Army

Islamabad, Aug 18(ANI): Pakistani Army has said that it would require months to prepare for a ground offensive against the Taliban in their South Waziristan stronghold on the Afghan border.

Lieutenant-General Nadeem Ahmed, Commander of the 1 Strike Corps in Mangla in Pakistan Kashmir, said this while reacting to comments made by visiting US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke.

Holbrooke has already said that Washington is scrambling to get the equipment the Pakistani Army needs and that the timing of any ground operation was up to the army and government.

Pakistani forces have surrounded Taliban fighters in their tribal lands in South Waziristan, where Pakistani warplanes have attacked Taliban positions and US drone aircraft have launched several missile strikes that apparently killed militant leader Baitullah Mehsud.

Lt. Gen. Ahmed further said that the Pakistani military is waiting for the right time and is trying to create the right conditions for launching a future ground offensive by imposing a ‘tight’ blockade around the area.

“Once you feel that the conditions are right and you have been able to substantially dent their infrastructure and their fighting capacity, then you go in for a ground offensive,” The Dawn quoted Lt. Gen. Ahmed, as saying.

“That may happen in winter, or even beyond, probably,” he added.

Lt. Gen. Ahmed also informed that many of the military’s helicopters were being used in an offensive against militants in the Swat valley, which needs maintenance before being sent to Waziristan. (ANI)

Taliban infighting could benefit both US, Pak: NYT

Washington, Aug.9 (ANI): An American counter-terrorism official has said that the infighting within the Taliban could provide an opportunity for both the United States and Pakistan to exploit the rivalries to their respective advantages.

According to the counter-terrorism official, one of those opportunities, from the American point of view, would be the ability to focus its fleet of drone aircraft on attacking militant leaders who were involved in the Afghan war, or on Qaeda leaders planning attacks against the West.

That has been a source of tension between the Americans and Pakistani officials, who had viewed the Mehsuds as the most urgent threat.

One Pakistani official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the fighting could create an opening for the Haqqanis, another group that has close ties to Al Qaeda, to intervene in resolving the leadership issue.

Sirajuddin Haqqani is the point man in Pakistan for the leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Muhammad Omar.

Details of the fighting were spotty on Saturday.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, confirmed reports of a shootout at a meeting in South Waziristan and said one of the commanders had been killed but did not say who it was.

“The infighting was between Waliur Rehman and Hakimullah Mehsud,” Malik said, adding “We have information that one of them has been killed. Who was killed we will be able to say later after confirming.”

Reports received by government officials on Saturday indicated that Rehman and Hakimullah Mehsud – a member of Baitullah’s tribe but not a close relative – argued over succession at a tribal meeting at Sara Rogha in South Waziristan.

A shootout ensued, killing Mehsud and wounding Rehman, officials said.

A senior government official in Peshawar was quoted by the New York Times, as saying that Baitullah Mehsud’s father-in-law, who had been at the meeting, was now in the custody of an opposing faction.

Beyond being a succession struggle, the infighting may also represent a deeper conflict over the goals and direction of the Pakistani Taliban.

A resident of the area who spoke by telephone on Saturday said foreign militants favored Mr. Rehman while local Mehsuds wanted Hakimullah to be their new leader.

The alliance between Al Qaeda and Pakistani Taliban leaders goes back years in Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas, where local Pakistani militants helped ferry Arab operatives back and forth across the border from Afghanistan. More recently it has surfaced in the attacks on Pakistan’s major cities, far from the war-torn western tribal areas.

“They are interconnected,” a Karachi counterterrorism official said, referring to Al Qaeda and the Taliban. “They depend on each other.”

Clear evidence of that alliance, counterterrorism officials say, was the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.

The bomber was an Afghan, trained by Taliban fighters in Mohmand Agency, part of the tribal area where the Mehsuds operate. But it was a Qaeda operative of Kenyan origin, Usama al-Kinni, who planned and financed the attack.

In an added complication with serious implications for security in Pakistan, the handlers and facilitators in that attack were from Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous and strategic province, which itself has been the target of a series of suicide bombings and commando-style attacks since March. (ANI)

Zardari says he discussed Indus Basin Water Treaty issue with Manmohan Singh

Islamabad, Aug. 9 (ANI): Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has said that he discussed the issue of the Indus Basin Water Treaty during his first meeting with India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New York.

Responding to a question about the alleged violation of Indus Basin Water Treaty by India, Zardari said the government was conscious of this very grave issue of water shortage and is taking steps for its conservation.

In 2008, Pakistan’s Indus Commissioner Syed Jamaat Ali Shah had alleged that India was filling the Baglihar Dam in clear violation of the Indus Basin Water Treaty, bringing the inflow in Chenab River down to a historic low of 20,000 cusecs.

According to The Nation, Zardari said that a special assistant to the prime minister on water had been appointed, which reflected the significance the government was attaching to the issue.

He also emphasised on the importance of water conservation and said modern technologies of irrigation should be utilised for conservation of precious water.

On the issue of militancy in Balochistan, Zardari said the government is moving in the right direction to address the problems faced by the people of Balochistan through dialogue and constitutional means.

He admitted that the people of Balochistan had been ignored in the past and the PPP government would like to apologise to them despite the fact that “We were not responsible for the past wrong doings.”

Addressing members of the youth parliament, Zardari said that Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani had raised the issue of foreign interference in Balochistan with his Indian counterpart during their meeting at Sharm El-Sheikh. (ANI)

Pakistan Government’s record in handling return of refugees is not good

Washington, July 14 (ANI): The Pakistan Government’s record in handling the return of refugees is not good, and Islamabad is unprepared for the influx of people in the Swat Valley which can result in a loss of public opinion if the delivery of services is no better than before the Taliban’s seizure of the region, analysts have said.

Pakistan on Monday began returning more than two million refugees who were displaced by a government offensive against Taliban elements to the Swat Valley. The process will be closely watched by foreign governments, including in the United States, for signs of Pakistan’s ability to reverse a growing Islamist militancy.

Southeast Asia analysts and humanitarian-aid experts say that Pakistan’s heavily centralized government is unprepared for the massive return, The Christian Science Monitor reports.

“The Pakistani Government does not have a good track record when it comes to returning displaced populations, so this will be an important test,” says Patrick Duplat, a services advocate with Refugees International in Washington.

“If they once again send families back to areas that remain insecure and lack basic government services, the door will be open to more of the loss of public confidence that is so important for the government,” he said.

The specter of a nuclear-armed Pakistan destabilized by Islamist extremists who are allied with their brethren next door in Afghanistan prompted the US to encourage the government’s offensive in Swat in the first place, the CSM report says.

That gives the US not just an interest in seeing the Pakistani government succeed with its own people, but a “special responsibility” in assisting with a successful refugee return process, Duplat says.

He notes that after a similar displacement of residents in the northwest tribal areas last fall was followed by a “hasty” and “poorly planned” return, the same residents had to flee their homes a second time – a disruption that resulted in a precipitous loss of faith in the government.

Still, the Pakistani government may have reason to be more successful in the case of the Swat Valley. For one thing, Swat, which is north of the capital of Islamabad, is a long-settled area as opposed to the remote and semiautonomous tribal areas.

“So there’s reason for a certain amount of confidence that the government has a good read on the region,” says Lisa Curtis, a South Asia expert with the Heritage Foundation in Washington. (ANI)

Brit MP questions UK Govt. for spending money on Musharraf’s security

London, July 10 (ANI): A British parliamentarian of Pakistani origin has tabled a bill in the House of Lords against security being provided by Scotland Yard to former president Pervez Musharraf.

Lord Nazir Ahmed confirmed that five to six officers will accompany Musharraf wherever he goes. Quoting sources, Lord Ahmed said the detail would comprise of Scotland Yard agents.

Lord Nazir in his bill has questioned the British Government for spending money on Musharraf’s security, as there is no such practice for any other former head of state or government currently residing in the UK.

He disclosed that when Musharraf visited a music shop located at the Ilford Lane in East London and famous Dorchester Hotel in Park Lane for listening songs, six bodyguards from the Scotland Yard stood on alert outside the premises.

Lord Nazir further said only two guards are provided to former prime ministers of Great Britain while UAE rulers move without any security, then why could Musharraf not live without such arrangements.

Lord Nazir further raised the question of whether this sort of security is provided to other former heads of states, and if there is some financial contribution by the Pakistani Government in Musharraf’s case.

Lord Nazir said that while this might be a personal request by Musharraf, the question remains who will pay for the service?

He alleged that Musharraf bought flats worth of 1.4 million pounds in the UK and was keeping as many as six bodyguards. It is a question that has to be brought under the microscope.

The Dawn quoted Lord Nazir as describing the situation as “not normal” and that it “concerned him.” (ANI)

Pak Taliban eyes new allies in wake of renewed US offensive

Islamabad, July 10 (ANI): Increased pressure from the US and the Pakistani Army on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and al Qaeda may force them to join hands with the militant Sunni radical group Jundallah, a group that staged attacks on Iran and strained Iranian-Pakistani relations.

Ashraf Ali, a Peshawar-based military specialist on the Taliban, said that given Jundallah’s historical connections with al Qaeda and the Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan might seek refuge in Balochistan or join the ranks of Jundallah.

“This would give a totally new dimension to the dynamics of Taliban/al Qaeda militancy in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region and may shift some of the problem to the Pakistan-Iran border region,” The Washington Times quoted Ali, as saying.

“This is very much possible, as apparently there seems to be no Pakistani troops deployment on the south of the conflict zone towards Balochistan,” he added.

Last week, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at a hotel in Balochistan’s Kalat district, killing four people and injuring 11. The attack appeared aimed at disrupting supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan, since drivers of NATO supply vehicles were eating at the hotel, the Daily Times reported.

Analysts say the incident was a sign of rising Taliban/al Qaeda activities in Balochistan, as well as a possible indication of growing contacts between Waziristan-based militant groups and Jundallah.

Malik Siraj Akbar, a journalist in Quetta, said that Jundullah leader Abdul Malik Rigi studied at madrassas in Karachi where Taliban leaders also got their schooling.

The possibility of a new alliance among the Taliban, Al Qaeda and Jundallah could provide common ground among the United States, Pakistan and Iran against the terror threat. (ANI)

Pakistani Hindus allowed to travel to India to immerse ashes of ancestors

Karachi, July 5 (ANI): Hundreds of Hindus based in Sindh province would now be able to travel to India to immerse the ashes of their ancestors in the holy River Ganga, as they have been granted visas after decades of denial by the Pakistani authorities.

Now, that the authorities have allowed Hindus to travel to India, it is expected that several people of the community would be visiting India to perform the last rights of their ancestors and immerse the ashes in the holy water of the River Ganga for eternal transformation the body in accordance with the Hindu mythology.

Ashes of about 130 Hindus are lying at local cremation ground here alone, as authorities have denied giving important traveling documents to people for long and the heightened tension between India and Pakistan after the 26/11 Mumbai carnage, which made the matters worse, The Daily Times reports.

It may be noted that the Union Home Ministry and the External Affairs Ministry had agreed to issue the visas to Pakistani Hindus recently during a meeting with the office bearers of the South Asia Fraternity.

Meanwhile, in Hardwar, where the ashes are to be immersed, two ashrams have offered to provide free accommodation and food to the visiting Pakistani Hindus during their stay. (ANI)

Pakistan nationals living in India appeal for Sarabjeet Singh’s release

Tirur (Kerala), June 26 (ANI): Currently languishing in Pakistan jail, Indian prisoner Sarabjeet Singh has found supporters in Pakistani nationals living in India.

Around 180 registered citizens holding Pakistan passports, residing in Tirur in Kerala are gearing up to put forth an appeal to President Asif Ali Zardari to review Sarabjeet’s death sentence.

“We are now mobilising these people and we will be getting their signatures on a memorandum and this memorandum we intend to root it to United Nations Human Rights organisation and so also the Commonwealth Human Rights initiative,” said Pouran, Human Rights Activist, People’s Union For Civil Liberties (PUCL).

According to these people, their faith does not allow the killing of innocents and as he has suffered for past so many years.

“Past is past. He has suffered a lot in these years. If he has done any wrong, taking revenge or killing someone is not mentioned in our faith and is also not a solution, so releasing him will be the right thing to do,” said M Kunju Ahmed, a Pakistan national.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal by Sarabjeet Singh seeking a review of a death sentence in his alleged involvement in the Lahore bomb attacks in 1990.

A three-member bench led by Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed dismissed Sarabjit’s review petition on the grounds of non-pursuance of the case by his lawyer. Sarabjit’s counsel had failed to appear in court for the past few hearings, including the last one on Monday.

Rana Abdul Hamid, the lawyer who was representing Sarabjit, had been unable to appear in court after he was appointed last year an additional advocate general by Punjab province.

Earlier, Ansar Burney, the leading Pakistani Human Rights activist has said that he would file a fresh mercy petition to Pakistan President on behalf of Sarabjit Singh.

“I will file a fresh Mercy petition before the President of Pakistan. I am confident that I will not allow Pakistan Government to hang an innocent person only on the basis that he is Non-Muslim or Indian national,” Ansar Burney said.

Sarabjit Singh is a resident of Amritsar in Punjab. He was arrested near the Kasur border in Pakistan in August 1990. As per his family, he had actually strayed into Pakistan”s territory in an inebriated state.

He was awarded death sentence by a Lahore anti-terrorism court in October 1991 for allegedly carrying out serial bomb blasts in Pakistan. By Juhan Samuel(ANI)