Sharif amasses millions
FIA report unveils fake bank accounts

LONDON, Sept 27 (PTI) — The Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) of Pakistan has charged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with allegedly amassing millions of pounds in offshore bank accounts and possessing undisclosed property in London.

In a 200-page report submitted to the Pakistan President Mohd Rafique Tarar, and the Army Chief Gen Jehangir Karamat last week, the FIA alleged that more than  £ 41 million had been traced to accounts and companies controlled by Sharif’s family, with vast amounts reportedly passing through fake bank accounts and secret tax havens.

Mr Nawaz Sharif, who is currently here, has however, dismissed the report.

The FIA, after a five-year probe, also alleged that Mr Sharif’s family assets include four flats in London’s exclusive Mayfair Area worth more than £ 3 million, which the agency said, had never been revealed to the tax authorities, the ‘Sunday Observer’ said.

The paper claimed that the Army chief "is on the brink of declaring a martial law" apparently using it as a "pretext" for dismissing the Pakistan Prime Minister, whose party commands an overwhelming two-thirds majority in the National Assembly.

A top prime ministerial aide said the author of the report, the Deputy Director General of FIA, Rehman Malik was under suspension. The investigation against Mr Sharif began when he was out of power but the British media reports said it was effectively stifled when his party, the Pakistan Muslim League, (PML) came back to power two years back.

Mr Sharif’s aide declined to comment on the report instead challenged the bona fide of Malik.

"There are no charges to answer, you should know the status of this person (Malik),’’ he told Observer.

Mr Malik reportedly went underground after surviving an assassination bid against him outside his house in Islamabad.

Meanwhile, Mr Sharif, according to reports, held a marathon two-hour one-to-one discussion with Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) strongman Altaf Hussain on Friday night here in a bid to seek political patch-up with his erstwhile allies with whom he broke under "obvious pressure from the Army and fundamentalist lobby."

There are fears that new allegations of corruption might add to the political instability in crises-torn Pakistan and could be used to justify a military coup, Observer said.

The FIA investigations against Mr Sharif centres around Mr Sharif’s Ittefaq group of companies, which grew at an astonishing rate during his first term in office in 1990-93. It is alleged that the companies received billions of rupees as bank loans, which had never been repaid.

The report claimed that $ 8 million sent offshore by companies within the Ittefaq group had then returned to Sharif’s 43 family members and friends.

A further $ 50 million are managed on behalf of the family in Switzerland, the paper quoting the report said.

The report said four flats in "Avenfield House" in park lane in Mayfair were acquired by two companies registered in the British Virgin Islands and were linked to a bank account on a fictitious name.

Observer claimed that a paper trail leads from Nawaz Sharif’s burgeoning business empire in Pakistan to Switzerland, Washington, the British Virgin Islands, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and then to London. The report alleges that the family is connected to phantom bank accounts, huge outstanding loan payments and massive tax evasion.

"Today Sharif is one of the richest man in a chronically divided country. Son of an ironmonger, Sharif and his six brothers allegedly have assets of more than £ 500 million in Pakistan alone’’, the paper claimed.

Pak PM claims ‘major breakthrough’

ISLAMABAD, Sept 27 (PTI) — Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif today claimed to have achieved a "major breakthrough" with India by ensuring "Kashmir issue" was included in the Indo-Pakistani dialogue resuming next month, saying New Delhi had agreed to it.

"It augurs well that this time India has agreed to discuss the Kashmir issue at the secretary-level talks between the two countries for promoting peace in the region,’’ Mr Sharif told mediapersons at the Lahore airport on his return from New York and London.

Mr Sharif was referring to his talks with Indian counterpart Atal Behari Vajpayee on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Hoping that the move would pave way for a meaningful dialogue on Kashmir, he said: "We conveyed to the Indian side that without discussing Kashmir Indo-Pakistan talks will be without results and India has agreed to our demand."

"India was made to realise during the SAARC summit in Colombo in July-end that any dialogue would be fruitless without discussing Kashmir,’’

On the decision to introduce a bus service between Lahore and New Delhi, Mr Sharif said it was done purely on humanitarian grounds as poor people travelling between the two nations were facing acute problems".

The Pakistani Premier said a large number of people living on both sides of the borders travelled frequently to visit relatives every year and those travelling by train faced a lot of problems.

The agreement on resumption of the Indo-Pakistani bilateral dialogue with an initial discussion on Kashmir is being termed as a "major diplomatic victory" for Pakistan by official circles here.

Mr Akram Zaki, Chairman, Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, during an interview with PTV said. "After Pakistan’s nuclear detonations international pressure on India has been mounting to resolve the Kashmir issue.

"During the Sharif-Vajpayee meeting in New York, the Indian Premier agreed to resume Foreign Secretary-level talks which is a great diplomatic victory for Pakistan,’’ he added.

Using mules to ferry arms
From M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Sept 27 — The recovery of large quantities of arms and ammunition from Zarwali village in the Kandi belt of Rajouri, which yesterday witnessed a fierce encounter between insurgents and troops, resulting in the killing of two militants and injuries to three soldiers, has confirmed earlier reports that Pakistan had engaged mules for carrying weapons across the border.

Official sources said that the field intelligence agencies had spotted more than 30 mules carrying weapons and explosives from the interior of Pakistan to Kotli across Mendhar border area. From Kotli these weapons were being smuggled into the Poonch and Rajouri area.

The sources said that the security forces recovered assault rifles, rockets, rocket launchers, air defence guns, grenades and grenade launchers, four wireless sets and large bags of ammunition and high grade explosives from Zarwali village indicating that such a huge quantity of arms could have not been carried across manually. Of late, Kotli, across Mendhar, has emerged as a focal point for training militants and for organising infiltration. At present there are 25 arms training camps in Kotli alone, where Afghan and Pak nationals are being imparted training in handling of sophisticated weapons and in carrying out guerrilla attacks on the Indian security forces.

Reports from across the border revealed that a large number of Afghan and Pak insurgents have been brought close to the border right from Bagh to Rawalakot to Palandhari and from Palandhari to Kotli across Poonch and Rajouri sectors for pushing them into the Jammu region.

According to these reports those militants who have already sneaked into the Jammu sector from across Poonch and Rajouri in recent days are 70 per cent Afghan nationals, 20 per cent Pakistani and 10 per cent Kashmiris.

The main infiltration routes have been carved out by Pak soldiers and transborder smugglers from Tarkundi Kahuta and Sialkot and intelligence reports have indicated that the majority of Pak trained militants sneak into the Jammu region from Balakot, Betra Nallah, and from across the Mendhar sector. More troops are being deployed on the border to plug these infiltration routes, failing which the situation may worsen in the near future.