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Tuesday,
November 12, 2002,
Chandigarh, India  
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Musharraf
puts off Cabinet-NSC meeting Extradition
of Pak convict sought Benazir
rules out truck with MMA US Cong
man against lifting curbs on Pak
Guard
against ultras: Sinha |
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10 die
in Manila plane crash Nepal
strike paralyses life
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Musharraf puts off Cabinet - NSC meeting
Islamabad, November 11 The Cabinet-NSC meeting had been cancelled on the instructions of President Musharraf late last night, media here quoting officials reported. However, no reason was assigned for the cancellation. The meeting, which was called to discuss options left for General Musharraf to tide over the crisis, was put off following reports that he held prolonged meetings with the leaders of parties that were opposed as well as favourably disposed towards him. He is reported to have met Mr Zafarullah Jamali, the prime ministerial candidate of the pro-military regime Pakistan Muslim League Qiade Azam (PML-Q), which emerged as the single largest party but failed to secure support from any of the mainstream parties due to its favourable stand towards General Musharraf and his controversial constitutional amendments. Jamali and other PML-Q leaders held numerous rounds of talks with the six religious-party alliance, Muthahida Majlis Amal (MMA) to iron out their difference on General Musharraf’s presidency as well as constitutional amendments empowering himself and the military with more powers, the reports said. He reportedly met the MMA leaders, including the chief of Jamat Islami, Qazi Hussain Ahmad, and discussed their reservations over his presidency and amendments. Media reports also said President Musharraf met Mukhdhum Amin Fahim leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians, who was leading the party in the absence of its leader and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. However, there was no official confirmation about any of these meetings. These meetings were first of such kind held with the partial confirmation to the media. A few weeks ago, he met Fahim at a restaurant, which both later called a “chance” meeting. It now appeared that he has formally begun direct talks with the political leaders to break the deadlock over the government formation. So far the talks were held by the PML-Q leaders on his behalf. Following his meetings yesterday, he reportedly decided to put off his Cabinet-NSC meeting which was called to discuss the progress made to formation of the government, holding of re-elections, if stalemate continued and imposition of martial law. In another development, the MMA and PML-Q formed a joint committee consisting of four members to thrash out their differences.
PTI |
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Extradition of Pak convict sought Multan, November 11 Mir Aimal Kansi (38) was convicted by a court in Virginia in 1997 of double murder outside the Central Intelligence Agency’s headquarters, and was sentenced to death by lethal execution. He belongs to the powerful Kasi tribe of Pakistan’s southwestern tribal-dominated desert province of Baluchistan, and his family lives in the Baluch capital, Quetta. “We vehemently condemn Kansi’s planned execution. The government should bring him back to Pakistan for his trial in a local court,” said Muhammad Arif, leader of the fundamentalist Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) in Multan. The JUI is a key component of the six-party Islamic alliance, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). Its leader, pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlur-Rehman, is an aspirant for the prime ministership after the MMA won the balance of power in the hung parliament on stunning gains in the October 10 poll. Kansi had quietly returned to Pakistan after the murder, but was extradited to the USA for trial after he was picked up in 1997 in a hotel in Dera Ghazi Khan, 80 kilometres west of here.
AFP |
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Benazir
rules out truck with MMA
Islamabad, November 11 In an interview to a Pakistan television channel, from Washington, the self-exiled leader said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was in favour of formation of a consensus or national government to tide over the present stalemate, if other parties agreed to make her party leader, Mukhdhum Amin Fahim, Prime Minister. She said her party might
support Muttahida Majilas Amal (MMA), an alliance of six hardline religious party in forming the government. However, she said the PPP would not be a part of the government if the MMA formed the government and the MMA would not be a part, if the PPP formed the government because the differences between the two parties on the foreign and domestic issues were like sky and the earth, she said. She said an agreement to form a government with pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Qaide Azam (PML-Q) was not possible due to differences over Musharraf’s Presidency and total transfer of power to an elected government. Significantly Bhutto, whose party emerged second with 81 seats in the 342-member assembly, has ruled out a coalition government with the MMA, stating that the differences between the PPPP and the MMA over the foreign and domestic and foreign policies were like the “sky and earth”. Bhutto’s comments followed amid reports that the USA had pressured her not to support an MMA-led government for the pro-Taliban and anti-US stand of the religious leaders.
PTI |
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Govt-PPPP talks break down
Islamabad, November 11 The government’s move yesterday led to the collapse of talks, the News reported today, quoting sources. Instead of Mr
Fahim, the government has cleared Mr Zafarullah Khan Jamali’s name. UNI |
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US Cong man against lifting curbs on Pak US Congressman Gary Ackerman has urged the Bush Administration not to lift the remaining sanctions on Pakistan in the light of reports that Islamabad has provided nuclear weapons-related equipment or technology to North Korea. Expressing deep concern over the published reports of nuclear transfers corroborated by U.S. officials, Mr Ackerman, former chairman of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, has written to President Bush asking him not to complete the waiver process in regard to existing American sanctions against Pakistan for fiscal year 2003 until the facts concerning the allegations (of nuclear transfers to North Korea) have been established and the administration has consulted with Congress as to whether or not new missile and/or nuclear sanctions are warranted. “I recognise Congress provided you with the authority to waive these sanctions,” Mr.Ackerman said in his letter released by his office last week. “I also recognise that Pakistan has provided substantial support for Operation Enduring Freedom. However, these new allegations of Pakistan’s collaboration with North Korea, a designated state sponsor of terrorism, and a clear threat not only to U.S. treaty allies but to the U.S. homeland, present us with new security circumstances.” The democrat lawmaker, who is a member of the House International Relations Committee, added that these new circumstances required that the administration and Congress review U.S. policy towards Pakistan “before we provide any further assistance.” |
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Guard against ultras: Sinha
Seoul, November 11 “Strengths of democracies have been exploited by terrorists. There is a need to find a balance between the imperative of security and the right to information and speech,” External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said while co-chairing a session on ‘Media and Democracy’ at the 2nd ministerial conference of the Community of Democracies which opened here. With media freedom went accountability and responsibility and the issue had acquired greater urgency in the context of terrorism, Mr Sinha told foreign ministers and delegates from more than 100 countries, who have gathered here to draw a blueprint for the future of global democracy. Mr Sinha suggested that through self-regulation, the citizens’ rights to objective and reliable information could be fulfilled, particularly in developing countries and in countries without “plurality and diversity” in media. He said the relationship between media and democracy was symbiotic and democracy was essential for media freedom.
PTI |
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10 die in Manila
plane crash Manila, November 11 The 15 survivors rescued by the naval and fishing boats were all injured, seven of them critically, and are in hospitals across Manila.
AFP |
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Nepal strike paralyses life
Kathmandu, November 11 Security was intensified in Kathmandu, with armed soldiers and policemen patrolling the streets, and increased vigilance around key buildings. The police arrested 88 suspected Maoist activists on the eve of the general strike, which came after a spate of violence in the country that left at least five dead. No incident of violence was reported from the city that wore a deserted look as schools, colleges and business establishments remained closed, and tourist buses were the only vehicles to ply the roads. Hotel occupancy was reduced to minimum. The oldest Five Star Hotel Soaltee Crown Plaza had a paltry 30 per cent occupancy, said its sales manager. The shutdown was intended to coincide with the November 13 general election which was, however, postponed indefinitely when King Gyanendra dismissed the Sher Bahadur Deuba government. However, the Maoists are carrying on with the three-day strike.
PTI |
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