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Tuesday,
July 9, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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India ready for joint patrolling: George
US Consulate blast: 3 suspects arrested
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Imam held for inciting mob to kill US engineer Over 100 Al-Qaida men in Karachi
Tensions won’t affect poll: Pak minister Partymen urge Benazir to return Arafat ‘sacks’ his intelligence chief
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India ready for joint patrolling: George Tokyo, July 8 “We are still ready for joint surveillance” of the LoC, Mr Fernandes, on a three-day visit to Japan, told reporters here. But to realise it, Mr Fernandes said, there would first have to be “a certain level of understanding” between the two sides as well as “confidence with each other on the borders.” “It will take some time before confidence-building measures can be brought into action. We have our troops on our side, they have their troops on the other side. They are looking at each other not as friends, not as people having trust in each other,” he said, according to Kyodo. Cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Fernandes said, continued despite Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s “solemn promise” conveyed to US President George W. Bush in early June that he would put a “permanent” stop to infiltration and close down militant training camps. After that promise, India had initially acknowledged a decrease in the infiltration of militants from across the LoC. Mr Fernandes said, “We discovered that in mid-June, once again terrorism got on the upswing. What we now have are ups and downs. There is not any complete end to terrorism and one never knows when it crops up again.”
PTI |
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US Consulate blast: 3 suspects arrested Karachi, July 8 Authorities seized Kalashnikov automatic rifles, pistols and ammunition in the raids in southern districts of the city, the officials said. One official said the three were members of the outlawed Islamic extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, believed to have links to the Al-Qaida. Officials said the trio arrested today were suspected in the June 14 car bombing outside the US Consulate in Karachi, that killed at least 12 Pakistanis and injured 50, and the May 8 suicide bombing outside the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi, which killed the 11 Frenchmen and three other persons, including the bomber. Pakistani officials working with the FBI had detained dozens of militant suspects in Karachi in the past few weeks, including many Lashkar-e-Jhangvi members, hoping for clues to the bombings. No charges had been laid and it was not immediately clear whether those arrested today had been charged. Authorities were also searching for possible links between the bombings and the kidnapping and slaying of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl earlier this year in Karachi. Four men were on trial for murdering Pearl.
AP |
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Imam held for inciting mob to kill US engineer Islamabad, July 8 The Jaranwala police yesterday arrested the imam of a local mosque and two others for instigating villagers to kill Faraz Jawed, who objected to anti-US remarks by the imam in his Friday sermon, the daily Dawn reported today. The incident comes close on the heels of stoning to death on Thursday of a 40-year-old man, Zahid Shah, for making blasphemous remarks in a neighbouring village. The police has registered a case against 300 persons in this connection. As Hafiz Abdul Latif began delivering his lecture cursing the Pakistan Government and the USA, 30-year-old Jawed told the cleric to confine himself to Islamic teachings, the daily reported. “Instead of blaming America, you should better tell us Islamic teachings,” Jawed reportedly told the imam. The imam apparently did not like it and asked the people gathered to kill Jawed. “He is also an American and an enemy of Muslims”, he declared inciting the crowd to attack, the newspaper said. Jawed, however, managed to escape and hid in his relative’s house. The crowd followed him to the house on a directive from the imam to the villagers to punish him. The relatives managed to inform the police which rushed to the site and dispersed the mob, the daily said.
PTI |
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Over 100 Al-Qaida men in Karachi Islamabad, July 8 “The Al-Qaida activists or suspects have been concentrating in Afghanistan’s areas bordering Pakistan ever since the USA began its military operations in the landlocked country and they later moved into Pakistan,’’ ‘The Daily Times’ quoted intelligence sources as saying. The sources said Pakistan authorities made their first arrests of Al-Qaida suspects in October. Their interrogation had revealed that they had gone to Afghanistan after staying in Karachi, where they had arrived from abroad, at different time periods. The sources said, “Initially the Al-Qaida activists were based in the NWFP, but a large number of them later moved to Punjab because of the manhunt against them. They moved to Karachi.’’ The sources said it was easier to carry out terrorist operations in Karachi than any other place because the chances of disappearance soon after committing the crime were better than the rest of the country. “It is because of this reason that the authorities had to shift the venue of the Daniel Pearl trial from Karachi to Hyderabad,’’ the sources said. So far, law enforcement agencies had apprehended about 40 Al-Qaida suspects from across the country, including about 12 from Karachi alone, they added.
UNI |
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Tensions won’t affect poll: Pak minister Islamabad, July 8 The elections would be held on time even if the situation on the Indian borders remained unchanged, Federal Minister Khalid Ranjah said. Despite easing of tensions both India and Pakistan continued to amass troops on the borders, the minister said ascribing rumours about the postponement of elections to elements not likely to get ticket from their respective parties. Commenting on the poll prospects of former premiers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, he was quoted by Dawn as saying that they cannot contest the elections as they have been convicted. “Ms Bhutto is a convict and so is Mr Sharif”, he told the daily adding that the constitutional rules disqualified both of them from contesting the elections. In another interview to the official APP news agency, Ranjha said the new order promulgated by President Musharraf limiting the terms of the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers to two times was aimed at injecting new blood in political leadership. “There is a kind of family monopoly in political parties and able leadership cannot emerge,” Ranjha later told BBC arguing that if the Constitution restricted a President’s term to two times, “why can’t it be applied to the Prime Minister.” Stating that his government had no intention to bar any party from contesting, he said Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) should judge for themselves if they wanted to be led by the former premiers or elect a new leadership. He named Mustafa Jatoi, who has been a Prime Minister and a Chief Minister in the past, and Aftab Shepao, a former Chief Minister of the Balochistan province among those who would not qualify for contesting the October poll.
PTI |
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Partymen
urge Benazir to return Islamabad, July 8 The central executive committee of the PPP, which met here yesterday, passed a resolution in this regard, PPP Vice-Chairman Ameen Fahim said. The committee, in consultation with the other political parties, has also decided to challenge in the Supreme Court the constitutional amendments made by President Gen Pervez Musharraf. One of the amendments has debarred Ms Bhutto and Mr Nawaz Sharif from contesting for the office of the Prime Minister for more than two times.
UNI |
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Arafat ‘sacks’ his intelligence chief Ramallah, July 8 The yesterday’s dismissal was the third major sacking of a security chief recently as part of a general reform plan, but they were also bringing the Palestinian leader increasing criticism — even from officials within his faction. However, the director of general intelligence, Mr Amin Hindi, denied reports of Mr Tirawi’s removal. Mr Arafat signed his dismissal order yesterday, the security officials said, but he had decided not to make it public for the time being. They said Mr Arafat was waiting for a resolution to Mr Tirawi’s trouble with Israel. Mr Tirawi is wanted by Israel for his alleged role in attacks against Israeli targets. He is with Mr Arafat inside the presidential compound in Ramallah, which is under siege by the Israeli army. Meanwhile, a senior adviser to Mr Arafat today denied that the Palestinian president had sacked Mr Tirawi. Reports of the dismissal are not true, Mr Nabil Abu Rudeineh told Israel Radio. In another development, Mr Arafat has offered Jibril Rajoub, who was sacked on Thursday as the West Bank preventive security chief, a post as a personal adviser or as the deputy interior minister, local media reports said today. His dismissal had sparked off demonstrations in Ramallah and Hebron over the weekend.
DPA |
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Arafat may go in
6 months, believes Israeli army Jerusalem, July 8 The Israeli defence establishment had called repeatedly for Arafat to be forced out of power or exiled. The army’s chief of staff, Shaul Mofaz, said recently he still favoured exiling Arafat.
Reuters |
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Punished
for living together unwed Dubai, July 8 Gulf News said the two were reported by an Emirati neighbour to the police, who arrested them after determining they were not married. Sharia courts throughout the United Arab Emirates federation of seven city-states hand down severe punishment for couples caught having affairs.
AFP |
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Pakistani soldiers escort Mohammad Imran (L) and Mohammad Hanif (R), belonging to the banned Islamic militant group
Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, on Monday. They were arrested over a series of bomb attacks, including one on the US Consulate in Karachi last month.
