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Sunni cleric among eight shot
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4 Palestinians killed in Gaza
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US House clears military aid for Pak, Afghanistan
Aziz unlikely to bring Musharraf’s formula
Qazi, Fazlur differ on talks offer
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Sunni cleric among eight shot
Mosul (Iraq), November 22 Sheikh Feydhi Mohammed al-Feydhi, brother of the group’s official spokesman, was shot by masked gunmen in a car as he left an Islamic centre in north-eastern Mosul, it said in a statement. He later died in hospital. The Muslim Clerics Association has called for a boycott of elections planned for January 30. It says its members have been targeted by the US and the Iraqi security forces and also by insurgents trying to fuel sectarian unrest. The city sunk into chaos earlier this month when insurgents occupied several police stations and most Iraqi policemen fled from their positions. The US and Iraqi troops have moved in to try to restore stability. Anti-US sentiment runs high among Iraq’s Sunni minority, which has lost much of the power and privilege it enjoyed under Saddam Hussein, who is a Sunni. The Muslim clerics Association was formed after Saddam’s ouster last year by the US-led forces to try and fill a political vacuum among Sunnis. It maintains ties with anti-US Shia groups, such as the movement led by cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Meanwhile, insurgents launched a deadly ambush in the guerrilla stronghold of Ramadi, killing eight Iraqi National Guardsmen and injuring 18 others, the police has said. The Iraqi forces were on patrol in the city centre when the gunmen opened fire on their convoy around 4 p.m. (local time) yesterday, said Capt Nasser Abdullah from the Anbar provincial police force. Abdul Moneim Aftan, head of Ramadi General Hospital, said all of the casualties suffered from gunshot wounds. US and Iraqi troops have been battling insurgents every day for weeks in Ramadi, located 113 km west of Baghdad.
— AP, Reuters |
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4 Palestinians killed in Gaza
Ramallah (West Bank), November 22 In the deadliest violence in the West Bank since Yasser Arafat died 10 days ago, three Palestinians were killed yesterday in a shoot-out between Israeli border guards and militants, Palestinian medical sources said. Among them was 23-year-old Mohammed Ghassan Leftawi, a local leader of the radical Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, whom the Israeli military had been hunting for months, said Palestinian sources. The three men opened fire at a border-guard checkpoint manned by officers in plainclothes in the village of Betunia, near Ramallah. One of the guards was wounded in the leg, a military spokesman said. Leftawi had been holed up in Arafat’s Ramallah compound along with other suspected militants wanted by Israel. The identity of the two other victims was not immediately clear. Earlier, a Palestinian gunman was shot dead by soldiers in the Central Gaza Strip near the Kissufim trade checkpoint, the Israeli military said. Khalil Mohammed Shahata 20 was killed after he and another militant opened fire on a car of Jewish settlers, said the armed wings of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Islamic Jihad. — AFP |
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Islamabad, November 22 The three-member Bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Nazi Hussain Siddiqui, in a short judgement ordered Zardari’s release. Amidst reports of reapproachement between Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto, Zardari (49) was granted bail in connection with several cases of corruption against him. Zardari was arrested on November 4, 1996, when the government of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led by Benazir Bhutto was dismissed by then President Farooq Ahmed Leghari. In September, a court overturned Zardari’s conviction for receiving kickback from the state-run Pakistan Steel Mills in 1995, during his wife’s tenure, for which he was sentenced for seven years. He has, however, remained in custody awaiting trial on at least nine other corruption and criminal cases, all registered against him since 1996. The last case against him involved the import of a bullet-proof BMW car. The country’s National Accounts Bureau (NAB) had charged Zardari with fraudulent import of the car, saying Zardari allegedly kept the car in his use but it remained in the name of a fictitious person. Zardari had denied the charges and described the case as “political victimisation.” — PTI
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US House clears military aid for Pak, Afghanistan
Washington, November 22 The Senate is expected to shortly follow suit on the so-called omnibus spending bill that combines nine of the traditional 13 appropriations bills that fund the federal government. “This is a lean and clean package that adheres to the budgetary limits agreed to by the Congress and the President,” Bill Young, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, describing the measure that was passed by the House 344-51. “We have resisted many requests for additions to the package that will have busted the budget by billions of dollars,” he added. Reflecting USA’s new strategic priorities, the bill for the first time contains $ 300 million in military assistance for Pakistan designed to bolster capabilities of the country’s armed forces that help the USA to hunt down suspected Al-Qaida members along the Afghan-Pakistani border. The programme is seen as a reward to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who is risking domestic tensions by siding with the administration of President George W. Bush in its worldwide campaign against the Islamic militants. The administration has recently notified the US Congress that it planned to provide a possible $ 1.3 billion arms package for Pakistan in the future, including eight P-3C Orion planes to beef up surveillance of its coasts and borders to stop the movement of terrorists and drug smugglers. It will be the largest USA foreign military sale to Pakistan since sanctions against Islamabad were lifted in late 2001 as a reward for supporting US forces fighting Taliban and Al-Qaida forces in neighbouring Afghanistan. Besides the Orion surveillance planes, Pakistan also has requested 2,000 TOW-2A anti-armour guided missiles and six Phalanx Close-in Weapons Systems for its warships. The budget also contains $ 400 million for training and equipping the new Afghan National Army, a $ 350 million increase over the past year. — AFP
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Aziz unlikely to bring Musharraf’s formula
AS Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz arrives here tomorrow for his maiden India visit, it is a foregone conclusion in the official circles here that he would come without the much-hyped “seven-regions” Kashmir formula of his President Pervez Musharraf.
Despite the hype created by General Musharraf’s October 25 formula made informally at an Iftar party in Islamabad, it is unlikely that Mr Aziz will finally suggest it formally to New Delhi during his stay here tomorrow and day after. In
retrospect, the formula seems to be something which was not thought through and on which there was no consensus within Pakistan. Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, who initially enthusiastically remarked that Mr Aziz would be formally proposing the formula during his India visit, later back-tracked. Sources here said the central theme of Mr Aziz’s visit would be SAARC and though bilateral issues would be discussed, there would be no bilateral outcomes. Mr Aziz will be leading a high-powered 70-member delegation to India during his two-day visit, comprising of as many as six ministers, lawmakers, editors and businessmen. An interesting part of Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s busy itinerary during his barely 30-hour-long visit is that Oil and Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer and Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath are going to call on Mr Aziz. The two sides are expected to carry forward their discussions on the proposed Iran-India overland pipeline transiting through Pakistan. This, analysts say, indicates that Pakistan, which for the past five years has maintained Kashmir-first-trade- later policy, is perhaps willing to discuss matters of bilateral economic importance such as trade and gas pipeline also. Mr Aziz will be accompanied by Petroleum Minister Amanullah Khan Jadoon, Railway Minister Mian Shamim Haider, Water and Power Minister Liaqat Jatoi, Overseas Pakistanis Minister Tariq Azeem and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khusro Bakhtiar. External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh will be calling on Mr Aziz soon after his arrival. The only bilateral meeting Mr Aziz will have will be with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, sources in Pakistan High Commission here said. Mr Aziz will also have meetings with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani and the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Mr Aziz will also be calling on President APJ Abdul Kalam on November 24. Besides, four delegations of All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) will be calling on Mr Aziz. The four delegations will be led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Mr Yasin Malik, Mr Shabbir Shah and Mr Syed Ali Shah Gilani. |
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Qazi, Fazlur differ on talks offer
Lahore, November 22 Both Qazi Husain Ahmed and Maulana Fazlur had a two-hour meeting at Mansoora here on Sunday. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Qazi Husain said the implementation of accords reached earlier by the MMA and the government (on the uniform issue) must precede any future talks. He also said the government had not yet extended any formal invitation for talks. Maulana Fazlur, however, said the alliance had never refused to hold talks provided they were “meaningful” and “fruitful”. He said instead of complicating the situation, efforts should be made (by both sides) to settle the differences. When Qazi Husain’s attention was drawn to Maulana Fazlur’s stance, he said: “Meaningful and fruitful talks mean the government must implement earlier decisions.” Responding to a question, he said if the government did not respond to the points raised in Parliament and in talks, they would have no option but to take their case to the masses. Replying to a question, Maulana Fazlur said he and NWFP Chief Minister Akram Durrani would abide by the decision taken by the MMA Supreme Council on November 24 on the question of their attending the National Security Council (NSC) meeting. They had not attended the first meeting of the NSC presided over by President Gen Pervez Musharraf. About coordination with the ARD on launching an anti-Musharraf campaign, both MMA leaders said the basic points for coordination were yet to be worked out. They hoped that ARD leaders would soon get in touch with them. Maulana Fazlur, who had called on Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi earlier in the day, told a questioner that it was a goodwill meeting to inquire about the health of the latter. He denied that they had discussed politics during the meeting. When he was informed that a handout issued by the provincial government stated that Maulana Fazlur had given a positive response to the Chief Minister’s request that the MMA should review its plan for launching a movement in the larger national interest, he said: “If they have said something positive, then he cannot respond to it on his own without consulting other leaders of the MMA and the ARD.” It is learnt that Maulana Fazlur and Chaudhry Pervaiz went together to Raiwind for attending the Tableeghi Ijtima in an official helicopter. Earlier, speaking at an Eid Milan party organised by the Jamaat-i-Islami, Qazi Husain said it was the democratic right of the opposition to protest against the government’s policies but if the MMA was not allowed to exercise this right, it would take its struggle to the streets. The MMA chief said they would invite the ARD and Imran Khan’s Tehrik-i-Insaaf to join their struggle. The struggle, he said, would continue even if the government did not allow them to hold public meetings. He assured the Jamaat workers that if they could gather about 100,000 people at the Minar-i-Pakistan, they would bring about a change in the national political scene. He accused Gen Pervez Musharraf of damaging all democratic institutions. Answering a question about Maulana Fazlur Rahman’s meeting with Prime Minister Aziz, he said it was a routine meeting in which the former made it clear that the alliance would not compromise on principles. |
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