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Sharif’s wife to lead oust-Pervez campaign
Bhutto smells right-wing conspiracy
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No designs against India, says Pak
Pro-Taliban ultras free 260 Pak soldiers
‘Osama, Omar alive and healthy’
UK to make English must for immigrants
Queen may be off new British passports
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Sharif’s wife to lead
oust-Pervez campaign
Islamabad, September 10 "By deporting Mian Nawaz Sharif, General Musharraf has compelled me to enter politics, " Kalsum Nawaz told ARY TV when asked to comment on the day-long saga at Islamabad airport. Kalsum had briefly led the PML-N during the time Nawaz Sharif was in jail in 2000. She also signed an accord with PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto to form the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD). The alliance between the two mainstream parties of the country is cited as another major reason impelling Musharraf to accept a Saudi brokered agreement to release Sahrif and send him to Jeddah in exile for 10 years. Sharif's wife said Musharraf had panicked by the prospect her husband's return to lead people's struggle to rid the country of military dictatorship. He had violated the Constitution and committed grave contempt of the orders of the Supreme Court. She said she was personally involved in the negotiations which led to Sharif's signing of an exile document. "The verbal understanding reached at that time contained lot more than the written undertaking", she
added.
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Nawaz gets emotional
Islamabad, September 10 Wiping away tears as soon as the aircraft touched down at the airport, Sharif moved out of the business class and sat among his supporters in the economy class. He said it was an "emotional moment" for him. "I have a great feeling that I will be able to set foot on Pakistani soil," he told reporters before he was allowed to disembark from the PIA aircraft that brought him here from London. Condemning the arrest of the leaders of his party and allied outfits, he said "going by what is happening, it seems that the government has not learnt from its mistakes. It is repeating the same mistakes that the previous dictator had done".
— PTI
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Bhutto smells right-wing conspiracy
Islamabad, September 10 Talking to private TV channel Bhutto said she would return to Pakistan later this month to lead the election campaign of her party for general elections. She said her negotiations with Gen Musharraf are meant to ensure free and fair elections for restoration of democracy. Bhutto said her party would defeat the “new IJI” with the support of the people. Bhutto's remarks were ostensibly directed against the newly formed All Parties Democratic Movement comprising country's all opposition forces sans the PPP. She maintains that the religious grouping Muttahida Majlise Amal (MMA) is its dominant component like in case of IJI led by Nawaz Sharif in 1988. In an interview to London's Observer, Bhutto vowed that she would go “back to basics” and invoke her late father's name to win her way back into power. She said her campaign would be inspired by the old slogan of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) - “food, clothing, shelter”.
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No designs against India, says Pak
Islamabad, September 10 “Our defence programme was defensive in nature,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told a press briefing here. She was commenting on Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony’s remarks that supply of American arms to Pakistan would disturb conventional balance in the region. She said Indian’s current year defence budget stands at $ 24 billion with 20 per cent increase over the
last year. “India also has plans to make defence purchases worth $ 30 billion in the next 10 years,” Ms Aslam said, adding it has recently issued tenders for the purchase of 126 combat aircraft for $ 10 billion.
— UNI
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Pro-Taliban ultras free 260 Pak soldiers
Islamabad, September 10 Pro-Taliban militants handed over the soldiers to members of a jirga or a local peace committee at Ladha, a village in the restive tribal region, media reported today, quoting the unnamed official as saying at Dera Ismail Khan. However, the Pakistani army is yet to confirm the releases. The soldiers were going from Wana, the centre of South Waziristan, to Ladha, when they were abducted by the armed militants on August 30. The militants had snatched their arms and held them hostage. Six of the soldiers were released last week as a "goodwill" gesture to the jirga.
— PTI
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‘Osama, Omar alive and healthy’
Kabul, September 10 “I don't know exactly where they are but I absolutely know they are alive and healthy,” Mohammad Haroon Zarghoon, a spokesman for the renegade warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, said. “We have no communications but we know through our channels that he (Osama) and Omar are both alive,” Zarghoon said on phone from an undisclosed location. Hekmatyar, a former Afghan Prime Minister, is fighting the US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai in a rebellion carried out alongside but separately from that of the Taliban. Zarghoon said the fugitive leaders, both carrying multi-million-dollar bounties on their heads, were hiding in rugged regions along the Afghan-Pakistani border. He said that since helping Bin Laden, the world's most wanted man, to escape US and Afghan troops in the mountains of Tora Bora in 2002, Hekmatyar's radical Hizb-i-Islami faction had had no direct contact with him. Despite a massive manhunt by tens of thousands of Western troops, Laden and Omar have escaped arrest. Osama appeared on a new video released on Friday in which he discussed current events but issued no direct threats. The video appeared to be timed to mark the sixth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
— AFP
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UK to make English must for immigrants
London, September 10 The British government is considering new rules to make the knowledge of English language compulsory for all migrant workers as one of the conditions for entry into the country. The restrictions will affect those seeking to work and settle permanently in Britain from the non-European Union nations. “Those who we welcome into the UK to work and settle here need to understand our traditions and feel that they are part of our shared national culture. They need to integrate into our country, learn English and use our language,” ‘The Sunday Telegraph’ reported here yesterday, quoting Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. Under the government’s new ‘points’ system, there are three main categories of immigrants coming to the UK from outside the EU to work: Highly skilled, skilled and low-skilled workers. The first two groups can eventually settle permanently in Britain while the third cannot. “At present, those who seek to come to the UK permanently, or as highly skilled workers are only required to speak English”. “We want to go further and make speaking English a requirement for all those coming into the UK to do lesser skilled work and we will be looking at extending this requirement to those who come to the UK to do low-skilled work as well,” Smith was quoted . Sources estimated that the controversial crackdown would reduce the number of people entering the UK by at least 35,000 every year. “Prime Minister Gordon and Smith are likely to announce later this week that the condition will be extended to all skilled migrants, who numbered 96,000 last year,” the unnamed sources said. According to them, about 35,000 of them would not have passed an English-speaking test. “They will now be expected to speak, write and understand English, obtaining proof either by passing an internationally recognised English test or showing they have a degree from a course taught in English.” There would only be a handful of exemptions to the new rules, likely to include international footballers signed by Premiership clubs, who will be allowed in for “practical reasons”, according to the sources. — PTI
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Queen may be off new British passports
London, September 10 Instead, the new documents, which could be in place as early as 2010, would bear reference to the EU Constitution to remind UK citizens that they are part of Europe, ‘The Daily Telegraph’ reported here today. The first page of the British passport has featured the Royal coat of arms with a message from the Queen: “Her Britannic Majesty’s Secretary of State”. The words outline that the citizen has a right to travel freely and has the right to protection and assistance. Under new changes, the daily claimed, it has been suggested that the coat of arms be scrapped and replaced with the EU emblem of 12 stars with the message underneath reading: “Every citizen of the Union”. “The changes relate to Article 20 of the EU treaty which proposes EU language to be inserted in the British passports. It’s still under consideration and no decision has been taken yet,” a spokesperson for foreign and commonwealth office was quoted. The treaty was discredited two years ago after member states, including France and the Netherlands, had rejected it. Article 20 of the treaty reminds that they were part of Europe and have rights as an EU citizens. — PTI
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Islamabad, September 10
