Islamabad, January 17
The Pakistan government has “abandoned” the idea of claiming the Jinnah House in Mumbai to open a consulate in India’s financial hub as it feels the building is a “personal” property.

Though Pakistan had previously expressed an interest in claiming the Jinnah House, foreign office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq told The News daily that the “government has abandoned the idea”.

He avoided further comment on the issue as it is a matter of “emotional attachment for Pakistanis and Indian Muslims”.

Sources in Pakistan’s foreign ministry said the government also had no plans to back the country’s founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s daughter Dina Wadia’s efforts to gain possession of the building.

Wadia, the only child of Jinnah, and her industrialist son Nusli Wadia recently filed a petition under the Right to Information Act with India’s Central Information Commission to obtain all documents pertaining to the Jinnah House.

The sources said, “Keeping aside the sentimental value of Muslims of the subcontinent, it is clear that the Jinnah House was personal property of Qaid-e-Azam (Jinnah) and not of the Pakistan government”.

They said the Pakistan government also had no plans to “move the International Court of Justice or litigate in Indian courts”.

Pakistan’s director of the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Qasim Ali Qasim, said the issue of preserving the Jinnah House could be settled only through bilateral arrangements with India.

“We, the ministry of culture and tourism, can forward recommendations to the foreign office to take up the matter with the Indian government,” he said. — PTI

The Pakistan army has successfully accomplished its mission in the Swat operation to clear the valley of militants and re-established the writ of the government in the troubled areas, director- general, Military Operations (DGMO), Major- Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha has claimed.

General Pasha briefed reporters at the GHQ, Rawalpindi, on the culmination of the over two-month- long operation codenamed, 'Rah-e-Haq’ (right path), and said all primary targets had been achieved.

He said 36 security personnel and nine civilians were killed.More than 615 miscreants were arrested while over 100 of them were still under investigation. The rest had been released.

Utmost care was exercised by the troops to avoid any collateral damage to life due to the dense population in the area. Civilians were compensated for all damages,he said.

The police claims to have foiled a plan to kill former Punjab chief minister Ch Pervaiz Elahi by arresting a prospective suicide attacker in his constituency in Chakwal, about 50 km from here. Authorities said the nazim (mayor) of Chakwal district, Sardar Ghulam Abbas, was also the target.

Chakwal district police officer Sardar Maqsood Khan said on a tip-off from an informer, a police party raided the house of Abdul Ghafoor and recovered 8 kg of explosive material and other instruments that were to be used in the attack.

He said Ghafoor had confessed during the preliminary investigation that there was a plan to kill Elahi and Abbas at a public meeting next week. They also were planning to attack Shia processions on Friday.

Maqsood said the 23-year-old Ghafoor belonged to the banned religious organisations, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Harkat-ul-Mujahidin, and he also had a link with the terrorist group that attacked an Air Force bus in Sargodha.

Lawmakers in the US must pressurise Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to ensure free and fair elections on February 18 or risk chaos in the country, a panel of foreign policy analysts told the Congress on Wednesday.

In the aftermath of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, Ashley J. Tellis of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, noted that the critical question for Pakistan and the United States was whether the February 18 parliamentary elections will be free and fair. Tellis was part of the panel that testified before a House sub-committee on the Middle East and south Asia.

The analysts suggested the US should steer clear of knee-jerk changes in its Pakistan policy such as abandoning President Pervez Musharraf, or cutting off military aid.

Telling lawmakers that the situation in Pakistan was “fluid and delicate” Lisa Curtis of the Heritage Foundation added, “The US should refrain from making abrupt policy changes, and instead remain engaged with both civilian politicians and the military leadership in an effort to ensure Pakistan weathers the current tumult. Washington should increasingly view Musharraf as a transitional figure whose influence is likely to decline in the months ahead.”

Tellis noted Bhutto’s assassination complicated Musharraf’s “hopes for an undisturbed validation of his own reelection as president”.

And, he added, “It undermined the [Bush] administration’s efforts to broker a marriage of convenience between Musharraf and Bhutto that would produce a governing dispensation that is civilian in appearance; accept Musharraf’s continuance in office because of his importance to US interests; and strengthen the elements of moderation in Pakistan.”

“Bhutto’s violent death instantaneously frustrated these three goals and inaugurated an interregnum of uncertainty,” Tellis said.

She further said the quality of the forthcoming elections is also important for another critical reason - “determining President Musharraf’s future - and it is this quandary that has the greatest bearing on whether the poll will in fact be a genuine exercise of participatory democracy.”

Curtis noted, “Conventional wisdom holds that in this part of the world stability and democracy are mutually exclusive. But in the case of Pakistan, it is increasingly clear that holding fair and transparent elections provides the best chance for stabilising the country,” she added. 

Melbourne, January 17
The Australian police has said Mohamed Haneef, who was wrongly accused of links to the failed UK terror plot, continues to remain under investigation despite the government ruling out an appeal against a court decision to reinstate his visa.

“Haneef remains under investigation”, a spokesperson for the Australian Federal Police said.

Clearing the decks for Haneef’s return, the Australian government yesterday decided not to appeal against the reinstatement of his visa by the Federal Court.

“The investigation into Operation Rain is continuing,” the spokesperson said, referring to the name of the police investigation into the case.

“We are unable to make any further comment,” she was quoted as saying by a TV channel.

The 27-year-old Bangalore medico was wrongly accused of links to the failed UK terror plot, six months ago, and forced to leave the country.

The Federal Court had restored Haneef’s work visa on December 21 after he was exonerated of the terror charges.

The Federal Labour Government has pledged to hold an inquiry into the handling of Haneef ’s case.

A spokesman for attorney-general Robert McClelland said yesterday that arrangements for establishing the inquiry were still being considered, including its timing.

Haneef’s work visa was cancelled by the then immigration minister Kevin Andrews on character grounds because of his relations with UK terror suspects Sabeel and Kafeel Ahmed soon after he was granted bail by a court. — PTI

Dubai, January 17
In a move which will impact foreign workers, including hundreds of Indians, working in Saudi Arabia, a top advisory body has passed a law to gradually replace foreign workers in commercial outlets by by Saudi nationals.

The gradual shift will be made according to a timetable set by the ministry of labour. Under the new law drafted by the Shoura Council, all workers in grocery shops, retail and wholesale stores will adhere to the labour law and the social Insurance law.

According to a Shoura member, the final draft was presented to the government after two years of careful research and studies. Top Businessmen, owners and consumers were consulted before drafting the law. — IANS