President Asif Zardari on Monday lifted governor’s rule in Punjab while the provincial Assembly session was convened for Wednesday to elect the chief minister. The President acted on the advice of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to end the emergency or governor’s rule that was imposed on February 25 amid controversial circumstances.

It had followed judgment by a 3-member bench of the Supreme Court disqualifying former premier Nawaz Sharif and ex-chief minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif.

Salman Taseer, governor, Punjab, immediately convened a session of the provincial assembly on April 1 to ascertain commands for majority support in the House to become the chief minister.

The two-day gap is ostensibly meant to wait for likely verdict of the Supreme Court on a review petition filed to reverse the February 25 disqualification of Sharif brothers.

The federal government and Sharifs have sought a stay order of the court pending final decision on the review petition to re-instal Shahbaz Sharif as chief minister. A larger bench of the court comprising five judges under Justice Tasaddaq Hussain Gilani admitted the review petition and adjourned proceedings for Tuesday after issuing notices to all concerned to respond to the petition.

The court accepted plea to allow Sharif brothers to be party in the case.

They had earlier boycotted proceedings in the 3-member Bench that delivered ex-parte judgment to disqualify them from holding any elective public office.

In Islamabad, President Asif Zardari told senior journalists and anchors that that the governor’s rule has been lifted to allow Pakistan Muslim League of Nawaz Sharif (PML-N) to form a stable government.

He confirmed contacts with the rival PML-Q led by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain but said these were meant to discuss a broader national government rather than for seizing control of Punjab.

The President repudiated reports that he restored deposed judges including Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry under pressure from army chief against the backdrop of massive public demonstrations. He said the army chief during meetings with him discussed only security issues and not that of the judges.

He said he was always in favour of restoring judges but some people wanted him to remove incumbent chief justice Dogar through police.

Zardari said he was in favour of repeal of 17th Amendment and the Article 58-2 (b) clipping his own powers.

“I would rather like to spend more time with my children than state affairs,” Zardari observed.

About dissidents of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) like Aitzaz Ahsan and Naheed Khan, Zardari, who is also co-chairman of the party, said their cases would be decided by the central executive committee.

Islamabad, March 30
Following is a chronology of some of the major terrorist attacks in Pakistan since 2007: 
October 18, 2007: At least 139 people were killed and nearly 400 injured in a suicide bombing in Karachi near a motorcade carrying former Pakistani Premier Benazir Bhutto when she returned to the country after eight years of self-imposed exile.

December 21: At least 50 were killed in an attack on a mosque in Pakistan’s northwest.

December 27: A gun and suicide bomb attack kills Bhutto and more than 20 of her supporters as she leaves a party rally in Rawalpindi.

February 16, 2008: Suicide car bomber attacks a PPP rally in the northwestern tribal town of Parachinar, killing 37 people.

February 29: At least 44 people were killed in Mingora, the main town in the restive Swat valley.

March 2: Suicide bomber kills 43 at a meeting of anti-militant tribal elders in the northwestern district of Darra Adam Khel.

March 10: The Federal Investigation Agency building in Lahore attacked by suicide bombers killing 26 people.

July 6: Suicide bomber kills 15 people in an attack in Islamabad during a rally to mark the first anniversary of army raid on the radical Red Mosque.

August 21, 2008: Twin suicide attacks kill 57 people outside Pakistan’s main arms factory in Wah.

September 20: At least 60 people were killed when a suicide attacker rammed a massive truck bomb into the gates of the luxury Marriott hotel in Islamabad.

March 3, 2009: Eight persons were killed and several injured when terorrists ambushed the bus of Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore.

March 27: A suicide bomber attacks a mosque in the northwestern town of Jamrud, killing 70 people. — PTI

President Barack Obama will not be sending US troops into Pakistan but says if America has a "high-value target" within its sights it will go after it after consulting with the government in Islamabad. Noting that his administration's recent review of policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan does not change its recognition of the Pakistani government as a sovereign one, Obama said in an interview on Sunday that the US has to hold Pakistan "much more accountable."

Asked by CBS' "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer whether he was giving US commanders in Afghanistan the green light to go after terrorists in Pakistan, Obama replied: "I haven't changed my approach. But our main thrust has to be to help Pakistan defeat these extremists." During the presidential campaign, Obama had said that if elected president he would be prepared to target terrorist suspects in Pakistan if the government in Islamabad was incapable of acting first. That stand had drawn sharp criticism from Pakistan.

The Obama administration has continued George W. Bush's policy of using unmanned Predator drones to target terrorist suspects in Pakistan. Obama lamented the fact that the average Pakistani thinks that the war against terrorism is America's war and that they are not invested. He blamed this attitude for "a steady creep of extremism in Pakistan."

"What we want do is say to the Pakistani people, you are our friends, you are our allies. We are going to give you the tools to defeat Al-Qaida and to root out these safe havens. But we also expect some accountability. And we expect that you understand the severity and the nature of the threat," he said.

But when asked categorically whether he would put American boots on Pakistani soil, Obama replied with a negative monosyllable. The president noted that the United States' task in working with Pakistan is not just military. "It's also our capacity to build their capacity through civilian interventions, through development, through aid assistance," he said.

"What we want do is to help Pakistan grow its economy, to be able to provide basic services to its people, and that I think will help strengthen those efforts," he said, adding, "If the Pakistan government doesn't have credibility, if they are weakened, then it's gonna be much more difficult for them to deal with the extremism within their borders."

The New York Times reported this month on ongoing linkages between Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and terrorist groups, including the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Toiba. In an interview with Fox News Sunday, Defence Secretary Robert Gates said he was not surprised by these reports. “The reality is the Pakistanis have had contact with these groups since they were fighting the Soviets 20 or 25 years ago, when I was first dealing with the Pakistanis on this,” he said. “What we need to do is try and help the Pakistanis understand that these groups are now an existential threat to them, and that we will be there as a steadfast ally for Pakistan, that they can count on us.”

London, March 30
Brushing aside the Scotland Yard probe into his inflammatory speeches, the controversial Muslim cleric Anjem Choudary has warned that Britain would become a Sharia state soon. “Let me tell you something - the Sharia will be implemented in Pakistan, it will be implemented in India and Bangladesh and even down the road in Downing Street. There is nothing to stop me calling for a Sharia state,” the Sunday Express quoted Choudary, as telling his followers in London.
The London-born lawyer, who in his youth was a cider-drinking ladies’ man, said Muslims around the world would rise and eventually conquer the White House. Astonishingly, he compared himself to Noah from the Old Testament in one ranting outburst.

“People said look at that man building that boat in the mountain. Now they say ‘look at that lunatic calling for the Sharia in Britain’, they say the same thing,” he said in a voice rising with passion and vigour.

Choudary also included ex-US President Nixon in his rant. “President Nixon once said if the Muslims in the Asian continent gathered together they would be a superpower. There are more than one billion in the Indian sub-continent ... if they woke up,” he said. The Scotland Yard reportedly is investigating him for allegedly saying homosexuals should be stoned to death. Choudary, however, denied the allegations. “That allegation about stoning is not true and I am complaining to the Press Complaints Commission. It is all fabrication. If I was supporting terrorists, do you think I would be here, and I would have a beard,” he said. Tory MP and homeland security expert Patrick Mercer called for the Scotland Yard to look at Choudary’s latest speech too.

“His comments sound like sedition to me. The police should look very carefully at his words to see if he has broken the law. Victims of the 7/7 bombing will, I am sure, be hugely upset by what sounds like sedition,” he said — ANI

London, March 30
As Britain Prime Minister Gordon Brown prepares to host G20 summit, a recent opinion poll has shown the popularity of his Labour government continues to decline against the opposition Conservative party.

Although the Labour party has gained three points as compared to last month’s poll, the Conservatives continue to maintain their double-digit lead over Labour, the survey by pollsters ICM showed, published in the Sunday Telegraph yesterday.

The survey put the Tories on 44 per cent, up four points from last month and 13 points ahead of Labour, which is up three points on 31 per cent. The Liberal Democrats have been dubbed as the biggest losers, whose support base has dropped by four points to 18 per cent.

If those figures were repeated in the next election, which Brown must hold by June 2010, the Conservatives would have an 83-seat majority, the paper said.

The survey puts a question mark on Gordon Brown’s ability to steer Britain through the economic downturn.

ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 1,003 adults aged 18+ by telephone on 25-26 March 2009. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. — PTI

Mingora (Pakistan), March 30
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has banned women from entering shopping centres in the Malakand division. According to sources, several pamphlets, signed by Taliban spokesperson Mulla Ali, were found scattered in the Malakand Press Club, warning of strict action against women venturing into shopping complexes alone.

The Taliban also issued a notice to the government to close down all family planning centres in the division. It, however, said that the Taliban had no intent to ban the giving of polio drops to children by the Swat Valley administration.

The Taliban has also asked the medical superintendent of the Batkhela Hospital to hire female technicians and doctors to provide health services to women in the region, The News reported. — ANI

BRIEFLY

Brangelina’s next kid from India
LONDON: The Hollywood ‘It’ couple Brad Pitt and and Angelina Jolie are planning to extend their multinational family by adopting a child from India, according to media reports. Jolie recently revealed plans to adopt from India when she met the child stars of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. The couple originally showed interest in adopting from India when they visited India’s Priya Darshini Orphanage in 2006, but were too busy to finalise the details, a source told the Sunday Express. Brangelina already has three adopted children Maddox, seven, from Cambodia, Pax, four, from Vietnam and Zahara, three, from Ethiopia as well as 2-year-old biological daughter Shiloh and seven-month-old twins Vivienne and Knox.

Action videos good for eyesight
LONDON: A new study has revealed that playing violent action games, which involve killing opponents, can help in enhancing people’s contrast sensitivity function -- the ability to see subtle changes of light and dark against a uniform background. According to the researchers, contrast sensitivity is very important because it aids eyesight in certain conditions, including driving at night or when there is poor visibility on the roads, which declines with age, leading British newspaper ‘The Daily Telegraph’ reported.

Madonna’s adoption ruling delayed
MALAWI: A Malawian judge held a closed-door hearing on Monday on Madonna’s application to adopt a second child from this southern African nation but delayed ruling on the matter until Friday, a court official said. Court docket listed only the child’s name, Chifundo James, which means “Mercy” in the local language. It was not immediately known whether any of the girl’s relatives were present at the courthouse on Monday. A welfare official and another person involved in the adoption proceedings say the girl is about 4 years old and her unmarried mother died soon after she was born.

Source: Agencies