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Pak 26/11 trial shifted amid security concerns
Trafficking bid foiled, 116 detained in Malaysia
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No new military cantonments in Baloch
Zardari terms first year in office as ‘effective’
China mine blast toll 42
No new military cantonments in Baloch Flash floods kill 31 in Turkey
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Pak 26/11 trial shifted amid security concerns
Islamabad, September 9 The LeT made extensive preparations for an attack to free the five operatives, including operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and communications expert Zarar Shah, and had even conducted a reconnaissance of Adiala jail where they are being held, diplomatic sources said. “The LeT had done a reconnaissance and was making plans to snatch the LeT operatives while they were taken from Adiala jail to antiterrorism courts in Rawalpindi, where the hearings of high-profile terror cases are usually held”, a source told PTI. Interior Minister Rehman Malik briefed Indian diplomats some time ago about the findings of Pakistani security agencies regarding the LeT plot to free the five operatives, the source added. Soon after the Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked in Lahore on March 3, some reports said the LeT could have had a hand in the assault. These reports had said the outlawed group planned to abduct the players so that they could be exchanged for the five arrested LeT operatives. Besides Lakhvi and Shah, the three other LeT operatives facing trial are Hamad Amin Sadiq, Abu al-Qama and Shahid Jamil Riaz. They have been accused of providing training, financial support, accommodation and equipment to ten terrorists who attacked Mumbai on November 26 last year. The suspects have been charged under the Pakistan Penal Code, Anti-Terrorism Act and a cyber crimes law. Two more suspects arrested recently - Jamil Ahmed and Younas Anjum - are also being tried by the same court. Judge Baqir Ali Rana, who is conducting the trial within the Adiala jail, recently imposed a media blackout on coverage of the proceedings, citing concerns about the security of witnesses and the suspects. However, the diplomatic sources said the gag order might have been issued due to concerns in the security establishment about any potentially embarrassing disclosures made by the suspects in court. Indian officials have accused Pakistan’s security establishment, including the ISI, of having close links with the LeT and its founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed. Though the latter was placed under house arrest in December last year after the UN Security Council declared his new group, Jamaat-ud-Dawah, a front for the LeT, he was freed by the Lahore High Court in June. India has asked Pakistan to take action against Saeed for his alleged role in masterminding and executing the Mumbai attacks. Pakistan is maintaining that the information provided so far by India is not adequate for arresting or prosecuting Saeed. — PTI
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Trafficking bid foiled, 116 detained in Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur, September 9 At least 114 Sri Lankans and two Indians, aged between seven and 50 years, have been detained yesterday from a luxury apartment at Jalan Abdul Samad in the southern state of Johor. Officials of the State Immigration Department said the apartment was believed to be a transit point for foreigners who were to be smuggled into Indonesia, with Australia their final destination. Three of the agents were also living at the place but they escaped during the raid. The apartment had been renovated, with extra rooms being added, making the flat look like a budget hotel, New Straits Times said. The police became suspicious after noting an increase in the number of foreigners at the apartment complex. The immigrants had flew into Malaysia with valid passports more than a month ago and had been staying at the condominium. They had reportedly paid up to $13,000 to the agents in order to be smuggled into Australia and hoped to claim refugee status from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the newspaper said. — PTI
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No new military cantonments in Baloch
While accepting a key demand of Balochistan nationalists whose several groups were engaged in armed insurgency, (Pakistan’s) provincial Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani has stopped the construction of military cantonments. The army said it would respect the commitment made by the civil government. “The political leadership has decided to halt construction of new cantonments in Balochistan and the army would abide by this decision,” an army spokesman said.
The decision was generally welcomed by nationalists and other politicians in the province but many feared that its implementation was crucial because such promises have been violated in the past. Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, senior vice-president of the National Party, said: “It is a good decision, but atrocities committed by security forces against the Baloch people may offset the impact of this decision.” He said the new cantonments already completed should also be dismantled. Talking to a private TV channel, Army spokesman Gen Abbas Tahir said the cantonment in the troubled Kohlu district would be converted into a camp for the para-military Frontier Constabulary (FC) while cantonment in another sensitive area Dera Bugti would remain intact.
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Zardari terms first year in office as ‘effective’
Calling himself a “pillar of parliament”, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has repudiated the impression that flawed governance marked the first year of his tenure. “The government has been working in an effective manner”, he claimed in an interview with state-run APP news agency, adding its efforts had brought Pakistan’s “international friends” together for speeding up the country’s development. Zardari said he would be jointly chairing a summit at the Untied Nations this month with US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, which, he said, would “act as a political vehicle to address the challenges faced by Pakistan”. In an article in Wednesday's newspapers, Zardari’s media adviser, Farah Naz, said: “Reconciliation and progress represented President Zardari’s first year in office. His election had marked the country’s return to full democracy after nine years of dictatorship. A year later Pakistan’s march towards consolidation of democracy continues”. Naz went on to note that “rumour mills have worked overtime over the past one year to weave conspiracy theories, set deadlines for governmental breakdown and predict a return to the era of palace intrigue and soft coups. But President Zardari has remained steadfast in strengthening democracy and has been fully supported by Prime Minister Gilani and the professional civil and military officials. Garnering public support for the fight against militants in the Swat Valley, securing an IMF bailout for the battered economy, restoration of the independent judiciary, working out of compromises between various political parties, and the outlining of a vision for transforming the Federally Administered Tribal Areas are his major achievements.” Zardari’s implacable foe, Imran Khan, described the year as an “unmitigated disaster rarely experienced by the country”. “The year marked Zardari’s total disconnect with his people and the ground realities; abject surrender to foreign diktat; cronyism, corruption and misgovernance”, he added.
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China mine blast toll 42
Beijing, September 9 Two city officials were sacked and all of the city’s 157 mines temporarily shut down following the accident, which the official Xinhua news agency said was believed to have been the result of illegal mining. — AFP
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No new military cantonments in Baloch While accepting a key demand of Balochistan nationalists whose several groups were engaged in armed insurgency, (Pakistan’s) provincial Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani has stopped the construction of military cantonments. The army said it would respect the commitment made by the civil government. “The political leadership has decided to halt construction of new cantonments in Balochistan and the army would abide by this decision,” an army spokesman said. The decision was generally welcomed by nationalists and other politicians in the province but many feared that its implementation was crucial because such promises have been violated in the past. Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, senior vice-president of the National Party, said: “It is a good decision, but atrocities committed by security forces against the Baloch people may offset the impact of this decision.” He said the new cantonments already completed should also be dismantled. Talking to a private TV channel, Army spokesman Gen Abbas Tahir said the cantonment in the troubled Kohlu district would be converted into a camp for the para-military Frontier Constabulary (FC) while cantonment in another sensitive area Dera Bugti would remain intact.
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Flash floods kill 31 in Turkey Istanbul, September 9 Twenty-four died in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, after two days of the heaviest rain in 80 years produced sudden flood waters which engulfed low-lying areas.Another seven died in Saray, west of Istanbul, five of whom were from the same family. In Istanbul rescue workers, some on boats, put out planks and ladders to help drivers, stranded in fast-flowing waters, reach the safety of bridges and high land. — Reuters
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