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Bhutto’s Assassination
Attacks won’t dent resolve to fight terror: Kayani
Mush wrote off Rs 500m loan of Gilani’s wife
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Street Racing Case Explosion in Peshawar market leaves 3 dead
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Gilani holds Mehsud responsible
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad In an apparent reversal of official PPP stance, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that former Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud was responsible for assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Addressing the Pakistan community in London, the Prime Minister said that Baitullah Mehsud had finally met his fate. Former military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf had named Mehsud as the killer soon after Bhutto's death, but the allegation was strongly rejected by the TTP chief, who maintained that murdering women was against tribal traditions. President Asif Zardari also rejected government’s claim about Baitullah Mehsud and denuded an inquiry by the United Nations, which finally constituted a commission to determine facts. Gilani also hinted at a reforms package, for the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (Fata) on the pattern of Gilgit-Baltistan, extending its autonomy after the completion of the military operations there. He said the operation is already making fast progress of achieving its major targets of giving hope of early culmination. “We have captured the strongholds of the terrorists and extremists in South Waziristan due to which the militants are on the run,” he said. The Prime Minister said the entire nation stood behind the government, in its move to eradicate militancy. He said the policy of political reconciliation would continue, so that democratic institutions are strengthened. The PM further said peace and stability in the region could not materialise, unless the lingering dispute of Kashmir is resolved peacefully through negotiations. Pakistan desires peaceful relations with India, he said, while underpinning the need for resumption of the stalled composite dialogue process. “For the elimination of terrorism, regional cooperation is vital,” he added. The Prime Minister appreciated the expatriate Pakistani community for their generous donations to the PM’s Fund for Swat and Malakand. He, however, urged them to evolve a collective policy, by adopting a village in Swat, Malakand and Fata, and then meeting their basic needs. He said the Constitution of 1973 will be restored in its original form and democracy will be further strengthened.
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Attacks won’t dent resolve to fight terror: Kayani
Army Chief Gen Kayani said acts of cowardice would not dent the resolve of the armed forces and the nation to fight terrorism.
Gen. Kayani made a brief comment on the most devastating loss suffered by the army since it launched an operation against militants. The army lost 7 top ranking officers in the fidayeen-cum-suicide attack on a mosque frequented by military personnel that killed 40, including 17 children. Funeral prayers for officers, including Major-General Bilal Omar, who died in yesterday’s Parade Land mosque attack, were held at the Chaklala garrison today. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, army chief General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani and civil and military leaders attended the funeral. President Asif Zardari yesterday spoke to Gen. Kayani expressing anguish over the attack. Security was tightened in and around the ground with the military police, Punjab police and Rangers performing the task. The area around the mosque was cordoned off. Senior officials, including Major Gen Umar Bilal Khan, Brigadier Abdur Rauf, Lt-Col Fakhar, Lt-Col Manzoor Saeed, Major Zahid, Maj (retd) Shoaib, Naik Masood, Sepoy Abdul Qayyum, Sepoy Sarwar and deputy director, NLC, Taskeen were killed. Sons of corps commander Peshawar, Brigadier (retd) Sadiq, Brigadier Mumtaz, Col Qaiser, Col Kaleem Zubair, Lt-Col Shuaib, Major Saleem and Major Ahsan were also killed. Others included fathers of Major Gen Awais Mustafa, Col Kaleem Zubair and Lieutenant Col Farooq Awan. Reports revealed that around seven attackers were involved in the operation. Two blew them up when they found themselves trapped by security forces while two others were killed in the exchange of fire. However, three escaped the scene. The police recovered a car with Islamabad number plate that was probably stolen. The attackers climbed the mosque’s wall to avoid metal detectors. Authorities suspected the Parada Lane mosque would be a prime target, and thus, had cancelled Eid prayers but allowed Friday prayers after a week. Editorials by newspapers noted though the army in its counter-insurgency operation in South Waziristan might have notched up military successes, the fight against militancy is far from being won. The security lapse and failure of intelligence was criticised by analysts. “The militants execute such operations for the psychological impact as well,” leading English daily The Dawn said. “Senior army officers and their relatives being killed in a high-security area sends a terrible signal: nobody anywhere is safe. Fear can be fatal to long-term success
against the militants,” the editorial added.
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Mush wrote off Rs 500m loan of Gilani’s wife
Former military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf wrote off bank loans worth about hundred billion rupees of influentials, including politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen, some belonging to richest families of the country.
While Gen. Musharraf favoured most beneficiaries of this largesse, others had their loans written off by the present democratic government. The most prominent figure among the latter category is first lady of the country Fauzia Gilani, wife of Prime Minister. For defaulting on repayment for her business ventures in 1985 for the next two decades, she was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment by NAB (National Accountability Bureau) court in 2004, but was bailed out. The names of PML-Q chief Ch Shujaat and former Punjab chief minister Ch Pervez Elahi is also mentioned in a list made public by the national assembly secretariat here. Over 1,000 influentials appear in the list. The publication of the list has caused an outrage invoking calls for recovery of the money and criminal proceedings against the recipients and benefactors. Most loans were advanced for business activities, but were waived after the recipients declared their ventures insolvent. “In a country where over 40 per cent population is said to be languishing below the poverty line with families surviving on less than $2 a day, revelation of the rich getting loans worth over Rs100 billion written-off is shocking,” Tehrike Insaf chief Imran Khan said while joining protests by prominent national figures and analysts. In 2007, the auditor general of Pakistan revealed that during 2002-2007, the Musharraf government wrote-off loans worth Rs 54 billion. But, a recent report to the NA revealed that the figure of written-off loans had crossed over Rs100 billion, after adding the loan amounts written off during two years of the PPP government since 2008. Found among about 1,000 businessmen and senior army officers, who got loans worth Rs18 billion written-off from the government banks during the first three years of the military government. The list was submitted in the NA when Zafarullah Jamali was the Prime Minister and Shaukat Aziz was the finance minister. The state-run National Bank of Pakistan and United Bank Limited wrote off these loans in the past. The official record revealed that loans worth Rs 30 billion were written off between 1985-2002. The then caretaker government of 1993 led by Moin Qureshi compiled the list. The list reveals that former speaker Gohar Ayub Khan’s family, former chief minister, Balochistan, Jaam Yousuf, former housing minister Abbas Sarfraz, Ayub’s father-in-law Lt. General Habibullah’ Saifullah family of Lucky Marwat, Jatoi family of Sindh, family of former President Farooq Leghari, some industrial power houses like Saigal Group of Industries, Adamjee Industries and Tawakkal Modaraba, tycoon Iqbal Z Ahmed and family of hotel guru Sadruddin Hashwani are some of the beneficiaries of the written-off loans.
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Indian student gets 42-month jail
Toronto, December 5 Ravi Badhwar of Mississauga on the outskirts of Toronto faces deportation to India on completion of his sentence. The Indian student and two other drivers were yesterday found guilty of killing truck driver David Virgoe on Toronto’s Highway 400 in street racing in June 2007. A court here held them guilty of criminal negligence in causing the death. But Badhwar was also found guilty of not remaining at the scene of the accident. The court sentenced Badhwar and two others — Nauman Nusrat(21) and Prab Multani (22) — to 30 months for causing the death. But the Indian student got another 12 months for not remaining at the scene of the death. Leaving the scene after causing an accident is against the law in Canada. Since Badhwar has already spent two months in jail, he has been given five months’ credit. On completion of his jail term, Badhwar faces automatic deportation to India. He will have no right to appeal against his deportation. The Indian maintained during the trial that he was innocent. Sentencing them, the court said the three men were playing 'road tag' and "they drove recklessly for 44 kilometres", causing the death. Badhwar was planning to pursue an accounting course at Toronto's Ryerson University. — IANS
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Explosion in Peshawar market leaves 3 dead
Peshawar, December 5 The blast occurred at a building on University Road shortly after 11.30 am, sparking a massive fire. Officials and local residents said a woman was among three persons killed by the explosion. Fourteen injured persons were taken to nearby hospitals. There was confusion about the nature of the blast. District administration chief Shahibzada Anees initially said it appeared that the explosion was caused by a bomb planted in a car parked outside the building. Witnesses said they had seen a car parked outside the building. Some persons even made inquiries about the car after they were unable to trace its owner. However, Peshawar police chief Liaquat Ali Khan and Shafqat Malik, chief of the city’s bomb disposal squad, said investigators had found no trace of explosive materials at the site.Malik said it appeared that the incident was caused by an accidental explosion of paints and chemicals stored in a shop. The three-storey building had several shops, commercial establishments and private offices. A part of the building was destroyed and local residents used ladders and ropes to help people trapped on upper floors to escape. The blast also smashed windows of nearby shops and residential buildings. Several cars parked on the road were gutted by the fire.Thick black smoke billowed out of the building as fire fighters battled the blaze. Nearby roads were blocked for traffic and security personnel cordoned off the area for some time. The blast came a day after a group of militants stormed a mosque frequented by military officers in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, killing 40 people, including a major general and several other senior army officers. Peshawar has witnessed a series of bombings and suicide attacks targeting public places and security facilities over the past two months.The Taliban have been blamed for these attacks, which began after the army launched operations against militants in South Waziristan tribal region. Hundreds have died in these attacks. —
PTI
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