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Special to the tribune
Musharraf murdered my mother: Bilawal
Bilawal Bhutto
‘Speaker’s ruling on Gilani sheer party politics’
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French troop pullout this year, says Hollande
Kairi Abha Shepherd
Brotherhood claims lead as Egypt vote count begins
Seven dead in Pakistan bus attack
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Special to the tribune A US Senate committee on Thursday cut $33 million in aid to Pakistan to protest against the prison term for a Pakistani doctor in Peshawar who helped lead the CIA to Osama bin Laden.
The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 30-0 on an amendment introduced by South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham to cut the aid. The full Senate will vote on the overall bill next. “This is a signal on behalf of the committee and the American people that we do not appreciate one bit the action [Pakistan] took against the man who helped us find Osama bin Laden,” said Graham. A tribal court in the Khyber area on Wednesday found Dr Shakil Afridi guilty of treason and sentenced him to 33 years in prison. The Senate committee cut $1 million in US aid for each year of the doctor’s prison term. “Dr Afridi’s sentencing is a slap in the face of the United States,” said Graham. California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said the prison time for Dr Afridi made her “seriously question” the US financial support to Pakistan. “If this is how Pakistan is going to treat a friend and hero like Dr
Afridi, I don’t know about these funds,” she said. At the State Department, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Dr Afridi should be released. “The United States does not believe there is any basis for holding Dr
Afridi. We regret both the fact that he was convicted and the severity of his sentence. His help, after all, was instrumental in taking down one of the world’s most notorious murderers. That was clearly in Pakistan’s interests as well as ours and of the rest of the world,” said Clinton.
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Musharraf murdered my mother: Bilawal Washington DC, May 25 "He (Musharraf) murdered my mother (Benazir)," Bilawal Bhutto, Pakistan Peoples' Party chairman, said, adding "I hold him responsible for the murder of my mother." 23-year-old Bilawal charged that Musharraf sabotaged his mother's security when she returned to her homeland in 2007. "Musharraf was aware of the threats. He himself had threatened her in the past. He said your security is directly linked to our relationship and our cooperation," he said. "When he imposed emergency and it was clear that he was pulling the wool over our eyes, he was not interested in returning democracy to Pakistan and my mother started to speak out more against him, the security decreased," Bilawal, who is currently on a US visit, told a TV channel in an interview. For the first time in last few years, Bilawal said he planned to play a more active bigger role in Pakistan's politics specially in the next elections. "I am chairman of Pakistan Peoples' Party. I didn't campaign in last election. I went to university. I didn't feel like at that moment. Now I have the mandate to take a particularly active role. I look forward to campaigning in the next election and playing a larger role then," Bilawal, the son of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, declared. "I would like to help my people in anyway I can. It's difficult times in Pakistan and we all have to help," he said. Responding to a question on his safety in Pakistan, he said, he was not worried. "I am confident Pakistani government will provide me with the adequate security, unlike the government at the time that sabotaged my mother's security in Pakistan." — PTI Justifies conviction of doctor Justifying prosecution of Shakil Afridi, a doctor who helped CIA in finding Osama bin Laden, Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said it is against the law in any country to cooperate with foreign intelligence. "As far as Dr Afridi is concerned, it is against the law in any country to cooperate with foreign intelligence. I mean look what happened to... here in the US where a court sentenced him to life imprisonment for spying for Israel. We have an independent judiciary which the Pakistan People's Party restored. I have no control over their outcome," Bilawal told a TV channel in an interview. — PTI
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‘Speaker’s ruling on Gilani sheer party politics’
A jubilant Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani termed the Speaker’s ruling against his disqualification as “historic” while Opposition leaders and several prominent jurists questioned the validity of her judgment overruling the Supreme Court verdict. “Democracy has triumphed for the first time in the country’s history,” Gilani said during his address to a gathering in Islamabad. Gilani’s counsel Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan also endorsed Speaker Fahmida Mirza’s ruling that the question of disqualification after conviction by the Supreme Court does not arise. Though Ahsan said he had prepared a 200-page appeal against court verdict, he said the ruling party had not yet decided on the appeal, particularly after the Speaker’s ruling. Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, flayed the Speaker’s ruling as “shocking” and said she had favoured a party colleague while “abusing” her authority. Besides Opposition politicians, several leading legal experts had clearly stated Gilani was guilty of bringing the judiciary to ridicule which entails disqualification.
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French troop pullout this year, says Hollande Kabul, May 25 Francois Hollande said that France's troops have carried out their mission in Afghanistan and it is time for them to leave, an early pullout that will be coordinated with the United States and other allies. "There will be no combat troops" after the end of the year, Hollande said during a joint news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Hollande flew to Afghanistan to meet with troops and to discuss plans with Karzai to withdraw French combat troops more than a year earlier than scheduled. His visit was not announced ahead of time for security reasons, and he was expected to depart shortly after the news conference. Hollande said that France will pull its 2,000 combat troops, out of a total of 3,300, out by the end of the year. Some would stay behind to help send military equipment back to France, and others would help train the Afghan army and police. He did not provide a breakdown for the roles of the 1,300 soldiers who will remain past 2012 or how long they would stay. Hollande said continued cooperation was discussed with Karzai "because there will continue to be trainers who will work with (Afghan) soldiers and police." — AP
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Treat deportation issue with compassion: India to US New Delhi, May 25 "It's a tragic humanitarian issue and should be treated by the US with utmost compassion," Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai told reporters here. He said the Indian Consulate in San Francisco had written to concerned US authorities on the issue but was yet to get any response from them. Shepherd, who has said that deportation would be like "death sentence" to her, under US laws can't be sent back to India unless Indian government provides necessary travel documents for her. "Before carrying out a deportation, ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) must first obtain a travel document to ensure the receiving country will admit the alien who is being returned," ICE spokesperson Lori K Haley told PTI without commenting on the deportation case of Shepherd. — PTI
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Brotherhood claims lead as Egypt vote count begins
Cairo, May 25 As vote-counting began yesterday, exit polls by several Arab television stations also suggested the Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi was ahead of the pack of 13 candidates. The reliability of the various exit surveys was not known, and a few hours after the end of two days of voting, only a tiny percentage of the ballots had been counted. — AP
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Seven dead in Pakistan bus attack
Islamabad, May 25 The attack by unidentified gunmen took place near Qazi Ahmed town in Sindh province. Three others were injured, Geo TV reported. The bus was travelling from Karachi, the provincial capital and port city, to Kohat town in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in the north-west Pakistan. President Asif Ali Zardari has condemned the attack. — IANS
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The son of assassinated Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has accused that the country's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf "murdered my mother" as he pledged to play a bigger role in Pakistan's politics.
A jubilant Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani termed the Speaker’s ruling against his disqualification as “historic” while Opposition leaders and several prominent jurists questioned the validity of her judgment overruling the Supreme Court verdict.
