The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Nigeria mourns air tragedy
n193 confirmed dead so far n Indian co-pilot among victims

Lagos, June 4
Nigeria plunged into a state of mourning today after a horrific air tragedy saw a passenger plane crash into a residential area, killing all 153 people on board including an Indian co-pilot, and over 40 others on the ground.

The pilot of the ill-fated plane had sent out emergency signals while nearing the runway indicating a technical problem but the Boeing MD-83 plane, belonging to Dana Air, an Indian-owned company, went down near the airport shortly afterwards.

Fears mounted today that a large number of people may have been killed on the ground besides all 153 passengers and crew on board as rescuers still struggled to clear the massive wreck and pull out the bodies.

The plane flying from Nigerian capital Abuja to Lagos, had an American pilot, who was being assisted by an Indian co-pilot, aviation authorities said.

Rani Malik, the consular officer of the Indian High Commission in Lagos told PTI, that the name of the Indian co-pilot was Mahendra Singh Rathore. A source said the plane had an Indonesian flight engineer on board.

Rescue workers today recovered additional 40 bodies who were not in the aircraft but either in the building where the plane crashed or standing near the road.

Harold Demureen, the head of the country's Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said that the cause of the fatal landing was yet to be known by his agency.

According to him, the flight declared an emergency with the control tower on approaching the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos.

The black box of the aircraft has been found and handed over to authorities for investigation.

President Goodluck Jonathan declared three days of national mourning and ordered an investigation into the cause of the crash.

In a statement, Jonathan said that the crash had "sadly plunged the nation into further sorrow on a day when Nigerians were already in grief over the loss of many other innocent lives in the church bombing in Bauchi state".

While there were no survivors on the plane, there was still no final account of how many people might have died on the ground.

Emergency officials said it was unclear how many people were inside the building and on the street outside at the time of the crash.

The Chinese embassy said six of its nationals were on the plane. Besides, two Major Generals, many members of staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and several top personalities were also on board, reports said.

Cranes cleared the still-flaming debris to allow rescue workers better access to the densely populated crash area.

As the plane plunged towards the ground, it damaged buildings and set off a huge inferno. The nose of the plane was embedded in the three-storey apartment building, damaging only part of the structure. Smoke billowed from the windows and roof of the building that had somehow survived being completely demolished by the crash. — PTI

SC suspends Malik from Senate over dual nationality
Afzal Khan in Islamabad

In trouble: Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik

The Supreme Court on Monday suspended Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik from the membership of the Senate on the ground that he had failed to provide proof of renouncing his British citizenship, raising questions over his continuance as a minister. The court also took note of the perjury allegations against Malik for providing wrong information on the case.

Malik claimed to have renounced British nationality in 2008 before filing his nomination papers for the Senate election. Latest media reports, however, revealed that he had filed the application for renunciation of nationality only last week on May 29.

The court's ruling also disqualified Malik to act as federal minister but official sources said the Prime Minister would name him as "adviser" to circumvent court verdict.

The three-member bench of the SC led by Chief Justice IftIkhar Mohammad Chaudhry noted that Malik failed to deny media reports or provide credible evidence that he had renounced the nationality in 2008.

The court had earlier suspended assembly membership of Farah Naz Isphahani, wife of former ambassador Hussain Haqqani, for holding American nationality and renouncing allegiance to Pakistan while taking oath as American citizen.

During the hearing, Malik's lawyer presented his client's declaration of renouncing his British nationality, but the three-member bench disregarded the documents as 'meaningless' and remarked that these suggest that Malik was holding dual nationality at the time when he became a member of the Senate.

The attorney general argued that the Supreme Court is not the competent authority to disqualify or suspend anyone's membership and the court's suspension of Farahnaz Ipahani's National Assembly membership was also incorrect.

The court was informed that 13 more lawmakers also hold dual nationality.

Saudi Princess caught fleeing hotel to evade £5 million bill

Princess Al-Sudairi

London, June 4
A Saudi princess's attempt to flee a five-star hotel in Paris and dodge a £5 million bill was foiled with her large entourage of servants and luggage being just a bit too noticeable.

Princess Maha Al-Sudairi, the wayward ex-wife of Saudi Crown Prince and deputy prime minister Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz, who is second-in-line to the Saudi throne, tried to dodge paying a hotel bill by escaping at night from the Shangri-La hotel.

She and her retinue of 60 servants in tow with a mountain of suitcases, were instantly spotted by the hotel staff while leaving. They called the police and she was stopped as her extensive luggage was being bundled into a fleet of limousines. — PTI

US drone attacks in Pak turn into a virtual blitz
Fresh strikes kill 15 militants in North Waziristan

Protesters burn US and NATO flags during a demonstration against drone attacks in Multan on Monday. — AFP

Islamabad, June 4
Overriding Islamabad's objections, US has turned drone strikes on Pakistan virtually into a blitz hitting the lawless border belt again today killing 15 militants.

This was the eighth drone strike on Pakistan's turbulent northwest since the NATO conference in US, which failed to break the impasse on reopening of land supply routes to allied forces vis Pakistan.

A CIA-drone targetted a compound and a vehicle in Mir Ali, 25 km from Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan Agency, suspected by Americans to be a beehive of activity by the Al-Qaida and Haqqani network of the Taliban. — PTI

Pak seeks $2,000 transit fee for each NATO tanker

Lahore, June 4
Pakistan has reportedly demanded $1,800 to $2,000 as the fee for every NATO container truck and tanker during negotiations with the US for reopening supply routes for foreign troops in Afghanistan.

Earlier, the US had refused to accept Pakistan's demand of $5,000 a truck. Since then, negotiations have been underway and Pakistan has now proposed a fresh fee.

"Once the deal is finalised, it will end the standoff between the US and Pakistan over the NATO supply routes, which started in November over the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers in a NATO air strike on Salala check post," a Pakistani government official said. — PTI

Pak turns to AIR for Jinnah’s speech

Islamabad, June 4
Pakistan's state-run broadcaster has turned to All India Radio for a copy of the historic 1947 speech by the country's founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, in which he had said people would be free to practice any religion without interference by the state.

Murtaza Solangi, the Director General of Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation, has written to his counterpart in All India Radio seeking a copy of Jinnah's address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947 - three days before the emergence of Pakistan as an independent nation.

Jinnah's speech, which includes a charter of rights of minority communities, was suppressed and even removed from text books during the regime of military ruler Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s.

The current PPP-led government has commemorated August 11 as Minorities Day but no audio copy of the important speech is available in the country. "This speech is very important for people who want to direct the country to the goal of a modern, pluralistic, democratic state," Solangi said.

Solangi initially contacted the BBC for a copy of the speech but the British broadcaster was unable to locate it in its extensive archives.

He then turned to All India Radio, which operated stations across the subcontinent before Partition. "I raised the matter at international forums like the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union. When I visited New Delhi in November last year, I learnt a copy of the speech was available with AIR's international division.

"After that, I wrote to the Director General of AIR, seeking a copy," Solangi said.

The issue was also raised with Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar during her visit to Islamabad in February while former Pakistani High Commissioner Shahid Malik took it up with authorities in New Delhi.

"I got a call from the Director General of AIR last week and he told me they were trying to locate the speech in their archives," Solangi said.

During the speech, Jinnah had famously remarked: "You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this state of Pakistan.

The reason why Jinnah's speech is in AIR's archives is because radio stations in what is now Pakistan did not possess proper recording facilities in the era before Partition. — PTI

Pak takes fancy to bananas from India

The fruit is being sold for Rs 180 per dozen

Islamabad, June 4
Bananas imported from India, following a decline in domestic production, are being sold in cities across Pakistan for a whopping Rs 180 to Rs 200 a dozen. Indian bananas were initially imported for markets in the most populous province of Punjab and are now being supplied to the southern province of Sindh, which produces most of the country’s banana crop.

When the Indian bananas were introduced in markets across Islamabad a few weeks ago, they sold for as much as Rs 300 a dozen. With supplies improving, the price has now fallen to Rs 180 to Rs 200 a dozen. Pakistani bananas sell for about Rs 70 to Rs 80 a dozen. Reports from Karachi said the Indian bananas were going for Rs 150 to Rs 200 a dozen.Shopkeepers in Islamabad point out the Indian bananas to customers, saying they are larger and tastier than the local variety. — PTI

4 women ‘killed’ for dancing with men in Pak

Islamabad, June 4
Four women condemned to death by a tribal jirga or council for dancing and singing with men at a wedding in northern Pakistan have been killed, TV news channels reported yesterday.

However, senior officials refuted the news reports and described them as baseless.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik ordered a judicial inquiry into the reported killing of the four women as punishment for dancing with men at a wedding in Kohistan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

There was confusion about the number of women reportedly killed.

Geo News channel reported that four women were killed while The Express Tribune reported on its website that five women were killed.

The fifth woman was the sister of one the condemned women, the report said.— PTI