Six get life term for plotting to kill Musharraf

RAWALPINDI: An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday sentenced to life imprisonment six men who had planned a suicide attack in 2008 to kill former president Pervez Musharraf and had accumulated a huge quantity of explosives for the purpose.

ATC-II Special Judge Raja Ikhlaq Hussain said in his verdict the convicts, Intikhab Ahmed Abbasi of Islamabad, Mohammad Kabir of Abbotabad, Abid Khan of Attock, Mohammad Ishaq of Peshawar, Qamar Zaman of Dera Ismail Khan and Zafar Ali of Kohat, had been sentenced for hatching a criminal conspiracy.

The court acquitted seven other men, Mohammad Touqir, Mohammad Sajjad, Mohammad Zameer, Rashid Mehmood, Farhan Mehmood, Abdul Sattar and Noor Mohammad, for lack of evidence. The decision was announced in Adiala Jail where the 13 men had been tried.

The six convicts were also found guilty of accumulating over 900kg of explosive material for an attack to kill Pervez Musharraf, then president of Pakistan, using bogus registration numbers and tempering with the chassis number of three vehicles seized from them.

Special prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali told Dawn that the convicts had been arrested on June 6, 2008, from Dhoke Kala Khan locality of Rawalpindi.

Federal Investigation Agency found the explosives concealed in 15 pressure cookers and large drums, six canisters of diesel, five bottles containing different kinds of splinters and three detonators.

18 ministers tender resignations

ISLAMABAD: A political crisis triggered by the tabling of a no-confidence motion against the prime minister of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) intensified on Sunday after 18 ministers tendered resignations to AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider.

Separately, Haider moved to announce the formation of Nawaz League just after the return of PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan.

Earlier, the general council of the Muslim Conference, which met in Islamabad at the Kashmir House, empowered Haider to take “any decision he deems appropriate, including the formation of PML-N”. Online news agency quoted Haider as saying that although he had powers to dissolve the AJK assembly, he had not used them. “If the (no-confidence) motion succeeds, I will walk (my way) home,” the AJK prime minister said, adding that interference in Azad Kashmir had intensified. He also said that he would start his new political career in “consultation with PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif”.

According to Haider, federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira has acknowledged he was “doing well” while Minister for Water and Power Raja Parvez Ashraf had also termed him adequate.

Meanwhile, Kaira has termed Farooq Haider’s allegations against President Asif Ali Zardari unfounded and baseless. According to media reports, the federal minister said that Haider had initiated the campaign against the president without “any provocation in a bid to gain cheap popularity, which he had lost because of his wrong policies in Azad Kashmir”.

APP quoted Kaira as saying that the AJK premier “just wants to hide his incompetence.” Accusing Haider of not governing Azad Kashmir in accordance with the wishes of the masses, Kaira said that the PPP government should not be held responsible for the dissolution of AJK government. “There is nothing illegal about the involvement of the federal government in AJK affairs.”

At the Kashmir House, Haider accused Sardar Atiq to be the one who had “killed Muslim Conference” and said that members of his faction were not ready to go along with him. “I will not allow corruption in the assembly nor will I allow anyone from Muzaffarabad to devour Mirpur’s rights.”

Blaming Atiq for continually “disturbing the region’s political atmosphere”, Haider praised Shahbaz Sharif and the entire PML-N leadership for providing support.

The meeting was also addressed by Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Shah Ghulam Qadir, Minister for Local Bodies Raja Naseer, Minister for Forestry Sardar Naeem, Food Minister Shaukat Ali Shah, Finance Minister Raja Nisar Ahmad, Agriculture Minister Maj (retd) Mansaf Dad, former minister Sardar Tahir Anwar, Chairman of the Implementation Commission Sardar Altaf and president of the AJK Supreme Court Bar Association Mirza Zafar.

Participants were, however, stopped from raising slogans against the leadership of Sardar Atiq by the AJK prime minister and the ministers.

During the meeting, it was decided to set up the PML-N chapter in the region immediately “to get rid of betrayers and disloyal elements”. The participants also viewed the no-confidence motion as “a move to stab the Muslim Conference in the back”.

According to a press statement issued by the Kashmir House, Nawaz Sharif has decided to reach Islamabad directly from Duabi on Monday, July 26.

The voting on the no-confidence motion is likely to be held on the same day.

UN rules out reopening Benazir assassination inquiry report despite Pak's objection

The United Nations (UN) has ruled out reopening of the inquiry report over former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination following Islamabad's objection.

Talking to journalists here, Farhan Haq, associate spokesman for the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said that the agency would soon reply to Pakistan's objections over the commission's report.

"We're working on the reply," Haq said, adding that the report will be given a shape of a legal document.

He said Ki-Moon had full confidence in the commission, and that he would soon respond to Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi's letter in which he had raised objections over the probe concerning Bhutto's murder.

Qureshi's letter states that the UN commission's observations about the Pakistan Army and the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) were not based on evidence.

"Comments and observations about the Pakistan Army, the Inter-Services Intelligence or the so-called establishment, are only the opinions of the members of the commission. They do not represent authenticated determinations based on any fact or evidence," Qureshi wrote in his letter, which has been made public by the UN.

Qureshi stated that the report has a serious flaw because the commission has failed to approach third party states or to provide some reliable information to unearth, if any, international linkages perpetrating, planning, financing or abetting Bhutto's assassination. (ANI)

Rule of law must for progress: Nawaz

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Quaid Nawaz Sharif has said that he is not annoyed, but regrets the treatment that was meted out to him during the dictatorship. In an interview with a private TV channel, he recalled his confinement in the Attock Jail. “Once an Army major came and informed me in a mysterious manner that he had joined as the superintendent and was tasked with taking care of me. “At that moment, I recalled the episode of my arrest from the Prime Minister’s House. The troops that came had guns directed at me and gave the impression that they could open fire any moment. “The same night three generals came to me to get a piece of paper signed that I refused. The attitude of Gen Mehmood was the worst, but I challenged them to get the paper signed if they could,” Nawaz said, adding he regretted the threat he faced in Attock. “I had asked them what they desired from me. I refused to listen to the language they were using against me and told them that they could throw me in the river.” Nawaz was sure that such a behaviour could not have been meted out in the colonial era. To a question, he said the paper that they wanted to get signed was his resignation as the prime minister and dissolution of the National Assembly under certain articles of the Constitution. At that stage, they were enraged and threatened me of dire consequences. But I replied that it could only happen over my dead body. Then they threw the paper on the table and started requesting me and after repeated refusals, they again became violent. He said Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had not signed a similar paper. “People came out on the streets to restore the chief justice but no one came for me.” Nawaz Sharif said he was not aware about his release, but one morning a representative of the Saudi king came along with Hariri, who is currently the prime minister of Lebanon, and “told me that they were there to take me away as desired by King Abdullah. They informed me that they had already met my parents and that my entire family was in favour of my accompanying them as King Abdullah had called me.” He disclosed that by that time, many Pakistan Muslim League leaders, including Sheikh Rashid, Pervaiz Elahi, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Ejazul Haq, had not only betrayed him but had also captured the party office and burned their pictures. “That happened when I was in the Attock Jail and the takeover was carried out under the protection of the ISI and the MI.” Nawaz Sharif went on to explain that the period of dictatorship was more than that of democracy in the country. “I took over as the Punjab chief minister after participating in the 1985 non-party elections,” he said, adding there had been democracy in India but in Pakistan there was a mixture of democracy and dictatorship. “Those who imposed the military rule and those whoi supported it had committed great mistakes. With the passage of time, it was realised that we must get rid of the martial law.” He was full of praises for Gen Karamat but said that one of his statements was against the national interests. At times, difference of perceptions had developed with Gen Aslam Beg but he used to appreciate the crux of the matter. The appointment of the Rawalpindi corps commander by the prime minister was a tradition eversince the Junejo period and Aslam Beg had also asked me to do so. I had appreciated that gesture but I also disliked some of his statements. Without naming certain countries, Nawaz Sharif said he had not agreed with Beg when he suggested strategic alliance with them. “It was because we were a part of the allied forces that were deployed in Saudi Arabia. The rulers in Saudi Arabia had pointed out this situation, saying such statements were emanating from Pakistan when Pakistani troops were with them.” Nawaz recalled that the question was also raised with President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and exchange of views was held with Gen Aslam Beg. At times, he was associated in policymaking. “I never had differences with anyone because I believed in moving ahead in accordance with the Constitution, get them implemented and take note if anyone crossed the limits.” With regard to dismissal of his government in 1993, the former prime minister was of the view that the action was taken on flimsy grounds. “My government was restored by the Supreme Court that was unprecedented in the country’s history. Things became very complicated and I decided to seek a fresh mandate. In this connection, I set aside the perception that Gen Kakar mounted pressure. My father was also irked over my stance but I was sure of sweeping the elections. On the contrary, Benazir Bhutto won the elections because we never knew that secret agencies also had a role.” When asked about the reaction from the Army to the Kerry Lugar law, the PML-N chief said there might have been reservations but they were not supposed to issue a handout on the subject. The Army was supposed to talk to the government and express its point of view and the government was supposed to carry forward their stance. He admitted as a mistake the appointment of Pervez Musharraf as the Chief of the Army Staff. He avoided a question with regard to the extension of the tenure of the Army chief and said repeating the question was not advisable as our troops are in the state of war. When asked about the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, he said he could not forget the moment. “A meeting was scheduled between me and her, but it could not take place because of her death.” When I rushed to the hospital after her death, the PPP workers had gathered around me and said Nawaz would ensure revenge for Benazir. I had promised to do it at the first available opportunity. Comparing his relations with Benazir and Zardari, he said she was very straightforward with him. Had she been alive, things would have been better. We were political adversaries but theenmity was over, Nawaz said. About Zardari, he said initially he was sincere. Although, he had signed the document to restore the chief justice but he did not mean it. That was the beginning of worsening of our relations. It ended up with my disqualification and dissolution of the Shahbaz Sharif government in the Punjab. He asked how Musharraf had accumulated Rs 580 million. Accountability has to be across the board. Corruption is never restricted to politicians. Generals, journalists, judges and civil servants had also plundered this country alongside politicians, Nawaz insisted. There has to be homework about the future of the country, Nawaz said. All the stakeholders and institutions have to sit down and evolve a methodology to run the country in accordance with the Constitution if a deadly revolution has to be avoided in the country. None should cross the limits of the Constitution and an economic and foreign policy has to be framed for the next two decades. Policies are not to be altered with the change of governments, he asserted. The former prime minister said the defence budget should also be discussed in parliament. With regard to normalisation of relations with India, he said the Kashmir issue by now would have been resolved, had there been no interruption in the peace process that was launched with the arrival of Vajpaee in Lahore in 1999. He said Pakistan was not the only party to the Kashmir problem, the people of Kashmir and India are also to be taken on board. With regard to relations with the US, he said there had been ups and downs in the last 60 years. The policy adopted by Clinton was positive and same is the case with Obama. Bush had ties with Musharraf only; he had no relations with the people and political parties of Pakistan. Nawaz said it was a mistake not to establish relations with Russia. The policy to dominate Afghanistan by Pakistan had failed in the past and we have to leave it now. Nawaz said as compared to the past, he had become more vocal and straightforward. “I spend two hours with my mother when I am in Lahore. She loves me and prays for me a lot whenever I meet her,” Nawaz said. Recalling his early childhood, he said his mother used to give him four Annas. He used to spend two Annas to purchase sandwiches and the rest for cold drinks. Recalling the best childhood friend, Nawaz said Shabbir Sharif Shaheed was his school days friend, who was martyred in the 1965 War. Khwaja Asif is his friend since they were in the Government College, Lahore. “My father also loved me a lot. He used to speak with me in Urdu while my mother talks in Punjabi. I used to draw inspiration from my father who taught me to serve the country and the poor.”

Nawaz blames Zardari for his disqualification

LAHORE: Chief of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) has blamed that the President Zardari was involved in his disqualification and in the suspension of Shahbaz Sharif government, said sources Tuesday.

While talking in a TV interview, PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif said that President’s Zardari’s intention was good in the beginning but later on he changed his mind since he did not want the judiciary to be restored.

Nawaz Sharif cleared the fact that he just had a political conflict with Benazir Bhutto but no personal enmity.

He further said that his biggest mistake was to appoint General Pervez Musharraf (R) as the Chief of Army Staff.

“The army is in a state of war. If it has any objection with the Kerry-Lugar Bill, it should discuss it with the government,” said Nawaz Sharif.

Musharraf in Dubai to meet 'old friends' to garner support for political ambition

Lahore, July 5 (ANI): Former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf has flown to Dubai from London to hold talks with his 'old political friends' viewing a possibility of mid-term polls in Pakistan.

Buzz up!
According to insiders, eager to try his luck in the country's politics, Musharraf has invited several 'friendly' leaders in the PML-Q to Dubai to discuss the future course of action amidst speculation of a snap poll in the country.


Leaders like Hamid Nasir Chattha, Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Lala Nisar Muhammad Khan and several others have been invited to Dubai for the meeting.

A leader, who is likely to meet Musharraf, while requesting anonymity said that it would be an advisory meeting with 'old friends.'

"We have told Musharraf in the 'April Meeting' in Abu Dhabi that we have our own political priorities back home and we would not join your party," he added.

Sources said that the Musharraf camp is also trying to contact PML-Q chief and former Prime Minister Chaudhury Shujaat Hussain.

However, Musharraf's political schemes could receive a set back from Hussain, as the later has clarified on several occasions that he has no interest in the former general's political adventures.

Sources said that after the meeting, Musharraf would go back to London, where he is currently living on an unannounced exile, and formally announce the launching of his party, All Pakistan Muslim League (APML).

He is also expected to announce a date for his return to Pakistan, The Nation reports. (ANI)

National conference

PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif’s call for a national conference to evolve a strategy on combating terrorism and Prime Minister Gilani’s endorsement of the proposal have come not a moment too soon.

The Data Darbar tragedy in Lahore has underscored a grim reality: the militants are not only at war with the Pakistani state, they are bent upon subjugating the Pakistani people as well. Security installations, government buildings, mosques, schools, shrines, hospitals and markets, all have been attacked. With this blurring of targets, there is also a need to realise that, whatever their nomenclature, ideology, agenda and area of operation, the militants must now be seen in holistic terms — and their tactics unanimously condemned. This should be the thought behind the attempt to form a consensus on a strategy to curb terrorism. True, there will always be differences of opinion between those whose religious inclinations find resonance in the ideology espoused by the militants and others who believe that faith is a private affair and should be kept out of the national discourse.

But that is a debate that will have to run its course as the Pakistani nation attempts to resolve a crisis of identity that has dogged it almost since the time of independence. What is not a matter of debate is that the terrorists are prepared to stop at nothing to destroy the state and inflict their obscurantist agenda on the people.

So when the national conference takes place — and one hopes that all stakeholders will be on board and that the meeting will include not only representatives of political parties — it should be with the realisation that there is a common goal to pursue. There should be no room for blame-games or fiery speeches. Serious discussions will be required, with informed input from all concerned, so that a workable plan to thwart militancy can be put in place. Such a plan would include suggestions on how to prepare the people to take on those who threaten their way of life.

We have the example of Malakand division. Soon after the army launched an operation there in April 2009, an all-parties conference more or less unanimously backed the military action. Such political support, combined with the public’s backing, was instrumental in the army’s success in flushing out militants from the area. It will be a long-drawn-out struggle against the militants who will no doubt strike again in an attempt to demoralise the public. But given similar consensus, there is no reason why terrorism cannot be eradicated from larger swathes of Pakistan.

Pak trashes Musharraf's Kashmir plan

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government has trashed former President Pervez Musharraf's four-point formula to resolve the Kashmir issue, saying it was "his thinking" which did not have the endorsement of Parliament or cabinet and suggested a fresh approach to address the vexed problem.

Foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who will be meeting external affairs minister S M Krishna here on July 15, said the two countries should build on progress made in any area and look at ways to make progress where it has not been done.

"Any issue, whether it is Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek, water, any issue where progress can be made, should be made. Where it hasn't been made, we should look at ways and means how to make progress.
Where progress has been made, let us build on it further," Qureshi said in a wide-ranging interaction.

Asked whether his government endorses the four-point formula floated by Musharraf in December 2006 to resolve the Kashmir issue, he said, "The four-point formula that General Musharraf made then was his thinking. It was being done through quiet back-channel diplomacy."

"We are a democracy, Parliament has to own them, Parliament has to endorse them, Cabinet has to discuss them," the foreign minister said, adding that these proposals were "neither discussed by cabinet, nor endorsed by Parliament. So, as democrats, there are certain Parliamentary procedures that we have to fulfill."

Musharraf attack accused refused bail

RAWALPINDI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) has rejected the bail application moved by an accused allegedly involved in a suicide attack on former president Pervez Musharraf, and adjourned the proceedings for a week.

The proceedings of the case of the suicide attack on Musharraf were resumed in ATC-I, where Judge Malik Akram Awan rejected the bail application of the accused, Rana Faqir Hussain, saying the crimes he was accused of were of a serious nature.

Civil Lines police station arrested Faqir in 2005, charging him of driving one of the three explosive-laden vehicles deployed to hit Musharraf‘s convoy. Musharraf escaped the attempt on his life, but 15 people, including 3 policemen, were killed. Meanwhile, Judge Akram Awan convicted an accused, Umer Adeel Khan, in another case regarding a suicide attack at RA Bazaar Rawalpindi and sought witnesses from the prosecution on July 19. tahir rashid

Benazir Bhutto inscribed into law by NA vote

ISLAMABAD: In a historic move, the National Assembly inscribed Benazir Bhutto’s name into law by its vote on Monday, unanimously passing a pro-poor bill after the main opposition party gave up a blocking amendment amid “long live” slogans for the assassinated leader.

However, the Benazir Income Support Programme Bill, based on a presidential ordinance already in operation, will need approval by Senate to become a permanent law.

An amendment in the name of the opposition PML-N’s 87 members had sought to rename the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) provided in the bill as Qaumi (national) Income Support Programme but was greeted with “no, no” chants and slogans of “long live Shaheed Benazir Bhutto” from members of the ruling PPP, and was withdrawn after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani called for giving a legislative recognition to the former prime minister’s sacrifice for democracy.

The programme under the ordinance too was named after the former PPP leader and twice-prime minister who was assassinated in a gun-and-bomb attack on Dec 27, 2007, outside Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh park after she had addressed an election campaign rally there.

But the National Assembly’s was a rare legislative vote to inscribe a political leader’s name into a law.

PML-N member Zahid Hamid, who moved the amendment, said his party had “the greatest respect” for Ms Bhutto and her sacrifice and that her legacy should be honoured by good governance rather than by naming roads, hospitals and airports after her.

But his argument was opposed by Dr Donya Aziz of the PML-Q who saw “nothing wrong” in giving such posthumous honour to Ms Bhutto.

The prime minister said BISP was Ms Bhutto’s own idea and it was working well for the past two and half years without any fingers raised about its impartial functioning to provide financial help and other social and safety net measures to economically distressed persons and families.

“In view of the prime minister’s remarks, we withdraw the amendment,” Hamid said, paving the way for a unanimous passage of the bill when it was put to voice vote by Speaker Fehmida Mirza.

Musharraf will lead Pak against 'tsunami of corruption'

A key aide of Pervez Musharraf has said that the former Pakistan President is determined to lift the country from the prevalent chaos and the 'tsunami of corruption'.

"Musharraf would return soon and would fix the date for his return himself. He is committed to going back to Pakistan," The News quoted Qureshi, Musharraf's spokesperson and a key strategist, as saying.

"The decision is up to him, he will go back soon and you will see him participating in elections and leading the people against the tsunami of corruption unleashed on Pakistan," he added.

Qureshi also said that the launch of All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) and the party's membership drive have received remarkable response, and emphasized that political leaders from national parties have welcomed the launch and assured their support.

He was quick to highlight that APML is not just another addition to the long list of political parties.

"APML is determined get Pakistan's true potential recognized in the world as was the case under Pervez Musharraf. Our agenda is crystal clear. We want to serve Pakistan, not our personal interests," Qureshi said.

"Corruption, plunder and nepotism have forced Pakistanis to think hard about their future and they are not satisfied with the pace and nature of the current order. They are vying for change," he added. (ANI)