ISLAMABAD: A car bomb destroyed an Internet cafe and tore through a bus carrying handicapped children in northwestern Pakistan yesterday, killing at least 11 people and wounding many more, police said.

Elsewhere in the troubled region, an apparent US missile strike hit a Taliban training camp, killing 29 militants, while Pakistani troops killed dozens of Taliban in their bid to reconquer the Swat Valley, officials said.

Violence is engulfing Pakistani territory along the Afghan border as American and allied forces crank up the pressure on Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants entrenched in the forbidding and barely governed mountains and valleys.

Washington and other nations are pouring in billions of dollars in aid and military assistance to prop up the pro-Western government in Islamabad, which yesterday sought to allay concerns that its nuclear weapons could fall into extremist hands.

The car bomb devastated a street in the main northwestern city of Peshawar yesterday afternoon as it was busy with shoppers, traffic and worshippers heading to mosques to pray.

Television images showed several vehicles burning fiercely and a stricken white-and-green bus that had been dropping handicapped children at their homes around the city.

All eight students still on board were injured, one seriously, along the driver and an assistant, medics and police said. Four other children and seven adults were killed, and dozens more were injured, they said.

Safwat Ghayur, a senior police official, said one of a string of shops wrecked by the blast was an Internet cafe – a favorite target for violent extremists in Pakistan who consider the Web a source of moral corruption.

In the latest strike, Pakistani officials said several missiles hit a religious school and a nearby vehicle yesterday morning near Mir Ali, a town in the North Waziristan tribal region.

Two intelligence officials, citing reports from agents in the field, said 29 people were killed, including four foreign militants, and dozens more were wounded.

The identity of the victims was not immediately clear, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly to the media.

- With input from agencies

Islamabad: France Friday announced to provide civil nuclear technology to Pakistan. According to a Press statement, issued by President’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar from Paris, this decision was taken during a meeting between President Asif Ali Zardari and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Ambassador Asma Anisa and Spokesperson of the President were also present on the occasion.

Further to this facility France also pledged to extend a 300 million Euro aid in economic assistance and another 12 million Euros for the rehabilitation of internally displaced persons in Pakistan along with a pledge to hammer out a Framework for Cooperation Agreement within the next three months that will comprehensively cover cooperation in the fields of energy including civilian nuclear power plants for peaceful purposes, trade, civil aviation and defence.

France deeply admires the determination of the government of Pakistan to root out militancy from the country, the French President said adding, “France totally supports you Mr. President and it is our determination to see Pakistan succeed”. France will not only directly support Pakistan but also seek the support of the international community to the economic and political stability of Pakistan, the French President said.

The spokespersons said that the French President assured President Zardari that at the forthcoming summit of the EU in Brussels he will seek to persuade the grouping to allow Pakistan greater market access to enable it stabilize its economy and provide jobs to its people. President Sarkozy said that he looked forward to the interlocutors from Pakistan and France meeting soon to hammer out a comprehensive framework of cooperation agreement before the fall this year.

Earlier the President of Pakistan Mr. Asif Ali Zardari explained to his French counterpart the steps taken by the government in rooting out militancy and the range of economic and political assistance it needed in this regard. Pakistan requires massive and immediate assistance in rehabilitating the internally displaced persons (IDPs) displaced from Swat and other areas as a result of the fight against militants. Poverty, lack of education and homelessness provided breeding grounds for extremism and the world must come forward in helping Pakistan, President Zardari said.

“We need trade and not aid, the President said adding”, We also need international assistance in broadening and strengthening our educational base, He said that the over 17,000 madrassahs in Pakistan provided free education, shelter and food to the children of poor families. Some of the political madrassah had also been imparting lessons in extremism and militancy. To counter it the President said that Pakistan needed to provide free education to its children. This alone, the President said, had been calculated to cost nearly two billion dollars a year.

President Zardari also emphasized the importance of strengthening the civilian law enforcing agencies by providing it with weapons, transport, bomb proof police stations and better pay scales to fight the militants who were better and far better paid by their masters. He said that the government envisaged recruiting another 20,000 special police for each province in addition to the existing police force which was not possible without international support. The President said that the government had information that that the militants paid to their fighters 60 dollars a day. The government planned to pay its special police force about 300 dollars a month which would require international support.

President Zardari said that the fight against militancy now had political ownership as well. He said that the Parliament had set up a national security committee which had also adopted a unanimous resolution. Under the dictatorship there was no political ownership but now there was a broad based consensus behind the fight against militancy.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will defeat the Taleban militarily but could lose the public relations war if it fails to help the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the fighting, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said yesterday.

A deadly battle is looming over the capital of Swat, where armed Taleban have mined roads and dug trenches around 200,000 trapped civilians encircled by Pakistani troops, residents and officials say.

Ground forces have so far avoided close urban combat since launching a renewed offensive to crush the Taleban menace, instead massing on the outskirts while militants mine exit and entry points, building up for a huge showdown.

Civilians stranded in town by an indefinite curfew narrated tales of horror in snatched telephone calls as communication with the outside world becomes increasingly perilous, and the Taleban and military exchange mortar fire.

“Mingora is a city of land mines, roadside bombs, trenches and masked Taleban armed with heavy weapons,” said Zahir Shah – not his real name in order to protect his identity – now sheltering with relatives in Peshawar.

The army launched an offensive in the Swat Valley, northwest of Islamabad, last week after the United States accused the government of “abdicating” to the militants.

About 700,000 people have fled from their homes, joining more than 500,000 displaced by earlier fighting in the northwest. The United Nations has warned of a long-term humanitarian crisis.

“Militarily we will win the war but it will be unfortunate if we loose it publicly,” Gilani told the National Assembly.

Most political parties and members of the public support the offensive, despite widespread doubts about a close alliance with the United States in its campaign against militancy.

But opposition will grow if many civilians are killed in the fighting or if the displaced are seen to be enduring undue hardship.

The offensive was launched when President Asif Ali Zardari was in Washington assuring the United States his government was not about to collapse and was committed to fighting militancy.

Pakistani action against militants in its northwest is vital for US efforts to defeat Al-Qaeda and stabilize neighboring Afghanistan. About 15,000 members of the security forces are facing about 5,000 militants in the Swat region, the military says.

Soldiers are battling militants in their stronghold in the Peochar Valley, a side valley running northwest off the main Swat valley, apparently to block a major escape route.

Taleban are still holding the region’s main town, Mingora, where many civilians have been sheltering in their homes since the government imposed a curfew.

Residents began fleeing late last month when the army attacked the Taleban in two districts near Swat they had occupied in violation of a February peace pact aimed at ending violence in the former tourist valley.

Gilani said the internal displacement was unprecedented in the country’s history and the government had to win the hearts and minds of those forced from their homes. The UN refugee agency said only about 80,000 of the displaced were staying in camps, with the rest staying with friends, relatives, or in rented accommodation or in “spontaneous settlements” that were springing up.

Pakistan has experience of dealing with large numbers of homeless in cooperation with aid agencies. About 3.5 million people lost their homes in an October 2005 earthquake in northern mountains and the army led a successful effort to feed and shelter the victims through a harsh winter. A senior army officer who played a major role in the 2005 relief effort is overseeing the operation to help the people fleeing Swat.

Gilani said the government planned to hold a conference of aid donors to raise funds but Gilani said he also expected the Pakistani people to help. “The people of Pakistan have the same passion and love for these displaced people that they displayed during the 2005 earthquake,” he said.
Arab News

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan government in a clandestine manner permitted medicine importers to import and market ‘Blue Tablet’ Viagra. “Permission to sell Viagra was already there when Sayed Anwar Mahmud was Secretary of Health but there was no notification”, a salesman of Famous Chemist D.Watson, told.

Owner of D.Watson Zafar Bakhtawari smilingly said Viagra is a medicine was sold for last many years but there was no publicity. Now we are told that the Government has given permission aphrodisiacs but we have not received any formal notification in imported Formally.

Health Ministry officials however conceded that “Only registration’ of such medicine is allowed. Official permission or no official permission but Indian medicine for ‘Men’s erectile dysfunction is already being brought through smuggling and these medicines are being sold by few chemists.

ISLAMABAD: Troops secured footholds yesterday in a Pakistani valley overrun by the Taliban, killing 11 enemy fighters and discovering five headless corpses near the region’s main town, the army said. Pakistan fighter jets and attack helicopters also pounded Taliban targets in the northwest yesterday as President Asif Ali Zardari called for global help to avert a humanitarian catastrophe.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians have escaped the punishing offensive in the Swat Valley, fleeing Taleban fighters who have terrorized the population in a bloody campaign. Elsewhere in the turbulent northwest, police said dozens of assailants stormed a transport depot handling supplies for NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan and torched eight trucks before escaping.

Rising violence, including a string of attacks on NATO and US supplies, have fed concern that more of Pakistan’s border region is slipping from government control and into the hands of the Taleban and Al-Qaeda.

The army claims to have killed more than 750 militants since the operation began. But the fighting has also driven some 800,000 people from their homes, creating a humanitarian emergency that could undercut support for the pro-Western government. The army said yesterday that commandos airlifted into the valley the day before had established a “firm hold” in the remote Peochar area, the rear base of Swat Taleban leader Maulana Fazlullah.

Troops were also consolidating their positions near a strategic bridge and a shrine in the valley, an army statement said. Various clashes in the previous 24 hours left four soldiers and 11 militants dead, it said. The five headless bodies were found near the valley’s main town, Mingora, the army said, giving no details of the victims’ identities. Residents have said the Taliban have repeatedly decapitated opponents and dumped their bodies in Mingora.

The army has yet to start operations in Mingora, where witnesses say Taliban insurgents are in control and preparing for what could be bloody door-to-door fighting. The army says it is proceeding carefully, wary that civilian casualties and massive disruption could sap public support for a sustained operation to undo recent Taliban gains.

Courtesy : Arab News

ISLAMABAD: A five-member Supreme Court bench Thursday heard further arguments by the counsel of PML-N chief and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the eligibility case. The bench headed by Justice Tassadaq Hussain Jillani and includes Justice Nasir ul Mulk, Justice Mohammad Musa K Leghari, Justice Shaikh Hakim Ali and Justice Ghulam Rabbani.

It is hearing eligibility case pertaining to the Sharif brothers as well as appeal of Nawaz Sharif against his conviction in 2000 under the military regime on plane hijacking charges. The bench adjourned the hearing till Friday. Abid Hassan Manto, counsel for Nawaz Sharif, argued that the order of Chief Election Commissioner of June 1, 2008 was legal and it could not be challenged.

He said that the tribunal was formed for a specific period and it had to decide the case within that time.

No extension can be given in date of election schedule during any phase, he said and added that under Section 11 (A) of the People’s Representatives Act 1976 only the Chief Election Commissioner has the prerogative to do so under any emergency situation.

Manto argued that Khurram Shah, a petitioner in the case, was neither a resident of the constituency nor a voter. He said that Khurram Shah was neither a contesting candidate nor affected directly. His status is like an informer, he added

Meanwhile A review petition seeking withdrawal of Supreme Court order restoring Shahbaz Sharif as chief minister Punjab was filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday. Shahid Orakzai filed the petition under Article 188 of the Constitution saying that the apex court had restored Shahbaz Sharif as chief minister Punjab despite it did not have any such jurisdiction under the Constitution.

“The SC order passed on March 31, 2009 restoring Shahbaz Sharif as Punjab CM has embarrassed and surprised the Constitution which has clearly drawn a line between jurisdiction and powers of the apex court in several articles, the petitioner said. The petitioner contended that Supreme Court was not empowered by the Constitution to convert one of its’ powers into a full fledged jurisdiction, adding the Constitution would be paralyzed if a power is converted into a jurisdiction.

He said Supreme Court could not invoke two distinctly different jurisdictions either at the same time or one after other. He said Supreme Court had already exercised its appellate jurisdiction on February 25, 2009 by disqualifying Sharif brothers to hold any public office.

“In the review petitions, the court was not asked to grant any interim relief for any person who was a member of the Punjab assembly and whose status had been questioned, the petitioner said and contended that any immediate relief to a party against an adverse order of the high court can be granted by Supreme Court strictly under article 185 than through any other provision or power”, it said.

He requested the court to withdraw its March 31 interim order and instruct Shahbaz Sharif to withdraw his review petition and seek the leave of apex court for filing an appeal in accordance with the Constitution and the Rules of Supreme Court.

input from Agencies

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani commandos dropped into a Taliban stronghold in Swat Valley yesterday, stepping up a punishing offensive against militants that has now displaced more than half a million people.

Terrified civilians have been streaming out of the three battle-torn northwest districts, with the UN refugee agency saying that 501,496 stranded people had registered with authorities since May 2.

A senior military official overseeing help for the displaced said an estimated 800,000 civilians had fled from the latest fighting. They were joining about 500,000 displaced by earlier fighting in the northwest, said Brig. Aamir Raza Qureshi.

Troops have opened up a new front in the district’s northern mountains, the suspected stronghold of firebrand Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah and his top lieutenants behind a nearly two-year uprising that has devastated the area.

Attack helicopters also shelled suspected Taliban hide-outs in Malam Jabba, once popular for its pristine ski slopes, a military official said. “So far 751 militants have been killed in operations at Lower Dir, Buner and Swat,” said Abbas. Of those, 402 have been killed in Swat.

The scale of the humanitarian crisis gripping Pakistan became clearer yesterday, with the number of registered displaced jumping from just over 360,000 late Sunday to half a million, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said.

“This is only a portion of people who would have fled,” said Ariane Rummery, UNHCR spokeswoman in Pakistan, attributing the leap in those fleeing to a brief lifting of a curfew in Swat district on Sunday. The new refugees join another 500,000 civilians who fled bouts of fighting in Pakistan’s troubled North West Frontier Province last year.

The UN’s World Food Program (WFP) said it was doubling its shipments of emergency food to the newly displaced, but warned that more funds were needed to feed the stranded over the next two to three months.

Courtesy:Arab News

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani late Thursday while addressing the nation through state-run PTV and Radio said, Nation is facing two challenges. First is National Unity and second is Economic development.

He said we initiated negotiations for peace in Swat which is now a national worry. Keeping democratic traditions in our policy we consulted all parties and signed Swat Peace deal for larger national interest. He said we signed the deal in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Pakistan and enacted legislation in order to bring peace and restore education and health facilities in Swat. We were internationally criticized for singing Swat Peace deal. But when the Treaty was violated by militants who believe in terror.

We are sorry to say our goodwill gesture was taken as our weakness. Militants violated the Swat Peace treaty and instead militants further extended their activities. I want to draw attention of Pakistani people and world at large that militancy in Malakand Division has dislocated half a million people, state authority has been challenged, minorities have been persecuted and extremists in the name of Islam committed shameful acts. These militants have violated law and constitution which we cannot allow extremists to operate further.

Its a decisive moment that we have to take action. We have to take action in order to save Pakistan. We are spending one billion rupees for displaced people. Prime Minister asked people, rather all the segments of society to face the challenge with unity. He said militants and extremists are practicing un-Islamic acts to defame Islam and the Armed forces of Pakistan. He said Islam teaches peace. We will not compromise our sovereignty. He said we will no more tolerate extremists and terrorists. We have taken certain measures to face these challenges. Prime Minister appealed to the people to remain united and support the armed forces who have been charged to root out militancy. In other words the Prime Minister accepted certain measures suggested to him by Chief of Army Staff after the formation commanders meeting Thursday.

While Prime Minister of Pakistan has approved an amount of Rs. 508 million for rehabilitation, provision of shelter and 5000 ration packets for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of NWFP. Emergency Relief Cell (ERC) of Cabinet Division has released Rs. 500 million and cheque has been dispatched to Government of NwFP which has been received by the Provincial Government on Thursday.

Input from Agencies

ISLAMABAD: Frustrated Mian Iftkhar provincial minister for Information of Frontier Province told a press conference in Peshawar Thursday.

We are now convinced that the agenda of Sufi Muhammad of the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariah Muhammdi was not peace but its hidden objective was to provide respite to militants”,

It was same Mian Iftkhar who was pressing hard to the Federal Government for immediate imposition of Nizam-e-Adl only few days back. In Mingora Sufi Muhammad told several private TV channels, while not facing camera, “We do not accept the Constitution of Pakistan. It is un-Islamic. Girls education is not acceptable and we believe in what he termed complete Shariat based Islamic system.Though he himself could not define what exact interpretation was his style of Islamic system.

As the two leader spoke their minds militants in Swat once again went in action bombing police stations, schools and destroying state symbols. This time Pakistan Army’s RPV (Remote Piloted Vehicles) scrammed over hilly Malakand Division and fighting started in and around Swat. Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps had already made up their minds to call bluff of Sufi Muhammad. Two fronts Swat and Buner witnessed real action Monday.

Director General of Frontier Corps Major General Tariq in his helicopter made a survey of battle zones. Mercenaries from Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics who are considered to be battle hardened for years in Afghanistan are now in Pakistan and brazenly and restlessly taking on Army and Frontier Corps. For them Police is a ‘Soft Target”.

For Pakistan’s political pundits it was indeed an important development when a liberal and centre of the left Party Awami National Party pressed hard for the promulgation of Nizam-e-Adl system for Swat.

After President Zardari singed the Swat Peace Deal Ordinance, Pakistan’s eminent diplomat Zafar Hilaly just commented, “Military surrender in 1971 and political surrender in Swat.Today when Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that not a single penny has been given by the center in war against militants. He was hiding his Party’s political defeat by militants with this kind of arguments. Mian Iftikhar said:

the provincial government remains committed to promulgating the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation (NAR-2009) Iftikhar said in Malakand division, however strict action will be taken if the government’s writ is challenged any violation of the agreement by militants will no longer be tolerated..

NWFP Information Minister asked the Taliban to lay down arms and stand by the government in its peace initiatives. In return he received deadly threats from Sufi Muhammad.

In Swat banned militant outfit Tehrik-e-Taliban Swat claimed the responsibility for the killing of two security men in Swat valley. According to sources, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan has claimed the responsibility Monday. It may be reminded here that two security personnel were murdered in Khwazakhela area on Sunday. Khan further said that Taliban Commander Khalil is alive. Swat Media Centre had earlier claimed he was killed by security forces. While claims and counter claims are being made from Security forces and militants worst sufferers of this politics of militancy remained common people of Malakand Division.

According to Crisis Management Cell of PM Secretariat over 200,000 people have been dislocated so far from Swat and Dir. The military operation in the two districts is continuing while at least 2000 innocent civilians are being used by the militants as human shields in Buner’s Pir Baba area, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement on Monday.The military planned to clear the Pir Baba area from Taliban militants after they had also taken over a police station there.

The latest casualty figures released by the military say at least seven militants were killed in Buner’s Kalpani area, including a militant commander Afsar Hameed. A soldier also died during the fighting while three others were injured in Buner. The operation in Buner is continuing smoothly as consolidation of positions continues in district headquarters of Daggar and surrounding areas, ISPR said.

On the security situation in Swat, the military said Taliban militants were grossly violating the peace accord and were patrolling the roads of Mingora, threatening the civilian administration and the lives of innocent people. Militants also brutally beheaded two soldiers in their captivity on Sunday in Khwazakhela, the military said, adding that security forces were still exercising restraint to honour the peace deal in Swat.
However, despite the military’s restraint, militants attacked a security forces convoy in Swat’s Bari Kot area, ISPR said. The ambush led to an exchange of fire in which an army officer was killed and two soldiers wounded, the statement said.

In Lower Dir, the militants burnt the house of a District Superintendent of Police (DSP) in Maidan’s Kumber area and looted the house of a Union Council Nazim. During an exchange of fire in Lower Dir’s Maidan area, three militants were killed, the ISPR said. Militants also raided a security forces check post at Shangla Top, killing one soldier, the statement said. Militants also kidnapped civilians from Kot Haya Sarai and demolished a police post in Shangla, the statement said.

In this situation Swat peace deal is going to dogs. Only apprehensions are the repercussions in coming few days.

NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD: Prominent Muslim scholars and leaders have strongly condemned extortion of “Jaziya” by Taleban from Sikh community in Pakistan.

A statement signed by Syed Shahabuddin, former member of Parliament and ex-president, All-India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, Mufti Mukarram Ahmad, shahi imam, Jama Masjid Fatehpuri, Delhi, Dr. S.Q.R. Ilyas, member, Muslim Personal Law Board, Dr. Zafarul-Islam Khan, president All-India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat and many others said,

“We, religious, political and community leaders of the Indian Muslims, are alarmed at the reports coming out of Pakistan’s tribal areas about the Pakistani Taleban’s kidnapping, extortion of huge amounts of money from their Sikh compatriots as “Jaziya” and demolition of the houses and shops of those who fail to pay the demanded sums.

“We would like to say that ‘Jaziya’ is a tax paid in an Islamic state for exemption from military service by healthy non-Muslim adults who are free to follow their vocations without restriction or fear, and that there is no other tax payable by them after paying this tax, unlike Muslims who have to pay various taxes including Zakah and have to perform military service as well.

The statement further says, “Jaziya” was payable by non-Muslims only in lands conquered by Muslims like Egypt, Syria and Iraq but not in unconquered areas. The statement said that “Jaziya” has not been levied on non-Muslims today in Muslims states for the simple reason that non-Muslims in these countries pay all taxes payable by others.

Prominent modern Islamic scholars are of the view that “Jaziya” should not be imposed as non-Muslims in Muslim states pay all taxes paid by other citizens and shoulder all the duties, the statement said.

“We wish to make it clear that the imposition of the so-called “Jaziya” is nothing more than extortion by an armed and lawless gang which does not constitute a sovereign government or state or even an organ thereof. Moreover, Pakistan’s tribal areas are not “conquered lands” as their non-Muslim population has been living there for centuries. These areas were part of the British India and became part of Pakistan as a result of partition.”

The Indian leaders demanded that the Pakistani authorities take earliest steps to retrieve the extorted sums and pay them back to their affected non-Muslim citizens and facilitate their peaceful return to their homes and properties in their traditional homelands and give them all due protection.
Pakistan’s former Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sherry Rehman also called Taliban’s demand of “Jaziya” from Sikhs in the Orakzai Agency a criminal act which must be condemned in no uncertain terms. She condemned eviction of Sikhs from Orakzai Agency saying, “They are Pakistani citizens and enjoy equal rights as Pakistani nationals.”

Courtesy : Arab News