Habib for judicial commission to investigate Mehran-gate

Judiciary

Wednesday, 14 March 2012 23:56

ISLAMABAD:Former head of Mehran Bank Younus Habib on Wednesday has filed a petition in the Supreme Court of Pakistan to form a judicial commission to recover the tax-payers’ money that was allegedly being disbursed in the 1990 election for illegal use, DawnNews reported.

Habib said that although National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is already investigating the issue but a judicial commission should also be formed.

He said that he wants to tell the truth to the court before his death so that such actions could be avoided in the future.

While earlier today the SC issued a warning to Habib for writing a letter directly addressing to the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Choudhry for which Habib asked for an unconditional apology.

The attorney general asked the Supreme Court for an extension for submission of the inquiry report regarding Younus Habib and the Mehran Bank.

Chief Justice remarked that security agencies are involved in activities that are beyond their mandate.

The hearing of the case had been adjourned till March 30.

Earlier Habib revealed in his statement before the SC that he had been forced by former president late Ghulam Ishaq Khan and former army chief Aslam Beg to arrange Rs340 million in the “supreme national interest”.

Supreme Court orders AG to write a letter, Aitzaz Ahsan

Judiciary

Wednesday, 14 March 2012 23:50

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s counsel, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan said on Wednesday that President Asif Ali Zardari enjoys immunity throughout the world, DawnNews reported.

While talking to the media representatives outside the Supreme Court, Ahsan said that on March 8 he was not present in the Supreme Court when the PM had been ordered to write a letter to the Swiss authorities.

Ahsan was speaking in regards to contempt of court case against the PM.

The counsel said that the Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq was ordered by the SC to write a letter as he is the prosecutor of the case.

“I will give the justification to the court on March 19 and on March 21 about the decision of not writing a letter to the Swiss authorities – whether it was right or wrong and will also give clarifications regarding the immunity granted to the president,” said Ahsan.

Earlier on March 8, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had ordered Gilani to write a letter to the Swiss authorities.

Pakistan appoints new head of intelligence

Defence

Monday, 12 March 2012 09:41

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ISLAMABAD — Pakistan appointed a new head of intelligence on Friday, injecting some uncertainty in America's dealings with an agency crucial to its hopes of negotiating a peace deal with the Afghan Taliban and keeping pressure on al-Qaida.

Lt. Gen. Zaheerul Islam replaces Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, who had been in the post since 2008 and was due to retire on March 18. The scion of a military family who is currently army commander in the city of Karachi, Islam was considered a likely man for the job.

Islam, who between 2008 and 2010 was the deputy head of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence, will be a major player in any Pakistani efforts to get the Afghan Taliban to enter peace negotiations to end the war. ISI agents helped build up the Afghan Taliban in the 1990s, and its leaders are believed to be based in Pakistan. The ISI is considered to have some influence over them.

While there remain doubts over its loyalty, the ISI also works closely with the CIA in tracking and capturing members of al-Qaida, which retains a global command and training center close to the Afghan border.

Relations between Islamabad and the United States have been strained since the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden last year and have all but collapsed since November, when American troops mistakenly killed 24 Pakistani troops on the Afghan border. Intelligence cooperation between them has continued despite the tensions, officials from both nations have said.

The ISI falls under the control of the army, which sets policy in consultation with the elected government.

As such, the appointment of Islam is not expected to immediately, or significantly, change Pakistani policy, but having a new man at the helm inevitably brings a measure of uncertainty in American dealings with the spy agency. The current head of the army, Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, is due to retire in October 2013.

"There is now a variable. Except for his close relations, who knows what he believes in? When he comes under stress, how will he react?" said Moeed Pirzada, a political commentator.

A U.S. official said Islam had traveled to America during his career to attend U.S. military sponsored training programs, and was familiar with his American counterparts.

"It would not be a surprise to see a brief transition period as the new head of the ISI gets up to speed, but that shouldn't have much impact on counter terrorism cooperation," said the official, speaking anonymously to talk about intelligence matters.

Islam has also served as head of the ISI's internal security wing, which deals with militants and counterintelligence. As army chief in Karachi, he would have intimate knowledge of the militant groups in the city, which has been frequently hit by terrorist attacks since 2001.

Pasha headed the spy service during a tumultuous time, especially after the bin Laden raid in May.

Abroad, bin Laden's presence in the military town of Abbottabad only heightened suspicions that elements of the ISI may have been protecting him. At home, the military establishment was criticized for failing to track him down, as well as not preventing the unilateral American airborne raid.

Shuja Nawaz, the director of the South Asia Center at the U.S.-based Atlantic Council, said the change of ISI chief "wouldn't makes a great deal of difference" in Pakistani policy.

"Instructions will continue to come from the army chief. However, there are always the personal likes and dislikes of the individual who takes over the ISI because the army chief is not supervising every micro detail," he said, speaking before Islam's appointment was announced.

Militants attacked ISI offices several times over the last four years, and Pasha had to ramp up the agency's fight against them. During his tenure, the CIA dramatically expanded its drone strike program against militants along the Afghan border, allegedly with the support of the ISI.

Earlier Friday, an American missile attack killed 12 militants in South Waziristan, a rugged militant stronghold where the Pakistani army has staged offensives in the past, intelligence officials said. The attack was the eighth this year, which represents a drop in frequency over the past two years. In 2011, there were an average of two strikes a week.

The strikes, which began in earnest in 2008, have killed scores of militants, including foreign al-Qaida members involved in plotting attacks on the West. Their tempo increased in 2010, when they hit militants widely seen as being proxies of the Pakistani army, causing friction between the U.S and Pakistan.

Also Friday, an al-Qaida video released on the Internet confirmed the death of militant commander Badr Mansoor in a missile attack in February. Mansoor was believed to be behind many of the suicide attacks inside Pakistan in recent years, and so his death could be cited by supporters of the campaign in Washington and Islamabad as an example of how drone attacks benefit both countries.

Mansoor was from Pakistan's largest province, Punjab, and moved to North Waziristan in 2008, where he led a faction of some 230 fighters, local insurgents have said. The enlistment of Punjabis in the Pakistani Taliban has been a serious concern for the government, because it makes it easier for the militants to export violence from the border to the heart of the country, where most Punjabis live.

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By Chris Brummitt
The Associated Press

PM Gilani says will not take advice to write letter to Swiss officials

Governance

Sunday, 11 March 2012 21:53

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that he will not take advice of anyone to write letter to Swiss officials.

While speaking in Lahore, Gilani said that he will no longer accept advice from anyone.

Flanked by Interior Minister Rehman Malik, the prime minister said that Pakistan People’s Party had faced conspiracies in every era, adding that conspiracies had been hatched to delay Senate elections.

The Prime Minister said that the PPP led government is taking measures to implement its political agenda for the welfare of the masses.

Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani makes it clear that no conspiracy will be allowed to succeed against the democratic system in the country. It is still unclear to the masses as to which conspiracy, or conspirators, is the PM referring to.

The Supreme Court had directed the Prime Minister to implement its order in the NRO case by writing a letter to the Swiss authorities to reopen the cases against President Asif Ali Zardari without seeking any further advice and submit his written statement before the court on March 19 regarding the implementation of its order.

However, Gilani said that he never received any directives from the Supreme Court to write a letter to Swiss Authorities.

To a question about any threat of economic sanctions over Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project‚ the prime minister said that being a sovereign state‚ Pakistan is taking all the decisions independently and without any pressure.

About Afghanistan‚ Prime Minister Gilani said it should be resolved through negotiations.

Referring to Balochistan issue‚ the prime minister said he is consulting with the provincial government for holding an All Parties Conference on the Balochistan issue. He said we cannot rule out foreign involvement in the province.

Replying to a question about the accountability‚ Prime Minister Gilani hoped that the government would achieve consensus in the parliament on the issue of accountability law.

About the date of next elections‚ the Prime Minister said the government will take a decision after consulting its coalition partners. He said that after the 20th Amendment the government has eliminated all the chances for poll rigging and these will be held in a fair‚ free and impartial manner. Although it must be kept in mind that a major fraudulent vote scandal is still hovering over his son's victory in the by-elections and the coalition government which has come into power with fake votes of about 4 million.

The Prime Minister said that any decision regarding Pak-Iran gas pipeline would be taken into national interest, adding that American pressure would not be accepted in this regard.

The Prime Minister said that he was not afraid of Imran Khan, added that, Khan was his favourite. The PTI chief should satisfy over the set up of an independent Election Commission under the 20th Constitutional Amendment.

The Prime Minister said that the government was ready to call All Parties Conference (APC) or Jirga to resolve the issue of Balochistan.