November 27, 2001	Tuesday	Ramazan 11, 1422

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 26: The elections of the Pakistan Amateur Athletic Federation (PAAF) were set for Dec 12 by the constitution and affiliation committee of the Pakistan Olympic Association Monday.

The meeting of the committee held in Lahore under the chairmanship of Khawaja Farooq Saeed, formed an election commission comprising the chairman himself, Syed Aqil Shah and Khaliq Khan.

The constitution committee besides Khawaja Farooq had Ahmed Nawaz, M. Khalid Mahmood, Syed Aqil Shah, Afzal Awan, Sarfraz Ahmed, Khaliq Khan (committee’s secretary), Latif Butt and Mr. Kasuri (legal adviser). Aqil and Afzal from NWFP and Balochistan respectively did not attend the meeting.

The elections which take place at the POA House in Lahore will bring to an end a bitter row between the two factions of the PAAF that had seen senior civil judge Muhammad Saleem ordering that elections of the federation be held within a month.

Affairs in the PAAF had turned ugly on Oct 15 when a special general council meeting of the federation in Islamabad saw as many as 11 members expressing no confidence in president Maj Gen (Retd) Imtiaz Ali and secretary Col (Retd) Hanif Malik. The two were charged with committing financial irregularities.

The majority of the members said the two officials stood suspended and that an ad hoc committee headed by Brig Khalid Sajjad Khokhar had been formed to run the affairs of the PAAF.

However, following that meeting, Imtiaz and Hanif obtained a stay order from the court that prevented the ad hoc committee from holding its first meeting in Lahore on Oct 24.

The PAAF on the other hand which had also convened a separate meeting on October 27 was asked not to do so by the court.

On Nov 3 the judge suspended the PAAF and the ad hoc committee.

Both Imtiaz and Hanif have now reported to have filed a review appeal with the same court and a hearing is scheduled for Dec 1.

Meanwhile, the POA is said to have written to the Director General of the Pakistan Sports Board, Brig Saulat Abbas to send an observer to the polls.