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| May 23, 2007 | Wednesday | Jamadi-ul-Awwal 06, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Federation's counsel completes arguments on maintainability of Justice Iftikhar's petition ISLAMABAD, May 23 (APP): The Federation's counsel Malik Mohammad Qayyum Wednesday completed his arguments before the 13-member full court in support of his contention that the petition of Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was not maintainable. The thrust of his arguments spread over three days was that the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) was a constitutional body and its proceedings could not be challenged in any court of law. Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry's counsel Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan began his arguments and was still arguing when the 13-judge bench headed by Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday adjourned the proceedings till Thursday. The full court decided to also meet on Friday for hearing the case, though it had earlier announced it would hold four sessions every week. Aitzaz Ahsan said the function of SJC was to give its opinion on a reference and it was not empowered to remove a judge and therefore there was no justification for holding its proceedings in camera. The counsel contended that the petition was maintainable because the petitioner has not challenged SJC proceedings but the action of the referring authority in his petition being heard by the full court. He pointed out that SJC was a body that is supposed to give its opinion after examining a reference and it had no powers to remove a judge. The counsel said the petitioner has raised various questions regarding submission of reference against him on March 9 which are: Can a judge or Chief Justice of the Superior Court be suspended, restrained from functioning, sent on forced leave? Can an Acting Chief Justice be appointed in the presence of a Chief Justice? Can a Supreme Judicial Council be constituted without a Chief Justice? Can a Supreme Judicial Council be empowered to initiate proceedings against a Chief Justice?(Posted @ 18:30 PST)
CJP Chaudhry’s case: threats, intimitation ISLAMABAD, May 23 (AFP) - People linked to a legal case involving Pakistan's suspended chief justice are being threatened and intimidated, with one already shot dead and one detained, the judge's main lawyer said Wednesday. Aitzaz Ahsan, head counsel for Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, also said lawyers and witnesses in the case were under “enormous pressure from the government,” although he did not directly blame it for the incidents.We are under enormous pressure from the government. One witness has been murdered and another has been picked up,” Ahsan told Pakistan's Supreme Court which is hearing an appeal by Chaudhry against his suspension and also against President Musharraf's referral of the allegations to the Supreme Judicial Council. Outside court, Ahsan gave further details of alleged intimidation. “The lawyers are being threatened, my phones are being tapped, one witness (Supreme Court deputy registrar Syed Hamad Raza) has been killed, another (a DIG Police) has been lifted, I am getting threatening messages,” he told AFP when asked to comment on his statements in court. There was no immediate response from the government. The judge's team began their case on Wednesday after the government completed its arguments against Chaudhry's legal petition. Ahsan also complained that President Musharraf kept making pronouncements on the case. On Monday the president warned that the economy would suffer if his opponents politicised the issue. “The president is making statements every day on this issue and the chief justice is not opening his mouth,” he said.(Posted @ 16:20 PST)
Nine kidnapped Pakistani officials freed in North Waziristan MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan, May 23 (AP) Nine Pakistani government officials kidnapped by suspected militants last week in the North Waziristan tribal region were freed Wednesday, intelligence officials said. The officials, including six women, were being transported to the northwestern city of Peshawar, the two officials said, requesting anonymity. (Posted @ 10:09 PST)
No Pakistanis killed in Ankara bombing: embassy ANKARA, May 23 (AFP) - There were no Pakistanis among the six people killed in a bomb attack in the Turkish capital Ankara, a spokeswoman for the Pakistani embassy said Wednesday. Eight Pakistanis, members of a delegation attending an international defence industry fair, were however among 100 people injured in Tuesday's blast, she said. “One of those injured, a woman, was badly hurt. She was operated on last (Tuesday) night and we have been told that her condition has improved,” she said. The remaining seven have relatively minor wounds, she added.(Posted @ 16:35 PST)
Islamabad reports new bird flu outbreak ISLAMABAD, May 23 (AFP) A new outbreak of avian flu has struck three poultry farms in Islamabad, killing 6,000 birds and forcing a cull, officials said Wednesday. The disease erupted at farms in Chak Shahzad, an Islamabad suburb, this week. Officials said there was no case of human infection by the H5N1 virus. “The disease at the three farms killed 6,000 birds and we culled the remaining 5,000 on Tuesday,” Agriculture and Livestock Ministry spokesman Mohammad Afzal said. (Posted @ 10:53 PST)
Prof Ghafoor on meeting with Sindh governor KARACHI, May 23 (PPI): Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan Naib Amir Prof. Ghafoor Ahmed Wednesday said that Sindh Governor Dr. Ishratul Ibad Khan called on him at his residence and he straightforwardly told him (governor) that MQM was on the path of terrorism, and it was responsible for May 12 mayhem, along with Islamabad rulers. Prof. Ghafoor Ahmed said that it was his moral duty to call a spade a spade, and categorically told the governor that MQM and Gen. Musharraf were directly responsible for the May 12 incidents in Karachi. “I told him that about 50 people including workers of JI and Islami Jamiat Talaba were martyred by firing on May 12 when heavy weapons were used openly, while law enforcement agencies' personnel abandoned the city,” he said in a statement.(Posted @ 21:10 PST)
Governor meets opposition leaders to defuse tension in Karachi. KARACHI, May 23 (APP): Sindh Governor, Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan Wednesday held separate meetings with ANP chief Asfandiyar Wali, MMA leader and Naib Amir Jamaat Islami Prof. Ghafoor Ahmed and members of MQM Rabita Committee, as part of his efforts to defuse tense situation in the city in the aftermath of May 12 incidents and the tension between parties.The Governor reiterated that all will have to work together to bring an end to prevailing tension in the city and it is everyone’s responsibility to maintain law and order. The Governor on Wednesday reached Mardan House to meet ANP chief Asfandiyar Wali. The meeting lasted about 45 minutes. Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad said: “We all will have to play our role to end tension”. He pointed out that in accordance with the thinking of MQM Quaid Altaf Hussain and ANP Quaid Khan Abdul Wali Khan, May 12 incident should not be made a basis for disrupting the peaceful environment. He hoped peace will be established in Karachi. Talking to journalists Asfandiyar Wali said political differences should be resolved politically. Replying to a question he said the decision about the 3-day strike in Karachi is that of Pakhtun Action Committee and ANP has noting to do with it. It is Action Committee's decision which has been supported by lawyers and opposition parties, he added.(Posted @ 20:40 PST)
Abbas holds truce talks with Haniya GAZA CITY, May 23 (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas held talks on Wednesday with prime minister Ismail Haniya to thrash out ways to shore up the ceasefire and end armed clashes between their supporters, said presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina.The president also discussed, as he was also expected to with armed factions later Wednesday, “the question of a truce (in Israeli-Palestinian violence) and the possibility of expanding it,” said Haniya spokesman Ghazi Hamad. “Abu Mazen and Haniya also discussed the escalation of Israeli aggression, especially the assassinations and air strikes,” said Abu Rudeina.(Posted @ 21:00 PST)
Seven hurt, as bogie of Buraq Express derails near Shahdadpur Shahdadpur, Pakistan, May 23 (PPI): A bogie of Rawalpindi-bound 43-Up Buraq Express derailed near Shahdadpur, about 200kms northeast of Karachi, Wednesday night, injuring seven passengers. Railways relief and repair team reached the scene of accident, removed the derailed bogies from the track after five hours, and the train resumed its onward journey.(Posted @ 20:50 PST)
Musharraf for multi-pronged strategy to address situation in Afghanistan ISLAMABAD, May 23 (APP):President General Pervez Musharraf Wednesday said peace in Afghanistan will not come from the barrel of a gun and called for a multi- pronged strategy to tackle the situation. The President, in an interview to Canadian national daily The Globe and Mail said,“We have to have a multi-pronged strategy. In Afghanistan it is only the military strategy which is working now.” He also said Pakistan was the only country that had a military, political, developmental and administrative strategy to defeat extremism. About the deal with the local tribal elders President Musharraf said it served as a way of breaking the cycle of violence. “These are the tribal Maliks [leaders] and elders. Locate them. Identify them, deal with them, wean them away. That's the strategy that should have been adopted a long time back.”(Posted @ 20:30 PST)
Iraq: suicide bomber kills 20; 46 bodies found Baghdad, May 23 (Reuters) A bomber wearing a suicide vest killed 20 people and wounded 30 in a cafe in Mandali, about 100 km northeast of Baghdad on Wednesday, police said. Three people were also killed and 14 others wounded when a mortar round landed in Karrada district in central Baghdad. Two soldiers were wounded in clashes between the Iraqi military and gunmen in Doura district while at least three people were killed and 15 wounded by a car bomb in a parking lot in the town of Jbela, near Iskandariya, 40 km south of Baghdad. Meanwhile, a hospital in Tikrit received the decomposed bodies of three men who were found with bullet wounds the town of Baiji. The bodies of five more people were found shot and tortured in different districts of the city of Ramadi while bodies of 33 people were also found shot in different districts of Baghdad on Tuesday, police said. Twenty-seven of them were found in the predominantly Sunni Arab western Karkh side of Baghdad. The bodies of five people were also retrieved from two rivers near the city of Kut, police said.(Posted @ 20:05 PST)
IAEA says Iran building up atom programme, defying UN VIENNA, May 23 (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday Iran was stepping up its uranium enrichment programme. “Iran has not agreed to any of the required transparency measures, which are essential for the clarification of certain aspects of the scope and nature of its nuclear programme,” said a confidential IAEA report obtained by Reuters.“Iran has not suspended its enrichment-related activities. Iran has continued with the operation of its pilot fuel enrichment plant and with construction of its (planned underground industrial) enrichment plant, ” it said.(Posted @ 19:55 PST)
MQM exposed after May 12 mayhem: Qazi Husain Karachi, May 22 (PPI): President of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and Amir Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Qazi Hussain Ahmed Wednesday said May 12 violence in Karachi had exposed the real face of MQM. Speaking at the Karachi Bar Association at a meeting also addressed by the Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Maulana Fazalur Rehman, Qazi Hussain held the government and the MQM responsible for May 12 violence in Karachi and refused to talk with MQM on Karachi issue.. Entire Karachi was blocked, people were barred from coming out to welcome Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and the city was handed over to terrorists and arsonists. The government, instead of providing protection to citizens, patronized lawbreakers, he said. Qazi Hussain hailed lawyers' movement for the independence of judiciary and assured them full support of all opposition parties in this regard. Maulana Fazalur Rehman, in his address, appreciating lawyers' movement said that they had always strived and gave sacrifices for the supremacy of the Constitution and rule of law. Lawyers' unity has proved that Presidential Reference against CJP was malafide and unlawful. He expressed grief over May 12 incidents in Karachi and termed it a conspiracy to shatter the peaceful environment of the city.. He said he was not against the right of any political party to hold rally but MQM's act to hold rally on the same day was against political ethics. Maulana Fazal said MMA was ready to quit the government in Balochistan but for this purpose opposition parties should be united and not give any chance to the rulers to impose Governor rule in the province. “We are ready to sacrifice our government but not democracy.” (Posted @ 19:00 PST)
German Foreign Minister Steinmeier in Pakistan Islamabad, May 23 (PPI): German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived Wednesday in Islamabad. Steinmeier, who visited Afghanistan Tuesday, later held talks with Pakistan Foreign Minister Khursheed Mahmud Kasuri on a wide range of issues.(Posted @ 19:05 PST)
Mahmand tribe assures law and order in Agency BAJAUR AGENCY, May 23 (APP): The peoples' representatives and elders of Mahmand tribe of Bajaur Agency Wednesday assured full cooperation to the political administration to maintain law and order and announced to abide by the peace accord reached between them and administration. At a meeting held at Khar, headquarters of the agency, and attended among others by elders of the tribe, Ulema, agency councillors, Maulana Mohammad Saddiq MNA, Senator Maulana Abdur Rashid, Malik Gul Mahmood, Malik Fazal Mabood, Malik Yusuf Khan etc, the speakers said that law and order situation in the agency has improved to a great extent following the peace accord. They assured full support to the political administration for carrying out development schemes in the agency.(Posted @ 18:35 PST)
Pakistani minister embroiled in hug row told to stay ISLAMABAD, May 23(Reuters) - Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has rejected the resignation of Nilofar Bakhtiar, a female cabinet minister who had come under fire for hugging her parachute instructor in France. “I have not accepted her resignation,” Aziz was quoted as saying by state-run APP news agency.(Posted @ 17:15 PST)
85 killed in Afghan IED blasts in May--NATO KABUL, May 23 Reuters) - NATO said Wednesday that 85 people, including 40 civilians, have been killed so far this month by the Taliban's improvised explosive devices (IEDs).In roughly the same period, aerial strikes by U.S.-led coalition forces have killed at least 90 civilians, Afghan officials and witnesses say. ISAF said 70 of the 85 killed so far this month by IEDs, including suicide attacks and roadside bombs, were Afghans. Another 250 people, including 118 civilians, were wounded.(Posted @ 17:15 PST)
Nine more US soldiers killed in Iraq BAGHDAD, May 23 (AFP) Nine US troops were killed around Iraq Tuesday, the US military reported Wednesday. (First Posted @ 09:51 PST, Updated@ 14:52 PST)
At UN, Pakistan reaffirms commitment to promote, protect women's rights UNITED NATIONS, May 23 (APP) Pakistan Tuesday presented its first ever report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women since it ratified the Women's Convention in 1996, saying Islamabad was committed to promote and protect women's rights. “We are determined to empower Pakistani women and to include them in the development of our country,” the Secretary of the Ministry of Women Development, Mahmood Salim Mahmood, told the committee while introducing Pakistan's initial, second and third combined report. “Our government remains committed to ensure provision of justice and security to the women so that they can lead their lives with respect and dignity,” he said in his introductory statement. Mahmood, who is leading the Pakistan delegation, said the report was a product of an elaborate national consultative process, as the expert body examined the country's compliance with the treaty. (Posted @ 13:32 PST)
Finnish soldier killed in Afghanistan OSLO, May 23 (AFP) An explosion near a military base in northwestern Afghanistan’s Faryab province’s Maimana town Wednesday killed a Finnish soldier and injured two Norwegian soldiers, a Norwegian army spokesman said. (First Posted @ 12:58 PST, Updated @ 13:23 PST)
Suicide attacker kills one, wounds three in Kabul KABUL, Afghanistan, May 23 (AP) A suicide attacker on a motorbike exploded himself next to highway police guarding a road construction project in Kabul Wednesday, killing one policeman and injuring three Afghans, a police official said. Two police and a civilian were among the wounded. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
Six shot dead in Thai south YALA, Thailand, May 23 (AFP) Six people, including two teenage boys, were killed by insurgents in separate shootings and seven were injured Wednesday in bomb attacks in southern Thailand, police said. Police found four bullet-riddled bodies in a house on a rubber plantation in Yala. The victims were a 56-year-old rubber tapper and his 21-year-old daughter, and two brothers, aged 15 and 18, police said. A 48-year-old man was also killed by rebels while driving a motorcycle in Yala, and a 40-year-old man on a motorcycle was shot dead by insurgents in a separate drive-by shooting in nearby Pattani province. Also in Yala, a soldier was seriously wounded when a roadside bomb went off, and six border patrol policemen were hurt in another roadside explosion in front of a school. (Posted @ 10:01 PST)
Clashes with Tamil rebels leave at least five guerrillas dead COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, May 23 (AP) Sri Lankan troops clashed with Tamil rebels in the country's north and east, leaving at least five guerrillas dead, the military said Wednesday. Soldiers killed three guerrillas in two clashes in the northern Vavuniya district late Tuesday, military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said. In addition, the bodies of two rebels were recovered after a night clash in the eastern Batticaloa district, he said. (Posted @ 09:37 PST)
Plane loaded with cocaine crashes in Venezuela CARACAS, Venezuela, May 23 (AP) A small plane loaded with cocaine crashed in eastern Venezuela, killing the two people aboard and revealing a drug shipment that was seized by troops. National Guard soldiers confiscated 480 kilograms of cocaine from the Cessna that crashed late Monday, the attorney general's office said in statement Tuesday. The wreckage was found near the town of El Tigre, about 400 kilometres southeast of Caracas. (Posted @ 09:16 PST)
Israel hits Gaza with more strikes, seven wounded GAZA, May 23 (Reuters) Israel launched more air strikes in Gaza Wednesday which wounded seven people, hospital officials and residents of the northern part of the coastal strip said. (Posted @ 09:15 PST)
Four dead in Bangkok shooting spree BANGKOK, May 23 (AFP) Four people were killed Wednesday and six injured when a Thai gunman went on a shooting spree in a market on the outskirts of Bangkok, police said. The man was apparently enraged when police seized his motorcycle, and stalked through a market in Pathumthani province, north of Bangkok, shooting dead a villager, a security guard and a police officer. After a two-hour pursuit, police shot and killed the gunman, who was wielding an AK-47 and wore night vision goggles, Police Lieutenant Colonel Permkiat Suriyawong said. (Posted @ 09:14 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 62.53 points: KARACHI, May 23: At the close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 12498.72, up 62.53 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:17 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, May 23: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.85 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:17 PST)
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