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| June 21, 2007 | Thursday | Jamadi-us-Sani 05, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Opposition files reference against PM Shaukat Aziz ISLAMABAD, June 21 (APP): The joint opposition in the National Assembly Thursday filed a reference against Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz seeking his disqualification from the office. Addressing a press conference in the parliament's cafeteria the members of the opposition including Liaquat Baloch (MMA), Khwaja Asif, (PML-N), and PPPP's Sherry Rehman, Manzoor Hussain and Nayyar Bukhari, said that they have made the privatization of Pakistan Steel and crash of stock exchange in the past as the basis of their reference. The reference has been signed by 31 opposition members. Later talking briefly to reporters, speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain said he has sent the reference to National Assembly secretariat. “When it comes back to me, then I will apply my mind and decide whether to send it to Election Commission or not,” he added. (Posted @ 18:50 PST)
SC continues hearing of CJ Iftikhar’s petition ISLAMABAD, June 21 (APP) - The 13-member bench of the Supreme Court hearing petitions of chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry against the presidential reference resumed hearing of the case on Thursday and adjourned the proceedings till Monday. On Thursday, barrister Aitzaz Ahasan said the three notifications issued by the referring authority for restraining the chief justice to function as judge and head of the Supreme Court, appointment of acting chief justice, and nomination of a judge to administer oath were not in accordance with the law. The counsel said the SJC followed with an order similar to the notification of the referring authority on restraining the chief justice and contended that the SJC had no inherent powers to do so as it was only a recommendatory body. About the first SJC meeting on March 9, the counsel said this meeting was convened by someone else and not by acting chief justice because chief justices of Lahore High Court and the Sindh High Court reached Islamabad even before the oath-taking of the acting chief justice and participated in the ceremony. He asked as to who convened that SJC meeting, who arranged special flight to bring the Sindh chief justice and what was the urgency in convening the meeting the same day. Aitzaz Ahsan said the SJC passed orders to restrain Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry without issuing notice to and hearing him. Justice Faqir Mohammad Khokhar said that the order issued by the SJC was not an interim but a final order. Justice Ramday read out the SJC order and concurred with the view of Justice Khokhar. Aitzaz Ahsan said the SJC had no powers to pass orders and it had “met in undue and unholy haste” on March 9. He also argued that an acting chief justice has no authority to convene SJC meeting or chair it. The counsel claimed that the convening of SJC meeting on March 9 appeared to be “extension of conspiracy or design to remove the chief justice.” He said the record pertaining to SJC shows that this body had never in the past issued restraining order against a judge facing reference. Referring to the affidavit of CoS to the President, the counsel said the son of the chief justice was in Lahore on March 9 and he had made no mobile phone calls from Islamabad to various persons as was stated in the affidavit. Upon this, Federation's counsel Malik Mohammad Qayyum rose and told the court that he would submit complete record of telephone calls made from the cell phone used by the son of Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Cahudhry. Replying to a query from Justice Ramday, counsel Malik Qayyum said that the mobile phone was used in the area covered by a tower installed in sector F-6/3, Islamabad, which proved that the calls were made from Islamabad. Aitzaz Ahsan criticized the role of intelligence agencies in gathering information and preparing reports against judges. (Posted @ 20:00 PST)
Musharraf directs completion of 18,700 watercourses by next year RAWALPINDI, June 21 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf on Thursday directed that the target for brick-lining of 18,700 watercourses at a cost of Rs. 10,28 billion must be completed within the stipulated time for conservation of country's water resources and increased supply to the tail-enders. Chairing a meeting on National Programme for Improvement of Water Courses, he said the target of brick-lining of 86,000 watercourses was set in 2004 and noted that around 46 per cent work has been completed. The meeting was informed that under the plan 5,000 courses will be brick-lined in Punjab, 2,400 in NWFP, 4,700 in Balochistan, 6,000 in Sindh and another 600 in AJK, FATA, FANA and Islamabad Capital Territory in the next fiscal year. The President directed launch of the second phase in NWFP, Balochistan and barani areas of the Punjab after completion of the first phase. He was informed that targets in NWFP and Balochistan will be completed one year ahead of target by June next year. (Posted @ 20:02 PST)
Nominee for U.S. ambassador to Pakistan says Musharraf “has been our friend” WASHINGTON, June 21 (AP) Nominee for U.S. ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson praised President Pervez Musharraf Wednesday for his efforts to counter terrorist incursions along the Afghanistan border. President Musharraf ''has been our friend,'' Patterson told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He has sent some 85,000 Pakistani troops to the border and is trying to clamp down on growing opium poppy cultivation, a spillover from Afghanistan, she said. Patterson said that as a matter of principle the Bush administration would prefer civilian rather than military control of the Pakistani government.(Posted @ 10:10 PST)
Nigerian troops kill 12 to retake oil plant LAGOS, June 21, (AFP) - Nigerian troops stormed an Italian-operated oil facility Thursday and said they killed 12 militants to free 10 Nigerian hostages who had been held for five days. But the whereabouts of another 17 hostages was unknown after the operation in the Niger Delta state of Bayelsa, Major Omale Ochaguba told AFP. Twelve militants were killed and four soldiers wounded in the early morning raid on the flow station run by the Italian firm Agip, the major said. Nine civilians and one soldier among the hostages were rescued. (Posted @ 23:28 PST)
Afghan violence kills 1 NATO soldier, 8 Taliban; U.N. halts food shipments GHAZNI, Afghanistan, June 21 (AP) - A NATO vehicle rolled over a mine in eastern Afghanistan Thursday, triggering a blast that killed one soldier. The United Nations, meanwhile, said it had responded to growing insecurity by suspending shipments of food aid to seven volatile provinces. The NATO soldier died when his vehicle struck a pressure-plated mine in Andar district of Ghazni province, military officials said. Two of the wounded soldiers were taken to a hospital, where one of them died. Eight suspected militants and a policeman were killed when troops from the U.S.-led coalition and the Afghan army launched an operation in Paktika province late Wednesday, the Interior Ministry said. Meanwhile, a U.N. official said it halted food aid deliveries to a swath of the south and west about four weeks ago after 85 of its trucks were attacked, set ablaze or looted in the last year by Taliban insurgents and thieves. The U.N. World Food Program would run out of food for its programs in the next few weeks in the seven provinces supplied by truck from Pakistan, Richard Corsino, WFP's director in Afghanistan, told The Associated Press. (Posted @ 21:06 PST)
India and Pakistan should move to dispute resolution: Kasuri WASHINGTON, June 21 (APP):Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri has said there has been significant improvement in atmospherics between India and Pakistan as a result of the peace process and emphasized that now the two countries need to move to dispute resolution, especially the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir. Speaking at a think tank on “Pakistan's Role in Regional and Global Peace,” he said that demonstration of political will can usher a new era in India-Pakistan relations. (Posted @ 17:54 PST)
Kasuri expresses satisfaction on outcome of U.S. visit Washington, June 21 (PPI): Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has expressed satisfaction over the outcome of his visit to the United States during which he had talks with U.S. Secretary of State Dr Condoleezza Rice and other senior officials. Talking to newsmen in Washington, he said in a series of meetings with senior U.S. officials he found support for long-term, broad-based and sustainable relationship between Pakistan and the U.S. Kasuri said during meetings with officials of the U.S. administration, he reviewed progress on various tracks in Pakistan-US bilateral cooperation including economic dialogue, energy, education, science and technology. He said U.S. administration assured passage of the annual assistance programme for Pakistan both in the military and economic fields. Besides bilateral relations, discussions were also held on cooperation in counter terrorism, situation in Afghanistan, regional issues including Iran, Iraq, Middle East peace process and progress in composite dialogue with India aimed at addressing all outstanding issues including the Jammu & Kashmir dispute. Kasuri also discussed counter terrorism and the situation on the border with Afghanistan. He dispelled the notion about support for the Taliban in tribal areas .While stressing need for faster movement on initiative of reconstruction opportunity zones, he thanked the U.S. for support for the sustainable development plan of Federally Administered Tribal Areas. (Posted @ 17:40 PST)
Landmine blast kills three tribesmen in Pakistan PESHAWAR, Pakistan, June 21 (AFP) -Three Pakistani tribesmen were killed Thursday when their tractor hit a landmine planted by suspected militants at Khapeyanga village in the Kurram tribal district in a troubled region bordering Afghanistan, officials said. The blast happened as the men, all members of the same family, were going to collect firewood, a security official told AFP. (Posted @ 17:18 PST)
Over Rs. 25bn tax-free Azad Kashmir budget presented MUZAFFARABAD, June 21 (APP): Finance Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Raja Nisar Ahmed Khan, Thursday presented a tax-free budget with an outlay of Rs. 25.32 billion and showing 26 percent increase over the previous financial year. In the budget, an amount of Rs 7.80 billion has been allocated for development projects which is 30 percent more than the previous year. Rs. 17.52 billion has been earmarked for non-development expenditure. He said royalty from Mangla Dam was Rs. 66.3 million in 2006-07 which, he said would remain the same during 2007-08. He said that Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) would spend Rs. 35 billion and 60 percent of this amount would be utilized in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. (Posted @ 20:18 PST)
Balochistan allocates Rs. 13.47 billion for PSDP QUETTA, June 21 (APP): The total development expenditure of Balochistan for 2007-08 is estimated at Rs. 13.47 billion which also include foreign assistance. According to budget documents this includes Rs. 220 million for Agriculture, , Rs. 411 million for Minerals, Rs. 160 million for Physical Planning and Housing, Rs. 5.1 billion for Roads, Rs. 730 million for Water, Rs. 41 million for Information Technology, Rs. 1.9 billion for Education, Rs. 560 million for Health, Rs. 310 million on Public Health Engineering, Rs. 110 million on Women Development, Rs. 1.28 billion for Balochistan Development Authority, Rs. 30 million on Quetta Development Authority, and Rs. 20 million on Gwadar Development Authority. The budget for the province was presented before the provincial assembly on Thursday. (Posted @ 20:06 PST)
Indian Army inducts BrahMos supersonic cruise missile NEW DELHI, June 21( PPI): Indian Army was Thursday armed with surface-to-surface supersonic cruise missile, with induction of 290 km range BrahMos Missile. Actual delivery of missile would commence next month, almost a year ahead of scheduled. “Early operationalisation of missile system has been advanced by one year,” a defence ministry spokesman said apparently to counter Pakistan's development of a subsonic longer range cruise missile, Babur. (Posted @ 20:04 PST)
14 US soldiers killed in Iraq BAGHDAD, June 21 (AFP) - At least 14 more US soldiers have been killed in Iraq in the past two days, the military said on Thursday, taking its losses to 59 this month alone. Twelve of the dead were killed in separate attacks in Baghdad. In the deadliest attack, five soldiers and four Iraqis, including an interpreter, were killed on Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle during combat operations in northeastern Baghdad. One soldier and two Iraqis were also wounded. In northern Baghdad, one soldier was killed and three wounded when their vehicle was attacked by a rocket-propelled-grenade. On Wednesday, four soldiers were killed when their convoy was struck by a roadside bomb in western Baghdad. Another soldier was wounded. Two marines were killed in the restive western Anbar province on Wednesday. And two more US soldiers were killed in southwest Baghdad and four wounded when a bomb exploded near their vehicle. (Posted @ 18:58 PST)
More than 5,000 rally against suspension of Pakistan's top judge LAHORE, Pakistan, June 21 (AP) - Thousands rallied in support of Pakistan's suspended chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry Thursday, marching through the eastern city of Lahore and staging a sit-in near the provincial parliament. One group of lawyers burned a U.S. flag to protest Washington's support for what they termed a dictatorship. On Thursday, lawyers across the country also observed a one-day-a-week boycott of court proceedings to express solidarity with chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, and held rallies in other cities like Karachi, Peshawar and Multan. (Posted @ 17:38 PST)
Protesters in occupied Kashmir march against Rushdie knighthood SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, June 21 (AP) - Protesters in occupied Kashmir burned effigies of Salman Rushdie on Thursday, and marched to protest Britain's knighthood award to the India-born novelist. Supporters of Jammu-Kashmir People's Freedom League chanted “Hang Salman Rushdie” and “Down with Britain” as they marched through Srinagar. Mufti Mohammad Bashir-ud-din, head of Kashmir's Islamic court, asked Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and the government to withdraw the knighthood to Rushdie and apologize to the Muslim world. He said in a statement that Rushdie was “liable to be killed for rendering gravest injury to the sentiments of the Muslims across the world.” Bashir-ud-din is a government-appointed religious head and has the authority to issue legal opinions and decrees on interpretations of Islamic law. (Posted @ 17:24 PST)
Nigeria gripped by general strike LAGOS, June 21 (AFP) - Parts of Nigeria were at a virtual standstill Thursday as a general strike against a 15 percent raise in petrol prices gripping Africa's largest oil producer entered its second day with no end in sight. Many banks, schools, petrol stations and businesses were closed in parts of the country.(Posted @ 16:10 PST)
Suicide bomber kills at least 15 in Iraq KIRKUK, Iraq, June 21 (AFP) - At least 15 people were killed and 66 injured on Thursday when a suicide bomber exploded an oil tanker outside police headquarters in a northern Iraqi town, police and hospital officials said. The explosion took place in Suleiman Beg, a town about 90 kilometres south of Kirkuk, by a cluster of government buildings including the police headquarters. “Several of the wounded are city council members and police officers, including the chief of police in Suleiman Beg, Hassan Ali Al-Bayati,” the hospital official said. The attack gutted the police headquarters and two local administration buildings, a local police official said.(Posted @ 16:05 PST)
US, China hold talks on critical issues WASHINGTON, June 20 (AFP) US and Chinese diplomats launched a broad dialogue Wednesday expected to touch on a range of issues from Beijing's military build-up to its human rights record and help in ending the Darfur conflict. US deputy secretary of state John Negroponte and China's executive vice foreign minister Dai Bingguo led their teams to the two-day closed-door US-China “senior dialogue” at the State Department. In brief remarks before the meeting, Negroponte said: “We look very much forward to our discussions.” ”I hope we achieve a satisfactory result,” Dai said.(Posted @ 12:25 PST)
Two US soldiers killed in Baghdad BAGHDAD, June 21 (AFP) A roadside bomb killed two US soldiers in southwest Baghdad, the military said Thursday. Four more soldiers were wounded when the bomb exploded near their vehicle Wednesday.(Posted @ 11:50 PST)
Three shot dead in Thai south YALA, Thailand, June 21 (AFP) Insurgents shot dead three people in separate attacks in southern Thailand, police said Thursday. A 40-year-old villager was gunned down by five rebels at a tea shop late Wednesday in Yala, they said. Three people were also wounded. Drive-by shootings left a 32-year-old man dead in Yala, with another killed in nearby Narathiwat province.(Posted @ 11:50 PST)
U.S. nuclear envoy on surprise trip to North Korea TOKYO, June 21 (Reuters) The U.S. envoy to nuclear talks with North Korea arrived in Pyongyang Thursday to discuss the next steps under a disarmament deal. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said before leaving that six-country talks on the deal, under which the impoverished communist country would receive hundreds of millions of dollars in aid, were likely to resume in early July. But he said during talks in Tokyo that Pyongyang must keep the promise it made in February to shut down a nuclear reactor. “We have to catch up on some of the timelines, because we really fell behind this spring. I think we have to do everything we can do to accelerate the timelines,” Hill told reporters.(Posted @ 11:45 PST)
U.S. House halts funds for new nuclear warhead WASHINGTON, June 21 (Reuters) The U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday moved to block President George W. Bush from developing a new generation of atomic warheads, as Democratic and Republican opponents said the administration had not developed an adequate post-Cold War nuclear strategy.(Posted @ 10:30 PST)
Bush again vetoes embryonic stem cell research bill WASHINGTON, June 21 (AFP) President George W. Bush Wednesday vetoed for a second time a bill seeking to encourage potentially groundbreaking embryonic stem cell research, saying it violates the sanctity of human life. Risking new criticism from the scientific community, Bush rejected moves by US lawmakers to overturn his earlier prohibition against using federal funds for any research involving human embryo destruction. The president said that using human embryos for scientific research - which often involves their destruction - conflicts with his religious beliefs and he urged scientists to consider other alternatives.(Posted @ 09:35 PST)
At least 10 dead in Russian retirement home fire MOSCOW, June 21 (AFP) At least 10 people were killed Thursday and seven missing after a blaze swept through a retirement home in the Omsk region in Siberia, Russian news agencies reported citing local emergency officials. According to the RIA-Novosti there were seven people still missing from the retirement home in Ekaterininskoye village, although according to Interfax there could be as many as 17. Seven people were injured. The cause of the blaze was not immediately clear.(Posted @ 09:05 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 10.70 points: KARACHI, June 21: At close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 13546.03, down 10.70 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:17 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, June 21: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 61.2 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:17 PST)
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