Leading Pakistan lawyer resigns
A top Pakistani lawyer has resigned as the head of a lawyers' association after attorneys attacked a former cabinet minister.
Aitzaz Ahsan resigned after lawyers joined a crowd to beat to assault former parliamentary affairs minister Sher Afgan Niazi.
Mr Niazi was shaken but unhurt.
Mr Ahsan played a key role in turning the ousted chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, into a symbol of resistance against President Musharraf.
Mr Ahsan resigned as President of the Supreme Court Bar Association after lawyers joined a crowd of people which surrounded Mr Niazi, jostling him, and trying to beat him with their hands and shoes.
Mr Ahsan said he wanted to disassociate himself from the assault.
He rose to prominence last year when he acted as chief counsel for judge Iftikhar Chaudhry, the chief justice President Musharraf suspended in March and finally ousted in November under emergency rule.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7337939.stm
Sher Afgan Niazi thrashed by lawyers
LAHORE: Several lawyers thrashed former federal minister for parliamentary affairs Dr Sher Afgan Niazi on Tuesday, as he tried to escape from a plaza in which lawyers had trapped him for more than five hours.
Hundreds of lawyers wielding clubs, tomatoes, shoes and rotten eggs refused to listen to the pleas of Aitzaz Ahsan, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president, and Anwar Kamal, Lahore High Court Bar Association president, to cease violence.
The lawyers’ unprovoked attack on Niazi, a heart patient, continued even after an ambulance was called to rescue him from the mob.
Token: At one stage, Aitzaz threatened resignation if the violence didn’t cease. However, Munir Malik told Dawn TV that this was a token gesture and would not be acceptable to his colleagues. Talking to the channel, Niazi claimed that the lawyers had tried to kill him.
Separately, SCBA media adviser Muhammad Azhar said that no lawyer had thrashed Niazi. He said that the people who had attacked Niazi were trying to sabotage the lawyers’ movement for restoration of the sacked judges.
However, Latif Sarra advocate told Daily Times that lawyers had sufficient reason to attack Niazi. He said that Niazi had opposed the lawyers’ movement during his tenure, had tried to defend President Pervez Musharraf by wrongly interpreting the Constitution, and had made contemptuous remarks against the sacked judges.
Mozang Police has registered a case against 30 lawyers, and around 400 unidentified accomplices.
Protest: Separately, the people of Mianwali, Niazi’s hometown, came out on the streets to protest at his manhandling, reported Geo News. The channel reported that a group of people set fire to several lawyers’ buildings, including the district bar building.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...9-4-2008_pg1_1
Pakistan, France sign defence collaboration plan
RAWALPINDI: Pakistan and France on Tuesday signed defence collaboration plan for the years 2008-09 at Joint Staff Headquarters and agreed to accelerate military cooperation.
“Both countries have agreed to accelerate military cooperation and have offered military courses and training assistance for tri-services officers,” ISPR said in statement. They also agreed to participate in forthcoming major training exercises of joint forces, which will be held during the next two years. The plan also envisaged exchange of technical expertise to boost cooperation in technological matters and its transfer for capacity building of Pakistan Armed Forces.
A special signing ceremony was held and Director General Foreign Military Cooperation Joint Staff Headquarters, Major General Noor Hussain and Deputy Chief of Staff of French Forces for International Relations Air Marshal Pierre Bourlot signed the defence collaboration plan. The talks continued for two days that concluded on Tuesday with the resolve to boost military ties between two countries, said the statement.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...-4-2008_pg7_65
Pakistan-born journalist wins Pulitzer Prize
NEW YORK: Adrees Latif, a Pakistan-born photojournalist, has won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for “Breaking News Photography”, according to media reports.
Latif of Reuters, who is based in Bangkok, won the prize on Monday for his dramatic photo of a Japanese videographer being attacked in Myanmar.
The graphic photo shows the man, sprawled on the pavement, continuing to shoot with his camera after what turned out to be a fatal injury sustained in shooting that followed a street demonstration as troops attacked protesters.
Latif has a B.A. in journalism from the University of Houston. After working for Reuters in the US, he moved to Bangkok in 2003 where he covers news across Asia.
The Pulitzers are journalism’s highest awards and given annually in various categories by the Columbia University.
They are named after the newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, who died in 1911.
This year, The Washington Post won a record six Pulitzers, including for its coverage last year of the Virginia Tech massacre, in which a mentally-ill student killed 32 people and committed suicide.
http://www.dawn.com/2008/04/09/top13.htm