Two weekly holidays announced for govt offices

Thursday, April 22, 2010

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said the use of air-conditioners at the government offices would not be allowed before 11am, Geo News reported Thursday.

He said while talking to a media briefing that the shops and commercial centers would be closed after 8pm except necessary businesses like pharmacy and bakeries etc..

The power supply to billboards would be cut off immediately, he said adding 50 percent less lights would be used in the government offices including those of the President and the PM.

Government offices would have two weekly offs, he announced adding the industries would announce alternative weekly offs.

The decision regarding two weekly holidays will applicable till July 31, he clarified.

The power quota to Karachi from Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) has been slashed by 300 Megawatts from 650 MWs, he said adding now Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) will receive only 350 MWs.

No officer below 20 grade would be entitled to use air-conditioner, he said adding if someone does so, he would be grilled.

The marriage halls would be allowed to have function for only three hours, he said.

The electricity would not be provided to agricultural sector in peak hours. At least 1300 MWs would come into system by the end of the year, he said.

http://thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=103427

ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Interior today issued the notification regarding two-day holidays in government offices, which would come into force at once, Geo News reported.

According to the notification, Saturday and Sunday would be holidays; working hours would be 8: 00am till 4: 00pm from Monday to Friday.

While lunch break would be between 1: 00pm to 1: 30pm except Friday.

Friday namaz and lunch break would be from 12: 30pm to 2: 00pm.[

ISLAMABAD: A 3-member committee has been constituted by the Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani to probe the hosing of Benazir Bhutto assassination crime scene.

Cabinet Secretary Abdul Rauf will head the committee and Vice Chief of General Staff Major General Sajjad Ghani and Additional Chief Secretary Interior, Khyber Pakhtwnkha Fayyaz Toro are its members.

The committee will present its report to the prime minister within seven days.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday constituted a three-member committee to pinpoint responsibility for hosing down of the crime scene after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto on Dec 27, 2007.

Cabinet Secretary Abdul Rauf Chaudhry will head the body. Other members will be the Deputy Chief of General Staff, Maj-Gen Sajjad Ghani, and Additional Chief Secretary (Home) for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Fayyaz Tooru.

The committee has been tasked with finding out whether the then director-general of Military Intelligence (MI), Maj-Gen Nadeem Ijaz, ordered police officials to hose down the crime scene.

The committee has been asked to submit a report to the prime minister within seven working days.

Informed sources told Dawn that soon after the release of the UN Commission’s report on Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, senior army officials had asked the prime minister to form a high-level committee to dig out the truth behind the erasure of potential evidence.

“As the naming of a senior military official in the report was something embarrassing for the top army command, it sought formation of a body to determine if the former DG MI had a role in the episode or not,” they said.

It will be a rare case of probe into the possible role of a senior military officer in a crime. Maj-Gen Nadeem Ijaz is currently serving as Logistics Area Commander in Gujranwala and before being superseded was the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 26th Mechanised Division at Bahawalpur.

The UN fact finding mission’s report had revealed that the then Military Intelligence (MI) chief, Maj-Gen Nadeem Ijaz, a relative of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, had ordered police to wash the scene of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi. The commission attached great significance to the washing of the crime scene as it could have proved useful in investigations into the assassination.

The report, citing unnamed sources, said that the then Rawalpindi city police officer (CPO), Saud Aziz, did not act independently in hosing down the assassination site. It said one source had claimed that CPO Saud Aziz confided in him that he had received a call from Army headquarters instructing him to order the hosing down of the crime scene, but quoted another source as saying that he was ordered by the then director general of Military Intelligence, Maj-Gen Nadeem Ijaz Ahmed, to take the controversial decision.

The report said others, including three police officers, told the commission that Saud Aziz did not act independently and that “everyone knows” who ordered the action. However, they were not willing to state on record what is the meaning of “everyone knows”.

The commission said it was one of the many occasions during the inquiry when individuals, including government officials, expressed fear or hesitation to speak openly.

The report cited some senior police officers as pointing out that while the deliberate hosing down of a scene is unheard of in police practice, it had occurred on a few occasions. In each case the military had been the target of such attacks and the crime scene was managed by it.

The unusual action of hosing down of the crime scene of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination has been shrouded in mystery from the very outset. A three-member committee of inquiry was set up by the Punjab chief minister to delve into the circumstances leading to the washing down of the crime site. It concluded its work within two days on Feb 15, 2008. The committee acknowledged that a crime scene should in principle be preserved at least till a search and thorough forensic examination was carried out. Yet it gave a clean chit to the Rawalpindi police by accepting its plea that it had been done as a crowd control and public order measure.

Interestingly, the UN Commission did not get a chance to meet the committee comprising three senior officers of the Punjab government, in spite of a request.

The commission, however, said it was difficult to credit the committee’s work, saying that the narrow scope of terms of reference cast doubt on the committee’s independence.

It stressed that the objective of the crime scene management was the collection and preservation of evidence to help solve the crime.

NEW DELHI: A female diplomat working in the Indian embassy in Islamabad has been arrested on charges of spying for Pakistan, police and the foreign ministry said Tuesday.

“We have reason to believe that an official in the High Commission of India in Islamabad had been passing information to the Pakistani intelligence agencies,” foreign ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash told reporters.

“The official is cooperating with our investigations and enquiries,” he said in a statement made on the sidelines of a regional conference in Bhutan.

A senior police source said the 53-year-old woman, a second secretary in the embassy in Islamabad, had been under surveillance for six months before police swooped.

“Mrs. Gupta was arrested from her home in east Delhi after she was called back for consultations,” the police officer said on condition he was not named.

Press Trust of India news agency said she was summoned to New Delhi on the pretext of discussions on the eight-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) set to begin in Bhutan on Wednesday.

She had worked in the mission for nearly three years and is alleged to have passed on information from the Islamabad head of India's external intelligence service, Research and Analysis Wing, to her Pakistani contacts, PTI said

The station head of the research wing in Islamabad, R.K. Sharma, was also under scrutiny in connection with Gupta's arrest, according to PTI.

K.C Singh, a former Indian foreign secretary, told the Times Now news channel that Gupta would in theory have had limited access in her role in the information wing.

“More damage is done if it is someone in the political wing,” he said.

“However it is a penetration. We earlier had penetration by the US and East Europeans, but this is a first from Pakistan.”

Arun Bhagat, a retired head of India's intelligence bureau, called the arrest “a matter of shame” in an interview with Times Now. – AFP

India agrees to resume Composite Dialogue

RIZWAN BHATTI
THIMPHU (April 30 2010)

After a gap of 14 months, Pakistan and India on Thursday agreed to resume composite dialogue process, that were suspended after the Mumbai attacks. This was announced after a meeting between Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh at Bhutan House on the sidelines of the 16th South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation (Saarc) summit.

Prime Minister Gilani also invited Manmohan to visit Pakistan. Addressing a press briefing after the meeting, minister for foreign affairs, Shah Mehmood Qureshi revealed that the meeting between the two Prime Ministers was 'very good' and both the leaders have decided to resume the dialogue process, which is the only way to bring peace and stability in the region.

Qureshi said the meeting was successful and finally he (Qureshi) and Indian Foreign Minister S M Krishna were given a 'mandate' to work out the modalities for future dialogue and to 'build confidence on each side.' He said the two prime ministers after a brief meeting along with their respective delegations, also had one on one meeting in which all issues were discussed, and later foreign ministers and secretaries of both countries were asked to join the meeting again and directed to resume dialogue process at earliest.

It was a very comprehensive, cordial and a very friendly meeting, which continued for one and half hours, he added. "If I will give the gist of meeting, I will say it was indeed a very positive meeting... it was in the right direction, and it was in the right spirit and the two prime ministers reiterating the earlier commitments have agreed to resume the dialogue process between India and Pakistan," Qureshi said.

He described the meeting as "warm, cordial and engaging," adding that all the issues including Kashmir, Sir Creek, Balochistan and Siachen were taken up. "The meeting has ended on a very positive note and we have decided to move forward," Qureshi said and added that both sides have assured each other that they will not allow anyone to use their soil against each other.

"Action would be taken against culprits involved in Mumbai attack and Prime Minister Gilani has assured his Indian counterpart that perpetrators of the Mumbai attack would be brought to justice, however, "we respect the courts," the minister added.

When asked about any specific date for the meeting between the two foreign ministers, Qureshi replied: "we are ready to engage right now," and added that he needs to contact his counterpart to see when he was ready. The two leaders pointed out the trust deficit between the two countries and asked their foreign ministers "to bridge the gap and build confidence to take the process forward."

Qureshi said the Indian Home Minister will come to Pakistan to attend Saarc Home Ministers conference in Islamabad on June 26 and it is possible that the meeting between the foreign ministers of both the countries should be arranged before that.

Talking about the issue of terrorism, Qureshi said it was not confined to India and Pakistan...it's the issue of the region and the world and we need to adopt a common strategy to counter terrorism. When asked about the Indian involvement in Balochistan, he said: "Yes Balochistan issue was also discussed."

Qureshi quoted Manmohan Singh as saying that his country had no interest in destabilising Pakistan and meddling into its internal affairs. "We assure you we do not want to meddle in your internal affairs," he quoted Indian Prime Minister as saying.

Replying a question on water issue, Qureshi termed the water dispute between Pakistan and India as an important and sensitive issue adding that the summit also recognised that the region was under water stress and needed a regional approach for water conservation and management. He said that Pakistan always favoured long term strategic relations with India and now it depends on India what it decides. Pakistan is serious... it wants to move on as it recognises that terrorism is a global challenge.


Copyright Business Recorder, 2010

WASHINGTON: An American citizen who is originally from Pakistan has been linked to the car bomb plot in New York’s Times Square, amid increasing concerns that the failed attack was connected to international terrorism.

The man is believed to have bought the car that was left parked in Times Square loaded with explosives on Saturday night, according to U.S officials.

The latest clue to the identity of the would-be bomber comes as officials said the failed attempt on midtown Manhatten appears to have been masterminded by several people with international ties.

White House officials said that fresh clues were pointing in the direction of a “foreign nexus” and used the word ‘terrorism, for the first time in connection with the attack.

“I would say that whoever did that would be categorised as a terrorist,” Robert Gibbs, Obama’s spokesman, said.

Police and FBI agents said that they were looking for a second suspect, a man filmed on a tourist’s video camera running from the car shortly after it was parked in Times Square on Saturday. They also want to identify a white man, aged in his forties, who was videotaped on surveillance cameras removing a shirt and putting it in a backpack.

Police said that they had tracked down the registered owner of the dark, 1993 Nissan Pathfinder that contained the crude home-made bomb but he was not a suspect. He sold his car three weeks ago to a man described as of Hispanic or Middle Eastern appearance, aged about 30. That man is now believed to be of Pakistani origin.

Paul J. Browne of the New York Police Department said that had the bomb gone off there was a “good possibility of people being killed, windows shattered, but not resulting in a building collapse”. Police were also investigating whether there were links between the aborted plot and the botched car bomb attacks at Glasgow airport in 2007. Both involved cars containing propane and petrol that did not explode. The Glasgow attack allegedly had its roots in Iraq.

Another possible motive being explored centres on the cartoon South Park, which outraged many Muslims after a recent episode depicted the Prophet Muhammad in a bear suit. The Nissan was parked near the headquarters of Viacom, the owner of Comedy Central, which is the channel that airs South Park.

The car, whose number plates had been stolen from a junkyard, entered Times Square at 6.28pm on Saturday. Two minutes after it was parked, with the engine running and its hazard lights flashing, street vendors noticed smoke coming from inside it and alerted police.

The bomb was big but amateurish. Dozens of firecrackers appeared to be intended as a triggering mechanism to light two jugs of petrol, which in turn were meant to cause three tanks of propane, similar to that used in barbecues, to explode. Eight bags of fertiliser had also been placed inside a metal gun locker but the fertiliser was not the right type to cause explosions.

Pakistani-American arrested in Times Square bomb plot

Tuesday, 04 May, 2010


NEW YORK: Police arrested a Pakistan-born suspect trying to flee aboard a plane to Dubai after the failed Times Square bomb plot that officials said Tuesday was designed “to kill Americans”.

US Attorney General Eric Holder identified the suspect as Faisal Shahzad, a US citizen who the FBI said was born in Pakistan. Holder said the probe was focusing on “overseas” terrorist groups.

News reports said the suspect, aged 30, lived in Connecticut and had recently returned from a five-month trip to Pakistan and the city of Peshawar, a known jumping off point for Al-Qaeda and Taliban recruits.

“Mr. Shahzad, an American citizen, was taken into custody at JFK Airport in New York as he attempted to board a flight to Dubai,” Holder told a hastily called news conference in Washington after midnight.

Authorities offered few other details but said the investigation into the attempted attack late Saturday was being pursued on several fronts.

“This investigation is ongoing, it is multi-faceted, and it is aggressive,” Holder said.

“As we move forward, we will focus on not just holding those responsible for it accountable, but also on obtaining any intelligence about terrorist organisations overseas.”

Holder said of the attempted attack that it was “clear that the intent behind this terrorist act was to kill Americans.”

A separate statement from the FBI and other law enforcement agencies said Shahzad was taken into custody after “he was identified by the Department of Homeland Security's US Customs and Border Protection while attempting to take a flight to Dubai.”

The main was to appear later Tuesday to face “formal charges,” which were not specified.

News reports said the man was a 30-year-old Pakistani-American living in the state of Connecticut.

ABC News reported that Shahzad, a naturalized American citizen, had recently returned from a five-month trip to Pakistan.

ABC said officials tracked Shahzad over two days using evidence found in the Nissan Pathfinder left at the scene and the unexploded bomb components.

According to authorities, Shahzad bought the vehicle one week before the bombing attempt, paying 1,300 dollars in cash for the vehicle in 100 bills, the network said.

Part of the probe centred on two people captured on film leaving the scene late Saturday, New York Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Monday.

One was caught on security camera walking away from the green Nissan Pathfinder that had been left in the teeming tourist area with a large but misfiring bomb inside.

The man looked about in a “furtive” manner, Kelly said, and removed one layer of upper clothing.

Police were also combing the Nissan sport utility vehicle and its rudimentary bomb consisting of timers, wires, fireworks, gasoline, propane tanks and fertilizer.

New York has been on constant watch for potential attacks since the September 11, 2001, airliner attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center, killing almost 3,000 people.

So far, the only group to claim responsibility for the would-be bombing is the Pakistani militant group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

This was quickly dismissed by Bloomberg and Kelly. However, a video emerged showing Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud — reported to have been killed months ago — vowing to attack major US cities.

Another possible indication of jihadist links is the similarity of the botched bombing to a failed double car bomb attempt in London's entertainment districts in 2007.

In Washington, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the attack clearly qualified as terrorism. “I would say that was intended to terrorise,” he said.

“Whoever did that would be categorised as a terrorist.”

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/...-ny-plot-qs-01

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ISLAMABAD: A three-member committee formed by the prime minister to investigate the hosing down of the site where former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated has completed its report, providing a clean chit to the former director general of Military Intelligence (MI), Maj-Gen Nadeem Ijaz, knowledgeable sources told Dawn on Monday.

They said the committee had not fixed criminal liability on any of the accused senior police officials, including former city police officer (CPO) of Rawalpindi, Saud Aziz, but mentioned that the crime site was washed on the orders of police officials.

The fact-finding committee, headed by Cabinet Secretary Chaudhry Abdul Rauf, presented its report to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani who had sought it in seven working days.

“Rauf Sahib called on the prime minister at the PM House at night,” a source close to Mr Rauf told Dawn on Monday.

Findings of the report said that on the basis of given statements and evidences, the committee had reached to a conclusion that police washed the crime scene outside Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi without any pressure or any order from higher authorities.

It said police ordered the hosing down of the site in order to avoid a law and order situation because workers of Pakistan People’s Party were in an agitated state.

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a gun-and-bomb attack on Dec 27, 2007, after a public rally in Liaquat Bagh. The fact-finding committee was formed in the light of the UN Commission report which questioned why the crime site was washed within one-and-a-half hours of the assassination.

The UN commission inquiry had also suggested that the investigation had been severely hampered by intelligence agencies and government officials, which impeded an unfettered search for the truth. It hinted that the crime scene was washed on the instruction of some intelligence officials and the orders were obeyed by top officials of Rawalpindi police.

The committee recorded statements of 40 people, including former MI chief, officials of police, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Rescue 15 emergency service.

The committee saw about 150 evidences, including 39 forensic evidences, and looked into the documentary record of wireless communication of police and mobile record of the accused.

The sources said the former MI chief had already rejected the impression that he had ordered the hosing down of the site. Gen Ijaz told the committee members that he and his men had nothing to do with the washing of the site.

The former CPO presented the details of evidences and other material police had collected in addition to taking extensive photographs of the crime scene. Mr Aziz negated the UN report, saying it was not based on facts because the crime scene was washed after collecting all necessary evidences. He was of the view that in many such incidents, crime scenes were washed even within half an hour after the crime.

He termed the UN report a flawed one, saying a lot credible details he had provided to the commission had not been incorporated in the report.

He apprised the committee that the evidence collected from the site was sufficient and provided lead to the joint investigation team to lay hand on real culprits, but no significant progress had been seen so far.

SP Khurram Shahzad endorsed the statement of Saud Aziz, saying the site was washed after the evidence had been collected.

Security experts are of the view that instead of forming committees on specific issues, the government should order a judicial inquiry so that all aspects of assassination and findings of the UN commission report could be addressed.

ISLAMABAD: Reports suggest that the leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Hakimullah Mehsud has a hand behind the failed Times Square bomb plot in New York of arrested Faisal Shehzad.

This has been revealed by a letter which Hakimullah wrote to the sister of Dr Afia Siddiqui, Dr. Fouzia nearly two months back.

According to a copy of the letter received exclusively by DawnNews, Hakimullah Mehsud threatened a memorable response against the United States.

The summary of the letter states that Hakimullah Mehsud declared the sister of incarcerated Dr. Afia Siddiqui, Dr Fouzia as her own sister and assured her of every cooperation.

Threatening the US, he announced his intention to teach the United States a lesson. Hakimullah also purportedly said in the letter that the leaders of Pakistan would also face a fitting response. -DawnNews