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Rs 15.00 Vol II No 284 22 Pages Islamabad-Peshawar Edition
Wednesday, 11 April, 2012 Jamadi-ul-Awal 18, 1433
pCNS links end to drone attacks with NaTO supplies ISLAMABAD STAff RePoRT
The Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) on Tuesday finalised the preliminary report on its recommendations for new terms of engagement with the United States, linking the resumption of NATO supply routes with a halt in drone attacks inside Pakistan. The report will be presented to the leadership of various political parties for a nod. The committee members are scheduled to again meet on Thursday for giving final touches to the report. Later, the report will be presented to the joint sitting of the parliament. Although US Ambassador Cameron Munter met with Jamiat Ulema-e-IslamFazl (JUI-F) chief Fazlur Rehman to clarify his country’s position on reopening of NATO supply routes, the latter remained adamant on his boycott of PCNS meeting. A source while requesting anonymity told Pakistan Today that the PCNS, in its
3 ‘missing’ Balochs found
new draft, had recommended that the government should make a conditional offer to the US about reopening of NATO supply routes, only if drone attacks were halted forthwith. “We have also proposed to block transportation of weapons through NATO supply routes, while it was also recommended that no airbase would be handed over to any foreign force. The committee has also recommended that NATO supply routes may be opened with imposition of levy. No security contractor would be allowed to operate inside Pakistan in covert or overt operations, the PCNS further recommended. PCNS chief Senator Raza Rabbani told media that the JUI-F continued its protest and boycott of the meeting, while the PMLN had sought permission for getting the draft approved by its party leadership. Rabbani said the PCNS had made some new recommendations and members would now hold consultations with their respective parties. The PCNS will next meet on Thursday.
ali Musa Gilani jets off to South africa as SC issues summons in Rs 7b drug scam g aNf moves Interior Ministry to put ali Musa on ECL, a little too late g
US embassy all set for expansion
QUETTA
ISLAMABAD
INP
INP
Following the Supreme Court’s strict orders, police recovered the three remaining missing persons on Tuesday – three days after recovering four of the seven people abducted from Sariab Road on March 1. The seven recovered persons are in the custody of the police, and they will be presented before the apex court on April 12. On April 5, Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had ordered police to recover the seven “missing persons” while hearing a case on poor law and order situation in Balochistan. The chief justice had warned the Balochistan inspector general of police (IGP) and other prominent police officers that they would be suspended if the court’s orders were not followed. Last Friday, police produced four of the seven “missing persons” before the Supreme Court’s registry in Quetta.
The federal government has allowed the US embassy to expand its lay out despite stiff resistance by intelligence agencies. The eight-storey building would expand over an area of several kilometers accommodating more than 6,000 personnel, the informed sources in Capital Development Authority told INP on Tuesday. The sources said that it would be like a cantonment. While the US embassy spokesman said in his statement that they were granted NoC from the CDA and no other institution in Islamabad had expressed reservation with the expansion work. The expansion plan by majority in Pakistan are seen as a threat to national interests at a time when anti-US sentiments are at the highest level after the May 2 episode and Salala checkpost aerial attack killing 24 Pakistan army soldiers. While the most extreme views of strategic experts are that the US may use its embassy as a base camp for its covert operations in South Asia and Middle East.
AMRITSAR: Indian Sikh Nihang (religious warriors) raise their swords after boarding a train along with devotees to Pakistan on Tuesday. Thousands of Indian Sikh pilgrims are expected in Pakistan for the Baisakh celebrations. afp
ISLAMABAD STAff RePoRT/MoNIToRINg DeSk
A
FTER failing to rein in the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) from proceeding against Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s son over the Rs 7 billion Ephedrine drug scam, the government has apparently let Ali Musa Gilani jet off to South Africa with his wife and children shortly after the Supreme Court issued his summons in a Rs 7 billion drug scam on Tuesday. Gilani, who was recently elected as a member of the National Assembly, left the country after the ANF moved the Interior Ministry to put his name on the Exit Control List (ECL). The PM’s son will stay in South Africa for three days before flying onwards to London, according to Express News. The Supreme Court on Tuesday resumed the hearing of the Ephedrine chemical import case, and issued notices to the prime minister’s son, along with some top bureaucrats, including PM’s Principal Secretary Khushnood Akhtar Lashari, to appear before the court. Rules were flouted in the allocation of Ephedrine chemical quota by companies that are said to be the favourites of Ali Musa Gilani. During the hearing, the court was informed that the federal government had recently issued transfer orders of ANF Regional Director Brigadier Fahim Ahmed Khan and Investigating Officer (IO) Deputy Director Abid Zulfiqar. A three-member SC bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry also rescinded the transfer orders, and asked the two officials to continue with the investigation of the case without the fear of anyone. The bench categorically announced that no order shall be passed by the authorities on the matter without the
court’s approval and until its decision on the case. The SC also issued notices to the acting secretary of the Ministry of Narcotics Control; former director general of the ANF Major General Shakil Hussain; Iftikhar Ahmed Khan Babar, chief executive of Berlex Labs International, Multan; and Ansar Farooq Chaudhry, chief executive of Danas Pharmaceuticals Private Limited, Islamabad (Lahooti Group); besides summoning the attorney general of Pakistan on the next hearing. At the onset of the hearing, Sheikh Akram, counsel for the ANF regional director, apprised the bench that his client had been summoned by Lashari for a one-on-one meeting. The PSPM expressed the prime minister’s serious concerns on the case, while asking him to drop charges against Ali Musa Gilani in “national interest”, he said. Akram told the bench that his client did not agree with the principal secretary therefore he had been transferred along with Deputy Director Abid Zulfiqar. During the hearing, Brigadier Fahim also submitted an affidavit on his meeting with Lashari and on the background of the case. He apprised the bench that an FIR No 40/2011 was registered in October 2011 with the ANF in Rawalpindi, and notices were issued to Lashari for recording his statement. Brigadier Fahim added that he and Zulfiqar went to Lashari’s office at the PM’s House on March 24, 2010, and held a separate meeting with Lashari on his request. “In response to the notices, I, along with Lt Col Syed Touqir Abbas Zaidi (Joint Director ANF) and IO Abid Zulfiqar (Deputy Director ANF), went to the office of Mr Khushnood Akhtar Lashari at PM’s House on 24th March, 2010, and on the desire of Mr Khushnood Akhtar Lashari and his assurance to bring real facts to light, I had a separate meeting with him in his office, where he discussed/conveyed the follow-
ing to me in a maligning and threatening manner, because he, being one of the prime abettor/associate/facilitator in the case, wanted to make full use of his present appointment/office to suppress/distort/misdirect investigation against himself and Ali Musa Gilani,” Brigadier Fahim wrote in his affidavit. “Khushnood Akhtar Lashari said that the father of Ali Musa Gillani was very upset and worried due to the summons issued to him. Lashari said that if ANF focuses only on two pharmaceutical companies, and spares the others, it will be fully supported; both companies will be ruined and the state machinery will be with you,” the ANF regional director submitted in his affidavit. “Lashari said, ‘You know, civil military relations have recently improved and all depends on you (Brigadier Fahim) as only you can save from chaos and upheavals,” he added in his statement. Fahim further said that Lashari had told him in a sarcastic manner that the ANF was being commanded and controlled by army officers. The ANF director added that Lashari had asked him to spare Ali Musa Gilani, while promising that his “islah” (correction) will be done. “This is a matter of national interest,” Fahim quoted Lashari has telling him. “In this regard, since then, many prejudiced, unfair and unwarranted actions have been taken by different state departments, which confirms the practical manifestation of the above mentioned threats and his heinous/malicious design to sabotage the investigation by one way or the other,” Brigadier Fahim added in his affidavit. The court said in its order that if Lashari, Ali Musa Gilani, or any one else wanted to appear before the court in the meantime to record his statement, he should be given a fair opportunity in accordance with the law. The bench adjourned the hearing of the case until April 20.