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We will happily go into opposition, says Imran Khan PAGE 05
Iran digs in with oil warning to Saudi Arabia
Awesome Saeed Ajmal puts England in a spin
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pakistantoday.com.pk
Rs15.00 Vol ii no 202 22 pages islamabad — peshawar edition
Wednesday, 18 January, 2012 Safar 23, 1433
AwAn out, AitzAz in
Awan’s rants cost him licence, temporarily
PM will have Aitzaz in his corner in SC
SC directs attorney general to ask president to engage another counsel
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ISLAMABAD
I
MASOOD REHMAn
RKED by the “unbecoming behaviour” of senior lawyer and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Babar Awan and to ensure dignity and respect of the court, the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday temporarily suspended Awan’s licence to practice law and directed the attorney general to inform the president to engage an-
other lawyer to address arguments in his reference to revisit the death sentence of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, which the apex court said was one of the most important cases in its history. However, to provide fair opportunity to Awan, the court granted him time to file his reply and engage a counsel to defend himself. The court directed him to request the registrar to take up the case as soon as he engaged his counsel and filed the reply. As soon as an 11-member larger bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took its seats to resume hearing on the presidential reference, Awan, counsel for President Asif Ali Zardari, requested the court to grant him more time to file a reply Continued on page 04
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani talks to Aitzaz Ahsen at PM’s House. Online ISLAMABAD
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STAFF REPORT
HE Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leadership on Tuesday finally engaged its top legal brain, former interior minister Barrister Aitzaz Ahsen, seeking his help to rescue Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, who faces contempt of court for not implementing the Supreme Court order vis-à-vis the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). A seven-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday had issued a contempt of court notice to Prime Minister Gilani in the NRO implementation case and
directed him to appear in person before the court on January 19 (tomorrow). The prime minister has been summoned for not writing a letter to the Swiss authorities to reopen cases pending there despite the lapse of two years. However, Aitzaz has throughout been saying that the government has to implement the court order and there is no harm in writing the letter as the president enjoys constitutional immunity under Article 248 of the constitution. He said the president also enjoyed sovereign diplomatic immunity and no case against him could be initiated, even in a foreign land. Continued on page 04
Mansoor Ijaz ‘gets Pakistani visa’, all set for visit ISLAMABAD OnlinE
The chances of Mansoor Ijaz, the central character of the “memogate” scandal, visiting Pakistan have brightened after an assurance by Hamid Asghar Kidwai, a former executive director of Mehran Bank, that the military would ensure his safe return from the country, Online news agency reported, as Ijaz told a French newspaper that he had obtained a Pakistani visa for his visit and would go to the country despite several threats to his life. Online reported that a top intelligence official met Kidwai in Dubai and gave him an assurance on behalf of the military establishment that Ijaz would return safely after giving his testimony before the judicial commission probing the memo case. Online sources said that Kidwai had engaged Akram Sheikh to represent Ijaz in the case and had also secured the power of attorney from Ijaz in this regard. According to sources close to Kidwai, who is currently based in Dubai, he had formally accepted the role of an intermediary between Ijaz and the Pakistani military establishment. “It is obvious that cashmemo is now directly involved in the memo case as people like Ijaz and Kidwai hardly move without money,” the sources claimed, adding that the military establishment was not going to leave any stone unturned to make sure that Ijaz appeared before the commission appointed by the Supreme Court. “The establishment fears losing the case if the prime witness does or could not appear before the commission,” they said. Meanwhile, Ijaz claimed that he would present more evidence before the enquiry commission when he appears before it to testify against former envoy to US, Husain Haqqani. He also appreciated the military establishment “for keeping calm” in the present situation. A section of the press reported last year that the Federal Investigation Agency had been forcing the Mehran Bank authorities to register a case against Kidwai for stealing documents regarding political bribes given between 1990 and 1994.
Senators demand Musharraf’s Pakistan turns down Grossman’s visit trial under Article 6 MONITORING DESK
ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
The senators on Tuesday asked the government to arrest former president Pervez Musharraf immediately after he lands in Pakistan and try him under Article 6 of the constitution, as Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani read out in the Upper House of parliament a long chargesheet against the former military ruler. “The federal government should register a case under Article 6 against Pervez Musharraf, who twice put in abeyance the constitution of the country and placed the judges under arrest. He is also involved in the Benazir murder case,” Rabbani said. He said Musharraf handed over Shamsi airbase to the United States without any written agreement and added that he was liable to be charged under Article 6. He said Musharraf should also be arrested in the Bugti murder case, Balochistan operation and missing people case. Senators Raja Zafrul Haq, Abdul Malik, Zahid Khan and others also endorsed Rabbani’s stance and asked the government to register a case against Musharraf and arrest him as he was planning to come back to Pakistan. Endorsing Rabbani, Khalid Soomro said a case should also be registered against Musharraf for killings in the Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa operation. He also asked the
government to take steps to improve law and order in Sindh. Speaking on a point of order, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Senator Prof Khurshid Ahmad asked the chief of army staff, chief of air force staff and the defence minister to do what was needed to stop US drone strikes, otherwise they would lose credibility as they had publicly vowed to do so. He also criticised the government for keeping silent on fresh drone attacks. Senator Abdul Ghafoor Haideri said a revolution could not be stopped if the government continued ignoring public sentiment on important national issues. He asked the authorities concerned to strike down US drones that entered the country’s air space in breach of sovereignty. Senator
Lashkari Raeesani asked the interior minister to brief the House about those killed in an encounter in the Chamalang area of Balochistan some days ago. During the Question Hour, the Senate chairman suggested Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim to approach the rent controllers concerned for enhancement in the rent of the buildings owned by State Life Insurance Corporation across the country. The House witnessed a heated exchange amongst the senators as they discussed export of liquor to India. The commerce minister, in reply to a supplementary question, told the House that liquor was also being exported to India. However, Senator Khalid Soomro objected to the government’s decision saying that in an Islamic country. the liquor business should have been banned. Hasil Bazenjo asked his colleague to shun dual standards, saying Murree Brewery and other liquor producing factories had been operating in the country for decades but they never objected to it. He rejected the objection, saying Islamic Sharia Law was not enforced in the country. Later, Senators Abdul Ghafoor Haideri and Muhammad Khan Sherani joined Senator Soomro and said the business of liquor was illegal, even under the prevailing laws. Newly-elected Senator Qari Muhammad Abdullah also took oath as a member of the Upper House.
Pakistan has turned down a request from US Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Marc Grossman to travel to Islamabad during his current trip to the region this week, The Washington Post said in a report on Tuesday. The report said it was annoying the Obama administration that Pakistan was increasingly standing up against the US and was saying “no” more often than ever to any American requests in the war against terrorism. It said US officials felt America’s patience with Pakistan was wearing thin as it continued to block NATO supply routes to Afghanistan after the attacks in Mohmand Agency in November 2011, and no change was seen in its policies with regard to its links with extremist groups. A case in the point, said the report, was Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar bluntly telling US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that any unauthorised flight into Pakistan’s airspace risked being shot down. “In the United States, Obama
is under political pressure to show Islamabad who is the global boss. Patience here has grown paperthin with what is seen as Pakistani double-dealing and intransigence that is getting in the way of efforts to wind down the Afghan war,” the newspaper reported in an analysis based on conversation and interviews with unnamed officials from both the US and Pakistan. The Obama administration had decided not to go public yet and would wait till the parliament of Pakistan completed its review of Pak-US ties, said the report.