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Senate ticket not my fee for defending the prime minister: Aitzaz
Today’s edition includes the Anniversary Supplement of Pakistan Today
Rs15.00 Vol ii no 243 22 pages islamabad — peshawar edition
18 ShiaS Shot dead in KohiStan Jundullah claims responsibility, three-day mourning announced g
GILGIT
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AfP
uNMEN disguised in military fatigues hauled 18 Shias off buses on Tuesday and shot them dead in cold blood in Gilgit. Terrorist group Jundallah claimed responsibility for the attack through its commander Ahmed Marwat. The government of GilgitBaltistan announced a threeday of mourning over the loss of life and all educational institutes and public offices will remain closed in Gilgit for the next three days. The attack took place in the northern district of Kohistan, which neighbours Swat valley, a former Taliban stronghold. Police said the attackers flagged down buses, climbed on board asking passengers whether they were Shia or Sunni Muslim, then dragged out the Shias and shot them. Another eight people were injured in the attack, including two women and three children. “The motive was sectarian. The gunmen were wearing army uniform,” Mohammad Ilyas, the police chief in Kohistan told AFP after the attack near the town of Harban, 130 miles (210 kilometres) north of the capital. One bus and three minibuses were travelling from Rawalpindi, the city where the Pakistan Army is headquartered, to the northern town of Gilgit. “They checked the identity of the passengers, got the Shias off the vehicles and shot them dead,” Ilyas said. “The dead were all male.” Kohistan administration chief, Aqal Badshah, said 18 people were killed by eight attackers armed with Kalashnikovs and wearing military dress. It was the fourth militant attack in the country’s north since Thursday, raising fears that violence linked to a Taliban insurgency is again on the rise following a decline in recent months. Human rights groups have heavily criticised the Pakistani government for failing to crack down on sectarian violence between the country’s majority
Sunni and minority Shia Muslim communities that has killed thousands. Local MP Abdul Sattar Khan linked the ambush to the murder of two Sunni Muslims a few days ago in Gilgit. “The people of the area had vowed they would take revenge,” Khan told AFP by telephone. Some of Tuesday’s victims were from Gilgit, where the government ordered offices and schools to close as a safety precaution, and advised residents to stay indoors, local administration chief Tariq Arqam told AFP. Residents said Gilgit was tense and roads deserted. Shops in most areas were closed and traffic very thin, they added. KP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain blamed the attack on militants. “The people behind this attack are terrorists. They want to trigger sectarian violence in the country. We don’t want to go into the details because we don’t want them to succeed in their nefarious designs,” he said. “We will give cash compensation to the families of the victims. The bodies of the dead have been sent to Gilgit for burial,” he added. Authorities had earlier insisted Islamist militants were not active in the area, although Kohistan borders Swat, where Pakistan in 2009 managed to put down a twoyear Taliban insurgency. Only a few days ago, a blast in Parachinar had killed 28 Shias and injured 36 close to an Imambargah. Two similar bus attacks targeting Shias had taken place last year as well. On September 20, gunmen had shot dead 26 Shia pilgrims travelling to Iran, causing the deadliest attack on the minority community for more than a year. Just like Tuesday’s attack, gunmen had ordered pilgrims off their bus, lined them up and assassinated them in a volley of gunfire in Mastung, 50kms south of Quetta. Later on October 3, terrorists had attacked a bus carrying Shias in the outskirts of Quetta, killing 13 people.
Wednesday, 29 February, 2012 Rabi-ul-Sani 6, 1433
Who will head ISI? Kayani calls on PM Gilani meets Zardari later to discuss ISI chief’s appointment, Tribal Areas, Afghanistan
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ISLAMABAD STAff RePoRT
The top civilian and military leadership on Tuesday discussed the appointment of the new director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to replace Lt General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, who is retiring on March 18, along with other important matters pertaining to the security and defence of the country. Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani called on Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, following which
the PM met President Asif Ali Zardari to discuss important matters related to national defence and security. “The civilian and military leadership had detailed discussions on different important issues such as latest situation in Afghanistan, the country’s Tribal Areas as well as the security situation in Balochistan,” said an official, requesting anonymity. He, however, said the issue that was talked about more during the two meetings was the appointment of a new ISI chief to replace General Pasha but no final decision had been taken whether to give another one-year ex-
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani talks to Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani, who called on him at Prime Minister’s House on Tuesday. tension to the incumbent or otherwise. General Pasha is reportedly not interested in another extension and some names of senior military officials are already circulating in the media as his possible successors. However, a source said that extension to Gen Pasha could not be ruled out in the present geo-
strategic environment. “The army chief had deliberations with the prime minister on the appointment of a new ISI chief after which the prime minister discussed the same matter in detail with the president.
It’s goIng to be more than a POL price hike of up to Rs 8.67 per litre on the cards from 1st ISLAMABAD AMeR SIAL
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has worked out an increase of 2.7 percent to 7.3 percent in POL products due to an increase in international oil market prices, recommending an increase of between Rs 2.75 and Rs 8.67 per litre for various products with effect from March 1. An official source said OGRA had estimated an increasing trend in international POL prices, as they had risen during February while the rupee had devalued against the dollar in the same period. OGRA has hinted at an increase in the price of motor spirit (petrol) by 2.9 percent or Rs 2.75 per litre, which will take the sale price to Rs 97.66 per litre, High Octane Blended Component (HOBC) by 7.3 percent or Rs 8.67 hike to Rs 126.87 per litre, High Speed Diesel (HSD) by 2.7 percent or Rs 2.82 from Rs 103.46 to Rs 106.28 per litre, Light Diesel Oil (LDO) by 3.4 percent or Rs 3.08 to Rs 93.29 per litre and Super Kerosene Oil (SKO) by 4.8 percent or Rs 4.38, which would raise the sale price to Rs 96.40 per litre. OGRA, the source said, had again recommended
retaining the prices of POL products at the current level and adjusting the differential through the GST and petroleum levy. The Petroleum Ministry and OGRA have been recommending absorbing the shock through taxation on POL products, but the Ministry of Finance, faced with a massive fiscal deficit of over six percent, has been opposing the recommendation for the last several months. The source said the Petroleum
Ministry was supporting OGRA’s recommendation by stressing that the reduction in levy on petrol and diesel could help bring their prices at par with CNG and help reduce the demand for natural gas. However, the Finance Ministry had rejected the proposal last month. The government collects Rs 23 billion per month from taxation of POL products. It collects Rs 16 billion per month in sales tax on POL products, while another Rs 7 billion are collected in petroleum levy.
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contempt case
SC allows PM to produce Sethi as his witness ISLAMABAD MASooD ReHMAn
The Supreme Court allowed Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Tuesday to produce on March 7 his former principal secretary Nargis Sethi as his defence witness in the ongoing contempt proceedings against him for not complying with the court’s December 16, 2009 order in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case. A sevenmember special bench headed by Justice Nasirul Mulk and comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Muhammad Ather Saeed, also allowed Aitzaz Ahsan, counsel for the prime minister, to submit summaries of May 21 and September 21, 2010 along with the orders passed by his client in response to the court’s orders about reopening of Swiss cases against the president. Aitzaz Ahsan pleaded before the court that his client never intended to act in contempt of court but followed the rules of business. The court disposed of an application by Aitzaz, in which he stated that his client acted upon the advice of concerned officials that graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari could not be reopened in Switzerland, as he enjoyed complete immunity under Article 248 of the constitution. He requested the court to summon former law minister Babar Awan, law secretary Masood Chishti and former principal Continued on page 04