Dawn – ‘Soldier’ killed in ‘shocking’ London street attack

London, 23 May 2013. British police shot and wounded two men after a man thought to be a serving soldier was killed outside a London barracks, in an attack Prime Minister David Cameron called “truly shocking”.

In a dramatic move, the government’s emergency response committee was being summoned following the killing which some eyewitness reports suggested was an attempted beheading using machete-like knives.

Some early reports suggested the attack might be Islamist-related, although there was no official confirmation.

The incident took place in broad daylight in a street around 200 metres (yards) from the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, a district of southeast London.

Police were called at 2:20 pm (1320 GMT) to reports of one man being assaulted by two others.

“A number of weapons were reportedly being used in the attack, and this included reports of a firearm,” said police commander Simon Letchford.

Local police officers, then firearms officers arrived on the scene where they found a man who was later pronounced dead.

“Two men, who we believe from early reports to have been carrying weapons, were shot by police. They were taken to separate London hospitals, they are receiving treatment for their injuries,” Letchford said.

He said there would be a heightened police presence in the area and urged locals to remain calm.

Cameron said on Twitter: “The killing in Woolwich is truly shocking”.

He added that he had asked Home Secretary Theresa May, Britain’s interior minister, to chair a meeting of COBRA, the government’s emergency civil contingencies committee.

A white and blue police evidence tent was visible in the street and police tape sealed off the scene.

Eyewitness pictures showed an air ambulance landing in the road and three bodies lying on the ground with dozens of onlookers observing the scene after the police arrived.

Nick Raynsford, the member of parliament for Woolwich and Greenwich, said his understanding was that the man found dead was a serving soldier.

He said he had spoken to local borough police commander Richard Wood, and a lieutenant colonel at the Woolwich army barracks.

“One individual is dead, two others are seriously injured and in hospital,” he said.

“We think a serving soldier was the victim. We don’t know the circumstances surrounding the incident.

“We do know a number of weapons have been seized. They include a gun, various knives, and a machete, apparently.

“The police clearly had to take action in order to try and arrest these individuals.”The Ministry of Defence said it was urgently investigating reports that the dead man was a soldier.

Ed Miliband, leader of the opposition Labour Party, said on Twitter: “Shocked by appalling events in Woolwich. Whole country will be horrified by what has happened.”

The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic shooting events were staged at a temporary venue at the Royal Artillery.

The barracks houses a number of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, which drew former prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s coffin to her funeral last month — and independent companies of the Grenadier and Coldstream Guards.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is called in whenever firearms officers discharge their weapons, said it was investigating.

“IPCC investigators have been deployed to the scene and to the post-incident process,” a spokesman said.

http://dawn.com/2013/05/22/soldier-killed-in-shocking-london-street-attack/

Dawn – Zahra’s slaying: Imran calls for protests in Karachi today

Lahore, 19 May 2013. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has again alleged that his party’s senior leader Zahra Shahid Hussain was killed at the behest of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and has urged his workers in Karachi to stand up against ‘oppression’ in the city.

Responding to the allegation, the MQM said that Mr Khan had hurled the accusation against it before investigation into the incident and announced that it would hold demonstrations across the world against the PTI.

In a video message released on Sunday from the Shaukat Khanum Hospital where he is recovering from injuries suffered in an accident during an election rally, the PTI chief said Zahra Shahid had been murdered at the behest of the MQM. He termed the incident part of its policy to control the city by spreading fear.

The elderly PTI leader, who was vice-president of the party’s Sindh chapter, was shot dead outside her home in Karachi on Saturday night.

Appealing to his party’s workers to take a stand against ‘brutalities’ and protest against the murder on Monday, Mr Khan also urged other parties and those who wanted an end to the era of oppression to join the demonstration and not to lose this opportunity.

He said had he been discharged from the hospital he himself would have led the protest in Karachi.

He said Zahra Shahid had not laid down her life without a cause and her sacrifice would not go in vain.

The PTI chairman also urged his party’s workers to join a sit-in being held outside the Election Commission offices in Islamabad in protest against alleged rigging in the May 11 elections.

Backtracking on his demand for re-polling, Mr Khan said he was not insisting on it for the sake of continuity of the democratic system.

He urged the chief justice of Pakistan and chief election commissioner to take notice of the killings and rigging and said the nation had pinned high hopes on the judiciary and the ECP for justice.

http://beta.dawn.com/news/1012404/zahras-slaying-imran-calls-for-protests-in-karachi-today

Dawn – Judges detention case: Complaint withdrawn against Musharraf

Islamabad, 18 May 2013. In a surprising development, the lawyer who had filed a petition in the judges’ detention case has withdrawn his complaint against former president retired General Pervez Musharraf.

The decision by Advocate Chaudhry Mohammad Aslam Ghumman came a day before the hearing of the case on Saturday by the Islamabad Anti-Terrorism Court at General Musharraf’s Chak Shahzad farmhouse which has been declared a sub-jail.

The judges’ detention case was registered by the Secretariat Police Station on Aug 11, 2009, on the complaint of Advocate Ghumman who had sought legal proceedings against the former military ruler for confining 60 judges of the superior courts for over five months at their homes and restraining them from administering justice.

Talking to Dawn on Friday, Advocate Ghumman said he had withdrawn the complaint in the larger national interest. “I think that the trial of General Musharraf in such a state of affairs is not in the national interest and, therefore, I have decided to withdraw my complaint,” he said.

“Before taking the decision to withdraw the petition I also consulted my friends and it was taken after due deliberation.”

Advocate Ghumman said he would neither appear before the court nor press for the prosecution of General Musharraf, adding that it was up to the court to decide the fate of the case against him.

It may be mentioned that over the past couple of weeks at least three lawyers, including special prosecutor of Islamabad police Syed Mohammad Tayyab, have dissociated themselves from the case. The other two — Raja Rizwan Abbasi and Qamar Afzal — are reported to have received threats from unknown people.

But Advocate Ghumman rejected reports that he had withdrawn the complaint under any pressure or fear and said he had never been threatened by any quarter.

Advocate Ashraf Gujjar, the counsel for Mr Ghumman, told Dawn that he was not aware of the decision taken by his client. He said Mr Ghumman had not consulted him on the issue although he had been appearing in the court on his behalf.

Advocate Gujjar was of the opinion that Mr Ghumman could not withdraw the complaint because the FIR also included sections of Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. Only the state could withdraw the case. According to legal expert Barrister Zafarullah Khan, an individual can dissociate himself from prosecution but cannot withdraw a case. “After the happening of a crime, a complainant informs the state machinery about it and the responsibility to prosecute the criminal is put on the shoulder of police or other law-enforcement agencies,” he told Dawn.

“Since the crime is considered an illegal act against the society and the state, only the federal or provincial government through the district magistrate (deputy commissioner) can withdraw the case against a criminal,” he said.

The complaint against Gen Musharraf was registered under section 344 of the Pakistan Panel Code. The offence is a bailable and entails a maximum imprisonment of three years.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court had dismissed the pre-arrest bail plea of General Musharraf on April 18 and observed that the act of detaining the judges of superior courts and forcefully restraining them from performing their lawful duty was an act of terrorism. He ordered police to book the former military ruler under section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

General Musharraf may get life imprisonment if he is convicted by the court under this section.

http://dawn.com/2013/05/18/judges-detention-case-complaint-withdrawn-against-musharraf/

Dawn – Police raids Nowshera house, misses Ali Gilani

Zahir Shah Sherazi

Peshawar, 16 May 2013. Nowshera police, in an operation on Thursday, have rescued an individual, Abdul Wahab, who claimed that the son of former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani was being held captive along with him, DawnNews reported.

DPO Nowshera Waqar Ahmed was quoted as saying that based on this information, Nowshera police had started a massive operation in Misri Banda area of Akora Khatak to rescue Ali Haider Gilani.

Ali Gilani’s private secretary and guard were killed in the incident.

According to Dawn.com’s Zahir Shah, DSP Jahanzeb also confirmed that the operation is still ongoing and that two suspects were arrested during the first raid in which Wahab was rescued.

Six alleged kidnappers including to women have been arrested by the police, according to the police.

The alleged kidnappers belong to Afghanistan.

Police has launched a frantic search in the area to recover Ali Gilani who is believe to be kept in the same area.

http://beta.dawn.com/news/1011647/police-raids-nowshera-house-misses-ali-gilani

Dawn – Nawaz wants to end mistrust with India, boost ties with US

Lahore, 13 May 2013. Nawaz Sharif, poised to become prime minister for a third time after a decisive victory in the elections, said on Monday that the mistrust which had long dogged relations with India needed to be addressed.

He also pledged to strengthen relations with the United States, but called its drone campaign in Pakistan’s tribal region a challenge to national sovereignty.

Mr Sharif said he had a “long chat” with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday and both of them extended invitation to each other to visit, a diplomatic nicety in some parts of the world, but a heavily symbolic step for South Asia’s arch-enemies.

Asked by an Indian journalist if he would invite Mr Singh for his swearing-in as prime minister, he said he would be very happy to extend that invitation.

“There are fears on your side; there are fears on our side. We have to seriously address this,” Mr Sharif said while speaking to the foreign media at his palatial estate outside Lahore.

A supporter of free market policy, he wants to see trade between the two countries unshackled, and he has a history of making conciliatory gestures towards New Delhi.

In 1999, when he was prime minister, Mr Sharif stood at the frontier post waiting to welcome his counterpart, Atal Behari Vajpayee, to arrive on the inaugural run of a bus service between New Delhi and Lahore.

It was a moment of high hope for two countries that had gone to war three times in the preceding decades.

But by May of that year, the two sides were sucked into a new conflict as then army chief Pervez Musharraf sent forces across the line dividing Kashmir. And by October, Mr Sharif had been ousted by General Musharraf in a bloodless coup.

Mr Sharif’s return to power 14 years later has raised concern that he will again cross swords with the military, which has long controlled the country’s foreign and security policies.

Mr Sharif sought to play down his perceived enmity towards the army, saying he only blamed General Musharraf for the coup, not the entire service. “I think the rest of the army resented General Musharraf’s decision,” he said.

“So I don’t hold the rest of the army responsible for that.”

He said that as prime minister he would ensure that the military and the civilian government work together on the myriad problems facing the country. In an ironic twist, General Musharraf is currently under house arrest after returning from self-imposed exile, and Mr Sharif will need to decide whether to press treason charges against him in the Supreme Court.

Open to like-minded allies

Mr Sharif said his PML-N won enough of the 272 National Assembly seats to rule on its own, but suggested he was open to allies joining his government.

“I am not against any coalition. But as far as Islamabad is concerned, we are ourselves in a position to form our own government,” he said. “All those who share our vision, we will be happy to work with them.”

Mr Sharif’s biggest challenges are likely to be closer to home — fixing the shattered economy, ending an appalling energy crisis, coping with poverty and tackling a Taliban insurgency.

Another bailout from the International Monetary Fund to avoid a new balance of payments crisis is seen as inevitable.

Mr Sharif suggested that he would be willing to implement politically sensitive reforms to secure an IMF lifeline.

He has picked Senator Ishaq Dar as his finance minister in the new cabinet, a party spokesman said on Monday. Mr Dar had “all the facts and figures at his fingertips” and would present in June the budget for the next financial year, Siddiqul Farooq said.

Mr Dar, who served as finance minister in a previous cabinet of Mr Sharif in the 1990s, has said he plans to push provincial governments to collect agricultural taxes, a policy that can set him on a collision course with some of the PML-N’s wealthy backers.

US war against terrorism, drone attacks

Mr Sharif said ahead of the election that Pakistan should reconsider its support for the US war against terrorism and suggested he was in favour of negotiations with the Taliban.

As prime minister-elect, Mr Sharif chose his words carefully on Monday, saying Islamabad and Washington have “good relations” and “need to listen to each other”.

Asked about US drone strikes against militants on Pakistani soil, which many see as a violation of sovereignty, he referred to it as a “challenge” to sovereignty.

“We will sit with our American friends and talk to them about this issue,” he said.

“Of course we have taken this matter up very seriously. I think this is a very serious issue, and our concern must be understood properly.”

The CIA’s drone campaign targeting Al Qaeda and other militants has been extremely controversial in Pakistan, where people say it frequently kills innocent civilians — something Washington denies — and that it violates Pakistan’s sovereignty.

Mr Sharif promised Pakistan’s “full support” as the United States withdraws combat troops from Afghanistan next year. “If there are concerns on either side I think we should address those concerns and strengthen this relationship.”

http://beta.dawn.com/news/1011175/nawaz-wants-to-end-mistrust-with-india-boost-ties-with-us

Dawn – Lahore fire under control as more than 10 people die in blaze

Lahore, 10 May 2013. After hours of fire-fighting efforts, the fire at the 13-storey LDA plaza situated on Lahore’s Edgerton road has been brought under control.

Sources said that in total, more than 10 people have died in the tragedy, which started when the building caught fire on Thursday and quickly intensified as it spread over the building.

Many other people were stranded on the building who tried to escape using makeshift arrangements.

The injured people who had fallen were taken to Nishtar hospital where one of the wounded succumbed to his wounds.

Emergency and firefighting teams had reached the site and were trying to bring the fire under control.

Rescue teams were using helicopters to airlift the stranded occupants from the roof of the burning building.

http://beta.dawn.com/news/1010518/lahore-fire-under-control-as-more-than-10-people-die-in-blaze

Dawn – Shutdown in Karachi over twin blasts on MQM

Karachi, 5 May 2913. Businesses and petrol pumps in Karachi and other cities of Sindh were shut on Sunday (today) following a strike called by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) as twin bomb blasts outside their election office killed three people and left more than 30 injured on Saturday, DawnNews reported.

A bomb planted near a park where the MQM had set up its election office for its unit in Azizabad (Federal B. Area Block 8) went off around 9pm on Saturday, leaving at least 12 people injured. The blast caused panic and fear in the densely populated and highly guarded neighbourhood as a number of MQM activists, volunteers, personnel of law enforcement agencies and media crew rushed to the place.

About 20 minutes later, another explosion took place at almost the same place which was crowded by the party’s activists, volunteers and security personnel. Police said apparently the MQM election office was the target.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility of the attack. Speaking to Dawn.com via telephone from an undisclosed location, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said the target was MQM and both bombings were carried out through planted devices.

The MQM, however, has vowed to not bow down to the terrorists. Speaking to DawnNews, the party’s leader, Haider Abbas Rizvi said that MQM has been targeted by forces which do not wish to see it coming into power. “We will continue with our election campaign and no one can deter us from our fundamental right of partaking in polls,” he said.

“It’s sheer brutality,” MQM chief Altaf Hussain said. “Our morale is high and we will not surrender to the evil forces of extremism and terror. It’s so unfortunate that despite consistent attacks, no credible move has been witnessed against terrorists from the government, administration and security forces.”

The outlawed TTP has vowed to target the secular political parties of the country, naming Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Awami National Party (ANP) and MQM in the run up to the coming general elections.

The historic May 11 polls will witness the first ever democratic transition of power in Pakistan.

http://beta.dawn.com/news/812158/shutdown-in-karachi-over-twin-blasts-on-mqm

Dawn – Benazir Bhutto’s murder case prosecutor shot dead in Islamabad

Islamabad, 3 May 2013. Two unknown assailants on motorcycle killed The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) special prosecutor in the Benazir Bhutto murder case Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali on Friday, DawnNews reported.

According to the police, unknown gunmen opened fire on Zulfiqar Ali’s car in Islamabad’s G-9 area leaving him severely injured. He  was taken to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Moreover, the firing incident also killed a woman and injured Chaudhry Zulfiqar’s guard Rehman Ali. The guard was reported as saying that the attacker’s only intended target was Zulfiqar Ali who had been receiving threats since a while.

Later, his dead body was shifted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital in Islamabad.

Doctors initially said that he had been killed with ten bullets targeting his chest and shoulder.

Police subsequently cordoned off the site of incident and started a search operation in the area.

Zulfiqar was scheduled to appear in an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Rawalpindi on Friday (today) pertaining to the Benazir Bhutto murder case.

Rawalpindi and Islamabad High Court (IHC) Bar Association’s lawyers announced a strike following the incident.

Interior Minister Malik Habib Khan has also taken notice of the incident.

http://dawn.com/2013/05/03/gunmen-kill-fias-special-prosecutor/

Dawn – Terror attack on election candidates continues

Shikarpur, Quetta, 1 May 2013. At least two people were injured in a suicide attack which occurred near the Shikarpur toll plaza on Wednesday, DawnNews reported.

The blast took place near the convoy of National Peoples Party’s candidate Dr Ibrahim Jatoi in Shikarpur who remained unhurt.

In another incident, three people were reported injured when a bomb exploded in Balochistan’s Dera Murad Jamali region.

The blast took place near the convoy of an independent candidate for PB-32, Allah Dino, in the district’s Kachchi Pul area.

Rescue teams had reached the site of the attack and started an operation.

Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistan Peoples Party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Awami National Party alleged that they were being compelled to boycott the May 11 elections.

Senator Shahi Syed of ANP, Rehman Malik of PPP and Dr Farooq Sattar of MQM addressed a joint press conference at MQM’s ‘Nine Zero’ headquarters over the attacks targeting candidates and workers of the three parties.

During the press talk, Dr Sattar said world powers wanted to bring a government of rightwing parties in Pakistan just to ensure their safe exit from Afghanistan.

Protesters block National Highway over Abdul Fateh Magsi’s killing

Moreover, supporters and relatives of Abdul Fateh Magsi, the slain candidate for PB-32 (Jhal Magsi), blocked the National Highway linking Sindh and Balochistan on Wednesday in order to protest his killing.

Long queues of vehicles were witnessed on the National Highway during the road’s blockade. Later, however, protesters agreed to clear the highway following negotiations with the administration.

http://dawn.com/2013/05/01/blast-in-dera-murad-jamali/

Dawn – Why youths want Imran’s PTI to win elections

Khawar Ghumman

Mandi Bahauddin Panjab, 29 April 2013. Ali Raza, 22, completed his three-year diploma in civil engineering with specialisation in road construction about two years ago, but he is yet to get a job. He wants change in government because he seeks a level playing field in order to compete for jobs on merit. According to him, no one can land a government job without a strong political reference or enough money to line the
pockets of people at the top.

Raza was one of the thousands of young people who had turned up at the cinema ground, in the heart of Mandi Bahauddin, to welcome the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, for an election rally.

Raza, who will be voting this year for the first time, said: “Like many of my friends I have come from a nearby village to attend the meeting and have a glimpse of Mr Khan who has promised us jobs after coming to power. Yes, my entire family will vote for the PTI.”

When asked about his motivation to attend the rally, Ambar Gill, a local Christian, said he didn’t know much about the PTI or its manifesto, but strongly believed that if given a chance Mr Khan could deliver.

“So I will vote for the PTI,” he remarked.

There were many others in the rally who knew nothing about the politics of right or left, but came only to demonstrate their support for Mr Khan whose main slogan is to build ‘naya Pakistan’ (new Pakistan) after winning the May 11 elections.

Talking to Dawn, a group of PTI volunteers who looked after arrangements for the rally, said they had come on their own without any financial support from the party because they wanted to help Mr Khan build a ‘new Pakistan’.

“It seems that PTI’s slogan for change has started picking up momentum,” said Dr Arshad Khan, who runs a clinic near the cinema ground. “Most of the local youth are supporting Mr Khan; let’s see whether their support actually transforms into electoral victory for the PTI candidates in an area traditionally known for voting on caste basis.”

Even though wheat harvesting activities are continuing apace in the area, a large crowd, comprising mainly the youth, had gathered at the venue.

District administration and police officials, who only last week (on April 22) were on duty for a similar election rally addressed by PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif in Malakwal, one of the three tehsils of Mandi Bahauddin district, told Dawn that the PTI’s meeting had attracted more people.

“Frankly speaking, we weren’t expecting so many people to attend the meeting in an area mainly dominated by Gondals and Tarars,” said a senior police officer present on the occasion.

The officer, who refused to speak on record, said that last year Mr Sharif had addressed a rally as chief minister on the same ground. “That meeting was not as well-attended as this one.”

In the 2008 elections, both the National Assembly seats and five provincial assembly seats in the district were won by the PPP.

The crowd was simply ecstatic when Mr Khan waved from his chopper to the participants of the rally before landing at a nearby helipad from where he was driven to the venue. Encouraged by the crowd, he refused to go behind the bullet-proof rostrum arranged by the local administration for his security. The PTI chief said he was not the one who needed such protection.

Pandering to the crowd, Mr Khan said: “I know many young people from the area have gone abroad in search of jobs. But let me assure you that after May 11 you will have a new Pakistan where you won’t have to leave your country for jobs. The PTI will provide you jobs.”

In his entire speech, Mr Khan mentioned President Asif Ali Zardari only once and mainly targeted PML-N leaders. He said President Zardari had carried out a suicide attack on his own party, destroying the former ruling party to the core. He said the Sharif brothers had ruled in Punjab five times and two times at the centre. Therefore, they should not be given another chance. “How can a party which has repeatedly failed in the past be given another chance?”

The slogan-chanting crowd shouted: “No, no.”

As usual Mr Khan talked about the ongoing energy crisis, local governments, ‘pro-American policies’ of the previous governments and rampant poverty in the country. He said that after coming to power his party would resolve all these issues on an emergency basis.

Later, Mr Khan addressed similar election meetings in Hafizabad and Sargodha, where he again hit out at the PML-N leaders for “misguiding people with their lofty promises”.

http://dawn.com/2013/04/29/why-youths-want-imrans-pti-to-win-elections/