Jamat-e-Islami members protest in Pakistan on 9/11 anniversary

ISLAMABAD: Supporters of a political party in Pakistan used the anniversary Sunday of the Sept. 11 attacks to stage anti-American protests.
Supporters of a Pakistani religious party Jamaat-e-Islami hold an anti US rally on the 10th anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks in US, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011 in Islamabad, Pakistan.In Islamabad, about 100 people chanted and held up banners that repeated conspiracy theories alleging American or Israeli involvement in the attacks.
Such theories have been commonly aired among Islamist and militant sympathizers since the attacks in 2001.
A smaller demonstration also took place in the central Punjabi city of Multan.
In the sprawling city of Karachi, around 100 people protested against the war in Afghanistan that was launched in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The demonstrations were organised by Jamat-e-Islami, the country’s largest Islamist political party, which frequently rallies its base by protesting against America and what it say is a US war on Islam.
Pakistan has been hit by hundreds of bombings since Sept. 11, 2001, by al Qaeda and Taliban militants.

‘Political fortune-tellers’ should stop predicting govt’s fall: PM

LOWER TOPA: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday said his government was enjoying the complete support of the masses and warned that “political fortune-tellers” predicting the end of its tenure would face disappointment.
Addressing a large public gathering after the inauguration of Islamabad-Murree Expressway here, the prime minister said the government could not be weakened by the unlawful tactics of such elements who wanted to derail democracy.
Gilani said that many forces were striving to end the tenure of the government before March. However, he said such efforts would go in vain as the government enjoyed the support of poor people.
He urged the people with such wishful approach to have patience and wait for another year for the completion of present government’s tenure.
He stressed that the government had not come into power through the backdoor and added that it was up to the people to decide for the government’s next term on the basis of performance.
Gilani announced provision of gas to Murree in near future. The decision was heavily cheered for by the gathering with people raising slogans in favour of the government and Pakistan Peoples Party.
He announced the grand project of constructing a road between Lower Topa and Kohala, which will link Punjab, Azad Kashmir and Hazara.
The prime minister said that his party had great affinity with Murree. He recalled the address of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto 35 years ago in the same city and also his own childhood memories of visiting Murree.
He said that the Pakistan Peoples Party is a symbol of a vision, ideology and belongs to martyrs. He said this is the only party whose leaders have rendered sacrifices side by side by its workers.
He mentioned several reforms introduced by the government in terms of constitutional amendments which he said would strengthen the people’s roots.
The prime minister said PPP has always struggled for democracy by fighting against dictators.
Leader of the House in Senate Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, Chairman Baitul Mal Zamurrad Khan, and MNAs Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Mehreen Anwar Raja and Fauzia Habib were also present.

CIA chief meets COAS, DG ISI

ISLAMABAD: CIA Director Leon Panetta met over dinner Friday with Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani and Director-General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Ahmed Shuja Pasha for talks on how to repair ties between the two countries that were fractured by the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden, a Pakistani and a US official said.
Sources told DawnNews that the talks focused on intelligence cooperation between the US and Pakistan.
The military leadership also apprised Panetta that Pakistan would not accept unilateral American operations inside Pakistan, sources said.
The subject of reconciliation with the Afghan Taliban was also discussed during the meeting.
Panetta’s visit was his first to Pakistan since the unilateral American operation on May 2 killed the al Qaeda leader in a Pakistani garrison town. It is likely to be his last before he becomes the next US defence secretary.
American officials have said they want to rebuild a relationship vital to their fight against al Qaeda and their efforts to wind down the war in Afghanistan, but progress has been slow amid suspicions by some in Washington that elements within the security establishment here were sheltering bin Laden.
Pakistan, facing public anger over what was seen as an unacceptable violation of sovereignty, sent home most US Army trainers in the country and said Thursday that it no longer wanted American financial assistance.
Panetta dined with General Kayani and Shuja Pasha, after arriving Friday, said the officials, who did not give their names to discuss the high-level meeting.
Panetta’s relationship with both men will be key in his new role, presuming he is speedily confirmed as the next US defence chief.
One of the key items of contention between Pakistan and the US: As an act of faith to restore relations with the Pakistanis, US intelligence shared the suspected location of explosive material held by the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network at two compounds in the Pakistani tribal areas, according to a Pakistani and a US official.
The US official said that after the intelligence was shared, the explosive material was moved. The Pakistani official told The Associated Press that they checked out the locations, but nothing was there, and that they intend to investigate to dispel US suspicions that the Pakistani intelligence service had tipped off the militants.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence operations.Pakistan must do more to go after militants within its borders, Panetta said in remarks to the Senate Armed Services Committee for his confirmation hearing. The CIA director said that after the bin Laden raid, the US asked Islamabad to ”take a number of concrete steps to demonstrate cooperation and counterterrorism.”
One of those steps is the formation of a joint intelligence team to track down militant targets inside Pakistan, drawing in part from the trove of bin Laden records taken from his personal office during the raid.
Pakistani officials say the Americans have shared some intelligence from the trove, and the Americans say the Pakistanis are working on providing visas for a small number of US intelligence officers to come to Pakistan to join the team, but both sides complain the effort is moving very slowly.
The US wants that team to pursue a list of five high-value targets it handed to the Pakistani leadership during another high-level visit to Pakistan by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and chairman of the joint chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen, along with CIA Deputy Director Mike Morell, who met Pasha separately.The target list included al Qaeda commander Ilyas Kashmiri, who was reportedly hit by a drone strike in the Pakistani tribal areas last Friday. But both sides say that hit was not the direct result of the intelligence partnership nor data from the material seized from the bin Laden compound.
US officials have described Kashmiri as al Qaeda’s military operations chief in Pakistan. He was rumoured to be a contender to replace bin Laden as the terror network’s chief.
Pakistan’s interior minister said Monday he was ”100 per cent” certain that the wanted al Qaeda commander was dead after the drone strike in Pakistan’s tribal areas.
US officials will not confirm his death out of caution because he was reported dead in strikes twice before.
A Pakistani official said Panetta would stay for a second day of talks with officials, in which they hope to discuss what US intelligence officers will be allowed to do, and how many will be allowed into the country, as part of the joint intelligence team.
Panetta’s visit to Islamabad coincides with a trip by Afghan President Hamid Karzai in which he is likely to discuss the role Islamabad can play in negotiations with the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan.

Nawaz asks ‘army’ to change mindset

LAHORE: PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has vowed never to allow any institution to become a sacred cow and be above the law.
“There is no sacred cow in the country and none should try to become a sacred cow as (we) won’t allow such an attempt,” he told a reference meeting held here on Friday for journalist Salim Shehzad who has been murdered in mysterious
circumstances.
Without naming the army but leaving no doubt which institution he was talking about, he said (they) would have to change their mindset.
If the army wants not to be criticised it will have to remove the causes of criticism.
“End your domination of foreign policy (making) if you wish the criticism to end. Our relations should be with the Afghan people and not with a single party. There should be no parallel government (of agencies) in the country.”
He said the Kashmir cause had been damaged most by ‘our own institutions’, adding that keeping the national interest in mind he could not go into details.
The former prime minister said he was not against any institution, but the army was under the domination of a handful of people with a specific mindset.
He said there was nothing wrong in calling for a discussion on defence budget in parliament.“What is wrong with this demand?
What is there that they (the armed forces) want to conceal from their own countrymen.”
He said the army should make a pledge not to transgress its domain and if it did then it was my and other people’s duty to check it.
He vowed to organise a long march if he had to do it for the purpose.
Pledging never to compromise on principles, he said the game of holding the Constitution in abeyance, murdering journalists and dissolving judiciary would have to be ended.
Admitting that he had committed mistakes in the past, he said he had learned from those mistakes and others should follow suit.
“When all hands rise to grab someone by the collar that is time for introspection. Had those at the helm of affairs done introspection there would have been no incidents like Abbottabad and PNS Mehran.”Urging the Supreme Court to take notice of the killing of Mr Shehzad, Mr Sharif said he and his party would be with the journalist community till the killers were brought to book.
He said he wondered why the prime minister was shying away from forming a commission to investigate the murder of Mr Shahzad, adding that the country would survive only if there was rule of law.
Human Rights activist Hina Jilani said the army was itself the biggest threat to the security of the country, adding that there should be no room in the army for soldiers who had an agenda over and above the security of the country and its citizens.
The Managing Director of Friday Times, Jugnoo Mohsin, said if Shehzad was not killed by ISI then being one of the largest
secret agencies in the world it should expose the killers.
Seeking reforms in the institution of armed forces, Editor of local Urdu daily Pakistan Mujeebur Rehman Shami regretted that in the name of discipline one person (army chief) held the entire institution hostage.
Dr Akmal Hussain said people would have to unite on a single platform to get the right of telling the truth.
The meeting adopted a resolution which condemned the murder of Shehzad and formed a 22-member Media Commission “to monitor increasing attacks on media persons and defend press freedom in Pakistan”.
The commission will defend journalists under attack and pursue their cases but also audit the content of media, besides proposing a code of ethics.

PM for FTA between Pakistan, US to promote economic activity

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday called for an early conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement between Pakistan and United States to promote economic activity.
Talking to a US Congressional delegation led by Doug Lamborn at the PM House, Prime Minister Gilani said economic activity would address the issues of poverty and unemployment particularly in the under-developed and militancy-affected areas.
About the misperceptions in both countries against each other, Prime Minister Gilani said US presence in Pakistan should be seen as a source of peace and prosperity by the people of Pakistan, a PM House statement said issue here.
However, he said the US administration and particularly the US Congress needed to be sensitive about the opinion and views of the people of Pakistan in order to pave the way for a long term strategic partnership based on mutual trust, respect and interest.
He pointed out that the people of Pakistan were expecting a thorough investigation of the Raymond Davis case in the US under its laws.

The provision of civil nuclear technology, reimbursement of large amounts of with-held Coalition Support Fund to Pakistan and utilisation of the Kerry-Lugar Bill funds for signature projects have a direct bearing on the life of ordinary Pakistanis, Prime Minister Gilani said, adding that these would help build a positive image of the US in the country.
Underlining Pakistan’s strong commitment to cooperate with the US in defeating militancy, Prime Minister Gilani stressed the need for concerted efforts by both sides to bridge the trust deficit through reinforced cooperation in intelligence sharing, joint action against al Qaeda and its affiliates as well as progress on various segments of strategic dialogue in multi-faceted fields.
Prime Minister Gilani referred to President Karzai’s forthcoming visit to Pakistan during which the inaugural session of the commission on reconciliation between the two countries is scheduled along with the launching of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement.
He further stated that Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US being part of the core group have to have strategic coherence among them for ensuring peace, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan.

He termed Pakistan-US relationship as significant in the context of how they can shape the future of this region and called for joint endeavours to ensure maximum utilisation of the potential for economic development in Afghanistan as well as the region at large.
The members of US Congressional delegation termed Pakistan as an extremely important country in the world in the war against terrorism and for defeating violent extremism. They acknowledged the sacrifices of Pakistan’s armed and security forces as well as of the people of Pakistan for world peace in the ongoing struggle against terror.
They assured Prime Minister Gilani that despite strong sentiments in the US Congress for reducing the budget deficit and cutting down on foreign aid, the economic assistance to Pakistan would continue. They also agreed with Prime Minister Gilani that his democratic government needed the political space and undertook to contribute in that regard in the US Congress.
The US Congressmen were highly appreciative of Prime Minister Gilani’s remarks that US presence should be a source of peace and prosperity in Pakistan for addressing the negative perception about it here.
They welcomed Prime Minister Gilani’s proposal for Free Trade Agreement between Pakistan and US and recognised the need that the US should help Pakistan address the root causes of extremism in the larger interest of continuing the strategic partnership.

The US Congressional delegation included Rob Woodall, Austin Scott, Richard B. Nugent and W. Keating.
Minister for Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, Senator Syeda Sughra Hussain Imam, Secretaries Foreign affairs, Defence and Interior, US Ambassador Cameron Munter and other senior officials were also present in the meeting.

Five killed as militants attack Pakistani checkpoint

PESHAWAR: Some 200 militants streamed over the border from Afghanistan and attacked a nearby Pakistani checkpoint on Wednesday, killing at least five security troops, police said.
The incident in Upper Dir district underscores the dangers posed by the porous nature of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, which both countries have struggled to control as a means of stopping al Qaeda and Taliban-led insurgent movements who have ties on both sides of the boundary.
The attack is the latest bloodshed as the Pakistani Taliban and affiliated groups carry out threats to avenge the May 2 US raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan’s northwest. But it is more likely a reaction to ongoing Pakistani military offensives against insurgents along the border.

Upper Dir lies just outside of Pakistan’s tribal areas, but it, too, has witnessed al Qaeda and Taliban militant activity, and the Pakistani military has carried out operations there in the past. The area is remote and dangerous, making it difficult to independently verify information.
Local police official Bahadur Khan said Wednesday’s attack began around noon. A shootout was still ongoing an hour later at the scene in Shaltalo town, which borders Afghanistan’s Kunar province.
The US has lauded Pakistan’s operations against insurgents, which have been carried out primarily in the semi-autonomous tribal areas and targeted militants attacking the Pakistani state.

Pakistani journalist was tortured to death: police

KARACHI: Grief-stricken relatives demanded Wednesday that Pakistan investigate the torture and murder of an investigative journalist whose disappearance was blamed on the country’s shadowy intelligence services.
Saleem Shahzad, a 40-year-old father of three, vanished after leaving home in Islamabad to appear on a television talk show, two days after writing an article about links between rogue elements of the navy and al Qaeda.
Shahzad carved out a career writing about the plethora of militant networks operating in Pakistan, and warned human rights campaigners before his disappearance that he had been threatened by the Inter-Services Intelligence.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned his murder and said his “reporting on terrorism and intelligence issues in Pakistan brought to light the troubles extremism poses to Pakistan’s stability”.
Shahzad’s body was found Tuesday, about 150 kilometres southeast of Islamabad. Police said it bore marks of torture.
“The cause of death is torture and there are several signs of torture on his body and face,” said Ashok Kumar, one of the doctors who carried out a post-mortem at Islamabad’s Pakistan Institute of Medical Science.

Another doctor told AFP that Shahzad’s lungs and liver had been damaged, that the body was swollen and bore more than 15 signs of having been beaten.
Wasim Fawad, a brother of Shahzad, told AFP that the family was in shock. His funeral was to take place in his home town of Karachi later Wednesday, after the body was flown from Islamabad.
“The post-mortem was being conducted on our request and we will also lodge a case with police. We want an investigation in this killing,” he said.
“My brother was killed for writing the truth. He paid a huge price, he sacrificed his life but always spoke the truth.”
Interior Minister Rehman Malik confirmed that a police investigation had been ordered and promised a reward of 2.5 million rupees.
“Anyone giving us information, evidence or clue about the murder will be given a reward of 2.5 million rupees,” he told reporters.

But police officials in Islamabad and where the body was found each told AFP that the investigation was the responsibility of the other.
“Previous enquiries into the murders of journalists have not been made public and it is not clear if the fate of this enquiry would be any different,” the Pakistan Press Foundation said in a statement.
Reporters Without Borders says 16 journalists have now been killed since the start of 2010 in Pakistan, which it ranks 151st out of 178 countries in its press freedom index.
Shahzad worked for Italian news agency Adnkronos (AKI) and Asia Times Online, a news site registered in Hong Kong. After he vanished on Sunday, AKI said they feared he had been kidnapped.
In 2006, he was kidnapped by the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, accused of being a spy. He was set free after seven days.
Ali Dayan Hasan, senior South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said Shahzad had complained about being threatened by the ISI and said his killing bore the hallmarks of the security services.
Last Friday, Shahzad published an investigative report in Asia Times Online that last week’s attack on a naval air base was carried out to avenge the arrest of naval officials arrested on suspicion of al Qaeda links.
The naval base attack began on May 22 and took 17 hours to repel. Officials said six militants destroyed two US-made surveillance aircraft and killed 10 security personnel in the standoff.

Prominent Pakistani investigative journalist Umar Cheema, who was abducted and tortured last year, said he believed that whoever picked up Shahzad had not meant to kill but to torture him to send a strong message to other journalists.
“It is really a very unfortunate incident. It breaks the myth that journalists in Pakistan, both local as well as foreign, are tolerated and work in a safe environment,” Cheema told AFP.