Hakeemullah and Wali both dead: Turkistan

ISLAMABAD: Baitullah Mehsud had been killed along with 40 militants in a drone strike last week and was buried in his house, says a commander of the rival group.

Haji Turkistan Bhittani, a commander of the Abdullah Mehsud group, told various TV channels on Sunday that Qari Hussain, mastermind of several suicide attacks, was seriously injured in the attack.

He said that Mufti Waliur Rehman and Hakeemullah Mehsud, the two leading contenders for the top slot, were also killed along with several aides when fighting erupted at a shura meeting held to choose new chief of the Taliban.—APP

Suspects may have been tortured abroad: UK

LONDON: Senior British ministers said on Sunday they could not rule out that vital anti-terror information had been obtained through the torture of suspects abroad.

But Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Home Secretary Alan Johnson strongly denied allegations of British collusion in the abuse of terror suspects overseas.

However, it was impossible to eradicate all risk, they wrote in The Sunday Telegraph newspaper, as a panel of lawmakers warned the government that regularly using information gained through torture could be legally construed as complicity.

The article comes as British intelligence agencies face allegations of involvement in the questioning of terror suspects in countries such as Pakistan, including supplying questions for interrogators.

‘The UK firmly opposes torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment. This is not just about legal obligations. It is about our values as a nation,’ Miliband and Johnson wrote.

‘But there are difficult judgments and hard choices, and they need to be better understood.’ 

They said all the most serious plots and attacks in Britain had links abroad, so ‘intelligence from overseas is critical’. While the government could be sure how detainees held by British authorities had been treated, ‘we cannot have the same level of assurance when they are held by foreign governments, whose obligations may differ from our own.’ 

In its annual human rights report, the Commons’ Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) said it was ‘imperative’ that the government fulfilled its legal obligations to prevent torture and probe alleged incidents.

‘We further conclude that there is a risk that use of evidence which may have been obtained under torture on a regular basis, especially where it is not clear that protestations about mistreatment have elicited any change in behaviour by foreign intelligence services, could be construed as complicity in such behaviour,’ they said.

The committee acknowledged that using intelligence supplied by other countries which could avert a devastating terror attack but which may have been obtained through torture ‘raises profoundly difficult moral questions.’  

Lawmakers on the FAC singled out Britain’s close links with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) as a special worry in the report. ‘While the UK must, by necessity, maintain its relationship with Pakistani intelligence, we are very concerned by allegations that the nature of the relationship UK officials have with the ISI may have led them to be complicit in torture,’ the legislators said in their report.—Agencies

Typhoon triggers massive evacuation in China

BEIJING: A typhoon pummelled China’s eastern coast on Sunday, toppling houses, flooding villages and forcing nearly a million people to flee to safety. Officials rode bicycles to distribute food to residents trapped by rising waters.

Typhoon Morakot struck after triggering the worst flooding in Taiwan for 50 years, leaving dozens missing and feared dead and toppling a six-storey hotel. It earlier lashed the Philippines, killing at least 21 people.

Morakot, which means ‘emerald’ in Thai, made landfall in China’s eastern Fujian province, carrying heavy rain and winds of 119 kilometres per hour, according to the China Meteorological Administration. At least one child died after a house collapsed on him in Zhejiang province.

People stumbled with flashlights as the storm enveloped the town of Beibi in Fujian in darkness, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Strong winds uprooted trees, while farmers tried to catch fish swept out of fish farms by high waves.

Village officials in Zhejiang rode bicycles to hand out drinking water and instant noodles to residents stranded by deep floods, while rescuers tried to reach eight sailors on a cargo ship blown onto a reef off Fujian, Xinhua reported.

Morakot was expected to weaken as it travelled north at about 10 kilometres per hour, but still bring strong winds and heavy rains to Shanghai, the meteorological administration said.

Officials in Shanghai released water stored in inland rivers to reduce levels in preparation, Xinhua said.

About one million people were evacuated from China’s eastern coastal provinces — more than 490,000 in Zhejiang and 505,000 in neighbouring Fujian. Authorities in Fujian called 48,000 boats back to harbour.

Five houses were destroyed by heavy rain ahead of the typhoon’s landfall, burying four adults and a four-year-old boy in debris, Xinhua said. The child died after emergency treatment failed, it said.—AP

Evidence ‘pretty conclusive’, says top US official

WASHINGTON: US National Security Adviser Jim Jones said on Sunday he had seen ‘pretty conclusive’ evidence that Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud had died in a drone attack.

‘We think so. We put it in the 90 per cent category,’ Gen Jones told NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ when asked if Baitullah had been killed in a US missile strike on Wednesday. 
Pakistan, he said, also had confirmed the death. 

Later, in an interview to CBS Face the Nation, Gen Jones said Baitullah’s death was a very important development. 

‘First of all, it’s important because this is Pakistan’s public enemy number one,’ he said.

‘He controlled a very violent aspect of the insurgent problems on the Pakistani side of the border. And this would be — this is a big deal.’ 

A Pentagon official, Bryan Whitman, however, warned that Baitullah’s death had not diminished the threat of the Taliban. 

‘I don’t want to make more than one should of a single individual,’ he said. 

Meanwhile, US counter-terrorism experts noted that American and Pakistani commanders had been working together more closely in recent months and Baitullah’s death proved that this cooperation was effective. 

‘This is an important step for the US-Pakistani relations,’ said Juan Zarate, a senior adviser at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and a top counter-terrorism official under Bush. 

The experts predicted that the two countries would now increase their focus on other insurgent leaders, such as Sirajuddin Haqqani and Mullah Omar. 

Mr Haqqani and his family form the Haqqani network, a group based in North Waziristan. 

The CIA has accused Pakistan of maintaining close ties with the group, which is also linked to Al Qaeda and sometimes operates in concert with the Taliban. 

The Haqqani network has masterminded some of the deadliest terror attacks in Afghanistan. 

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, a Missouri Democrat, called reports of Baitullah’s death ‘a sign that our joint efforts with Pakistan’s military’ were working. 

‘The most helpful thing of all may be that Pakistani public opinion will be very pleased, and that gives the Pakistani government a benefit to show for cooperating with the United States,’ said John Nagl, president of the Centre for a New American Security in Washington.
 
‘This is the first time I feel that there’s a realistic chance that Osama bin Laden himself might be found at some point,’ said Ken Katzman, a senior Afghanistan analyst with the Congressional Research Service in Washington.

  COLOMBO: Skipper Younus Khan led the way as Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by 132 runs in the fifth and final one-day international here on Sunday.

Younus top-scored with 76 and Misbah-ul Haq hit an unbeaten 73 to steer Pakistan to 279-8 after they won the toss and elected to bat in the day-night match at the Premadasa stadium.

 

Teenage paceman Mohammad Aamer grabbed 4-28 and Rana Naved took 4-44 as Pakistan bowled out Sri Lanka for 147 in the 35th over to record their second successive win after Friday’s 146-run success.

 

Sri Lanka, however, clinched the one-day series 3-2, after winning the Test series 2-0.

 

The rivals, who contested the World Twenty20 final in England in June when Pakistan won the title, will play a T20 international here Wednesday in the last match of the tour.

 

The half-centuries from Younus and Misbah helped Pakistan recover from the first-ball dismissal of Kamran Akmal, who was given out leg-before off Nuwan Kulasekara despite getting an edge on the bat.

 

Younus put on 69 for the third wicket with veteran Mohammad Yousuf (43) and 83 for the fourth, with Misbah before being bowled by seamer Dammika Prasad in the 37th over.

 

Misbah stepped in to keep the scoreboard moving after the captain’s dismissal, adding 60 for the seventh wicket with Rana Naved, to carry Pakistan past the 250-run mark.

 

Kulasekara was the most impressive bowler, with three for 46 from his 10 overs.

Sri Lanka’s reply began on the wrong foot when Upul Tharanga edged the third ball of the innings to Umar Akmal at second slip before a run had been scored.

 

Wickets tumbled regularly after that to reduce the hosts to 74-8, the only notable contribution in the top order coming from Mahela Jayawardene, who made 31 before being caught behind off Aamer.

 

Thilina Kandamby (42 not out) and Malinga Bandara (31) delayed the end by adding 71 for the eighth wicket, before Shahid Afridi claimed the last two wickets. — AFP

TTP leader dead in succession fight?

MIRAMSHAH: A key Taliban commander was killed in a struggle over succession to Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud at a shura meeting in South Waziristan, government and security officials said on Saturday. However, on Sunday Reuters quoted one of the suspected participants as saying not only was there no battle, but that no meeting took place either.

Baitullah was killed, along with his wife, in a US Predator strike on Wednesday.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik confirmed reports of a shootout at the shura meeting and said that one of the commanders had been killed.

According to sources, commanders Hakeemullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman, the two leading contenders for the chief slot, exchanged hot words at the shura meeting in Sara Rogha over the choosing of a successor to Baitullah. 

A shootout followed, leading to the death of Hakeemullah while causing life-threatening injuries to Waliur Rehman.

A government official in Peshawar said that both Hakeemullah and Waliur Rehman had been killed in the clash.

However, Reuters reported on Sunday afternoon that Waliur Rehman, speaking by telephone from an undisclosed location, denied not only rumors of his death, but also that any council meeting, or shura, had taken place to decide on a successor to Baitullah Mehsud.

 

‘There are no differences. There was no fighting. We both are alive, and there was no special shura meeting,’ Reuters quoted Waliur Rehman as saying.

Sources told Dawn that the names of Hakeemullah, Waliur Rehman and 50-year-old Azmatullah Mehsud were shortlisted at a meeting of senior Taliban leaders from the Mehsud tribe, but a decision was put off following differences over who would succeed the slain leader.

There was no independent confirmation of the reported shooting. A Taliban commander denied that any clash had taken place.’There is a serious power struggle going on,’ the government official said.

Hakeemullah had replaced Waliur Rehman as commander in Kurram. He belonged to a rival group led by Qari Hussain, widely known as the Ustad-i-Fidayeen (teacher of suicide bombers).

‘I think the Haqqanis will now intervene to resolve the leadership dispute,’ the official said, referring to Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of veteran Taliban leader Jalaluddin Haqqani and Mullah Omar’s point man for North and South Waziristan.

Former interior minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao agreed with the assessment. 

He told a private TV channel that the Haqqanis had been mediating in the past to resolve leadership issues in tribal areas and it was likely that they would intervene again to help throw up a consensus candidate.

Three peace committee members killed in Mohmand

At least nine militants and three peace committee members have been killed in exchange of fire between militants and peace committee members in Mohmand Agency.

Accoding to sources armed militants attacked the house of peace commite chief, Malik Ajmal in uchajawara village in khaqwezi area of baizai tehsil and killed two peace committee members along with peace committee chief.

 

Ajmal was a pro-government tribal elder who had captured 12 militants and handed them over to security forces last week.

 

The clash erupted between peace committee members and militants resulted in the death of nine militants, according to a DawnNews report.

 

In a separate incident, two civilians and a policeman were killed when militants ambushed a police convoy in the restive northwestern Bannu town on Sunday.

 

'Three policemen were on a routine patrol in Meryan village of Bannu when they were attacked by a group of 10 militants,' senior local official Iqbal Marwat told AFP.

 

He said one policeman and two farmers in nearby fields were killed in the incident.

Senate panel wants to question Shaukat Aziz

ISLAMABAD: A Senate committee on Saturdayresolved to summon former prime minister Shaukat Aziz so that he might explain his position on allegations that he had stopped disbursement of development funds to members of the opposition when he was premier

The decision was made at a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Local Government and Rural Development which took up the claim of some officials of the ministry of local government and rural development that they had been given verbal instructions by the PM’s Secretariat not to disburse funds to a number of opposition lawmakers. Some lawmakers also levelled such allegations. 

The committee members asked for a thorough investigation into the matter. They also decided to approach the ministry of law and justice to determine the legal status of the orders given verbally by state functionaries. 

The committee meeting was presided over by Senator Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro in the Parliament House.

Officials briefed the committee on Khushal Pakistan Programme (KPP-1), People’s Works Programme and the current status of various development schemes being executed under these schemes.

The committee asked the ministry of local government to ensure timely completion of all development schemes. 

‘These (development schemes) should not drag on for years as the delay inevitably leads to cost escalation,’ the meeting observed.
 
The committee stressed the need for adequate coordination among various executing agencies and line departments like Wapda, KESC, PWD, SSGPL and SNGPL for timely completion of the schemes. 

The members of the committee also observed that the supervisory role of the ministry must be strengthened with the help of elected representatives. 

It decided to constitute sub-committees in the provinces to help monitor the pace of work on development schemes.

Baitullah Mehsud dead, aide confirms

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who led a violent campaign of suicide attacks and assassinations against the Pakistani government, has been killed in a US missile strike, a Taliban commander and aide to Mehsud said Friday.


I confirm that Baitullah Mehsud and his wife died in the American missile attack in South Waziristan,’ Kafayatullah told The Associated Press by telephone. He would not give any further details.

Earlier on Friday, three Pakistani intelligence officials said the militant commander had been killed in the missile strike and his body had been buried.

But one of the three said no intelligence agent had actually seen Baitullah Mehsud's body.

Intelligence sources have confirmed Baitullah’s death, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told reporters in Islamabad, adding that authorities would travel to the site of the strike to verify his death.

‘To be 100 per cent sure, we are going for ground verification,’ Qureshi said. ‘And once the ground verification re-confirms, which I think is almost confirmed, then we'll be 100 per cent sure.’

A senior US intelligence official had earlier said there were strong indications that Mehsud was among those killed in Wednesday's missile attack, but he did not elaborate.

If confirmed, Mehsud's demise would be a major boost to Pakistani and US efforts to eradicate the Taliban and al-Qaeda.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfJdrmKvaig


Mehsud has al-Qaeda connections and has been suspected in the killing of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Pakistan viewed him as its top internal threat and has been preparing an offensive against him.

For years, though, the US considered Mehsud a lesser threat to its interests than some of the other Pakistani Taliban, their Afghan counterparts and al-Qaeda, because most of his attacks were focused inside Pakistan, not against US and Nato troops in Afghanistan.

That view appeared to change in recent months as Mehsud's power grew and concerns mounted that increasing violence in Pakistan could destabilise the country and threaten the entire region.

But while Mehsud's death would be a big blow to the Taliban in Pakistan, he has deputies who could take his place. Whether a new leader could wreak as much havoc as Mehsud depends largely on how much pressure the Pakistani military continues to put on the network, especially in the tribal area of South Waziristan.

The Pakistani intelligence officials said Mehsud was killed in Wednesday's missile strike on his father-in-law's home and that his body was buried in the village of Nardusai in South Waziristan, near the site of the strike.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly.

One official said he had seen a classified intelligence report stating Mehsud was dead and buried, but that agents had not seen the body since the area is under Taliban control.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik had earlier told reporters outside Parliament he could confirm the death of Mehsud's wife but not of the Taliban leader himself, although information pointed in that direction.

‘Yes, (a) lot of information is pouring in from that area that he's dead, but I'm unable to confirm unless I have solid evidence,’ Malik had said.

A security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said ‘about 70 per cent’ of the information pointed to Mehsud's being dead.

Another senior Pakistani intelligence official said phone and other communications intercepts — he would not be more specific — had led authorities to suspect Mehsud was dead, but he also stressed there was no definitive evidence yet.

An American counterterrorism official said the US government was also looking into the reports. The official indicated the United States did not yet have physical evidence — remains — that would prove who died. But he said there are other ways of determining who was killed in the strike. He declined to describe them.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak on the matter publicly.
A local tribesman, who also spoke on condition his name not be used, said Mehsud had been at his father-in-law's house being treated for kidney pain, and had been put on a drip by a doctor, when the missile struck. The tribesman claimed he attended the Taliban chief's funeral.

Last year, a doctor for Mehsud announced the militant leader had died of kidney failure, but the reports turned out to be false.

In Afghanistan, Defence Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said Mehsud's fighters would cross the border into eastern Afghanistan occasionally to help out one of most ruthless Afghan insurgent leaders Siraj Haqqani.

‘He was an international terrorist that affected India, Pakistan and Afghanistan,’ Azimi said without confirming Mehsud was dead.

In March, the State Department authorised a reward of up to $5 million for the militant chief. Increasingly, American missiles fired by unmanned drones have focused on Mehsud-related targets.

Pakistan publicly opposes the strikes, saying they anger local tribes and make it harder for the army to operate. Still, many analysts suspect the two countries have a secret deal allowing them.

Malik, the interior minister, said Pakistan's military was determined to finish off Pakistan's Taliban.

‘It is a targeted law enforcement action against Baitullah Mehsud's group and it will continue till Baitullah Mehsud's group is eliminated forever,’ he said.

Pakistan's record on putting pressure on the Taliban network is spotty. It has used both military action and truces to try to contain Mehsud over the years, but neither tactic seemed to work, despite billions in US aid aimed at helping the Pakistanis tame the tribal areas.

Mehsud was not that prominent a militant when the US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 after the September 11 attacks, according to Mahmood Shah, a former security chief for the tribal regions. In fact, Mehsud has struggled against such rivals as Abdullah Mehsud, an Afghan war veteran who had spent time in Guantanamo Bay.

But a February 2005 peace deal with Mehsud appeared to give him room to consolidate and boost his troop strength. Within months of that accord, dozens of pro-government tribal elders in the region were gunned down on his command.

In December 2007, Mehsud became the head of a new coalition called the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or Pakistan's Taliban movement. Under his guidance, the group killed hundreds of Pakistanis in suicide and other attacks.

Analysts say the reason for Mehsud's rise in the militant ranks is his alliances with al-Qaeda and other violent groups. US intelligence has said al-Qaeda has set up its operational headquarters in Mehsud's South Waziristan stronghold and neighbouring North Waziristan.

Mehsud has no record of attacking targets in the west, although he has threatened to attack Washington.

However, he is suspected of being behind a 10-man cell arrested in Barcelona in January 2008 for plotting suicide attacks in Spain. Pakistan's former government and the CIA have named him as the prime suspect behind the December 2007 killing of Benazir Bhutto. He has denied a role.

Umar’s maiden hundred lifts Pakistan to imposing total

COLOMBO: Teenager Umar Akmal scored a brilliant maiden century to power Pakistan to a formidable 321 for five against Sri Lanka in the fourth one-day international on Friday.

Akmal, the 19-year-old brother of wicket-keeper Kamran, smashed an unbeaten 102 off just 72 balls with five fours and four sixes.

Captain Younus Khan provided support with a 89 from 111 balls, a more measured innings that included just four boundaries.

The fifth-wicket pair came together with the innings in the balance on 130 for four and shared a potentially match-winning 176-run partnership.

Opener Kamran Akmal rode his luck early on when he was given not out after edging behind and went on to score 57.

Leg spinner Malinga Bandara was Sri Lanka’s most economical and effective bowler, claiming two for 44 from his 10 overs.

Sri Lanka, who lead the series 3-0, did not help their own cause by giving away 29 wides, 26 of which were delivered by Lasith Malinga. — Reuters

Thirty-seven die in Baghdad as bombs target Shia pilgrims

BAGHDAD: A suicide car bomb devastated a Shia mosque in northern Iraq, one of a series of attacks Friday that killed at least 37 Shia pilgrims and worshippers, police and medical officials said.

The incidents are the latest in a series that have targeted Shias, raising concerns that insurgents are stepping up attacks, hoping to re-ignite sectarian violence that nearly tore the country apart in 2006 and 2007.

Though violence has dramatically declined in Iraq in the past two years, US officials have repeatedly called the security gains fragile and cautioned that a waning insurgency still has the ability to pull off sporadic, high profile attacks.

The deadliest blast occurred in Rasheediyah, north of Mosul, when a suicide car bomb struck a mosque, killing at least 30 people and trapping dozens more underneath the rubble, said a police official in Ninevah operations command.

The official said at least 88 were injured in the blast. Bodies were still being pulled from the rubble, the official said.

The attack occurred shortly after one p.m. as worshippers were leaving Friday prayers. The blast also severely damaged a dozen other buildings near the mosque, the official said.

In Baghdad, roadside bombs targeted Shia pilgrims returning from the southern holy city of Karbala.

The first of three bombs exploded at about 9:10 a.m., targeting a minibus with pilgrims as it entered the Shia slum of Sadr City, a police official said. The blast killed four pilgrims and wounded eight others, the official said. The causalities were confirmed by a medical official.

A short time later, two near simultaneous explosions near the Shaab football stadium in eastern Baghdad killed three pilgrims as they were walking home to Sadr City, said another police official.

Thirteen pilgrims also were wounded in the two blasts, which occurred less than half a mile apart, the official said.

All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release information to the media.

The blasts came a day after a roadside bomb targeted pilgrims on their way to Karbala, killing one and wounding four others. Last Friday, a string of bombings targeted Shia worshippers in the Baghdad area during Friday prayers, killing at least 29 people.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Attacks on Shia civilians — particularly during pilgrimages — have been the hallmark of Sunni extremists, including al-Qaida in Iraq.

Hundreds of thousands of devout Shias have been traveling by foot or by vehicle to Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, to celebrate the birth of Mohammed al-Mahdi, the 12th Shia imam. — AP

Four militants killed in Malakand: ISPR

ISLAMABAD: Security forces have apprehended two terrorists from Malakand’s Nokhara and Kalakot villages, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Friday.

At present, search and clearance operations are being conducted in Malakand with assistance from local lashkars. Reports show several militants have been arrested and four militants have been killed.
Security forces also defused an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at Sanela near Aloch.
In Maloch, two soldiers were martyred during an exchange of fire with militants.
Regarding the rehabilitation of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), the ISPR said so far 245000 cash cards have been distributed. — DawnNews

Pakistan says fresh Indian dossier inadequate

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has said that the fresh dossier provided by India is inadequate to prosecute the alleged mastermind and facilitators of the Mumbai attacks being tried by an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi.

‘Our security agencies, who have studied and analysed the latest dossier from India, have concluded that New Delhi has not provided enough information required by us,’ a senior official told Dawn. He said that there were a lot of gaps in the dossier and cautioned that it could be of little help in prosecuting the accused.
On July 11, while updating India on the progress made in the Mumbai attacks probe, Pakistan had sought more information for the prosecution of the accused.
The information sought by Pakistan pertained to the forensics of the confiscated GPS equipment; details of the text messages exchanged by terrorists; particulars of Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin, the Indian accomplices; the statement of the magistrate who recorded the testimony of Ajmal Kasab; and particulars of VoIP calls.
Pakistan had also asked for the authenticated copies of Kasab’s statement and translation of the information India had earlier provided in Hindi and Marathi languages.
India handed over its reply on August 1, claiming that it was a ‘detailed dossier of evidence’. Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram had said that after the latest dossier, he did not expect Pakistan to have any further questions.
However, after a detailed study of the dossier, Pakistani security agencies have found little useful information in it, particularly with regards to what they had asked for.
Among the many deficiencies, an official said, the Indians had again failed to provide the forensic details of the GPS gadgetry. Pakistan had asked for it because the GPS coordinates given by India of the route followed by the terrorists while travelling by sea from Karachi to Mumbai had a number of gaps and inconsistencies. Moreover, the attested copies of Kasab’s confessional statement have not been provided either.
Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit, at a press briefing on Thursday, also expressed dissatisfaction over the India dossier, saying the evidence given by New Delhi against Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed was inadequate.
‘It also needs to be underlined that we have received information material from India, but the material contained in that dossier regarding Hafiz Saeed is not really enough and doesn’t strengthen our hands to proceed legally,’ he said.
However, the spokesman reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to continue the trial of the accused.
‘We are proceeding in accordance with our own laws. We are moving forward as far as the trial of those involved in the Mumbai attacks is concerned.’
The trial of five accused will resume on August 29, while 13 others are absconding.

Lawyers at it again; assault journalists at LHC

LAHORE: Continuing their assault on journalists, lawyers attacked and manhandled reporters and cameramen on the premises of the Lahore High Court on Thursday after the hearing of a suo motu case pertaining to the thrashing of an ASI and reporters by some lawyers in a sessions court last week.

An LHC bench consisting of Chief Justice Khawaja Mohammad Sharif and Justice Ijaz Chaudhry was hearing the case when a large number of lawyers present in the courtroom started shouting slogans against the media. The bench adjourned the hearing for August 13.

The infuriated lawyers, led by Lahore Bar Association vice-president M.R. Awan, attacked reporters and cameramen outside the court, pelted vans of TV channels with stones and tried to push them out of the LHC premises.

Journalists later held a rally at the GPO Chowk in protest against the attack. Leaders of the Punjab Union of Journalists and Lahore Press Club urged the bar leadership to initiate disciplinary action against the lawyers who had attacked the journalists and brought a bad name to the legal fraternity.

Black flags were hoisted at the press club building. The journalists decided to set up a press freedom camp there, ban the entry of lawyers into the club and boycott the coverage of bar activities.

Journalist unions in different cities and towns of the country condemned what they termed black coats’ vandalism and held protests rallies.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Mian Muzaffar Ali, senior vice-president Tahir Javed Malik and vice-president Irfan Iqbal Sheikh criticised the lawyers’ attempt to stop journalists from performing their professional duty.

They said in a statement that repeated assaults on journalists by lawyers were creating unrest and tarnishing the image of the country. They urged the authorities concerned to take action against the black sheep who were working against the interests of judiciary.

Balochistan minister shot dead in Karachi

KARACHI: Sardar Rustam Khan Jamali, Balochistan’s Minister for Excise and Taxation, was gunned down here on Thursday.

The Sharea Faisal police said that Sardar Jamali’s car was intercepted in Block 16 of Gulistan-i-Jauhar by four to five gunmen who sprayed it with bullets.
The minister suffered serious injuries. He was taken to a private hospital where he was pronounced dead.
His body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and sources said that he had been hit by three bullets in the jaw and neck.
City police chief Wasim Ahmed told Dawn that the attack on Mr Jamali appeared to be a carjacking attempt. ‘It’s not a case of target killing,’ he added. Mr Jamali had arrived in Karachi two days ago.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned Mr Jamali’s murder and offered condolences to his family.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has directed the inspector general of police and the Karachi police chief to investigate the incident and bring the killers to book.
Saleem Shahid adds from Quetta: Rustam Jamali will be buried in Rojhan Jamali on Friday. The body will be flown to Jacobabad from where it will be taken to Rojhan Jamali.
Mr Jamali was the eldest son of Sardar Yar Mohammad Jamali, the chief of Jamali tribe.
He was closely related to former prime minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Senate’s Deputy Chairman Jan Mohammad Jamali and former Balochistan chief minister Taj Mohammad Jamali.
He was born in the village of Bakhra near Usta Mohammad. After acquiring initial education in his village, he went to Aitchison College, Lahore. He did his graduation from the Balochistan University.
Mr Jamali was elected to the Balochistan assembly as an independent candidate from his home constituency of Usta Mohammad.
After receiving information about his murder, all business centres and markets were closed in Dera Allah Yar, Dera Murad Jamali, Usta Mohammad, Rojhan Jamali and several other towns of the province.