US reaffirms confidence in safety of Pak nuclear assets

WASHINGTON: The United States has reaffirmed its confidence in the safety of Pakistani nuclear assets following Sunday night's terrorist attack on Karachi's Jinnah International Airport.

We believe the Pakistani Government understands the importance of protecting all of its arsenal including things related to its nuclear program Deputy Spokesperson at the State Department Marie Harf said at the daily briefing.

We know that they care about this a great deal and have no reason at this point to think it's anything but safe she added when asked about the U.S. views on safety of Pakistani nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, in the wake of terrorist assault on Karachi airport the State Department has said the United States stands steadfast in its commitment to the people of Pakistan in their efforts to counter terrorism and build a peaceful future.

We support Pakistan's efforts to bring all those involved in planning and executing this attack to justice spokesperson Jen Psaki said in a statement. Regrettably she noted the Pakistani people face violent assaults from numerous groups.

She also expressed the United States sincere condolences to those affected by this heinous attack on pilgrims in Balochistan and said Washington strongly condemns those responsible. Extremist violence against innocent Pakistani men, women and children of any faith is an assault on universal human values.

We encourage the government to take steps to protect and improve the lives of members of Pakistan's minorities and take concrete steps to promote tolerance and religious freedom.

Politicians should declare assets to stop corruption: Imran

LAHORE: The Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, said on Thursday that politicians had to declare their assets to root out corruption from the country.

Speaking at the launching ceremony of a book, ‘Haan Ye Sach Hai’, written by Brig (retd) Aslam Ghumman on corruption in the government ranks, the PTI chief said that corruption was an impediment to all growth efforts in Pakistan. The PTI chief said that corrupt leaders could never eliminate corruption in the country as it was the reason behind the decline in the level of governance and welfare in the country.

The ceremony was also addressed by PTI central leaders and parliamentarians, including Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, renowned intellectuals and writers including Hassan Nisar, Mujibur Rehman Shami and Orya Maqbool Jan.

Speaking on the occasion, Imran Khan said that corruption always started from the top and the leader who did not speak the truth always bred dishonesty at every level and in every department. He said whether it was an autocrat or democrat, their dishonesty would destroy the institutions like the judiciary, police, NAB, etc. To hide their own corruption, they either bought these people or removed them and brought corrupt people to serve their purposes, he added.

He said for a leader to succeed, he must have the courage to be honest and take tough decisions which might encourage the institutions like the judiciary, police, NAB, etc. To hide their own corruption, they either bought these people or removed them and brought corrupt people to serve their purposes, he added.

He said for a leader to succeed, he must have the courage to be honest and take tough decisions which might encourage the society to follow the values set the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

Imran said that leaders like Quaid-i-Azam and Mandela rendered great sacrifices for a larger cause. They were the leaders who could bring about a change and progress in their countries. According to a Gallup survey, in last eight months in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the people of the province had achieved the satisfaction level of upto 57 percent as compared to the Punjab and other provinces, where the level of satisfaction was 27 percent and 37 percent, he added.

He said this was an indication of how in eight months corruption in KP had started decreasing and institute building started. In the next three months, a great change in the KP would be witnessed where people would support the government performance even more, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Makhdoom Javed Hashmi said most of the governments had been afraid of their past and had bowed down in front of autocrats. The rulers ran away from the country when things got tough, leaving the poor on their own, he said and added that the struggle against corruption was a major challenge to create a fair governance system.

PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the book was a great effort by Brig (retd) Aslam Ghumman to reveal such dishonesty. The PTI would encourage such transparency within and outside the party, he added.

PTI Punjab President Ejaz Chaudhry said that the PTI Chairman Imran Khan had always termed corruption the root cause of all evils and this book gave examples of how this had been true in the previous governments. The PTI would set new standards of accountability and transparency, he added.

Brig (retd) Aslam Ghumman, the author of the book in his address, said he had spent all his life fighting against corruption and future generations could benefit from the lessons in the book. He said Imran Khan was the leader who would be able to purge the whole set up of corruption and set the country on the path of progress.PTI Punjab Information Secretary Andleeb Abbas, MNA Shafqat Mehmood, MPAs Dr Murad Ross and Shanial Routh were also present.

EU freezes assets of ousted Ukrainian leader, Yanukovych and 17 others

European Union (EU), a 28-nation bloc on 6 March 2014 froze the assets of Viktor Yanukovych, the ousted Ukrainian leader and Mykola Azarov, the ex-premier. The assets of other 16 former ministers, businessmen and security chiefs were also frozen. The assets were frozen on grounds of fraud as the Ukrainian officials suspected the misuse of state funds and violation of human rights.

This decision was taken by the leaders of European Union during an emergency summit held in Brussels. The summit was held to discuss the crisis in Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which at present is under de-facto control of pro-Russian forces.

Earlier, the foreign ministers of EU on 20 February 2014 decided to apply sanctions to any Ukrainian officials who were deemed as responsible for violence against protesters. But the final decision was made during the emergency talks.

These 18 people were listed in the official journal of European Union and these people have been targeted as the people who are subject to criminal proceedings in Ukraine to investigate crimes in connection with the embezzlement of Ukrainian state funds and their illegal transfer outside Ukraine.

These sanctions will be in effect for an initial period of 12 months with an aim to enable Ukraine’s new authorities to recover the frozen funds. Similar moves were also announced by Austria. Swiss authorities have also ordered freeze of assets of all the 18 people including Yanukovych and Oleksandr. Liechtenstein has also frozen the bank accounts of the same officials.

In another movement, MPs in the southern Ukrainian region of Crimea have also voted to formally become part of the Russian Federation.