No charges before probe into Indian weapons: FO

 

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson on Thursday said that Pakistan did not want to level allegations before proper investigations regarding the use of Indian-made weapons in the terrorist attack on Karachi Airport.
She took exception to being questioned on a statement by the interior minister who had said that weapons found in Karachi were from India.“First of all, it is improper of you to come here and ask me to comment on the statement of a federal minister. I didn’t comment on the source of the weapons used in the Karachi attack. What I said was that the matter is being investigated. When we have the results of the investigations, we will proceed from there,” she clarified.

To queries about Uzbeks and Tajiks being involved in the attack on Karachi airport, and Indian-made ammunition being seized, the spokesperson said that investigations were still going on and she did not want to make allegations without proper investigations.

“Terrorism is an issue that Pakistan and India discuss in their official interactions,” she said.Pakistan condemned the two incidents of US drone strikes, the first this year, which, according to media reports, saw Uzbek and Afghan militants being taken out.

The US drone strikes come immediately after several strikes by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in retaliation to terrorist attacks in different cities of Pakistan.

“The government of Pakistan condemns the two incidents of US drone strikes that took place near Miranshah in North Waziristan on 11 and 12 June. These strikes are a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Additionally, these strikes have a negative impact on the government’s efforts to bring peace and stability in Pakistan and the region”, spokesperson at the Foreign Office confirmed after the weekly media briefing.

Meanwhile as Afghanistan readies for the second round of Presidential elections on Saturday, Pakistan says that it is taking additional measures to ‘beef up’ security along the border as it supports all efforts for a free and peaceful electoral process.

“Our authorities are taking additional measures for the second round of elections, including by retaining additional troops for this purpose. The measures include enhanced vigilance and security along the border, enhanced patrolling in close border/border crossing areas, enhanced checking by immigration staff, enhanced communication through existing coordination and cooperation mechanism and availability of hotline contact with Afghan counterparts,” said the spokesperson.

Congratulating the people of Afghanistan the spokesperson said that as a “close neighbour and fraternal nation, Pakistan stands committed to supporting the Afghan people in every possible way in their quest for peace and progress”.

You know the background of the presence of foreigners in Pakistani tribal areas. It goes back to 30 years and they still move to and fro.Obviously, terrorism is posing threat to all the countries. This is a menace which harms our people and our interests. This is a subject that is discussed when leaders meet.

On the issue of an abducted Chinese national and reports that he would be exchanged with a Taliban prisoner, the spokesperson said that she was unaware of prisoner swap.“We have said from this forum that we condemn this kidnapping.The government of Punjab has formed two or three teams to investigate this matter. It is our priority that the Chinese national is recovered safe and sound and at the earliest,” she said.

Sindh govt forms committee to probe MQM workers murders

KARACHI: The Sindh government has formed a four member committee to probe the murder of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) workers.

According to the CM House spokesman, Sind Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah has formed a four member committee comprising Sikandar Mandhro, Sardar Ali Shah, Syed Sardar Ahmed and Dr Sagheer Ahmed.

The MQM on Friday observed a day of mourning in protest of the extra-judicial killing of party workers. The MQM had appealed for businesses in Sindh to remain shut after the bodies of four workers were found in Karachi. The Sindh Assembly also passed a resolution against the extra-judicial killing of MQM workers on Friday.

Sindh govt forms JIT to probe attack on Hamid Mir

ISLAMABAD: The Sindh government has constituted a seven-member joint interrogation team (JIT) to investigate an assassination attempt on Hamid Mir, one of Pakistan’s best know journalists and Geo News anchor.

The team comprising members from the seven agencies will be authorized to interrogate any one relating to the case.

Geo News said members from the country's principal spy outfit the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Military Intelligence (MI), Rangers SS Wing and CID branch of the Sindh police will probe the issue.

The team will start working from Wednesday.

Three SC judges to probe attack on Hamid Mir

 

ISLAMABAD: The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJ), Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, on Monday nominated three apex court judges for the judicial commission that will investigate the murder attempt on Geo News senior anchor Hamid Mir.
According to an SC official, the commission will comprise Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Justice Ijaz Afzal Khan and Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman.The chief justice approved the names of three judges for the judicial commission after a formal request from the government.

Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif decided to constitute a judicial commission to probe the incident.According to a spokesman for the PM House, the commission would be given three weeks to submit its report. The media personnel, however, demand that the probe should be completed within a week.

After the attack on Hamid Mir, media personnel, press clubs as well as members of the civil society are protesting countrywide against the attack.Hamid Mir was seriously injured after his arrival in Karachi on Saturday when unknown gunmen opened fire on his car near the Natha Khan area on Shahrah-i-Faisal.

In Nov 2012, he narrowly escaped a bid on his life when the bomb disposal squad defused a bomb planted under his car in Islamabad. The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had claimed responsibility for the attempt saying that it had targeted the journalist due to his “secular agenda”.

Last month, the government announced that it would set up a special commission to protect journalists and would include press freedom as part of the agenda during the peace talks with the Taliban

India orders probe into 'inflammatory' remarks by Modi aide

NEW DELHI: India's election authorities on Friday ordered police to investigate remarks by a top aide of prime ministerial frontrunner Narendra Modi that were allegedly aimed at inciting communal violence.

The powerful Election Commission also barred Modi's aide Amit Shah, 50, from holding public rallies, meetings and roadshows to keep a check on what it called his "undesirable activities".

Shah has been leading the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) general election campaign in the northern Uttar Pradesh state where Hindus dominate but there is a sizeable Muslim community.

The close confidante to Modi has been in the eye of a public storm after he reportedly told several Hindu leaders last week to seek "revenge" at the ballot box.

He was speaking in a part of the state torn apart by deadly Hindu-Muslim violence last September that left some 50 people dead.

The commission also ordered a similar probe into statements by Azam Khan, a leader of the regional Samajwadi Party which is the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh.

Khan reportedly used derogatory language against Modi, who is widely tipped to become India's next prime minister after the marathon elections wind up in May.

The commission said the alleged "provocative" and "highly inflammatory" statements of the two political leaders were "being made with deliberate and malicious intention" of disturbing peace and harmony in the country.

It also criticised the state authorities for not acting against the leaders with the "required alacrity".

The national election campaign, which has largely focused on development, has taken a religious tone in recent days.

Modi, 63, has accused ruling Congress president Sonia Gandhi of failing to deliver on pledges to improve the lives of Muslims, who at 13 per cent of the population are the largest religious minority in India.

Modi, chief minister of the prosperous western state of Gujarat, is reviled by many of India's Muslims due to religious riots that swept the state in 2002 when he began his rule.

At least 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed but Modi has denied critics' claims he was slow to curb the bloodshed.

Opinion polls suggest Modi is set to lead the BJP to power after a decade in the political wilderness. He has been campaigning on a promise of reviving the country's battered economy and creating jobs.

The multi-phase elections, which started April 7, will close May 12 with results due four days later.

Karzai orders probe into AP journalists’ shooting

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered “a full investigation” into the shooting of two Associated Press journalists, the Presidential palace said on Friday.

“President Hamid Karzai was grieved” by the incident in which one AP photographer was shot dead and another reporter was injured by an Afghan policeman in the country’s east, a statement from the palace said.

“Anja Niedringhaus, a German photographer, and Kathy Gannon, a Canadian reporter, working for the AP were shot by a police officer at 11:00 am (0630 GMT) in Tanai district,” said Baryalay Rawan, a police official from the Khost province where the incident happened.

The police officer opened fire while the women were sitting in their car, AP confirmed, adding that Gannon — who was shot twice — was in stable condition at a nearby hospital. The news organization confirmed Niedringhaus was killed.

Police said their driver was unhurt.

The Taliban, who have vowed to disrupt the upcoming Presidential elections by targeting candidates and polling centres, said they had no hand in the attack.

“The freedom fighters were not involved in this attack,” said Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the insurgents. “It could be a personal issue.”

The German Foreign Ministry said that the country’s embassy in Kabul was “persistently trying to find clarification” about the killing of Niedringhaus.

The UN and NATO condemned the “tragic and abhorrent attack.”

“I am outraged by this terror attack on civilians,” said Jan Kubis, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

“The journalists were informing the world how Afghan citizens are exercising their right to shape a better future for themselves, their children and their country,” Kubis was quoted as saying.

“I strongly condemn this tragic attack,” said NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu, adding that the journalists were in Afghanistan to cover a “watershed moment in the country’s history.” “I express my condolences to the family of the deceased and wish a prompt recovery to the one who has been wounded,” Lungescu added.

The attack took place on the eve of the Presidential election. The journalists had gone to Khost city, the capital of the province of the same name, along with a convoy delivering election ballots.

They then went on to nearby Tanai district, on the border with Pakistan, where Taliban are thought to be based, Rawan said.

“They went to Tanai only with their Afghan driver to cover the elections tomorrow,” he said, adding that the incident took place in front of the district governor’s office.

AP contradicted the police statement, saying that the duo was with the election convoy for the entire journey from the centre of Khost city to the outskirts in Tanai district.

“The convoy was protected by the Afghan National Army and Afghan police. They were in their own car with a freelancer and a driver,” the press agency’s report said. “According to the freelancer, they had arrived in the heavily guarded district compound shortly before the incident.” “As they were sitting in the car waiting for the convoy to move, a unit commander named Naqibullah walked up to the car, yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’ — God is Great — and opened fire on them in the back seat with his AK—47. He then surrendered to the other police and was arrested.” “Anja and Kathy together have spent years in Afghanistan covering the conflict and the people there. Anja was a vibrant, dynamic journalist well loved for her insightful photographs, her warm heart and joy for life. We are heartbroken at her loss,” AP quoted their Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll as saying in New York.

Gannon is based in Islamabad, and has covered Afghanistan and Pakistan since 1986, with a focus on Taliban and other militants.

Niedringhaus, 48, was a Pulitzer—winning photojournalist, who had been working in Afghanistan and the surrounding region since 2001.

Gary Pruitt, the CEO of AP, announced the death of Niedringhaus, in an email saying the two “it appears, were targeted and attacked.” “Those of you who worked with Anja know what a life force she was: spirited, intrepid and fearless, with a raucous laugh that we will always remember,” Pruitt said in a statement to AP staff.

“Where once reporters and photographers were seen as the impartial eyes and ears of crucial information, today they are often targets.” Paris—based Reporters without Borders asked the authorities “to do everything possible to guarantee the safety of journalists, whose role is crucial at the height of the electoral process.” “The shooting has highlighted the permanent and ubiquitous danger for reporters in some regions of Afghanistan,” said Benjamin Ismail, the head of the Reporters without Borders Asia—Pacific desk.

“It is all the more shocking for apparently being the work of a policeman who should have been protecting Afghan and foreign journalists.” Friday’s was the latest in a series of attacks on journalists in the country.

Last month, Sardar Ahmad, an Afghan journalist for the French newswire AFP, was killed with his wife and two children in a Kabul hotel attack by four Taliban assailants.

Also in March, Swedish journalist Nils Horner was gunned down in his car in Kabul.

Shahbaz asked to probe LeJ threats to Bilawal

ISLAMABAD: Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah on Friday wrote a letter to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif expressing his concern over a threatening letter to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari from the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).

The opposition leader requested the chief minister to investigate the matter and take action in this regard.“I would like to draw your attention to an important issue regarding the threatening letter received by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari from proscribed outfit LeJ. This is an issue of utmost importance and PPP is taking this as a matter of great concern,” Shah wrote.

The opposition leader stated in the letter that in the past, the PPP had faced irreparable losses due to terrorist activities and now the party was not in a position to risk the life of its leader. “I expect that Punjab government shall take this matter seriously and a detailed inquiry be initiated at a higher level in this regard,” he added.

Shah stated he would be grateful if immediate action was taken at this point.Meanwhile, the PPP submitted a condemnation resolution in the National Assembly Secretariat over the threatening letter.

The resolution signed by all the PPP legislators stated: “This House strongly condemns the life threats given to PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and demands immediate action against the proscribed outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.”

Meanwhile, the Sindh Assembly adopted a resolution with unanimous vote to condemn the LeJ’s threatening letter to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. The resolution moved by Dr Abdul Sattar Rajper also urged the Sindh government to approach the federal government to take a serious notice of the threatening letter and take necessary precautions for ensuring safety and protection of the life of the PPP chairman.

US investigators en route to help in Malaysia Airlines probe

WASHINGTON: The US National Transportation Safety Board said that a team of investigators traveled to Asia late Saturday to help in the missing Malaysia Airlines jet probe.
The team will be "ready to assist with the investigation of the March 8 Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 event," the NTSB said in a brief statement.
"Because of the lengthy travel time from the United States, the NTSB has sent a team of investigators, accompanied by technical advisers from Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration, to the area so they will be positioned to offer US assistance," the statement read.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 vanished from the radar early Saturday somewhere between Malaysia's east coast and southern Vietnam after departing Kuala Lumpur for Beijing with 239 people aboard.
"Once the location of the airplane is determined, International Civil Aviation Organization protocols will determine which country will lead the investigation," the US statement read.
The statement added that the country "that leads the investigation will release all information about it."