First Time News (Regional)

Bomb kills two in Balochistan

2012-02-13T03:30:00.000-08:00

DERA MURAD JAMALI: A homemade bomb exploded next to a police vehicle in the town of Dera Murad Jamali in the southwestern Balochistan province, killing two people and wounding 14, local officials said.

The injured were shifted to the Civil Hospital, said officials.

Fire at a Lahore plaza traps dozens

2012-02-10T09:12:00.000-08:00

LAHORE: Several people were trapped in a shopping plaza located in a posh neighbourhood of Lahore when a fire broke out on Friday, FTNews reported.

According to initial reports, the fire, which broke out at the top floor of Orega Plaza in Gulberg, has now engulfed the affected floor completely.

At least nine fire brigades were busy extinguishing fire, which has turned so fierce that the billboards fixed on the front of the building have started falling down.

Rescuers were busy evacuating the customers from plaza. It is difficult to estimate exact number of trapped people inside the building.

Police disperses rally for Dr Aafia in Karachi

2012-02-10T09:11:00.001-08:00

KARACHI: Police on Friday baton-charged and used water cannons to disperse a protest rally of Pasban that intended to march towards the US Consulate in Karachi to raise the issue of detention of Dr Aafia Siddiqui.

About a dozen protest leaders including sister of the detained Pakistani Dr Fouzia Siddiqui were arrested.

Police applied baton-charge and lobbed teargas shells to the rally besides firing shots in air at Abdullah Haroon Road in Saddar area.

Police took into custody Pasban president Altaf Shakoor and Dr Siddiqui along with a dozen other Pasban activists for attempting to enter the “red zone” of the metropolis.

Pasban had announced to besiege the US consulate in protest to highlight the plights of Dr Aafia, presently languishing in a US jail.

The protestors had earlier gathered at Masjid-e-Khizra at 3.30pm, next to Sindh High Court, carrying placards and banners inscribed with anti-US sentiments and chanting slogans against the government for dealing the matter with hands-off approach.

A Pasban spokesman expressed strong resentment over arrest of their leaders and demanded of the police to immediately release them.

He said their rally was completely peaceful. However, police deliberately developed a chaotic situation after opening aerial firing and using water cannon.

He said Pasban workers were extremely agitated on brutal use of force by the police, warning if the arrested leaders were not released the administration would be responsible for law and order situation.

In a latest development, the arrested leaders, including Dr Fauzia, were released by the authorities.

‘Fifty-nine missing persons recovered in Balochistan’

2012-02-10T04:14:00.001-08:00

QUETTA: The Balochistan Government on Friday said that out of 148 missing persons in the province, 16 had been found dead while 59 had been recovered, FTNews reported.

A senior provincial official told a press conference here that there were cases pending against 148 missing persons in various courts.

Last year, 110 people were kidnapped out of which 70 had been recovered, he added.

Rs60 million looted from Qatari minister in Balochistan

2012-02-09T05:47:00.000-08:00

QUETTA: Unidentified armed men on Thursday looted around Rs 60 million from a Qatari minister in Balochistan province, FTNews reported.

According to levies sources, Qatar’s petroleum minister Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah Thani Al-Thani was on a hunting trip in Turbat when the armed miscreants stopped his car and got away with the loot.

Sheikh Ali is a member of the supreme council of the royal family of Qatar.

The assistant commissioner of Turbat had initiated an investigating into the incident and no arrests had been reported yet.

According to an earlier FTNews report from last year, at least 25 special permits had been issued to dignitaries belonging to the Arabian peninsula allowing them to hunt the internationally protected houbara bustard.

The dignitaries were allotted several different locations in Pakistan. Sheikh Ali was allotted the Turbat district in Balochistan.

PML-N on 20th Amend

2012-02-09T02:57:00.000-08:00

LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif says his party will support the government on the 20th Amendment if the accountability bill prepared with extensive consultation is passed by parliament.

He was talking to reporters at the residence of MPA Mehr Ishtiaq Ahmad here on Wednesday.

The chief minister said the provinces should be granted their rights under the 18th Amendment.

He said the federal government showed negligence on gas and electricity as he had also written a letter to the prime minister over this issue that would be raised at every forum.

PML-Q: The PML-Q has asked Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to consume his energies on taking measures to save the lives of the people of Punjab from different diseases instead of making false claims about his party’s popularity.

“The PML-N has been reduced to a few cities according to the 2008 election and its popularity continues to be dwindled because of its policies that resulted in deaths and miseries,” PML-Q central information secretary Kamil Ali Agha said.

In a statement on Wednesday, he said Shahbaz Sharif was making false claims about the Senate election as according to the Election Commission of Pakistan’s last election results, the PML-N had been reduced to few cities of Punjab while the PML-Q had representation in all provinces including Gilgit-Baltistan.

Mr Agha further said the PML-N should have seen its popularity in Bahawalpur by-poll, where its candidate faced defeat at the hands of the ‘Q’ man. He said Shahbaz had strengthened its government in Punjab through the help of turncoats.

Balochistan minister resigns in protest of Domki killings

2012-02-06T02:52:00.001-08:00

QUETTA: Provincial minister Nasreen Rehman Khetran resigned from her Balochistan Assembly membership on Monday in protest of MPA Mir Bakhtiar Domki’s wife and daughter’s murder, FTNews reported.

Khetran, who is the wife of Sardar Abdul Rehman Kethran, belongs to the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).

Mr Domki’s wife was the sister of Brahmadagh Bugti and the granddaughter of slain Nawab Akbar Bugti.

Proceedings in the provincial assembly were cut short on Friday due to protest by legislators over the killings in Karachi.

The legislators had lamented the fact that even their womenfolk were now unsafe. Several members, including Nasreen Khetran, had walked out of the house.

Meanwhile, several members of the Domki clan on Monday staged a rally in Jacobadad in protest of the killings.

According to police, the demonstrators tried to shut down several shops in the city. However, SSP Zafarullah Dharejo, who reached the spot with a heavy contingent of policemen, stopped the protestors and arrested 15 members of the Domki clan.

Murder of MPA’s wife, daughter a conspiracy, says Malik

2012-02-03T06:19:00.000-08:00

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Interior Rehman Malik on Friday apprised the Senate that the murder of wife and daughter of Mir Bakhtiar Domki, member of the Balochistan Assembly was a conspiracy against the country.

Replying to various points of order, Malik said it was not an ordinary incident and the conspirators would not be spared.

“Whenever we head towards positive development in Balochistan such things start happening,” he said and added that it was an attempt to disrupt peace in the province.

Malik said the government was taking the matter seriously and on the directives of President Asif Ali Zardari, a high-level committee was set up under the supervision of Additional Inspector General of Police, comprising intelligence and security agencies officials to probe the incident.

He said that it was decided that four public representatives, including two MPAs each from Sindh and Balochistan would also be included in the committee.

Rumpus in Punjab assembly over drugs issue

2012-02-03T03:22:00.000-08:00

LAHORE: The Opposition in the Punjab Assembly gave a tough time to the government when it severely criticised the PML-N government over the deaths of dozens of patient in Lahore, FTNews reported.

The session started after a delay of two hours on Friday with Speaker Rana Mohammad Iqbal in the chair.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) provincial leader Raja Riaz on point of order urged the Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to name the official of the federal government who allegedly tried to influence the Sri Lankan doctor’s team which was trying to curb the dengue outburst in Punjab so that an FIR could be registered against him.

Riaz said that the ‘fugitive’ chief minister was not attending the house’s proceedings for a long time.

He urged the speaker to order the Punjab police chief to present the chief minister before the house.

Law Minister Rana Sanaullah blamed the federal government for not cooperating with the Punjab government over the fake drugs case.

After this, both sides started chanting slogans against each other and chaos broke out.

The proceedings of the house were adjourned until Sunday after the treasury benches assured that the chief minister would take into confidence the house over the drugs case.

Punjab CM relinquishes eight ‘additional’ ministries

2012-02-02T06:09:00.000-08:00

LAHORE: After much criticism from the opposition, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has handed over eight ministries to cabinet members, assistants and advisors.

Sharif, who previously held 18 portfolios, still maintains ten additional departments including Health, Home, Transport and Tourism, among others.

There are a total of nine ministers in the Punjab cabinet, who are working with additional departments.

After the passing of the 18th Amendment, a cabinet should have 39 ministers according to the ratio of the 10% formula for total members.

Up to March 2011, the cabinet was running with 16 ministers, nine from Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) and seven from Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). After the PPP ministers quit, the cabinet was left with nine members, while the rest of the portfolios were under Sharif’s charge.

Interestingly, Sharif has also been accused of violating rules and allowing advisors and assistants to attend cabinet meetings. A petition has also been moved in the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the portfolios held by the chief minister.

The petitioner states that according to the rules, the relevant minister is responsible to conduct the business relating to his department in the assembly, whereas the chief minister does not find time to attend the assembly sessions.

The portfolios handed over by Shahbaz Sharif are:

Management and Professional Development: Charge given to former bureaucrat and advisor Saeed Mehdi.

Public Prosecution: Former inspector general (IG) Jehanzeb Burki, who is also advisor on Police Affairs, has been given the
portfolio.

Local Government: Given to Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah.

Communication and Works: Provincial Minister for Agriculture Amhad Ali Aulakh has been given the portfolio. He already holds six additional portfolios.

Housing and Urban Development: The portfolio has been given to Minister for Labour Haji Ehsanuddin Qureshi, who already holds two additional departments.

Energy: portfolio given to provincial minister for Planning and Development Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor.

Information: Given to Senator Pervaiz Rashid, who is also assistant to the chief minister.

Food and Environment: Portfolio given to assistant to the chief minister, Manshaullah Butt.

Banking court rejects bail plea of Khuraam Rasool

2012-02-02T06:06:00.000-08:00

LAHORE: A banking court in Lahore on Thursday rejected the bail plea of the former media coordinator of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Khurram Rasool, FTNews reported.

Earlier on Monday, a local court extended physical remand of Rasool in Rs76 million fraud case by four days.

A bail before arrest was acquired by Rasool for the case in question. The court rejected the interim bail for non-follow up.

Rasool was already arrested in a separate case.

SC orders release of two owners of pharma companies

2012-01-31T03:27:00.001-08:00

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered to release of two of the owners of pharmaceutical companies on bail and directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to submit an investigative report in the drugs reaction case, FTNews reported.

The order was issued as a three-judge bench, headed by Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, heard a suo motu case over deaths in Punjab allegedly caused by reaction from medicines given out to patients by the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC).

The FIA told the court that one pharmaceutical company had been manufacturing medicines without a license.

Moreover, Advocate General Punjab Ashtar Ausaf submitted a report of a committee formed by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to look into the issue.

He told the court that most of the deaths were caused by heart attacks. The medicines suspected to have caused the deaths have been sent to Belgium, Switzerland and the United Kingdom for testing.

Moreover, when told that owner of Alpha Pharmaceuticals had been arrested on suspicion of involvement, Justice Jillani inquired as to how anyone can be arrested when no post-mortem reports and no findings of an investigation were presented.

The court adjourned the hearing to Feb 6 and ordered the release of two out of the three arrested company owners on bail.

PPP, allies develop consensus on Senate seats in Sindh

2012-01-30T04:15:00.000-08:00

KARACHI: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Monday tabled a formula to its allies in Sindh to elect senators on the province’s 12 seats uncontested, FTNews reported.

According to sources, the ruling coalition in the province has decided not to contest the upcoming Senate elections against each other.

PPP has offered a seat to the Pakistan Muslim League – Functional (PML-F) and three to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), while the remaining eight seats will be kept by the ruling party.

The seat-adjustment formula was tabled by the PPP to its allies in the province.

The three senate seats offered to MQM include two general seats and a reserved one.

The complete strategy is expected to be announced in a joint press conference by the coalition parties after a consensus on details is finalised.

Shahbaz responsible for deaths by spurious drugs: Imtiaz

2012-01-28T04:51:00.000-08:00

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Punjab president Imtiaz Safdar Warraich on Saturday said hundreds of people have died due to spurious medicines in Punjab but the chief minister was worried about security of a US national.

Talking to a private news channel, he said that responsibility of the deaths due to spurious drugs lies with the Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif because he also holds the charge of health ministry.

He said that Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) came to action as Punjab government did not take any action on the issue.

He said that the chief minister should get actress Sapna and Shahbaz Taseer recovered instead of taking the responsibility of a US national Mansoor Ijaz.

Warraich said that the chief minister was responsible for the security of people of Punjab and not of Mansoor Ijaz.

He blamed the chief minister for converting non-issues into issues.

He said that President Asif Ali Zardari was elected with two-thirds majority but Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was not used to accept a democratic president in the country and it likes military dictators like Gen. Ziaul Haq and Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

Strike in parts of Sindh over 20th Constitutional Amendment Bill

2012-01-28T03:34:00.000-08:00

KARACHI: A shutter-down strike was being observed in different cities in the Sindh province on Saturday over the 20th Constitutional Amendment Bill, FTNews reported.

The strike was being observed on the appeal of the Sindh Bachao Committee.

Both big and small business centres stayed shut and public transport was not available in the cities of Hyderabad, Sukkur and Jamshoro.

The strike was also being observed in the regions of Khairpur, Dadu, Jacobabad, Sanghar and Thatta.

The 20th Constitutional Amendment Bill was tabled in the National Assembly by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and it envisages the division of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for carving out a Seraiki and a Hazara province.

Nationalist parties have alleged that the MQM had a hidden agenda behind the bill: division of Sindh.

Five injured in Karachi hand grenade attack

2012-01-28T03:17:00.000-08:00

KARACHI: Five people were injured in a hand grenade attack on a hardware store in the Liaquatabad area of Karachi on Saturday.

FTNews correspondent reported that unidentified men on a motorcycle had hurled a hand grenade at Green Hardware Shop in Liaquatabad No 2. The shop has reportedly been targeted by extortionists in the past.

The injured have been moved to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

He also reported that extortionists have been active in the area recently and have also opened fire at the stores. He said there is no confirmation if this incident is linked to them.

Shahbaz pledges action in spurious drugs case

2012-01-28T03:09:00.000-08:00

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has pledged to the nation that strict accountability would be carried out against those responsible for the dozens of deaths that occurred due to the counterfeit medicine given out at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), FTNews reported.

Speaking to media representatives after inaugurating a polio campaign in Lahore, Sharif said that supplying free drugs to the patients did not mean that those doing so could play with lives.

Pointing his guns towards the federal government, the chief minister urged the media to also hold accountable “the thieves sitting in Islamabad”.

He blamed the rulers for the prevailing energy crisis in the country and said that coal and other resources could have been used to deal with the issue.

Sharif moreover questioned as to how could the rulers who failed to deliver in four years do something worthwhile during the next six months.

Another doctor falls pray to target killing in Karachi

2012-01-28T02:16:00.001-08:00

KARACHI: Unknown gunmen killed a shia doctor in Gulberg neighbourhood on Saturday, FTNews reported.

According to Gulberg police, unknown gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on 55 years old Doctor Jaffer Mohsin when he came out of his house in the morning.

The miscreants fled away after killing Mohsin who died on the spot.

Meanwhile, at least four people were injured when unidentified men threw a hand grenade at a hardware shop in Liaquatabad, police officials said.

The shop was located in Liaquatabad No. 2 area and the grenade had been lobbed inside the shop.

Local shopkeepers said extortionists had been continuously threatening them for refusing to pay the ‘protection money.’

The injured were shifted to a hospital for treatment.

Helicopter attack kills seven militants in Kurram

2012-01-27T04:40:00.001-08:00

KURRAM: Pakistani gunship helicopters on Friday attacked two militant camps in the northwestern Kurram tribal region near the Afghanistan border killing seven militants, security officials said.

The death toll could not be independently verified and militants often dispute official accounts.

Meanwhile, in Dera Bugti a paramilitary soldier was killed when a landmine exploded during mine-clearing operations, security officials said.

After the explosion, militants opened fire and killed another soldier, officials added.

Baloch separatists and Taliban militants have been active in the province and have been blamed for such violence in the past.

Nine miners feared dead in KP after landslide

2012-01-25T05:29:00.000-08:00

MANSEHRA: Police say at least nine miners are feared dead after they were buried by a large landslide in northwest Pakistan.

Local police officer Ali Zia says the phosphate miners were eating lunch Wednesday in the mountain village of Tharnawai in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when the accident occurred.

Zia said rescue efforts have been hampered by bad weather and the inability to get heavy machinery to the site. It had been snowing and raining before the slide occurred.

Eyewitness Mohammad Khurshid Awan said rescue workers were using shovels in an attempt to uncover the buried miners.

Zia, the police officer, said no bodies have yet been recovered.

LHC declares drug-reaction petition maintainable

2012-01-25T05:25:00.000-08:00

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday accepted a petition filed by judicial activism panel over the deaths allegedly caused by reaction of cardiac drugs prescribed by Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), FTNews reported.

The LHC registrar declared the petition maintainable.

The petitioners adopted the stance that the federal and provincial governments including health secretary and chairman PIC were responsible for loss of dozens of precious lives in Lahore.

Justice Omer Ata Bandial will hear the case on Jan 26.

Around 70 cardiac patients have died so far for using the medicines allegedly prescribed by the PIC.

A senior health official Saeed Illahi said that an investigation has found that a total of 419 heart patients have become sick from taking the drugs, and that 45 of them remain in critical condition.

Opposition in the Punjab Assembly has been showing resentment over the deaths for last couple of days.

They brought up the question of finding responsibility for the deaths on Tuesday.

They demanded Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s resignation and registration of a criminal case against him.

Speaking to media representatives outside the assembly, Leader of Opposition Raja Riaz urged chief justice of the apex court to take notice of the matter. “He (CJ) only finds faults in Pakistan People’s Party, he should take care of this matter too,” he added.

Moreover, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said that an inquiry by the provincial government was underway and all those responsible will soon be held accountable.

While, PML-N leader Dost Mohammad Khosa said that the deaths by substandard medicines was a criminal act and admitted that it was a difficult task to run the ministry of health by a person who is also chief minister of the province.

Fraud case: Three officers face legal action

2012-01-25T03:13:00.000-08:00

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to take legal action against three senior government officers for their alleged role in letting off the hook former PTV adviser Khurram Rasool who is wanted in a fraud case.

The three officers are: Khushnood Lashari, the principal secretary to the prime minister, and former directors general of FIA Waseem Ahmed and Malik Iqbal.

Headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, the bench directed the FIA to also record the statement of the petitioners, Karachi-based businessmen Pervez Hussain and others.

According to the petition moved in December 2011, Mr Rasool working as prime minister’s media coordinator allegedly deceitfully minted over Rs430 million from the businessmen in 2009, promising that he would manage a liquid petroleum gas (LPG) quota and a lincence to export oil for the Nato forces in Afghanistan for their Sahara Gas (Pvt) Limited and Pak Delta Enterprises.

The court expressed dismay over the absence of FIA director general Tehseen Anwar Shah in the court who left for London to attend a certain official job, as he was required to arrest and present Mr Rasool before the court on Tuesday.

Petitioner’s counsel Rasheed A. Razvi read out a report prepared by intelligence agencies on the basis of which former Principal Secretary Nargis Sethi had ordered registration of a case against Mr Rasool in December 2010.

However, the case was registered after a delay of three months. The report did not rule out the possibility of senior government and bank officers’ involvement in the scam.

At the last hearing, the counsel had also accused Mr Rasool of forging signatures of the secretary petroleum with the help of his brother Shahid Mehmood and Ghulam Ghous on various agreements.

The accused also allegedly got the support of officials of a bank in Islamabad, the counsel said, adding the accounts were opened in the name of fake partnership without observing the State Bank instructions.

When the matter was brought to his notice, the prime minister ordered his principal secretary to write to the interior secretary for initiation of an inquiry.

The inquiry found Mr Rasool guilty and an FIR was registered against him, his brother Shahid Mehmood and other accomplices and officials of the bank.

The counsel, however, regretted that the FIA neither arrested any accused mentioned in the FIR nor conducted an investigation which forced the petitioner to file a petition with the Islamabad High Court against the FIA chief.

The whereabouts of Mr Rasool is still not known, the counsel said.

In July 2011, the high court ordered the FIA to proceed with the matter strictly in accordance with the law but so far no action has been taken, the counsel regretted.

Opposition assails Punjab govt over drug reaction deaths

2012-01-24T04:57:00.001-08:00

LAHORE: Opposition in the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday showed their resentment over deaths allegedly caused by the reaction of drugs prescribed by the Punjab Institute of Cardiology, FTNews reported.

Speaking during the Punjab Assembly session, Pakistan Peoples Party’s deputy parliamentary leader Shaukat Basra brought up the question of finding responsibility for the deaths.

The PPP leader wondered that although Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif also held the portfolio of health ministry, he was not present in the assembly to address the issue.

Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid’s member of provincial assembly, Samina Khawar Hayat demanded the chief minister’s resignation. In addition, she demanded the registration of a criminal case against him.

Members of opposition and treasury benches started chanting slogans against each other after Hayat’s demands.

Kenyan aid worker missing in Pakistan: police

2012-01-23T05:21:00.001-08:00

ISLAMABAD: A Kenyan aid worker and his Pakistani driver working for an international charity are missing, feared abducted in southern Pakistan, police said on Monday.

Police official Saqib Ismail said the Kenyan works for Care International and that his car was found abandoned in the town of Noshero Feroz on Sunday.

Since then, there has been no news of about the men’s whereabouts.

Six foreigners, four of them aid and development workers, have already been abducted since July in nuclear-armed Pakistan, where US forces last year killed Osama bin Laden and which stands on the frontline of a Taliban insurgency.

The Kenyan is missing in Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh in an area badly affected by devastating floods in 2010 and again by floods in 2011 that mobilised a huge international aid operation.

Javed Suharo Jaskani, police chief of Noshero Feroz said the foreigner was around 40 years old and had been working in Pakistan for about a year.

“He left (the town of) Sukkur for Dadu (part of the flood-affected areas) yesterday and his car was found abandoned at Noshero Feroz,” said Jaskani.

“His driver, who is a local person, is also missing,” he added, saying that police believe local bandits kidnapped them for ransom.

Nothing appeared to have been taken from the vehicle, with the foreigner’s laptop and bag containing his personal effects left behind, police said.

Police arrests four in kidnapping of Western aid workers

2012-01-23T05:18:00.000-08:00

MULTAN: Police in Kot Addu have arrested four people in connection with last week’s kidnapping of two Western aid workers, local police officials told Reuters on Monday.

Gunmen stormed the workers’ residence in the town located in Punjab province and drove away with the two aid workers —an Italian national, and another police believe to be a German national.

The provincial police chief said that the aid workers, who were working on a project in southern Punjab, are being held for ransom.

“That is all we can confirm, that they were abducted for ransom. At the moment, we cannot provide any more details or say anything about who is behind it,” Javed Iqbal told reporters in Lahore.

Answering a question regarding Shahbaz Taseer and US national Warren Weinstein, both of them kidnapped from Lahore some time ago, Iqbal said security agencies had been working for their release.

He said the kidnappers of Taseer and Weinstein were demanding hefty ransom amounts along with some other terms.

He said matters were being sorted out and soon the two would be released.