UN probe demanded into Benazir murder case in Senate • 01.31.08
Members of Pakistan Peoples Party and Muslim League (N) once again demanded UN prone into Benazir murder case during Senate session today.
Opposition leader Raza Rabbani opened a debate in the Senate on the condolence reference on Benazir’s assassination Jan Mohammad Jamali chaired the Senate Session.
The Senate session was an emotional affair, when a teary-eyed Raza Rabbani said he found speaking on Benazir Bhutto’s murder as the most difficult thing in his life.
Rabbani told the Senate that Benazir was aware of the threat she was facing and had aired her fears in the last days of her life. She sacrificed her life for principles and democracy, even though opponents termed her as a security risk. He further said that she was the founder of Pakistan’s missile programme and a great patriot.
He said that Benazir was the symbol of the federation and did not discriminate between Sindhi, Punjabi, Balochis and Pushto speaking people.
Commenting on the government led investigation into Benazir’s murder, Rabbani said that PPP did not accept this investigation and wanted a UN probe similar to the one into Rafiq Harriri’s murder.
Ishaque Dar of Muslim League (N) said that government should conduct UN probe into Benazri murder on the demand of Peoples Party.
Security forces and political administration have recovered official ammunition stolen from Darra Adamkhel.
Lawyers are boycotting courts and taking out protest rallies across the country on Chaudhry Iftikhar Day to express their solidarity with the sacked judges. Lawyers of the Islamabad and Rawalpindi Bar Association are planning to march to dismissed chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry’s residence this afternoon. In Karachi, Justice retired Rana Baghwandas is addressing lawyers at the Sindh High Court Bar Association’s offices. Later, the protesters will march towards the press club. Lawyers are also gathered in the District courts in Lahore and are planning to march on the Mall. Authorities have vowed to stop the protest and heavy contingents of police are deployed in the area. Smaller protests are taking place in Peshawar and Quetta and heavy security is in place in all the cities where rallies are being taken out.
Caretaker Foreign Minister Inam-ul-Haq will attend the OIC foreign ministers’ meeting on February 3, in Jeddah to discuss Gaza crisis, foreign ministry spokesman told a press briefing. Caretaker Prime Minister Muhammadmian Soomro will visit Yemen on Feb. 1-2 and Saudi Arabia on Feb. 3 to promote bilateral trade and boost economic relations, Foreign Ministry spokesman M. Sadiq told media in a weekly briefing at foreign office here. Replying a question, he said the president’s meeting with the Israeli defence minister was coincidental and not scheduled. The spokesman ruled out any ties with Israel until the Palestine issue peacefully resolved. Responding to another question the spokesman said over 350 visas of foreign observers have been processed. The arrangements being made for several foreign diplomats in Pakistan who also want to monitor the election process, he further said. Foreign office spokesman on a question vehemently denied the presence of any US troops in Pakistan. He said the government has warned against any foreign military action in Pakistani territory…saying that such a step would be considered an enemy attack…and will be fully resisted. There are no American troops in Pakistan, he said and added Americans have publicly offered to send troops if needed by Pakistan but “we have told them that we don’t need foreign troops.” He said Pakistan expects that specifications of Baglihar Dam would conform to those proposed by the neutral expert in its verdict.
Central leader of Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday said that holding of free, fair and transparent elections under the present set-up was impossible, adding the Musharraf-led caretaker government had engineered a strategy to rig the upcoming elections on modern lines in favour of the Pakistan Muslim League. Addressing a public meeting at Pano Akil on Wednesday, the PPP leader said his party enjoyed a vote bank across the country. He said 80 percent people of Pakistan supported the PPP but the PML-Q, which he termed as Qatil League, was afraid of such a massive support base of the PPP. He said the majority of the people of Pakistan were democrats who, Shah Mahmood Qureshi added, would give the PPP a historic success by stamping the PPP election symbol of “Arrow” on February 18. He appealed to the voters to come out of their houses on the Election Day and cast their valuable votes to make the PPP efforts a success. Qureshi reaffirmed that after coming into power, the PPP would unearth the killers and the conspirators involved in the assassination of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. He paid rich tributes to those who scarified their precious lives while defending their party chairperson Benazir Bhutto. PPP candidates at NA-198 Sukkur Noman Shaikh, former MNA and candidate at NA-199 Sukkur-Pano Akil Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, candidate at PS-1 Dr Nasrullah Baloch and other PPP leaders were also present on the occasion.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain on Wednesday said international conspiracies were being hatched against Sindh. The MQM chief was delivering a telephonic address from London to general workersí convention at the Pacca Qila ground. The address was attended by a large crowd of the MQM workers from 10 zones of interior Sindh, including Hyderabad. Altaf said efforts were being made to make Sindh a part of the Greater Punjab. He asked intellectuals and writers of Sindh to understand the conspiracy against Sindh and spread message of peace and love to save their motherland. “Those who have migrated from India should be accepted as permanent residents of Sindh as their life and death lie with the Sindh motherland and they have buried their two generations here.” Altaf repeatedly presented his stance that the MQM had opposed more than once the international conspiracies of creating Greater Balochistan and Greater Punjab. He said he had pardoned the murderers of his brother and nephew after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto as they were killed during her tenure as the premier. He said the people of Sindh were looted and their houses burnt without any lingual discrimination after the assassination of Ms Bhutto. The MQM chief questioned whether the MQM and the people of Sindh had killed Benazir, but loot and plunder was carried out in an organised way, especially in Karachi, in the wake of the December 27 incident. “I received many phone calls but I asked the workers and people to show restraint to avoid the conspiracy of anti-Sindh elements,” he said and added that there was a conspiracy to trigger ethnic violence in the province. The MQM chief said he wanted to see that provincial autonomy was given to all the federating units, including Sindh, as the concept of stronger Pakistan lay in it. He said everybody should work hard to save the country and give a chance to the MQM for bringing about development. He said the coming parliament should be allowed to complete its tenure. Altaf lashed out at the so-called nationalist leaders and intellectuals of Sindh and asked them to avoid fuelling ethnic hatred. He said besides the transparent ballot boxes, the polls should also be held in a transparent manner. Our Sukkur correspondent adds: Altaf made a telephonic speech at a public meeting organised at the Manzil Gah ground, Sukkur, on Wednesday night. A large number of Muttahida workers from Sukkur, Khairpur, Shikarpur, Ghotki, Jacobabad, Qamber-Shahdadkot, Kashmore, Larkana, Naushahroferoze and other parts of the interior Sindh attended the public meeting. “Conspiracies are being hatched to destabilise the country, especially Sindh as according to maps issued on websites, Balochistan has been shown as part of Greater Afghanistan and Karachi as part of Greater Punjab,” he said. Altaf made it clear that people of Sindh would not allow lingual feuds and all intrigues to divide the province would fail. The MQM leader said he was struggling for the rights of Sindh for last 32 years and asked the people of Sindh to join hands for the prosperity of Sindh. On this occasion, the MQM workers asked their Quaid not to return to Pakistan.
Officials said on Wednesday that a key al Qaeda-linked militant captured in a shootout in Karachi planned to launch terrorist attacks on rallies for next month’s elections. In Karachi, officials said Qasim Toori, a wanted member of the extremist group Jundullah, was wounded and arrested after a raid on his hideout city late on Tuesday. Three militants and two policemen also died in the ensuing gunbattle — but Sindh province home minister Akhtar Zamin said an earlier interior ministry announcement that Toori was among the dead was incorrect. “Qasim Toori is alive. He is in our custody and facing serious charges,” Zamin told AFP. Another three militants were detained, officials said. The two arrested militants were also sought in connection with a bomb attack the previous month outside the privately run Pakistan American Cultural Center in Karachi in which a guard died.
US Immigration authorities on Wednesday gave Pakistan’s renowned social worker Maulana Abdus Sattar Edhi a new Green Card and returned his Pakistani passport as he prepares to leave for Karachi on Saturday. Edhi’s travel documents were seized when he arrived in New York on Jan. 10 on the ground that his Green Card was an old one and that the charitable trust he heads has to be investigated. The trust has a branch in New York. He was given a Feb 20 date for hearing by the homeland security office. Edhi said he was relieved that his problems have been resolved ahead of that date and he thanked Pakistan Embassy in Washington, the Consulate General in New York and the Foreign Office in Islamabad for helping him. He also expressed his gratitude to Pakistan’s print and electronic media for highlighting his predicament. Officials said Edhi has been advised by the US authorities that when he returns to the United States next time, he must plan for a longer stay to resolve his Green Card issue. Edhi’s new green card is limited to one year.
Caretaker prime minister Mohammadmian Soomro on Wednesday called on President Pervez Musharraf at the Aiwan-e-Sadr. The President exchanged views with the prime minister about his visit to the European Union and the World Economic Forum at Davos and his talks with important leaders there. He apprised the prime minister of his meetings with the leaders of Belgium, Switzerland, France and the UK. They also exchanged views on the law and order, political situation and other issues of national importance.
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