DAWN/The News International, KARACHI
15 October 2008, Wednesday, 15 Shawwal 1429
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War on terror is Pakistan’s war, says Altaf
Woman gunned down by brother-in-law
Trader killed in Kharadar
Killed constable turns out to be bandit
Raheemullah sent to jail
(more)
Suicide attacks un-Islamic, declare Ulema
(more)
10 killed in Swat
(more)
14 Taliban killed in Bajaur clashes
(more)
250,000 children die of diarrhoea in Pakistan annually
(more)
US Senate urged to help upgrade Pakistan’s F-16s
(more)
War on terror is Pakistan’s war, says Altaf
MQM founder Altaf Hussain has said that Pakistani citizens are being targeted in terrorism and suicide bombings in various parts of the country. As such, this is Pakistan’s own war against religious extremism and terrorism. All those elements claiming that this war is only of America, Britain or NATO are supporting religious extremists and misguiding the nation. He said to stop Talibanisation the whole nation had to come in front to stop this menaceHussain was addressing a meeting at MQM International Secretariat in London. MQM’s members of Coordination Committee, members and office-bearers of various wings of the MQM attended the meeting. Altaf Hussain said that due to religious extremism and terrorism there were serious threats to the safety and security of the country and the economy was badly hurt too. He said that because of the incidents of terrorism and suicide bombings the investors are avoiding investment in Pakistan. He once again demanded of President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and the Federal government to convene a round table conference of all political parties and prepare a joint strategy to help Pakistan combat challenges and threats.He said that as the government has briefed parliamentarians in-camera on the present situation similarly the nation should also be taken into confidence and elements active in terrorism be identified to them. He further said that all those elements who say that this is the war of America, Britain and NATO forces and that Pakistan is becoming fuel in this war, were misguiding the nation. He said he wanted to ask these elements that if this war is not of a Pakistan, then who is committing terrorist activities and suicide bombings at Mosques, Imam Bargahs and various places including shopping centres and whether the people who lost their lives were Pakistani or foreigners. All those who say that explosions and suicide bombings are a reaction to the NATO forces’ activities are deceiving the people. He said these elements should reply to the nation that people who after entering Pakistani border attacking with missiles, are Pakistani citizens? If religious extremists fighting are with other countries then why were the innocent Pakistanis, the poor, the labourers, women and children being punished?. He said that all people of the country should make defence committees in their area to combat this menace of terrorism and all the time they have to remain vigilant.
Woman gunned down by brother-in-law
A mother of three children was gunned down by her brother-in-law in her residence in the Sharea Faisal police limits on Tuesday.Elizabeth, 35, wife of Azmat, was gunned down, when her brother-in-law Jameel after an exchange of hot words in her third floor apartment A/8 situated in the Gulshan Complex in Block-19, Gulistan-e-Jauhar in the Sharea Faisal Police jurisdiction. The accused after the incident managed to flee from the scene.After hearing the gunshots the area people rushed to the spot. They immediately informed the police who shifted her body to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for legal formalities.According to the police the deceased woman was a housewife and mother of three children. The police claimed that the cause of murder could not be ascertained. Bandits kill man on resistance: Bandits looted cash and killed a man on Tuesday.Two armed men riding a motorcycle intercepted a vehicle of Nadeem, 30, an Engineer in the Pakistan Navy, while he was returning along with his wife after drawing cash from a money changer in the Aziz Bhatti police jurisdiction.The armed men at gunpoint ordered his wife to hand over all the cash. When Nadeem resisted the armed men opened fire and fled without snatching the cash. As a result, Nadeem died on the spot.
Trader killed in Kharadar
A trader was shot dead by bandits in the Kharadar police limits, while an activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was shot at by activists of the Sunni Tehrikh (ST) in the Brigade police limits. Samar Iqbal, 35, was shot dead by bandits in the Kharadar police limits. Shopkeepers and eyewitnesses said that, it was in the morning hours, when two armed bandits broke into the Bolten Market’s plastic market, in the Kharadar police limits. The bandits broke into the plastic bags shop and at gunpoint looted Rs70,000 and then moved towards the shop of Samar Iqbal and at gunpoint demanded cash from him. In the meantime the shop owner Samar Iqbal overpowered one bandit when suddenly his accomplice opened fire and killed Iqbal on the spot and fled. After the incident, the shopkeepers and workers immediately shifted the deceased to the hospital and launched a protest against the police. In the meantime, a heavy contingent of police and Market Union heads reached the spot and after negotiations settled the matter. However, the Sindh Police authorities concerned have suspended the Station House Officer (SHO) Kharadar, Sohail Akhtar, for his negligence and also demoted him from the rank of Inspector to Sub-Inspector. MQM ACTIVIST shot at: An activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was shot at by activists of the Sunni Tehrikh (ST) in the Brigade police limits. Salahuddin, 45, was shot at by activists of the ST in the Brigade police limits. A case was reported on complaint of his brother, Mohammed Imran. Imran said that Salahuddin was his elder brother residing with his family in the Lines Area and was running a business of scrap. On Tuesday afternoon, he was present at his shop, when four activists belonging to the ST came and after a dispute opened fire and injured his brother and fled. Later the police reached the spot and recorded his statement and registered a case against the ST activists. The police said that Salahuddin was an activist of the MQM and his brother registered a case against Fazloo alias Munna, Alam, Sheru and Sikander of the ST.
Killed constable turns out to be bandit
KARACHI, Oct 14: The constable who was shot dead on Monday near Aladin Park turned out to be a dacoit killed by the young man he had looted at gunpoint. The Aziz Bhatti police said that the constable, Khalid Yamin, along with his two accomplices had held a mobile phone trader, Shahzad Yousuf, hostage at gunpoint near Millennium Mall on Rashid Minhas Road. Mr Yousuf told Dawn that three dacoits riding on two motorcycles intercepted him when he was parking his car in front of the shopping centre at 7.45pm. “The pillion rider with the constable showed me a pistol under his shirt and got into my car asking me to keep on driving,” he said. The victim said the bandit relieved him of Rs35,000 and cellphone in the way. “I pulled over near Aladin Park when I saw the community police and I shouted for their help,” he said. The mobile phone trader said that he pounced upon the bandit and jabbed him. “The bandit ran away when I forcefully struggled with him,” he said, adding that the bandit’s pistol and mobile phone fell in the car during the struggle. Mr Yousuf said that his younger brother and some shopkeepers had seen him parking his car and then suddenly leaving again with an unknown man sitting in the rear seat. “My brother called me on my cellphone and asked me why I was leaving. I told him that I was going to meet a client,” he said. The victim said that he tried to alert his brother as diserectly as he could but in vain. “I called him from the spot after my struggle with the bandit and I was waiting for him to reach there when I saw the three bandits approaching me,” he said. The mobile phone trader said that the constable and his accomplices snatched from him the pistol their accomplice had left behind. In the meantime, he said, his brother also reached the spot and the bandits opened fire on them. “My brother had a narrow escape as the bullet hissed over his head,” he said and added that then he took out his licensed pistol and shot at the constable. Both the accomplices of the dacoit fled, he added. The SHO of Aziz Bhatti police, Syed Waqar Ali, said that the mobile phone trader reported the matter to the police and a case (FIR 248/2008) against the absconding dacoits was registered on his complaint. Mr Ali said that the police seized two pistols, which included the constable’s licensed pistol, from the spot. The SP of Gulshan-i-Iqbal Town, Sohail Zafar Chattah, told Dawn that the killed constable, who was posted at the house of the city nazim, had a criminal record. “He was also arrested in a criminal case,” he added.
Raheemullah sent to jail
Administrative Judge of Anti Terrorism Courts in Karachi sent a suspect belonging to a banned militant organization to jail and directed investigation officers to submit charge-sheets against him in police encounter, illegal weapon, kidnapping for ransom, murder, explosive substance and plot to kill SSP Lyari Town cases.Raheemullah alias Naeem alias Naeem Hasan, an activist of banned Harkatul Mujahideen, was arrested on September 26 after a shootout in Saeedabad area. Police booked him in police encounter, illegal weapon, kidnapping for ransom, murder and explosive substance cases. Police also registered a separate explosive substance case against Raheemullah for throwing grenade at the residence of Shaukat Afridi situated in DHA phase VII on July 25 to force his family to send them ransom family. Raheemullah is charged with planting a bomb in a bicycle and detonating it through remote control devise when the vehicle of TPO Lyari Raja Omer Khatab was passing through Saddar area on August 23. Sending the suspect to jail, AJ directed the IOs of the concerned cases to submit charge-sheets against him on October 25.Meanwhile, an Anti Terrorism Court ordered judicial custody of Raheemullah in the murder case of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal’s leader Allama Hassan Turabi.Hasan Turabi along with his nephew Imran Ali was killed in a suicide bomb blast in Sachchal police area on July 14, 2006. Raheemullah had been declared absconding co-accused in the case. He along with other co-accused Mohammad Amin alias Khalid Shaheen, Sultan Mehmood alias Saifullah and Mohammad Rehman alias Mani, Ashfaq Qureshi and Mohammad Akbar Khan are charged with masterminding suicide attack to kill Allama Hasan Turabi and preparing a suicide bomber for executing their plan.SHC notices to home dept: The Sindh High Court issued notices to Home Department, the IG (Sindh) and others on petition filed by the Khatib of mosque against placement of his name in fourth schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act and police harassment.Abu Bakar submitted that Home Department placed the name of his father Maulana Allah Wasaya Siddiqui, a Khateeb of Masjid-e-Gulzar, Korangi, in the fourth schedule of ATA-97 alleging that he had links with banned terrorist organisations and may create unrest against citizen. He prayed court to delete the name of petitioner’s father from fourth schedule and direct police to not harass him and his family in future.SHC’s division bench issued notices to Home department, CCPO and others and called their comments on November 5.
Suicide attacks un-Islamic, declare Ulema
LAHORE: Religious scholars representing all schools of thought and different parties declared on Tuesday that suicide attacks at public places inside Pakistan were haram (forbidden) and that the government should not cooperate with Washington in its anti-Muslim designs for the sake of dollar.The four-hour meeting of Muttahida Ulema Council (MUC) held at Jamia Naeemia fulminated the top political and military leadership besides bureaucracy for "shamelessly carrying out the American war against their own people". The meeting asked them to stop acting as "western stooges" or step down if they could not defend the country.The joint MUC communique termed the in-camera briefing of the Parliament pointless and misguiding, demanding that the whole electorate should be taken into confidence and that a sovereign Parliament should not take briefing from the army. It also demanded an All Parties Conference to evolve a consensus strategy for national defence immediately.The MUC, which is not a permanent forum but is invoked from time to time for evolving consensus on national issues, decided that 'if American aggression against Pakistan escalates, jihad might be announced after due consultation. The MUC observed that Pakistanis were a brave nation unlike their rulers and ready to defend the country by offering every sacrifice. It also decided to take steps for mobilising the masses for a movement to make the rulers dissociate from the American war on terror. It announced to observe the next Friday (Oct 17) as "Down with America Day" in which prayer leaders would highlight US aggression against the Muslim world.The communique stated that religious scholars had already issued edicts declaring suicide attacks inside Pakistan against civilians as haram (forbidden). It said it appeared as if the government was secretly patronising suicide attacks to pre-empt a movement against anti-state policies.It said the government should join hands with ulema, elders and patriotic citizens to arrest anti-social and enemy agents and punish them publicly. The communique demanded that all agreements that Gen (R) Pervez Musharraf and the present rulers had reached with Washington and its allies be made public. It called for ending un-Islamic measures including vicious propaganda against religious seminaries and ulema. It also urged the rulers to dissociate rupee from US dollar and make urgent efforts to have a common currency of all the Muslim states. It urged the rulers to defend Iran, saying defending Iran was crucial to Pakistan's own security. It demanded that "the shameful and deceitful" agreement with Washington on the war against terror must be scrapped in the interest of national security. The statement said people should shun their petty differences to defend the country. The communique particularly criticized intellectuals, bureaucrats, columnists, journalists, alleged US agents among the bureaucracy and "coward" officers of the "brave Pak Army" who, it said discouraged the nation to defend the country. It asked religious elements to come out of their monasteries to lead the nation in this hour of trial. Addressing the meeting, Dr Sarfraz Naeemi alleged that the US and other enemies of Pakistan were involved in suicide attacks to destabilise the country in order to take control of its nuclear assets. He said Gen Musharraf's "anti-Pakistan policies" were more vigorously pursued by the PPP-led government. He said the government was also bowing down to India, which was receiving nuclear technology from Washington and blocking water of Pakistani rivers.Jamaatud Dawah Ameer Prof Hafiz Muhammad Saeed said the in-camera session of Parliament was meant to rationalise Gen (R) Musharraf's anti-Pakistan policies. He said PPP rulers had received $10 billion for military operations in Bajaur, Swat and other tribal areas, killing their own countrymen in return. He said the downfall of America had begun and it was time for Muslim renaissance and soon US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq would be defeated. JUP-NS President Engr Salimullah Khan said the presence of American troops and agents had put the security of Pakistan in great danger. He said the moment the government came out of the US coalition and ended military operation, Americans would return home and suicide attacks would come to an end.Tanzim Islami Ameer Hafiz Akif Saeed said the PPP government was more loyal to Washington than Gen Musharraf. Pir Saifullah Khalid said US Marines had reached sensitive installations like Tarbela Dam. He said the nation must be told who was killing Pakistanis and making suicide attacks. Niaz Hussain Naqvi said the American army could not stand against Pakistanis in the battlefield. Jamiat Ittehadul Ulema leader Maualna Abdul Maalik, JI leader Dr Farid Paracha, Jamiat Ahle Hadith leader Allama Zubair Ahmad Zaheer, Mufti Ghulam Sarwar Qadri, JUP leader Qari Abdul Rehman Noorani, Maulana Malik Abdul Rauf, Maulana Zahedur Rashedi, Jamia Ashrafia head Maulana Fazl-e-Raheem, Pir Atharul Qadri, Maulana Ameer Hamza, JUI-S leader Mufti Khalilur Rehman Haqqani, Mufti M Khan Qadri, Shaikh Naeem Badshah, Maulana Mohibun Nabi, Hafiz Khalid Waleed, Nusrat Ali Shahani, Mujibur Rehman Inqilabi, Yahya Mujahid, Muhammad Mushtaq, Mufti Muhammad Haseeb, Qari Munir Barkati and others also spoke on the occasion.
10 killed in Swat
PESHAWAR/MINGORA: Ten persons, including four Taliban militants, were killed in the ongoing operation in Khwazakhela area of the troubled Swat Valley while militants blew up another girls’ high school in Kanju town on Tuesday.The security forces continued the operation against the insurgents in Khwazakhela where curfew remained in force on the third straight day on Tuesday. The forces shelled suspected positions of militants from helicopters and artillery. Clashes between the two sides were also reported in which four Taliban fighters, including two commanders, Abdul Wakeel and Sher Muhammad, were killed. The forces had claimed killing 25 militants on Monday. However, when contacted, a spokesman for the ISPR refused to give any details about the operation. During shelling on the hideouts of militants, five civilians were reportedly killed in Alamganj and Gashkor areas of Khwazakhela. Two persons, identified as Hassan Khan and Wali Muhammad, were killed in Alamganj when their house was hit by a mortar shell while another person sustained serious injuries. An unidentified woman and her daughter, besides another civilian, were killed in the Gashkor village in the shelling that also destroyed a mosque. The militants blew up another high school in Fazalabad area of Kanju town.
14 Taliban killed in Bajaur clashes
KHAR: The security forces, while continuing to target hideouts of terrorists, on Tuesday killed 14 people in different parts of Bajaur Agency.Also, volunteers of the Charmang tribal Lashkar and militants affiliated with Baitullah-led Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan took positions on top of mountains as the Lashkar expedited its onslaught against the militants and their supporters in Charmang area of the Nawagai Tehsil.Security forces continued targeting suspected hideouts of militants in Rashakai, Tang Khatta, Tangi, Chenar and Kotki areas of Bajaur, twice using gunship helicopters and jets to pound the positions of militants, killing 14.The Mamond and Charmang tribal Lashkars on Tuesday demolished several houses owned by militants and their supporters. The contingents of paramilitary Levies force in the three-kilometre area between Khar and Siddiqueabad remained deployed during the activities of the tribal Lashkars.Similarly, the political administration arrested 16 militants, all of them Afghan refugees, from different areas of the troubled agency. AFP adds: At least, 28 Taliban militants and a tribesman were killed in the latest clashes in the agency, officials said on Tuesday.Jets and helicopters killed 16 militants in the Bajaur tribal region on Tuesday, while artillery and mortars overnight killed 10 others, security officials told AFP. Separately, two militants and a tribesman were killed during a gunbattle between militants and a tribal Lashkar, they said.There was no way to independently verify the tolls.
250,000 children die of diarrhoea in Pakistan annually
Proper hand washing with soap can reduce deaths arising out of diarrhoea and other diseases significantly, said Dr M. Rafiq Khanani, President Infection Control Society Pakistan.According to World Health Organisation (WHO), diarrhoea and pneumonia kill more than four million children under five in developing countries every year, making these the leading killer of children worldwide. In Pakistan diarrhoea is rated as the number one killer of children accounting for about 250,000 deaths and unimaginable morbidity. Estimated number of diarrhoea episodes in the country is more than 20 million annually. Proper hand washing with soap and water can reduce deaths from diarrhoea by almost half and deaths from acute respiratory infections (including influenza, Streptococcus, respiratory syncytial virus, common cold, SARS and Avian Flu) by one-quarter, he believes. Khanani said that hand washing with soap and water can also decrease incidence of salmonellosis, shigellosis, hepatitis A and E, giardiasis, enterovirus, amebiasis, campylobacteriosis, cytomegalovirus, typhoid, staphylococcal organisms, and Epstein - Barr virus.A study in Pakistan found that hand washing reduced the number of pneumonia related infections in children under the age of five by more than 50 per cent. Studies have shown that hand washing reduces the incidence of skin diseases, eye infections such as trachoma, and intestinal worms, especially ascariasis and trichuriasis. It has been observed that although people wash their hands with water, very few wash their hands with soap at critical moments (for example, after using the toilet, while cleaning a child, and before handling food). Hence, the challenge is to transform hand washing with soap into an automatic behaviour performed in homes, schools, and rural and urban communities, he said.Turning hand washing with soap before eating and after using the toilet into an ingrained habit can save more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention, he said. He said that using soap adds to the time spent washing, breaks down the grease and dirt that carry most germs by facilitating the rubbing and friction that dislodge them and leave hands smelling pleasant (which creates an incentive for soap’s use). “With proper use, all soaps are equally effective at rinsing away the germs that cause disease,” Khanani explained.He was of the opinion that since there is no glamour involved in promoting hand washing with soap, health care professionals, communities and masses in general do not pay attention to this simple and most effective tool to improve the health of the nation, reduce the burden of diseases and improve the socio-economic status of the communities.Events such as the Global Hand-washing Day being commemorated on October 15 (today) for the first time puts this often overlooked hygiene challenge at the forefront of the international agenda while keeping children at the heart of each country’s national and local initiatives.Formative research suggests that people want clean hands for reasons of comfort, to remove smells, to demonstrate their love for children and to exercise their social responsibility. In certain communities the chief motives for hand washing is to nurture, to avoid disgust and to gain social status.Khanani said that diarrhoea is both preventable and treatable, yet we continue to pay the price of this disease in lost lives, missed school days, reduced resistance to infections, impaired growth, malnutrition and poverty. He said that this is a vicious cycle and not by any heroic charisma but only with proper hand wash with soap, can the people break this cycle. When coupled with educational initiatives, hand washing with soap is one of the world’s most cost-effective preventive health interventions and has been proven to reduce the risk of not only diarrhoea but burden of cholera and dysentery can be reduced by 48 per cent to 59 per cent.
US Senate urged to help upgrade Pakistan’s F-16s
WASHINGTON, Oct 14: The US administration on Tuesday held a special briefing to persuade Senate to help finance mid-life upgrading of Pakistan’s ageing fleet of F-16 aircraft. US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, who looks after South Asian affairs at the State Department, said that upgrading the F-16s would increase Pakistan’s effectiveness in the war against terror. Pakistan has a total of 34 F-16s purchased mostly in the 1980s. The US government has already accepted Pakistan’s request to upgrade the aircraft, equipping them with modern technology and weapon systems to make them compatible with newer versions of the F-16s. The mid-life upgrading will cost a total of $891 million. Pakistan agreed to pay $417 million and asked the United States to provide $474 million. In July this year, the US State Department notified the committee that it had accepted Pakistan’s request to make available $226 million from the foreign military finance programme for upgrading the F-16s. Initially, Pakistan had agreed to bear most of the cost but under the new arrangement the United States will provide almost half of the money needed. The State Department said the move was aimed at helping “a strong ally” faced with a difficult financial situation. Initially, Pakistan had also planned to buy 36 aircraft at a cost of $5.1 billion but after the 2005 earthquake, it reduced its order to 18 aircraft. The United States is already providing $224 million but needs Congress’s permission for the remaining $250 million. Pakistan received additional 14 F-16 A and B models under an arrangement that allowed US allies to receive excessive defence articles. The US has designated Pakistan a major non-Nato ally, a category that allows the allied nation to receive excessive defence equipment. The White House has rejected criticism that Pakistan could only use the F-16s against its nuclear neighbour India and not against the terrorists. “The F-16s that they have are used in counter-terrorism operations. We made them available to the Pakistanis and they need to be maintained,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. Administration officials have told the Senate that upgrading Pakistan’s ageing fleet of F-16 aircraft will dramatically reduce collateral damage and civilian casualties in Fata.
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