Thursday, December 1, 2011

Grieving families demand justice for slain soldiers


SAHIWAL: Azra Bashir spoke by phone to her son Usman, holed up in a freezing border outpost on the dangerous Afghanistan-Pakistan border, only hours before NATO air strikes killed him and 23 other Pakistani soldiers. The 23 year-old captain told his mother not to worry about him, and reminded her to watch her health.
As Pakistan and the United States argue about the sequence of events that led to the attacks, Bashir is struggling with the pain of losing a child. Her anger, and that of other relatives mourning loved ones killed by a nominal ally, helps explain the uncompromising stance Islamabad has struck toward Washington since the incident.
“I want to tell our soldiers that they should avenge the killing of Usman and other soldiers like him,” Bashir said in an interview in her home in Punjab province. As she spoke, she kissed a framed photo of her son, who also left behind a wife and two-month-old daughter.
Bashir’s call for revenge has been echoed in daily protests held in Pakistan’s major cities, many of them organised by religious and right-wing parties who have long said that America and NATO – not the Taliban – are the prime enemies of Pakistan.
The border incident has greatly strengthened that narrative, reducing the political space for those who argue that cooperation with Washington is in the country’s interest. The army, which has received billions of dollars in US aid since 2001 in exchange for its cooperation, however limited, against militants, has fuelled the hard line by accusing NATO of a “deliberate act of aggression.”
The 24 deaths by apparent American friendly fire come on top of the 3,000 Pakistani security force members who have been killed over the last 10 years fighting insurgents, mainly in the northwest close to the Afghan border.
Many in the country, including leading politicians, say the war has been foisted upon them by America. They say the violence would end if Islamabad severed its ties with Washington.
“How long will we sacrifice our youths, our soldiers for others?” said Capt. Usman Bashir’s father, Bashir Ahmed. “This is not our war. This is their war.”
American and NATO officials have expressed sympathy over the deaths, saying the incident was a mistake and is being investigated. The border area is infested with militants, whom NATO has long complained receive safe haven on the Pakistan side to launch attacks in Afghanistan.
“What kind of mistake is this that kills innocent poor people?” asked Asfandyar Khan, who lost his 22-year-old son in the attacks. “We don’t want your investigation and inquires. I want justice. I want real action against those responsible.”
He fought back tears as he spoke, sitting feet away from the freshly dug grave holding his son, Najibullah Khan.
The grave in the family’s village of Kabuli Kili in northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was covered in wreaths of flowers donated by military officials. A green and white Pakistani flag flew from a bamboo pole nearby.
“You are calling us friends,” Khan said of the United States. “Is this the way you people treat friends? If this is friendship, we have had enough, and don’t want such friendship.”
Pakistan has retaliated for the incident by closing its Afghan border crossings to Nato supplies, by demanding the US vacate an air base used by American drones attacking militants along the frontier, and by boycotting an international conference in Germany aimed at stabilizing Afghanistan.
Washington is keen to repair damage done to the relationship. It wants to get the supplies moving again, and also sees Islamabad’s links with Afghan insurgent leaders on its soil as a key asset in negotiating a peace deal in Afghanistan which will allow the US to withdraw its combat troops by the scheduled 2014 deadline.
Pakistan relies heavily on American aid, and it too wants to avoid a rupture in ties.
The Nato attack was the latest in a series of crises to beset the relationship this year.
In January, an American CIA contractor shot two Pakistani men who he said tried to rob him, sparking outrage. The May 2 unilateral raid that killed Osama bin Laden was also portrayed as a gross violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty, largely drowning out questions over how the al-Qaeda chief was living undetected in an army town for five years.
Most experts believe the two countries will patch things up this time, and that the border closure will be temporary, chiefly because Washington and Islamabad still need each other. But the Pakistani reaction since the strikes has betrayed the lack of trust at the heart of the relationship, and bodes ill for meaningful Western cooperation with Pakistan over ending the Afghan war.
“The time has come for 180 million Pakistanis to choose between a life of respect or ignominy,” said Shahbaz Sharif, the head of the ruling party in Punjab after visiting Bashir’s family this week. “American foreign aid is drenched in the blood of martyrs and we will have to give it up and get back up on our own feet,” he was quoted by local media reports as saying.

Bomb targets official in Peshawar: police


PESHAWAR: A bomb exploded near the office of a regional government official in Peshawar early on Thursday, police officials said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
A wall of the district coordination officer’s building collapsed after the blast, which was heard throughout the city.

Seven Pakistanis kidnapped in Afghanistan: police


PUL-I-ALAM, Afghanistan: Seven Pakistani workers have been kidnapped in an area troubled by the Taliban near the Afghan capital Kabul, police said Thursday.
The Pakistanis —engineers and workers assigned to a hospital construction project in Logar province —were returning to their accommodation after work when they were snatched at gunpoint on Wednesday.
“They were going home from work. Along the road, their minivan was stopped by unknown gunmen, their driver was forced out of the car and all were taken away to an unknown location,” Logar police chief Ghulam Sakhi Roghliwani said.
“We’ve launched a search operation. We hope to find them and free them very soon,” said Roghliwani.
There was no claim of responsibility for the abduction but police said the kidnapping might have been carried out by “criminal gangs” seeking a ransom.

No intention of leaving Pakistan: Husain Haqqani


ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States Hussain Haqqani said on Thursday he had no intention of leaving the country, DawnNews reported.
He further said that he had no palaces waiting for him in Saudi Arabia.
Earlier, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif had moved the Supreme Court on the memogate scandal filing an application calling for restrictions on Haqqani from leaving Pakistan.
Haqqani on Thursday claimed that he himself had tendered his resignation so that an independent investigation could be conducted on the issue.
Haqqani had resigned from his position of ambassador days after Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz accused him of being behind the alleged memo that said the military was plotting a coup and appealed to the Pentagon to help ward it off.
Haqqani has denied any connection with the memo.

Supreme Court bars Husain Haqqani from travel


ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani parliamentarian says the Supreme Court has barred the country’s former envoy to the US from leaving, while a commission investigates his role in a memo scandal that led to his resignation.
The Supreme Court appointed a former senior government investigator, Tariq Khosa, to head a commission to probe the scandal, said Khwaja Asif, a Pakistani lawmaker and one of nine opposition politicians who petitioned the court asking for an investigation.
The court ordered Haqqani to stay in the country until the 3-week probe is complete, Asif said.
Haqqani has been accused of crafting a memo asking the US for help in reining in Pakistan’s military, following the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May. Asif is one of nine lawmakers who requested an investigation into the allegations.
Haqqani has denied involvement. He said Thursday that he had not been officially notified of the court decision, but that he did not intend to travel.

Afridi stars as Pakistan overcome Bangladesh


DHAKA: Shahid Afridi grabbed five wickets for 23 runs and then kept his cool in a batting crisis as Pakistan overcame Bangladesh by five wickets in the first one-day international in Dhaka on Thursday.
The leg-spinner ripped through the Bangladesh line-up as the hosts were bowled out for 91 after electing to bat at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium — with seven batsmen failing to reach double figures.
Pakistan lost five wickets chasing the modest target which was eventually overhauled in the 26th over to give the tourists the lead in the three-match series.
Seamer Rubel Hossain and spinner Shakib Al Hasan claimed two wickets apiece to leave Pakistan struggling at 63-5, before Afridi took his team home with an unbeaten 24 off 23 balls.
As the runs dried up on the turning wicket, Afridi broke free with three successive fours off Shakib and then cut the same bowler for another boundary to win the game.
Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq made 16 not out, sharing a match-winning stand of 30 with Afridi.
It was Pakistan’s 26th win in 27 one-dayers against Bangladesh, the lone defeat having come during the 1999 World Cup in England.
Bangladesh, who lost half the side for 31 runs on the slow wicket, were dismissed in 30.3 overs and barely managed to surpass their lowest one-day total against Pakistan of 87.
Wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed picked up four catches as the four Pakistani spinners shared eight of the 10 wickets.
Bangladesh’s batting never recovered after losing opener Tamim Iqbal with the fourth ball of the innings, trapped leg-before by off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez.
Seamer Umar Gul, who shared the new ball with the spinner, struck in his third over when he forced Naeem Islam to edge a catch to Misbah in the slips.
Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim was caught behind off Shoaib Malik for 11, before Afridi grabbed two wickets in one over to reduce the Tigers to 31-5.
Afridi had opener Shahriar Nafees caught at backward point by Malik and then saw Mohammad Mahmudullah edge a catch to Sarfraz three balls later.
Nasir Hossain and Shakib put on 36 for the sixth wicket to ensure Bangladesh surpassed their lowest ever one-day total of 58 — against the West Indies at the same venue during the World Cup in March.
Nasir made 21 with two boundaries when he top-edged a catch off Aizaz Cheema, while Shakib became Afridi’s third victim after scoring 15.
Last man Rubel Hossain hit an unbeaten 15 before Afridi claimed the final two wickets to terminate the innings.
The second one-dayer will be played at the same venue on Saturday.
Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Naeem Islam, Shahriar Nafees, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Farhad Reza, Abdur Razzak, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam.
Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema.
Umpires: Johan Cloete (RSA) and Enamul Haque (BAN)
TV umpire: Sharfuddoula Saikat (BAN)
Match referee: Javagal Srinath (IND)

Nawaz claims memo approved by top political leadership


ISLAMABAD: Admitting Nawaz Sharif’s petition on the memogate scandal for hearing on Thursday, the Supreme Court issued notices to the president, the army chief and others party to the case, DawnNews reported.
The court moreover directed the authorities to submit a report on the issue in 15 days’ time along with barring Husain Haqqani from leaving the country.
A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry issued the directive.
During the hearing, Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz’s chief Nawaz Sharif told the court that the secret memo was approved by the country’s top political leadership.
He further said that if a similar scandal had propped up during his government, he would have tendered his resignation.
Sharif claimed that a force was stopping Pakistan’s parliament from functioning independently.
During the proceeding, Justice Jawad Khwaja said that the memo scandal was so far based on assumptions and determining the facts of the matter was obligatory.
Moreover, Justice Saqib Nisar questioned whether the memo case fell under the jurisdiction of the court or that of the parliament.
Responding to which, Sharif said that the parliament was not functional and was only passing resolutions. He added that the parliament was not going to do anything regarding the scandal.
Chief Justice Iftikhar said the scandal had civil and military implications and that military courts had the authority to act on the information.
He further said that newspapers had been reporting that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had investigated the issue, adding that Husain Haqqani’s resignation did not prove the charges that were being levelled.
Also, Sharif asked the court to summon every individual suspected of involvement in the case to determine where the responsibility lay.