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Chronology of Pakistan
April 2003
Pakistan asks US for proof: N-tech transfer charge denied
April 1: Pakistan demanded evidence from the United States to back allegations that it had exported nuclear technology to North Korea , following Washington's announcement of sanctions on North Korea and a Pakistani nuclear facility. "There is no evidence about what the US is saying," Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri told AFP, after the United States imposed sanctions on the A.Q. Khan Research Laboratories (KRL).
HK imposes visa condition
April 1: The government of Hong Kong has said that Pakistani nationals will require visas to enter the special administrative region of China from March 31. Pakistanis who were in transit and remained on the airside were also required to fulfill the requirement, a press information department announcement said.
Extrajudicial killing rises: US report
April 1: There was an increase in extra-judicial killings during 2002 in Pakistan but exact figures were unknown by year's end, says the US State Department's annual report on Human Rights Practices. The police and security forces were responsible for the deaths of a number of individuals associated with political or terrorist groups during the year. Police officials generally insisted that these deaths occurred during attempts to escape or to resist arrest. However, family members and the press insisted that many of these deaths were staged.
China, Pakistan sign charter on cooperation in defense sector
April 1: China and Pakistan signed a charter on bilateral cooperation in the field of defense industry and technology in Beijing. Official sources told APP that defense industries of Pakistan and China have long time-tested relationship, which has helped in promoting peace and stability in the region.
NAB recovered Rs 24bn defaulted amount during 1999-2002
April 1: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has recovered Rs 2.4 billion and deposited the amount in the government treasury against an expenditure of Rs 671.445 million from Nov 1999 to Dec 2002, said the NAB's Annual Report 2002.
Pakistan protests US sanctions
April 2: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said that Pakistan had protested against the US sanctions slapped on its nuclear research plant at Kahuta. He told the Senate that the protest was conveyed when President Pervez Musharraf talked to US Secretary of State Colin Powell last week and earlier when Pakistan's ambassador in Washington was informed of the US decision to impose sanctions on Khan Research Laboratories for allegedly exporting nuclear technology.
'North Korea gave missile technology to Pakistan'
April 2: The US for the first time explicitly accused Pakistan and North Korea of missile-related trade, but said it was unable to substantiate reports of nuclear technology transfers. A State Department statement said North Korea had exported missile technology to the A.Q. Khan Research Laboratories (KRL). The export prompted the US to slap trade sanctions on KRL and the North Korean missile marketing entity, Changgwang Sinyong Corporation, on March 24, spokesman Philip Reeker said in the statement.
Senate voices 'shock and dismay': Invasion of Iraq
April 2: After a marathon five-day fiery debate, the ruling and opposition parties in the Senate unanimously passed only a mild, compromise resolution , voicing "shock and dismay" at the 14-day-old US-led invasion of Iraq. The resolution "strongly" deplored what it called the use of "indiscriminate firepower" against civilians and urged the UN Security Council to take an immediate initiative to stop hostilities. But the resolution was a far cry from the sound and fury of five days of an opposition-called debate that was marked by demands ranging from a strong condemnation of the invasion, pullout of invaders and a boycott of US and British goods.
Civil services' bifurcation declared lawful
April 2: The Supreme Court ruled that the bifurcation of Civil Service of Pakistan into District Management Group and Secretariat Group was lawful. The SC bench, headed by Chief Justice Shaikh Riaz Ahmad, set aside the Lahore High Court judgment which had declared the bifurcation of Civil Service into DMG and Secretariat Group as unlawful.
Indian FM hints at pre-emptive strike against Pakistan
April 2: India "will do whatever it takes" to fight Pakistan-sponsored "terrorism" in Kashmir including possible preemptive operations, Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said in New Delhi. Sinha also told AFP in an interview that international opinion regarding India's position on disputed Kashmir had been boosted by the precedent set by the US-led military intervention in Iraq.
Federal Baboos include 10 Jews
April 2: Generally it is considered that Pakistan, which contains minorities following diverse religious beliefs, does not have Jew population but the 12th census of civil servants proves it, otherwise. There is no assessment of exact population of Jews in Pakistan but the federal civil servants' census report confirmed that 10 of the total federal civil servants are declared Jews.
India warned against pre-emptive strike
April 3: Pakistan warned India of grave consequences if it tried any "misadventure" in the name of pre-emptive military action. "Any misadventure by India will be met with full force," Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said in answer to Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha's remarks in an interview.
Ex-CM cleared of corruption charge
April 3: The Rawalpindi Bench of Lahore High Court acquitted former NWFP chief minister Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan Abbasi, clearing him of corruption charge. Sardar Mehtab, arrested in December 1999, had been awarded 14 years' rigorous imprisonment plus a fine of Rs20 million by an accountability court, sitting at the 16th-century Attock Fort. Sardar Mehtab, who came out of jail last year after getting bail on medical grounds, was elected a Senator from the NWFP on PML (N) ticket. He had been provisionally allowed to stand for the Senate. Had the punishment been upheld, he would have been out of the upper house.
Jehangir Badr released on bail
April 3: PPP General-Secretary and former federal minister Jehangir Badr was released from Camp Jail on the Supreme Court orders.
Appointment of American as principal slated
April 3: Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA) complained of another US onslaught on the country's educational system with FC College in Lahore becoming the first casualty in the name of privatization. The SPLA denounced the latest appointment of an American principal at FC College as a prelude to privatize educational institutions in Punjab.
Marchers demand Bush, Blair trial
April 4: A "million march" organized in Multan by Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal demanded that US President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair be tried before the international court of justice for inflicting war on a sovereign country and committing "genocide" in Iraq. Speakers at the mammoth rally at Kutchery Chowk said the Anglo-American attack on Iraq had no moral or legal justification. It condemned the killing of Iraqi civilians, including women and children.
Verdict on appeal against LFO reserved
April 4: The Lahore High Court reserved judgment on an intra-court appeal, challenging the Legal Framework Order, when the petitioner failed to convince the court to hear his arguments in an extended session in rebuttal of the Attorney General's contentions.
50 million illiterate people in Pakistan: report
April 4: The number of illiterate people in Pakistan has increased from 10 million in 1951 to 50 million at present. This was revealed to the participants of a meeting of International Partners Forum for Education For All held at the UN conference room, in Islamabad.
$1bn debt write-off agreement signed
April 5: Pakistan and the United States signed an agreement that cancelled $1 billion debt owed by Islamabad to Washington. Ms Nancy Powel, the US Ambassador to Pakistan, and Dr Waqar Masood Khan, Secretary Economic Affairs Division (EAD), signed the agreement on behalf of their respective governments. In Net Present Value, originally the debt was $200 million which over the years continued to accumulate and reached $1 billion due to the inability of successive governments in Pakistan to repay it.
No parallel between Iraq, Kashmir: US
April 5: The Bush administration said that India must not use the United States-led pre-emptive war against Iraq as a pretext for an attack on Pakistan. "Any attempts to draw parallels between the Iraq and Kashmir situations are wrong and are overwhelmed by the differences between them," said State Department spokeswoman Joanne Prokopowicz.
Pindi plaza toll rises to 5
April 5: The death toll in the Satellite Town commercial plaza disaster rose to five. The Bano Arcade, a huge trading complex, collapsed abruptly with a big bang yesterday burying over 30 persons under the debris.
Sindh govt allows raising of private Mazari force
April 5: Government of Sindh has given a green signal to the police authorities in Jacobabad for raising a private Mazari force, informed sources told The News. Three hundreds people of Mazari tribe would be recruited in the Mazari force for deployment in the border area of Sindh and Balochistan to stop the attacks of outlaws.
Sanctions not to affect military sales: Kasuri
April 6: The United States has assured Pakistan that Washington's economic assistance and military sales to Islamabad will remain unaffected despite sanctions on the Kahuta Research Laboratories , Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said. At a "Meet the Press" Programme of the Lahore Press Club, the foreign minister said there was no justification for sanctions as the very allegation on the basis of which they had been slapped was baseless.
Military sales to continue: US
April 7: The United States said that military sales and economic assistance to Pakistan would continue despite recent sanctions. "The sanctions are only specific to KRL, which does not buy anything from the United States," a State Department official told Dawn in Washington.
BNP senator moves provincial autonomy resolution
April 7: Senator Sanaullah Baluch of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) has submitted a resolution in the Senate Secretariat to discuss the issue of provincial autonomy provided in the Constitution. Talking to The News, he said he had submitted a resolution in the Senate Secretariat which demanded of the Senate to recommend that the subjects in the concurrent list, given in the Constitution, may be transferred to the provincial governments.
Students bury UN 'coffin' in Peshawar
April 7: Anti-war protesters buried the "coffin" of the United Nations at a university campus in Peshawar to express disappointment over the world body's inability to stop war in Iraq. The UN has become "ineffective," a "dead body" and a "subsidiary" of the United States, speakers told a rally of some 200 students from the Agriculture University.
Azam Hoti sentenced to 10-year RI
April 7: Judge of Accountability Court Attock Chaudhry Mazhar Minhas sentenced former federal minister for communications Azam Khan Hoti to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment besides imposing a fine of Rs 15 million on charges of accumulation of assets and properties disproportionate to his known sources of income. The court also ordered confiscation of a commercial plot, seven shops, his share in a flat, two cars and an amount of Rs 7.7 million invested in Super Engrs (Pvt) Ltd.
India urges US to attack Pakistan
April 7: Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha has described Pakistan as a "fit case" for an Iraqi-style military action by the US because it has weapons of mass destruction, sheltered terrorists and lacked democracy. "It is a fit case," Sinha told the Hindustan Times in an interview when asked whether Pakistan deserved action similar to that against Iraq.
Musharraf not to leave COAS post
April 8: President Pervez Musharraf has ruled out the possibility of leaving the post of the Chief of Army Staff, saying the country was passing through a transition period and the regional and international situation was also not conducive for such an act. An official source told Dawn that Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, President of PML-Q, had raised the issue of Legal Framework Order in the meeting with the president. The sources said the president explained to the PML-Q leader reasons for holding the post of army chief, and said the country was passing through a transition period, and it would be good if the posts of the president and the COAS were held by the same person.
Gas pipelines blown up in R.Y. Khan: Supply to Punjab, NWFP suspended
April 8: Gas supply to industrial units in the Punjab and NWFP was suspended after two blasts blew up main pipelines of the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) near Bhutta Wahan, in Rahim Yar Khan district. The pipelines carry gas from Sui and Qadirpur gas fields. According to the SNGPL, this is the fourth 'sabotage' since January.
Shaukat, Hafeez take oath as ministers
April 8: The Federal Cabinet was expanded with the induction of Shaukat Aziz and Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh as Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs and Minister for Privatization and Investment, respectively. Lt-Gen (retd) Jamsheed Gulzar Kiani also took the oath as Chairman, Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC).
7 miners shot dead in ambush
April 8: Seven mine workers were killed and four others injured when unidentified armed men ambushed their wagon near Chamalang, in Loralai District.
No timeframe on COAS issue possible: President
April 9: President Pervez Musharraf told lawmakers of ruling coalition parties that he could not give a time-frame to relinquish the office as the Chief of the Army Staff owing to fast-changing strategic conditions in the region, parties' sources said in Islamabad.
Noted writer Abdullah Malik is dead
April 9: Renowned intellectual, writer and columnist, Abdullah Malik, died after a protracted illness at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad. He was 82. Born in 1920 at Old Lahore, the prominent journalist got his early education at Islamic College Lahore. He had worked with various national dailies. Mr Malik had also contributed to Pakistan Movement and was an active member of Communist Party. He also remained associated with Progressive Papers Limited (PPL), publisher of daily Pakistan Times and daily Imroz and remained foreign correspondent of the two newspapers. He was an author of over two dozen books. Most of them were written on the history of Punjab and political movements in Indo-Pakistan subcontinent. He had been jailed during the Yahya Khan's government for supporting Bangladesh Movement. He was also sentenced for lashes for writing an article against hanging of a former prime minister of Bangladesh Mujeebur Rehman but later the sentence was withdrawn.
LHC ruling on defaulters
April 9: The Lahore High Court ruled that Pakistani courts had the jurisdiction to order recovery of money from the defaulting business concerns who had wound up operations in Dubai and settled in Pakistan after losing recovery suits in Dubai courts. Justice Hamid Farooq confirmed the judgment of Dubai courts regarding the decision of a United Bank Limited suit of UAE DHS 10.18 million against the Hajvery Textile Mills and its executives. The court observed that the defendants could not avoid the payment on grounds that they were no more carrying out operations in Dubai and had settled in Pakistan.
Appeal against LFO dismissed
April 10: The Lahore High Court dismissed an intra-court appeal against the Legal Framework Order (LFO), and ruled that only the parliament had the jurisdiction to review the LFO. In its judgment, the division bench, comprising Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jilani and Raja Mohammad Sabir, ruled that a close scrutiny of Pakistani courts' judgments on constitutional issues had led it to conclude that matters similar in nature to the LFO had always been left to the discretion of parliament. The judgment was based on precedents set by the SC in cases of Asma Jilani, Nusrat Bhutto, Zafar Ali Shah, Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Qazi Hussain Ahmad. The court cannot strike down the LFO, as none of the political parties currently represented in the Parliament has challenged it in the court. All parties are rather engaged in trying to evolve a consensus on the issue, the court maintained.
Nuclear, missile programs to be expedited: Musharraf
April 10: President General Pervez Musharraf told a grand representative tribal Jirga at the Governor's House in Peshawar that Pakistan will expedite its atomic and missile programs for invincible defense, which it needs to counteract similar program in India. "Pakistan's strategic assets are safe and we know how to defend them," he pointed out.
PLC proposes changes in Hudood Ordinance
April 13: The Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan had finalized the draft law suggesting complete ban on the business of prize bond numbers, amendment in the Hudood Ordinance and legislation for release of female accused on personal bond in non-bailable cases which would be taken up by the federal cabinet for approval. “The draft law is ready, after the approval of the federal cabinet, the Ministry of Law would promulgate it,” Secretary of Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan Dr Faqir Hussain said talking to Daily Times.
60 Pakistanis at Guantanamo
April 14: The release of Pakistani prisoners in Afghanistan is being delayed because US authorities are interrogating them for their links with the Taliban and Al Qaeda groups , according to Interior Secretary Tasneem Noorani. Mr Noorani, who was in Washington this week to attend the second meeting of the US-Pakistan joint working group on terrorism, also said that American authorities were willing to hand over 60 Pakistanis being held at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba to Pakistan.
Four convicted in US consulate bombing case
April 14: Two of the five accused tried in US consulate bomb attack case were held guilty of the offence and awarded the highest punishment provided in the law by an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) of Karachi. Convict Muhammad Imran Siddiqui and Muhammad Hanif, alleged to be the Ameer and the Naib Ameer respectively of Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Aalmi, were sentenced to death while their accomplices Sharib Arsalan Faruqi and Mufti Hafiz Zubair were awarded life imprisonment. They were also sentenced to pay a fine of Rs0.5 million each or to undergo additional imprisonment for five years.
NA session adjourned amid uproar
April 15: Protesting opposition parties blocked the start of the National Assembly session over the sweeping presidential powers after Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali warned the opposition of a collapse of the system. Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain adjourned the session until April 18 after opposition's chants against the president and the Legal Framework Order prevented any proceedings to be held.
Pakistanis will not be extradited, US told
April 15: Pakistan has informed the United States that it would not extradite its nationals suspected of helping the Taliban or Al Qaeda networks and instead would prefer to try them inside the country , Interior Secretary Tasneem Noorani told Dawn. Mr Noorani, who was in Washington this week to attend the second meeting of the US-Pakistan joint working group on terrorism, said even Ahmad Omar Shaikh, the man accused of killing American journalist Daniel Pearl, would not be extradited.
Lawyer shot dead in SHC
April 15: In an unprecedented incident, a young lawyer, Ashraf Rajput, was shot dead in the court room of a Sindh High Court (SHC) judge in Karachi. The actual target of assailant Behram Chandio, it is said, was Pir Matook Ali Shah, who had come to the SHC for bail before arrest in a murder case. The bullets fired by Behram Chandio, however, hit Ashraf Rajput, advocate, who died on the way to hospital. Fortunately the judge was in his chamber at that time. While trying to flee on a police motorcycle through the front gate of the SHC building, assailant Behram and his accomplice Sub-Inspector Pir Bux Junejo were overpowered and handed over to Artillery Maidan police.
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