Chronology of Pakistan
December 2003 (Continued III)
IMF wants anti-money laundering law
Dec 12: The government has assured the International Monetary Fund to quickly enact anti-money laundering and bankruptcy laws, and privatize Habib Bank Limited (HBL) by December 31. These issues were discussed between Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and head of the IMF review mission, Milan Zavadjil.
Boy killed in Quetta blast
Dec 12: A 12-year-old Afghan boy was killed in a bomb explosion near the residence of Afghan president Hamid Karzai in the Satellite Town, Quetta. The police said that the Afghan boy was scavenging near a dustbin yards away from the residence of Karzai, when the powerful locally-made bomb went off.
Albright calls for Kashmir plebiscite
Dec 13: A plebiscite or referendum is "the most logical way to find out the will of the Kashmiri people," who were "buffered between terrorists on the one side and security forces that had sometimes failed to observe basic human rights," says former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright. She was speaking to participants of a conference in New Delhi. Ms Albright called for the institutionalization of a ceasefire between the two countries, which began Nov 26 besides calling on Islamabad to end the infiltration of fighters into Indian-occupied Kashmir. Calling the decision of India and Pakistan to go nuclear in 1998 a mistake, Ms Albright said the dispute had made Kashmir one of "the most dangerous and tragic places" in the world.
'Benazir's tour to sabotage summit'
Dec 13: Information Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed said that PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto's visit to India at a time when both countries were normalizing relations, was a bid to damaging the cause of the upcoming Saarc summit. "Benazir never wanted normalization of relations between India and Pakistan and to achieve this goal she is visiting India especially at this juncture," he said. He charged that Ms Bhutto was bidding to put the country's honor and dignity at stake for her own petty interest and she had deliberately chosen such a time to visit India when both the countries were in the process of improving relationship.
HRCP alarmed over KRL men's disappearance
Dec 13: The picking up of two top scientists of the Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) without providing sufficient information as to the reasons indicates that the policy of illegal detentions and secretive functioning of government are continuing. In a statement, two former Human Rights Commission of Pakistan chairpersons, Ms Asma Jahangir and Afrasiab Khattak, said: "Against the backdrop of over a dozen such detentions over the past three years alone, it is hard to believe official assertion that the scientists are being held for routine debriefings. The reported return of one scientist, too, offers only limited comfort, given that no information has been given about where and by whom he was taken."
Delegates' groups discuss key issues
Dec 13: Gender question, media, human rights, labor, fisher folk and many other issues relating to civil society in Pakistan and India were deliberated upon by different groups of delegates attending the Pakistan-India Peace Coalition Forum's sixth meeting in Karachi. Women peace activist, participating in the three-day India Pakistan Peace Convention, demanded that visa restrictions be relaxed and travel between the two countries be made easy.
Musharraf escapes attempt on life
Dec 14: President Pervez Musharraf on Sunday escaped a fresh attempt on life as a powerful explosion rocked the Chaklala Bridge near Jhanda Chichi just two minutes after the departure of his heavily-guarded motorcade. The explosive device went off after Musharraf's convoy passed over the bridge in a densely populated locality of the Rawalpindi cantonment. The explosion, seen as aimed at taking the life of President Musharraf, comes as a major flaw in the elaborate security arrangements evolved over the past four years for his protection. Sources said Musharraf also heard the sound of explosion that occurred around 7.10 pm. There are no injuries reported so far as General Musharraf, security personnel and vehicles in the motorcade remained safe.
Musharraf undeterred, reiterates stance on extremism
Dec 14: President Gen Pervez Musharraf said that he remained undeterred in the wake of terrorist incident on a Rawalpindi bridge soon after he crossed it. He asserted that Pakistan will continue to fight against extremism "as it is the greatest internal threat to the country." The president said "there is no need for despondency or scare" and that he "trusts in God" and "life continues normally" for him.
Benazir visits shrine in India
Dec 14: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Sunday visited the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer. Ms Bhutto is in India for a conference organized by the Hindustan Times.
LoC accords not to be re-negotiated
Dec 15: Pakistan made it clear that the bilateral and international agreements pertaining to the Line of Control (LoC) were binding and could not be re-negotiated. "These agreements are not open for negotiations," Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan stated at his weekly news briefing in Islamabad.
Pakistan seeks Asean membership
Dec 15: President Pervez Musharraf said Pakistan looks forward to becoming a full dialogue partner and joining the Asean regional forum, stating that the country can make a useful contribution on issues of peace and development. Addressing a banquet, he hosted in honour of visiting Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, he said Pakistan wishes to consolidate its excellent relations with the Association of South East Asian Nations.
Pindi blast probe report may not be made public: FO
Dec 15: Masood Khan, spokesman at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said we are not in a position to confirm whether the investigative report, regarding the terrorist attack, in which President General Pervez Musharraf and his entourage luckily escaped unhurt, would ever be made public.
Senate pays rich tributes to Noorani
Dec 15: The Senate paid high tributes to the services of late Senator Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani for his role in the supremacy of parliament and the constitution and also condemned the bid on President Musharraf’s life. Leader of the House Waseem Sajjad said Maulana Noorani was a very distinguished scholar, who was respected widely within Pakistan and abroad.
Two French journalists released
Dec 15: Security agencies released two French journalists and a local man in Karachi, after their embassy intervened into the matter. The News said that two French journalists arrived in Karachi from India and reportedly went to Afghanistan along with a local man Khawar after crossing the Pakistani border from Balochistan province. The journalists were identified as Joel Marc Epspein and Jean Poul Guillope.
India rejects Pak objection to fencing along LoC
Dec 15: India will not stop building fences along the ceasefire line in Kashmir despite Pakistan’s objection that it violates bilateral accords and UN resolutions, Indian news reports said. Indian soldiers began building fences after Pakistan and India agreed last month to a ceasefire along the Line of Control, between the Azad Kashmir and the Indian Held Kashmir.
Allama Sajid allowed ‘A’ class in jail
Dec 15: An Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) Rawalpindi allowed ‘A’ class to a leader of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), Allama Sajid Naqvi at Adiala Jail.
US offers help in blast probe
Dec 16: The United States offered to assist Pakistan in investigating the assassination attempt on President Pervez Musharraf. "We condemn the attack. Pakistan is one of our closest allies in the global war on terrorism. And we are pleased that no one was injured," a State Department official told the United Press International in Washington. In reply to a question, the State Department official said: "We are prepared to assist Pakistani authorities in their investigation if they so desire." He said the attack demonstrated that "terrorism is as serious a threat to Pakistan as it is to other countries."
Al-Qaeda chief suspect in bid on Musharraf’s life
Dec 16: An initial probe and some raw intelligence reports are strengthening investigators’ view that the attempt to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf in Rawalpindi was an al-Qaeda brainchild, The News said. "The sad part is that it didn’t come as a surprise, we knew that al-Qaeda was taking aim at him," according to a security official. Another official said, "This appears to be a follow up of direct threats made to President Musharraf by al-Qaeda two months ago." He was referring to two successive audio taped statements of Osama bin Laden’s deputy Aymen al-Zawahiri aired by Arabic television news channels in a space of three weeks in September.
40 held in Pindi blast probe
Dec 16: At least 40 suspects have been arrested in the initial probe in to a bid to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf, The News reported. Meanwhile, the agencies have found almost all the devices used to blow up the bridge, including seven detonators, a control box bearing, and supply line leading to detonated explosives.
Foreign hand in Pindi blast cannot be ruled out: ISPR
Dec 16: Director-General, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Maj-General Shaukat Sultan has said the possibility of involvement of foreign hand in the Chaklala bridge blast cannot be ruled out.
West offers help to beef up Musharraf’s security
Dec 16: Condemning this weekend’s attempt to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf, several Western security agencies have made fresh offers to the government of Pakistan to provide support to the security arrangements for the president and other VIPs in Pakistan, a European source told The News.
ECC approves bailout for HBL
Dec 16: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has approved issuance of Rs 9.84 billion bonds, in lieu of income tax refunds, to Habib Bank Limited (HBL) which is to be privatized by the end of December 2003, as agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
‘Martial law regime caused East Pakistan debacle’
Dec 16: The then martial law regime was responsible for East Pakistan debacle because it did not allow the political set up to run the affairs of the country, creating a sense of deprivation among the people of the erstwhile East Pakistan. State Minister and leader of Tehreek-e-Takmeel-e-Pakistan Mehmood Ali said this while addressing a roundtable conference, organized by the Pakistan Muslim Leauge-Nawaz, Sindh chapter, in Karachi.
Dept to be set up for president's security
Dec 17: A decision had been taken to establish a new department for the security of President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali, Interior Minister Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat told Dawn. Mr Hayat said that such departments already existed in many countries for the security of top government leaders.
Special device saved Musharraf's life
Dec 17: Special security equipment installed in vehicles in the motorcade of President Pervez Musharraf saved his life when a bridge was blown up just after he crossed it, an official said. "The presidential motorcade has special jamming equipment, which blocks all remote-controlled devices in a 200-metre radius," a senior security official investigating the blast told AFP.
'Army had warned Bhutto of takeover'
Dec 17: Mr Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had been told by the army in plain terms that military takeover would become unavoidable if his government failed to control the law and order situation, Gen Faiz Ali Chishti , a right hand man of Gen Ziaul Haq and then corps commander, said. In an interview, he said in response to this warning, Mr Bhutto had told Gen Zia that the army was free to take over at any time of its liking. But, he made it clear that as a politician he would not hand over power to the army.
Niazi 'surrendered' on Yahya's orders
Dec 17: Gen A.A.K Niazi, then commander of the eastern command, said that he had surrendered to the Indian army in 1971 under instructions from then president Yahya Khan. In an interview he said that Yahya Khan had sent him a message that to save West Pakistan surrender in eastern wing was imperative. "It is wrong to say that the surrender decision had been taken at the local level". Gen Niazi said he could continue fighting with the 34,000 troops with him at the time, but he had to surrender to save West Pakistan. The former general defended his strategy he had adopted at the time. "I have no regrets; my conscience is clear".
Opposition flays promulgation of contempt ordinance
Dec 17: The opposition senators castigated promulgation of contempt of court ordinance and condemned plans to keep the local government in the sixth schedule of the Constitution. They termed the contempt ordinance as breach of Senate’s privilege, saying the ordinance should not be issued when the upper house is in
All security officers taken into custody: Assassination attempt on president's life
Dec 18: The army team investigating the blast incident in which President Musharraf's convoy narrowly escaped , has taken into custody all the law enforcement agencies' officials who had been on the VVIP route duty on that occasion for questioning, a security source said.
President appoints new MI chief
Dec 18: President Gen Pervez Musharraf made changes in the Pakistan Army, appointing military secretary as new chief of Military Intelligence, and appointed new corps commander of Lahore, and new chief of general staff. According to Inter Service Public Relations, Lt-Gen Shahid Aziz has been appointed new corps commander of Lahore in place of Lt-Gen Zarrar Azim. The outgoing Corps Commander Lahore Lt-Gen Zarrar Azim has been appointed inspector-general training and evaluation at the General Headquarters. Maj-Gen Tariq Majid has been promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general and appointed chief of general staff at the General Headquarters. President's Military Secretary Maj-Gen Nadeem Taj has been appointed director-general Military Intelligence. He has replaced Maj-Gen Tariq Majid who has been elevated to the rank lieutenant general and appointed chief of general staff.
MMA holds rally against govt, LFO
Dec 18: Like other parts of the country, the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) staged a rally against the government and the Legal Framework Order (LFO) on Murree Road, Rawalpindi. The rally was held on the call of the central leaders of the religious parties' alliance after expiry of the deadline set by it for the government to table the proposed constitutional bill in the parliament.
70pc of $4.6bn ADB projects failed: report
Dec 18: More than 70 per cent of the Asian Development Bank's failed projects in the country are potentially the equivalent of $4.6 billion that Pakistan owes to the bank out of a total debt of $6.5 billion, a report by US-based Environmental Defence distributed in Rawalpindi showed. Speaking at a seminar organized by an NGO, international policy analyst of environmental defense Shannon Lawrence said the unsustainable ADB projects failed to produce lasting economic or social benefits for the country.
Pakistan offers to drop plebiscite demand
Dec 18: Pakistan has offered to drop a 50-year-old demand for an UN-mandated plebiscite over disputed Kashmir and meet India "halfway" in a bid for peace in the subcontinent. In an interview less than three weeks before the Saarc summit, President Musharraf said that he was prepared to be "bold and flexible" in an attempt to resolve the dispute over Kashmir. "If we want to resolve this issue, both sides need to talk to each other with flexibility, coming beyond stated positions, meeting halfway somewhere. We are prepared to rise to the occasion, India has to be flexible also," he said.
US welcomes Musharraf's Kashmir proposal
Dec 18: The United States said that it welcomes President Pervez Musharraf's proposal for giving up the demand for referendum in Kashmir was a "constructive" development. "We think it is constructive to relinquish the demand for a referendum on the status of Kashmir," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a briefing in Washington.
NAB takes back seat
Dec 18: Four years after its launching as an hyperactive and much feared anti-corruption agency, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), appears to be adjusting to the new political realities by replacing its initial image with that of a much restrained anti-corruption watchdog with immense power, former and present NAB officials said in recent interviews. After a relentless search for corruption cases against politicians, businessmen, bureaucrats and retired military officials during its first three years of existence, the NAB’s drive against the same categories took a big plunge this year as the democratic government completed its first year in power last month, The News said.
Queries about ex-generals’ assets rejected
Dec 18: The Senate Secretariat has scrapped opposition senators’ questions seeking details of assets of late Gen Ziaul Haq, Gen Akhtar Abdur Rehman during the period 1977-1985, arguing they were of secret nature and could not be disclosed to public. Likewise, another question regarding allotment of a plot in the Police Foundation, Islamabad to Gen Pervez Musharraf has not been accepted on the grounds that no question could be put against the president of Pakistan.
Opposition angry over Musharraf's Kashmir remarks
Dec 19: PPP's parliamentary leader in the Senate Mian Raza Rabbani has termed the President Musharraf's offer to show flexibility on the Kashmir issue a disastrous shift from the position that Pakistan had held on the issue during the last 56 years. He alleged that whatever steps Gen Musharraf was taking, including those of normalization with India, were to appease the US.