Chronology of Pakistan
January 2004 (Continued III)
European Parliament questions govt deal with MMA
Jan 12: The European Parliament may not bail out democracy even after the government-Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal deal which led to the 17th Constitutional Amendment as its rapporteur has questioned the exclusion of two mainstream parties’ leaders from the process, The News said. The rapporteur also fears the religious alliance may influence the government policies as a quid pro quo for lending its support for the amendment. The deal has not dispelled the European Parliament’s reservations about democracy and human rights in Pakistan.
Tribe hands over three suspects
Jan 13: An Ahmadzai Wazir sub-tribe in the South Waziristan Agency surrendered three people accused of harbouring Al Qaeda militants to the authorities. The three - Irsal Khan, Gul Abbas and Sher Mohammad alias Ma Khan - were on the list of 41 tribal suspects prepared by intelligence agencies.
Major gas discovery in Sindh
Jan 13: An Australian energy firm, BHP Billiton, announced additional gas finds from its Zamzama East well situated in Sindh.
Political activities in Fata demanded: ANP asks govt to repeal FCR
Jan 13: The Awami National Party (ANP) has demanded of the federal government to allow political activities in the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) to help the people come out of isolation and arrest the increasing influence of religio-political parties in the region. ANP leaders, who spoke at the day-long 'Tribal Jirga' convened at the party's headquarters in Peshawar, were unanimous in their contention that political parties should be allowed to carry out activities in Fata to forestall increasing influence of religio-political parties in the tribal belt.
'Termination notice' to Capt Safdar
Jan 13: The PML-N claimed in Lahore that the federal government had issued a notice to Capt Muhammad Safdar (retired) to explain why his services should not be terminated for his permanent absence from duty. Capt Safdar (retired) is a son-in-law of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and he was deported to Saudi Arabia along with the Sharif family in 2000.
Kabul has released 100 Pakistanis, says Faisal
Jan 13: The Afghan government has released 100 Pakistani prisoners on reciprocal basis, interior minister Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat told reporters at a function held at the Convention Centre in Islamabad. Pakistani authorities, the minister said, had already released an equal number of Afghan prisoners a couple of days ago. Responding to a question, the minister said at present about 1,000 Pakistanis were in Afghan jails and they would be repatriated on reciprocal basis.
SCBA seeks repeal of Hudood laws
Jan 13: The Supreme Court Bar Association has demanded that the government should implement the recommendation of the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) to repeal the Hudood laws.
Bus service agreement extended for 5 years
Jan 14: Pakistan and India signed an agreement/protocol for the regulation of bus service between Lahore and New Delhi, for another five years. The previous agreement, signed in 1999, was scheduled to expire on Feb 16. However, during the last five years the service remained suspended for almost two years because of tension between the two countries. The Lahore-Delhi bus service restarted in July when the two countries announced some confidence-building measures (CBMs) in an effort to normalize relations.
US proposes talks on strategic issues
Jan 14: The Bush administration has made a comprehensive proposal to Pakistan for a strategic dialogue covering technical areas where the US has agreed to cooperate with India, informed sources told Dawn. These areas include civilian nuclear activities, civilian space program and high-technology trade as well as missile defense. The US administration reiterated the offer to Pakistan through high level official contacts recently, the sources maintained.
N-plan: Iran denies help from foreign scientists
Jan 14: Iran said that no foreign scientist helped in its nuclear program and only a few individuals arranged supply of some equipment from the international open market for its program. "No scientist from any other country has helped in this regard," visiting Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran Mohsin Aminzadeh said in Islamabad.
Commanders back peace moves
Jan 15: The top military leadership declared that Pakistan would not allow its soil to be used for any terrorist activities. The Corps Commanders' meeting, presided over by President General Pervez Musharraf held at GHQ, discussed Pakistan's efforts to root out extremism and all kinds of terrorism from country's soil. The Corps Commanders' meeting was the first after a meeting of top Pakistani and Indian leadership on the sidelines of Saarc summit.
French firm ordered to pay compensation
Jan 15: The state-owned French Naval Construction Directorate (DCN) was ordered to pay 705,000 euros (890,000 dollars) in damages for failing to provide proper protection to its workers killed in a suicide bombing in Karachi in May 2002. A tribunal in the northwestern town of Saint-Lo ruled that the DCN had committed an "inexcusable fault" by failing to upgrade security despite the added risks of a terrorist attack after France's participation in the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.
Samjhota Express resumes operation
Jan 15: Around 400 Indians and Pakistanis crossed the border at Wagah as Samjhota Express resumed its operation after a break of over two years. The 10-coach train carried 76 passengers, including 20 Indians, to Atari (India) in the morning and brought back 320 commuters from there to Lahore in the evening. Prominent among them were two PPP MNAs from Sindh, Ramesh Lal and Anwar Bhutto, who were on way to Mumbai to attend the World Social Forum there. An MLA of the occupied Kashmir, Akhtar Nizami, with around 60 other Kashmiris came to Pakistan.
16 hurt in Karachi bomb blasts
Jan 15: At least 16 people, including a town police officer and two Rangers officials, were injured and 18 vehicles damaged, when a bomb planted in a Suzuki Hi-roof exploded in front of the Pakistan Bible Society (PBS) and Avari Towers in Karachi Saddar area.
Tribes hand over 10 more wanted men
Jan 15: Ten more wanted men were delivered by their respective tribes to the government in South Waziristan tribal agency bordering Afghanistan. Fifteen tribesmen accused of sheltering al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects have been turned over to the authorities during the last three days. This followed an ultimatum by the political administration to the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe to surrender the wanted men or face the consequences.
Kabul frees 49 Pakistani prisoners
Jan 15: Forty-nine Pakistani prisoners held in Afghanistan were freed and handed over to the Pakistan Embassy in Kabul.
Tribe hands over 5 more suspects
Jan 16: The Zalikhel tribe handed over five more tribesmen wanted by the administration in the South Waziristan tribal region. The agency's administration earlier set a deadline of Jan 18 for the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe to surrender all the 41 wanted persons for harbouring Taliban and Al Qaeda fugitives in the region.
Chief Justice wants to forget past differences with Bar
Jan 16: A full court reference held to honor Justice Tanvir Ahmad Khan on his retirement provided the Bar an opportunity to criticize the doctrine of necessity and its use by the judiciary to give military rulers the much-needed legal cover to deviate from the constitutional path. It was the first direct contact of the judiciary and the lawyers of the country during the last four years. Supreme Court's new Chief Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui, who took the bold decision of reviving the tradition of holding the full court references, showed great composure, sitting along with all his 13 colleagues, and allowed the Bar leaders to recount the unpleasant judicial history of the country. After listening to the speeches of Pakistan Bar Council vice-chairman Qazi Mohammad Anwar and Supreme Court Bar Association president Tariq Mehmood, the chief justice said: "We must forget our differences, which were the result of misunderstanding, and make sincere efforts to bring efficiency in the judicial system."
18 Brigadiers promoted as Maj-Generals
Jan 16: The selection board 2004 held for the promotion of Brigadiers at the General Headquarters recommended 18 officers for the next rank. This year the selection board considered these 104 Brigadiers and recommended 18 officers (2.2 per cent of officers commissioned in 1974-75) fit for promotion to the rank of Major-General. The promoted Brigadiers are: Ayyaz Saleem Rana, Bilal Omer Khan, Zahid Pervez, Iftikhar Ahmed Chauhdry, Syed Muhammad Owais, Naeem Khalid Lodhi, Javed Iqbal, Ahmed Bilal, Qasim Qureshi, Mukhtar Ahmed, Khalid Nawaz Khan, Sardar Mahmood Ali Khan, Muhammad Alam Khattak, Niaz Muhammad Khan Khattak, Muhammad Tahir Saeed, Muhammad Asaad, Shafique Ahmad Kayani and Muhammad Rehan Burney.-APP
Two PML-F lawmakers unseated by tribunal
Jan 16: Two national and Sindh provincial ruling coalition legislators were unseated at the instance of their defeated PPP rivals in the October 2002 polls for falsely claiming to be graduates. Election tribunals comprising Justices Amir Hani Muslim and Ghulam Rabbani of the Sindh High Court held separately that the returned candidates of the PML(Functional), a coalition member, were initially ineligible to contest the polls and fresh elections should be conducted to choose new representatives from NA-236 (Sanghar-II) and PS-31 (Khairpur-III).
MPA expelled from JI
ISLAMABAD Jan 16: Jamaat-i-Islami, Punjab, has expelled the Punjab Assembly member, Fayyazul Hasan Chohan, from the party for violating of MMA's decisions after being elected on its ticket from Rawalpindi.
PML-QA withdraws disqualification cases against MMA
Jan 16: The PML-QA formally announced to withdraw writ petitions filed for the disqualification of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal parliamentarians, saying after resolution of the Legal Framework Order issue they would not proceed into the matter. Muazam Butt, central joint secretary of the PML-QA, flanked by Malik Riaz, provincial information secretary, told a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club that the decision to withdraw the petition against 85 MMA leaders has been taken after successful compromise between the MMA and the government.
President wants Jihad against extremism
Jan 17: Braving noisy opposition protests in parliament, President Pervez Musharraf vowed to further strengthen country's nuclear and missile deterrent while pursuing the goal of a moderate, welfare Islamic state. In his first address to a joint session of parliament, the president also called for a Jihad against extremism that he said was one of four "dangerous allegations" facing the country, and urged parliamentarians to prove themselves worthy of shouldering important responsibilities. The other such allegations cited by him were militants operations in Afghanistan, cross-border terrorism in Kashmir and nuclear weapons proliferation. The president said Pakistan had to counter these "negative impressions" by fighting foreign elements operating from its tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, seeking a peaceful, just solution of the Kashmir dispute and assuring the world that Islamabad would not allow nuclear proliferation.
NBP launches insurance plan for expats in US
Jan 17: The National Bank of Pakistan launched a new scheme providing insurance coverage to its US based remittance customers in case of accidental deaths and dismemberment. The NBP signed an agreement with American International Life Company of New York (AILIFE) a member company of American International Group (AIG) at a ceremony held at the bank's Wall Street office in New York. Under the scheme an amount of $10,000 will be provided as insurance coverage to remittances customers of the National Bank as part of the scheme called Accidental Death and Dismemberment. There are more than 700,000 Pakistanis living and working in the United States who together control approximately $250 billion in assets and average $300 to $500 in remittance per month. Those who remit amount for overseas distribution through NBP will automatically receive the insurance coverage at no additional cost to the customers.
US looking into charge against Pakistan: New York Times
Jan 17: The US law enforcement officials said that they were looking into whether the Pakistani government was involved in a plot by a South African businessman, an Israeli national , to export trigger devices that could be used for nuclear weapons, The New York Times reported. Asher Karni, an Israeli who lives in South Africa, was arrested in Denver earlier this month on charges that he had illegally exported the devices to Pakistan without a license. In court documents, the American authorities charge that Mr Karni, 50, was at the centre of a global operation that used front companies and false billing records to route the trigger devices from a private manufacturer in Salem, Mass., to South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and ultimately Pakistan, the paper said.
Two PIA flights carrying MPs diverted
Jan 17: Two Pakistan International Airlines domestic flights carrying parliamentarians were diverted from Islamabad Airport amid conflicting accounts over reasons for the diversions. The opposition said the flights were diverted to stop its parliamentarians from attending the joint session of parliament.
Police refuse Tehmina’s hijacking complaint
Jan 17: Islamabad Police have turned down an application lodged by Tehmina Daultana, MNA of PML-N, against President Pervez Musharraf for allegedly hijacking a PIA’s flight coming from Lahore to Islamabad to stop her for attending the joint session of parliament. Tehmina along with Senator Mushahid Hussain filed a written complaint against President Musharraf contending that she was coming to Islamabad from Lahore by PIA’s flight to attend the joint session of parliament. But the government on the orders of President Musharraf diverted her flight to Peshawar to stop her from participating in the joint session.
US facilitating Indo-Pak dialogue: Umar Farooq
Jan 17: Mirwaiz Maulvi Umar Farooq said in Srinagar the United States was facilitating the current peace process between India and Pakistan. "Washington is making a sincere effort to improve relations between India and Pakistan and promote peace in the region," Umar Farooq, a leading Kashmiri leader, told AFP. Farooq claimed that during his recent trip to New Delhi he met a US delegation, which showed him a report on how Washington was facilitating talks between the two nuclear rivals.
Bomb rocks Quetta
Jan 17:A powerful bomb went off outside an under construction building in Quetta near Masjid Road. However, no loss of life was reported.
Five senior KRL officials picked up
Jan 18: Five more senior officials of Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) were picked up by an intelligence agency, including Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan's personal secretary, during a raid on the residence of Dr Khan, founder of the country's nuclear program, Dawn reported. Those who were picked up are: personal secretary to Dr Khan, Major (retired) Islam; former director-general of KRL's science and technology cooperation directorate Dr Nazir, who worked as one of the assistants of Dr Khan; director administration Brig (retired) Tajwar, Dr Saeed and in charge of the KRL sports Mansoor Ahmed.
7 Al Qaeda suspects held
Jan 18: Law enforcement agencies picked up seven people, including two women, in a pre-dawn raid on an apartment in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Karachi for their suspected links with Al Qaeda, officials said.
Madressahs' records checked in Faisalabad
Jan 18: Special teams constituted by the federal government visited a number of religious institutions in Faisalabad and checked the record pertaining to the admission of students , fee structure, donations received from local and international agencies, expenditure, salaries to staff and links of the local and foreign students with religious parties of the country. The team members also obtained photocopies of a number of files, including traveling documents of foreign students and duplicate copies of telephone bills. The teams also inspected rooms and belongings of foreign students with the help of heads of various religious schools in the city, tehsils of Samundri, Tandlianwala, Jaranwala and Saddar.
Mulla Omar not in Pakistan, says Arsala
Jan 18: Afghanistan is not sure about the presence of Mulla Omar and regrouping of Taliban in Pakistan, as alleged in various reports emanating from Kabul. "It was just a media report, which was repeated," said Hidayat Amin Arsala, Vice-President of Afghanistan, during a press conference in Karachi.
50 couples tie knots at mass marriage ceremony
Jan 18: Marriage ceremony of 50 pairs, including five belonging to Christian community, was solemnized at the Governor House, in Lahore. Collective-marriages are mostly performed in middle-eastern countries while it was first introduced in Pakistan by the Jamaat-e-Islami.
ADB report cites low spending on primary education
Jan 18: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has revealed the spending on primary education in Pakistan during the year 2003 has gone down significantly and basic education indicators for poor are "extremely low" because of the transfer of massive funds towards higher studies at the cost of basic schooling for the poor.
Pakistanis hold rally at WSF
Jan 19: The Pakistan Social Forum staged a rally in the World Social Forum in Mumbai, condemning the imposition of war on the people of Iraq and other parts of the world. Speaking at the rally, Rasool Bux Palejo raised the water and other issues and demanded equitable sharing of world resources among rich and poor countries. He called upon the people of the world to struggle against neo-colonialism and imperialist designs of the US.
Bhutto World Foundation formed
Jan 19: People's Party leaders Aslam Gurdaspuri and Rana Shaukat Mahmood announced the establishment of Bhutto World Foundation, a forum they said would acquaint the younger generation with the political philosophy of the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. They told a news conference in Lahore that the BWF would have a wide-ranging charter which would be unveiled gradually. Ms Benazir Bhutto is the patron-in-chief of the BWF while PPP secretary-general Jehangir Badr is its patron. Mr Gurdaspuri is the president and Rana Shaukat the secretary-general.
N-tech transfer proof not found: FO
Jan 19: Pakistan said that nuclear scientists taken into custody were being interrogated to find out if any transfer of nuclear technology from the country had actually taken place. Answering a volley of questions at his weekly press briefing , Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan said five or six more people had been picked up for "debriefing" during the last two days "but no conclusion has so far been drawn" whether a transfer of technology occurred.
Scientists barred from going abroad
Jan 19: The government has barred officials of the Khan Research Laboratories from traveling abroad after several of their colleagues were picked up for what is being termed "debriefing," an official said. Even KRL chairman Javed Ashraf Mirza's request for going to Saudi Arabia for performing Haj was turned down, the source said, adding all senior KRL officials were under high stress.
LHC moved for release of Qadeer's assistant
Jan 19: The Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi bench, was approached by the wife of Islamul Haq, principle staff officer to nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, for the release of her husband from the custody of the Inter-Services Intelligence. The petitioner stated that Dr Khan was under pressure and "virtual restraint," and alleged that the regime was making the nuclear scientists "scapegoat" to save itself.
Nuclear scientists’ debriefing linked to IAEA letter
Jan 19: Pakistan has received a letter from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and some individuals are being questioned to have information in this regard, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told the Senate. Giving a policy statement on floor of the House in reply to different point of orders raised by opposition members about taking into custody of nuclear scientists, the minister said eight nuclear scientists and retired military officials were taken into custody for questioning and debriefing.
Ban on Indian channels to stay, Senate told
Jan 19: The government would not lift a ban on the Indian channels, Minister for Information Sheikh Rashid Ahmad told the Senate.
Pakistan-Turkey sign anti-terrorism accord
Jan 20: Pakistan and Turkey agreed to enhance cooperation to fight terrorism, boost economic and political ties besides agreeing to enhance cooperation in defence, banking and health sectors. The two countries signed four agreements and a Memorandum of Understanding, following formal talks in Ankara between President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer.
EU split over duties on Pakistani goods
Jan 20: European Union governments are still divided over European Commission's calls for slapping anti-dumping duties on Pakistani bed linen exports , diplomats told Dawn. EU trade officials discussed the question last week but failed to come to a clear decision, with five of the 15 EU states opposing the punitive duty, five in favor and the rest abstaining.
SC moved against 17th Amendment
Jan 20: The Pakistan Lawyers Forum has challenged in the Supreme Court the 17th Amendment to the constitution on the ground that it has altered the federal parliamentary system and eroded the ideological basis of the country , the two basic features of the constitution, which even an elected parliament is not empowered to enact.
Tribals have no links with Al Qaeda, says ANP
Jan 20: The Awami National Party (ANP) has accused the federal government of harboring Al Qaeda activists, and said the people of tribal areas are being victimized under a so-called operation against militants. Speaking at a function held in Peshawar to mark the 16th death anniversary of the Pukhtun nationalist leader Abdul Ghaffar Khan, ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan alleged that the government had been providing shelter to Al Qaeda activists.