Chronology of Pakistan
July 2003 (Continued II)
Politicians, lawyers can be jailed under contempt law
July 11: If the contempt of court law is implemented in letter and spirit, a number of prominent opposition stalwarts and bar associations' leaders would be in jail, undergoing terms of imprisonment for committing the offence, The News reports. Top judges had been under intense attack from politicians on account of handing down judgments on matters having political implications that the political lot does not approve. Presently, the judges of superior courts are particular targets of a lethal criticism from the opposition parties as well as the Supreme Court and high court bar associations for accepting three-year extension in service through the controversial Legal Framework Order (LFO). Such hard-hitting utterances present perfect cases of contempt of court, but judges have not been taking notice to avoid further exasperation of the bench-bar row.
PPP, PML-N oppose new contempt law
July 11: The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and the People's Party Parliamentarians have expressed their reservations about the contempt of court ordinance promulgated by President Gen Pervez Musharraf. PML-N's acting chief Makhdoom Javed Hashmi feared that this law would be used "against lawyers struggling for supremacy of the Constitution and freedom of the judiciary." He said the promulgation of the ordinance in the presence of parliament was another evidence of Gen Pervez Musharraf's determination to "block the flourishing of democratic conventions in the country." A spokesman for the PPP, Senator Farhatullah Babar, in a statement on Friday said the party was surprised over the promulgation of the contempt of court ordinance. He said that after the general elections and the coming into being of the National Assembly "the ordinance-making workshop of Gen Musharraf should have been closed down and the job of lawmaking left to the elected parliament."
Two killed in Karachi bomb blast
July 11: Two persons were killed when a bomb exploded at the main gate of the Kawish Crown Plaza, situated at the main Sharea Faisal in Karachi. The explosion was so powerful that the bodies of both victims were flown to 60-70 feet away from the spot.
Lahore-Delhi bus service resumes
July 11: Drums, dancing and rose petals greeted the resumption of bus service between India and Pakistan, allowing for emotional family reunions after an 18-month suspension. The bus from New Delhi crossed into Pakistan at Wagah several hours later as its speed was affected in the Punjab wheat bowl where men staged boisterous Bhangra dances on the road.
'Madressah reform being introduced'
July 11: The government is introducing a $255 million plan for reforming madressahs, says a policy brief distributed in Washington by the Pakistan embassy. The three-year plan aims at "bridging the existing gulf between the mainstream formal education system and the traditional religious schools in Pakistan by introducing a new, integrated curriculum," says the brief sent to policy planners and think-tank experts and other officials in the United States.
200,000 DPs return home
July 11: Over 200,000 Afghan refugees have returned home from Pakistan since early this year under a voluntary repatriation program, the United Nations Refugee Agency said in Islamabad.
MMA ready to accept uniform till Nov 2004
July 12: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal expressed its willingness to accept President Pervez Musharraf as the chief of the army staff till Nov 2004 provided the dispute over the Legal Framework Order was resolved. Speaking to a group of journalists in Islamabad, MMA vice-president and parliamentary leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed said the issue of divestiture of the president's army uniform, had also been settled during the meetings, adding that it had been agreed that the president would relinquish his army post in one year give or take a few months, or up to Nov 2004 against Aug 2004, the prior limit set by the MMA.
Afghanistan, Pakistan forces trade fire
July 12: Troops of Afghanistan and Pakistan exchanged fire along the border. "There was an exchange of heavy fire for 45 minutes, both sides used artillery," said the commander of Afghan border forces, Haji Abdul Zahir Qadir. He said the clash took place in Yaqoobi Kandaw village of Lalapur district and claimed his men forced Pakistani troops to pull out of an area they seized about three weeks ago. He said Pakistani forces still occupied some Afghan territory to the east of the city of Jalalabad and his men were ready to recapture the area should President Hamid Karzai give the order. A Pakistani intelligence official in Peshawar confirmed that there had been an exchange but he said the two sides used AK-47 rifles.
Pakistan's nuclear weapon is not an Islamic bomb: S. Arabia
July 12: Prince Naef bin Ahmed Al-Saud, responsible for Saudi military planning, has dismissed the notion that Pakistan's nuclear bomb was an Islamic bomb , saying that Saudi Arabia did not accept this conjecture. Writing in the Joint Forces Quarterly, Prince Naif stated that nuclear proliferation should be seen in terms of "regional realities."
Rs1bn for Madressahs allocated, says Zobaida
July 12: The government has prepared an incentive package for Madressahs to bring these institutions to the mainstream and has allocated a sum of Rs1 billion in the 2003-04 budget for the purpose said the Federal Education Minister Ms Zobaida Jalal.
CPJ alarmed at journalist's conviction
July 12: The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed its dismay at the life sentence awarded to Munawwar Mohsin, a former sub-editor of the Frontier Post , on charges of blasphemy and asked President Pervez Musharraf to pardon him immediately. In a letter, the New York-based CPJ said, the Pakistan government should never have brought criminal charges against the Frontier Post journalist since an apology was printed in prominent dailies of Pakistan by the paper profoundly regretting the publication of "highly blasphemous material masquerading as a letter to the editor."
US to fund forward operating base in Peshawar
July 12: Pakistan will establish a new forward operating location in Peshawar with US funding, with five helicopters, to hunt down al-Qaeda and narcotics traffickers. Paul E Simons, Acting US Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, stated this before the House Committee on Government Reform in Washington last week. The US administration had requested $26 million for border security assistance for Pakistan.
Two injured as Pakistan, Afghan troops clash
July 13: Two Afghan soldiers were wounded in a skirmish with Pakistani troops along Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan, Afghan officials said in Jalalabad. News agencies reported that tribal leaders in the surrounding province of Nangarhar, particularly tribesmen living near the border, accuse Pakistani troops of infiltrating "up to 40 kilometres" into Afghan territory for the past three weeks. During this period, Pakistani troops, Afghan soldiers and Pakistani tribal militia have been clashing almost daily over disputed land.
Riyadh reduces free-of-cost oil facility by half
July 14: Saudi Arabia has reduced the supply of its free-of-cost oil to Pakistan by half, saying that Islamabad is now in a position to pay for its oil requirements as its foreign exchange reserves stood at $10.4 billion. Informed sources told Dawn that the annual Saudi oil facility amounting to $600 million had been reduced to $300 million from year 2003. Pakistan has been receiving oil free-of-cost, under the tag of "deferred payments," since the country went nuclear in 1998.
Afridi gets death sentence
July 14: The Special Anti-Narcotics Force Court Lahore handed down death sentence to an alleged international drug-smuggler Haji Ayub Afridi and his two accomplices. They were arrested by the ANF in a raid at Thokhar Niaz Baig, Lahore on Dec 3, 2001. The ANF had seized 4001kgs of hashish hidden in an oil-tanker and a car.
ADB provides $350m for judicial reforms
July 14: Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided technical assistance worth $350 million for judicial reforms in Pakistan. It is the largest grant ever given to the law and justice department in the world. A report published by the ADB said that the justice department in Pakistan was massively underfunded.
Pakistan, Tunisia to expand ties
July 14: President General Pervez Musharraf and his Tunisian counterpart Zain-ul-Abideen bin Ali agreed to increase economic cooperation to match the excellent bilateral ties existing between the two countries. During one hour talks at the Carthage Palace in Tunis, the two presidents observed that the present level of trade between Pakistan and Tunisia was far below the desired levels.
US authorities fly suspected Osama aide out of Pakistan
July 14: A suspected longtime aide to Osama bin Laden has been handed over to American authorities and flown out of Pakistan, a Pakistani official said in Peshawar. Adil Al-Jazeeri was blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back while he was taken to an American plane in Peshawar. The official said he believed the al-Qaeda suspect was flown to Bagram, an American forces base in neighboring Afghanistan. Pakistan officials believe Al-Jazeeri, arrested in Pakistan last month, is a ranking member of bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
Tribal elders ban entry of female teachers
July 14: Tribal elders have banned aid organizations from sending women to teach girls in their homes and have threatened to burn down the houses of anyone harboring the women, a tribal elder said. The decision was taken at a Jirga meeting in Orakzai tribal region, 250 kilometres south-west of Peshawar.
Osama not in Pakistan: Rashid
July 14: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sheikh Rashid Ahmad denied the statement of Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah about the presence of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Talking to GEO television Rashid said: "This statement is totally baseless and has no reality." He said, "if the Afghan foreign minister knows about his (bin Laden's) whereabouts in Pakistan, he should inform us. We are ready to take action against him."
Wafaqi Mohtasib complains to Musharraf against ministries
July 14: The Wafaqi Mohtasib has conveyed his concern to President Pervez Musharraf on the rising trend of refusal of ministries to execute Ombudsman's recommendations by challenging them before the President Secretariat. To the disappointment of the Ombudsman office and aggrieved people, out of 871 representations made to President secretariat during 2002 against Ombudsman recommendations by defiant ministries, 131 have already been set aside while 445 are under consideration of the secretariat.
Fazl arrives in India
July 15: A four-member delegation of the JUI-F led by its president Maulana Fazlur Rahman left for India via Wagah. Speaking to newsmen at the border, Maulana Fazl said their visit was aimed at reducing bitterness in the relations between the two neighbouring countries. Members of the team included JUI-F Deputy Secretary-General Hafiz Hussain Ahmad, Senator Naseeb Gul and Qazi Hameedullah Khan.
Pak-Afghan body to carry out ground verifications
July 15: Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States agreed to set up a sub-committee comprising representatives of all the three participating countries to carry out ground verifications and submit its findings at the earliest to address mutual concerns. The understanding was reached at the Tripartite Commission meeting held in Kabul. The sub-committee, said an official spokesman, will carry out ground verifications within a week to address each other's concerns and submit its findings as soon as possible to the Tripartite Commission. The Commission focused its talks on the issue which caused a tiff between Islamabad and Kabul over the last few weeks.
Kabul: Another rally held against Pakistan
July 15: Some 500 Afghans protested in Kabul against alleged border violations by Pakistani troops. The demonstrators, including dozens of women, again complained that Pakistani troops had entered eastern border regions , the scene of recent skirmishes with Afghan militias.
Two Pakistanis killed near Washington
July 15: Two Pakistani students were shot dead near Washington by unidentified gunmen. The local police are treating the shooting as robbery but friends say the two could have been targeted because of their race. Sair Saeed Butt, 26, and Hammad Chaudhry, 23, both from Lahore, were shot outside Butt's home in Prince George's Country, Maryland, at 3am. Mr Butt died in the ambulance and Chaudhry succumbed to his wounds in the hospital eight hours later.
Musharraf sets terms for ties with Israel
July 15: President Pervez Musharraf tied the establishment of relations between Pakistan and Israel to a settlement to the Middle East conflict and the creation of a Palestinian state. "The Pakistani government can only study the question of recognizing Israel if the Middle East conflict is settled and includes the creation of a Palestinian state and the Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories," Musharraf said in an interview with Al-Khaleej newspaper in the United Arab Emirates.
NBP among 10 best banks of the world
July 15: The National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) has earned a place amongst the top ten banks of the world, Global Finance Intelligence magazine 'The Banker', published by the Financial Times Group, London, said in a survey. The NBP has beaten all Asian banks, including private and public sector banks of the region, the magazine said in its world-wide survey that compiled a merit list of the top 100 banks on the basis of 'Best Profit on Capital', 'Capital to Assets' and the 'Profit on Assets' ratios.
Nine injured in Hyderabad explosion
July 16: At least nine people were injured in a bomb blast in the Civil Hospital in Hyderabad. Witnesses said that the explosion took place in a waiting shed outside the hospital's surgical ward. The bomb wrapped in a plastic bag was hidden under a bench.
Masood Akhtar, Raashid Kalim promoted to air marshals
July 16: Two air vice marshals, Masood Akhtar and Raashid Kalim, have been promoted to the rank of air marshal, an ISPR press release said. Air Marshal Masood Akhtar was commissioned in Pakistan Air Force on October 8, 1972 in flying branch. Air Marshal Raashid Kalim was commissioned in PAF on April 21, 1973, in flying branch.
US police identify students' killers
July 16: Police have identified five suspects involved in the murder of two Pakistani students near Washington earlier this week. "We have all the details of what happened. We are in the midst of getting arrest warrants and identifying all the suspects," homicide detective Kerry Jernigan told Dawn.
'Afghan warlords responsible for border clashes'
July 16: The Pakistan Army blamed Afghan tribesmen and local warlords for recent attacks on its troops along the volatile border in the north-western tribal region. "There are some Afghan tribesmen backed by Afghan commanders, who are firing on our troops," Brigadier Sohail Alvi of the Inter-Services Public Relations department told reporters at a briefing in Peshawar. Pakistani troops in the Yaqubi Kandao area in the tribal territory of Mohmand came under attack from the Afghan side, he said. Alvi believed a pro-government military official of the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar was promoting the attacks.
All alien terrorists to be expelled: Musharraf
July 17: President Gen Pervez Musharraf said that Pakistan would not keep any foreign suspect terrorist on its soil and would return them to their country of origin.
"Pakistan has absolutely zero interest in keeping any foreign national (suspect), in fact. When we catch any non-Pakistani suspect terrorist, we want to send him out as soon as possible," he told reporters while wrapping up his two-day visit to Algeria.
Move to block US aid package
July 17: The US House of Representatives has voted to add conditions to the aid package for Pakistan, asking President Bush to report "on the state of terrorist camps" in Pakistan and on the measures Islamabad has taken to stop cross-border infiltration. The amendment, offered by a pro-Indian congressman, Eni Faleomavaega, was accepted by a vote of 382 to 42.
11 Pakistani detainees arrive from Guantanamo
July 17: A batch of 11 Pakistani detainees released from Guantanamo Bay arrived in Islamabad. With the arrival of this batch, the total number of Pakistanis released so far from the Camp X-ray comes to 15. Four were released earlier. Most of the Pakistanis detained at Camp X-Ray had been arrested from Afghanistan.
Pakistan cleared in chemical weapons probe
July 17: International chemical inspectors have recently conducted their second industrial inspection in Pakistan, giving clearance report to the unit they visited. The News said the inspectors representing Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) inspected Nobel Wah (Private) Limited, last month. The Foreign Office is believed to have kept the visit covert to avoid unnecessary media speculation.
Afghan govt pays for mission's damage
July 18: The Afghan government has paid to Pakistan the equivalent of three million rupees in compensation for the armed attack on Pakistan embassy in Kabul. "On instructions of President Hamid Karzai a foreign ministry official delivered 2.8 million Afghanis to our ambassador in Kabul on Thursday," sources in the ministry of foreign affairs confirmed.
Fazl, Umar call for Kashmiris' role in talks
July 19: JUI chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman met in New Delhi with Kashmir's spiritual head and former APHC chief Maulvi Umar Farooq and both called for the participation of Kashmiris in talks between India and Pakistan to resolve the bloody Himalayan dispute. The JUI leader told Dawn that his remarks were misquoted by an Indian news channel in which he was reported to have agreed to accepting the Line of Control in Kashmir as an acceptable border.
WB proposes major overhaul of civil service
July 19: The World Bank would finance a comprehensive program of civil service reforms to upgrade skills, improve pay packages, and right size the bottom-heavy structure, The News reported. Pakistan Public Sector Capacity Building Project, with an estimated cost of $62 million, was expected to be approved by October, 2003. Based on the analytical work undertaken on civil service reforms (CSR) in Pakistan, the Bank said that steady erosion in capacity and technical skills of civil servants was a key issue.
Debt crosses Rs1.7 trillion mark
July 20: Pakistan's total outstanding domestic debt has crossed Rs1.787 trillion mark on May 31, 2003, up by about Rs70 billion, from Rs1.718 trillion in June 2002. The rise in debt has taken place despite reduced interest rates and government's claims that "accumulation of domestic debt has been brought to a stop" through fiscal discipline, Dawn reported.