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Chronology of Pakistan
March 2004
Deal with US on Osama denied
March 1: Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan said a 'special operation' would be launched in Wana soon to net Al Qaeda leaders and Taliban who are believed to be hiding there. Talking to Dawn, the spokesman denied reports that 11,000 US troops were coming to conduct the operation along with Pakistani troops. The government, he said, had already deployed about 70,000 army personnel in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area. "But it has been suggested that more troops should be deployed there," he added.
Trade MoU with India
March 1: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to foster trade ties and beef up cooperation in various field of the economy between the two countries. Meanwhile, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and industry and Indian chambers of commerce signed four Memorandum of Understanding to promote bilateral trade and investment. These MoUs were signed in New Delhi by the visiting Pakistani trade delegation.
Cracks in MMA getting deeper
March 1: Cracks among MMA constituents are getting deeper over expansion of the NWFP cabinet, joining the federal government, and action against elements involved in razing a mosque in the NWFP province, Dawn said. The central leadership had earlier agreed to give representation to all components in the NWFP government by taking one minister each from the four remaining parties - the JUI-S, the JUP, the MJAH and the defunct Islami Tehrik.
Democratic senators laud Pakistan's efforts in anti-terror war
March 1: Three US Senators have expressed complete confidence in the leadership of President Pervez Musharraf saying that Pakistan under his leadership has been extraordinarily supportive (of the United States) in the war against terrorism" and expressed hope that those involved in nuclear proliferation would be held accountable. At a largely attended Pakistani Community's fundraiser in New York, for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Senator Tom Harkins, Senator Jon Corzine and Senator Charles Schumer, said that "there is appreciation in the US congress and the administration, that current Pakistani leadership has done everything to combat terrorism."
HRCP condemns harassment of journalists
March 1: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has condemned stopping of government advertisements to a group of publications and harassment of individual journalists by the government. "In a climate of increasing harassment and intimidation of publications and individual journalists, the reports that government advertisements for the Nawa-i-Waqt group of publications have been stopped indicates the continuation of a dangerous trend," said a statement issued on behalf of HRCP chairperson Tahir Muhammad Khan and secretary-general Hina Jilani.
'Opium output goes up'
March 1: A US government agency reported that opium crop in Pakistan rose to approximately 2,500-3,000 hectares from 622 hectares in 2002. The State Department's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement said it has collected this information through aerial and ground survey and praised the government of Pakistan for its continued "excellent cooperation."
Two missiles fired at military base in Miranshah
March 1: Suspected militants fired two missiles at a military base in Miranshah. The missiles were reportedly fired from the border area of Ghulam Khan, a few kilometres north of Miranshah. This is the second attack on the army since the killing of 12 tribesmen in a shooting incident in Wana, South Waziristan tribal agency, two days back.
US out to damage Pak-Iran ties, says Beg
March 1: Former chief of Army staff, Gen (retd) Mirza Aslam Beg, has said the US government is damaging ties between Pakistan and Iran by blaming the two countries for proliferation. Talking to IRNA, Gen (retd) Mirza Aslam Beg said: "Through fabricating baseless stories about proliferation, some former US officials and their media are launching a conspiracy to damage Pak-Iran brotherly relations and to pressure Islamabad to roll back its nuclear program."
Attack on Press Club widely condemned
March 1: Various political, social and religious organizations have slammed the last night’s attack on the Karachi Press Club (KPC) and demanded of the Sindh government to apprehend the attackers forthwith.
Pak-Saudi joint naval exercises conclude
March 1: Pakistan Navy’s annual maritime exercise SEASPARK and Pak-Saudi joint naval exercise NASEEM-AL-BEHR concluded in the Arabian Sea with an impressive display of firepower involving firing of missiles by the ships and aircraft which successfully hit the targets.
Two killed in Phalia clash
March 2: A dispute over Zuljinah procession at Phalia led to a clash in which Tehrik-e-Islami Punjab SVP Syed Ijaz Hussain Naqvi and another citizen died, while 53 were injured.
13 killed in Parachinar Imambargah stampede
March 2: A stampede triggered by a power breakdown in a Parachinar Imam Bargah left 13 people dead and more than 50 injured. The victims included eight women and five children who had run in panic after a short circuit caused a blast and plunged the mosque into darkness. In their bid to reach a safer place, the mourners, who had gathered in large numbers to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, got trapped in a staircase whose railing collapsed under pressure.
42 die in attack on Quetta Ashura procession
March 2: Quetta remained under curfew on the second consecutive day after the killing of 42 mourners during an Ashura procession. Over 25 people, including six policemen, were killed on the spot when three armed men attacked the Ashura procession at Liaquat Bazaar, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Muhammad Yousuf told The News, adding that one of the three attackers was arrested by the law-enforcement agencies. The others died in hospitals.
Inquiry ordered into Aushura massacre: 45 deaths confirmed
March 3: A judicial injury has been ordered into the tragic incidents of firing and suicide attack on an Ashura procession that claimed 45 lives in Quetta yesterday. Forty-five people were killed, more than 160 injured, and over 150 shops and commercial establishments as well as three houses were torched in terrorist attacks and subsequent acts of arson and rioting. Quetta was placed under strict curfew and army troops virtually took over the city soon after the incident.
Rockets fired at military checkpoint: More troops sent to S. Waziristan
March 3: Suspected religious extremists fired at a military checkpoint on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border as authorities in South Waziristan called in reinforcements to launch search and cordon operations against Al Qaeda remnants in the tribal region, an official said in Peshawar.
US, Pakistan working closely: Cheney
March 3: US Vice President Dick Cheney said the US "works very closely" with Pakistan. He was responding to a question in an interview with MSNBC. Asked if the US had information that Osama bin Laden was on the Pakistan side of the border, would US forces go and get him, Cheney said he would not want to speculate.
Three judges confirmed in LHC
March 3: President Gen Pervez Musharraf confirmed three additional judges as judges of the Lahore High Court and extended the tenure of two more for one year. Chief Justice Iftikhar Husain Chaudhry will administer oath of the office to Justice Pervez Ahmad, Justice Syed Sakhi Husain Bokhari and Justice Rustam Ali Malik at a ceremony in Lahore. Judges, whose tenure was extended, are: Justice Chaudhry Iftikhar Husain and Justice Farrukh Lateef.
World Bank's demand for new taxes rejected
March 3: The government has refused to accept a demand of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to introduce new taxes and substantially increase development expenditure in the next budget. Sources told Dawn that Pakistan's refusal had been communicated to the donor agencies, which believed that the country's development strategy needed to be improved by imposing additional taxes in the 2004-05 budget.
IAEA lauds Pakistani cooperation
March 3: The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog lauded Pakistan's cooperative stance in combating nuclear proliferation and said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was making "very good progress" in tracking down a long list of European middle men and companies involved in illicit sales of nuclear technology and equipment. "Pakistan is cooperating. The authorities have given us assurances that they are putting in place measures to have full control" over any future nuclear leaks, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei told reporters in Brussels.
Ban on ads deplored
March 3: The All Pakistan Newspapers Society has strongly deplored the arbitrary ban on federal as well as provincial government advertisements to Nawa-i-Waqt group of publications and termed it a contravention of freedom of the press as enshrined in Article 19 of the Constitution of Pakistan.
Pakistan opposes UNSC seat for India
March 3: Pakistan has again made it clear that it continues to oppose a permanent seat for India the United Nations Security Council. Last week the French foreign minister had told Islamabad that given the new global realities, his country would push for New Delhi’s inclusion into this exclusive club of nuclear nations. "Pakistan’s position is based on principles. We want no new centers of power. The UN Security Council has to be more representative and democratic. The UN should create a balance between the Security Council and the General Assembly. You cannot increase the Security Council. What we should look at is increasing the seats of the non-permanent members," Masood Khan, spokesman at the Foreign Office told the weekly press briefing.
UNHCR starts repatriation of Afghan refugees
March 3: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Peshawar launched its 2004 voluntary repatriation program assisting 65 Afghans to return from Pakistan to their homeland. The UN Refugee Agency has estimated 400,000 Afghans will return from Pakistan during 2004, following 1.9 million since the start of the program in 2002.
15 tribals detained for not turning over al-Qaeda suspects
March 3: The government authorities detained at least 15 tribal leaders in the remote border region near Afghanistan after they failed to honor a government ultimatum to turn over suspected al-Qaeda fugitives. The Ahmadzai Wazir tribe leaders had promised to help trace foreigners suspected of terrorism but reneged on the deal, said Rahmatullah Wazir, a senior government official in Wana.
IAEA seeks Pak help to verify Iran’s claim
March 3: In a fresh move, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has asked Pakistan to provide some nuclear related samples to verify Iran’s claim that traces of Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) found at the Iranian nuclear installations came with the nuclear equipment imported from Pakistan. During his sojourn in Brussels, the IAEA chief Mohammad ElBaradei confirmed that the UN nuclear watchdog’s fresh official contacted with Islamabad urging Pakistan to provide what he described as "particle samples" enabling the IAEA to verify the Iranian explanation that the traces of highly enriched uranium spotted at nuclear installations of Iran were just contamination caused by nuclear imports from Pakistan.
Pakhtoons have no links with al-Qaeda, says ANP chief
March 3: The Awami National Party (ANP) Sindh said that ‘Pakhtoons’ have no affiliation with the Al-Qaeda or other extremist organizations, so it is not fair to victimize them under any pretext.
Pak troops leave for Liberia
March 3: Donned in blue berets and in camouflaged uniform, a group of Pak troops left Karachi to participate in the UN mission in Liberia. The main body comprised the troops from infantry, which would contribute to rebuild the troubled African State under the UN aegis, according to the ISPR.
Nigeria & Pakistan deny N-tech dialogue
March 4: Nigeria withdrew an earlier statement claiming that the visiting Pakistani defense chief had offered to help it to acquire nuclear power, saying it was a mistake and should be ignored. "The reference to nuclear power in the statement earlier issued was a mistake, a typographical error," defense ministry spokesman Nwachukwu Bellu, told AFP, confirming the reaction of the Pakistani authorities to the issue. "There were no discussions at all on nuclear power, development and acquisition," Mr Bellu added. He said the portion of the statement on nuclear power issued after yesterday’s meeting between Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Gen Muhammad Aziz Khan, and Nigerian Defense Minister Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso in Abuja, should be ignored.
Dr Khan acted without govt support: US
March 4: The United States is convinced that Dr A.Q. Khan sold nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea without the approval of senior government officials in Pakistan, a top US arms control official said. "We have no reason to believe that President Pervez Musharraf or the top echelons of the Pakistani government were in any way involved with Khan," US Under secretary of State John Bolton told reporters in Lisbon where he was taking part in a two-day security conference.
33 victims buried amid tension: 32 killed in security men's firing, alleges Shia leader
March 4: Thirty-three victims of March 2 terrorist attack were buried in the Hazara graveyard after the community softened their conditions set for performing the last rites fearing that the bodies would be decomposed if the burial was delayed further. Talking to newsmen at the Hazara graveyard, Allama Yaqoob Ali Tawasli, a leader of Imam Jumma Organization, alleged that 32 people were killed in firing by the personnel of the Anti-Terrorist Force, Frontier Corps, and police, and added that only seven people had fallen victim to the terrorist attack.
SHC acquits Mansoor
March 4: The Sindh High Court acquitted former navy chief Mansoorul Haq and retired commodore Mirza Ashfaq Beg in a reference alleging purchase of defective ships for the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation in the mid-1990s at exorbitant prices. They were convicted by an accountability court and sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs2 million each on Jan 8.
WB report on water resources rejected: 'Sindh representatives not consulted'
March 4: The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture and the Sindh Abadgar Board have expressed utter disappointment over the World Bank document "Pakistan Public Expenditure Management - Accelerated Development of Water Resources and Agriculture Volume-II" published in Jan 2004. In a joint letter addressed to President Gen Pervez Musharraf, copies of which were released to the press, SCA president Syed Qamaruzzaman Shah and SAB president Abdul Majeed Nizamani said amongst the people who had been consulted or associated with the preparation of the document, not a single belonged to Sindh.
ANP sees conspiracy against Pakhtoons: Wana operation
March 5: Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan has demanded an immediate end to the ongoing operation in Waziristan, Fata, and said that the country was passing through the most critical period in its history. He said that thousands of innocent Pakhtoons had been arrested but the authorities had not been able to find even one wanted person in the tribal area. Mr Asfandyar, who was addressing a massive ANP public meeting at the Bacha Khan Chowk in Peshawar, termed the operation another conspiracy against innocent Pakhtoons and alleged that wanted people were not being arrested because they enjoyed the protection of the authorities to carry out their operation.
Pakistan-Iran relations firm: Iranian VP
March 5: Iran's First Vice-President Dr Mohammad Reza Aref, during a meeting with President Gen Pervez Musharraf, emphasized that no third country could exercise any negative influence on Tehran's relationship with Islamabad. He assured President Musharraf that Iran attached the highest priority to its relations with Pakistan and it would like to extend the bilateral relationship into the regional and international spheres, a press release said.
EU duty on bed-linen
March 5: The European Commission has imposed 13.1 per cent definitive anti-dumping duty on bed-linen imports from Pakistan with immediate effect. The punitive duty will remain effective for a period of five years. Last month Pakistan narrowly lost by one vote when 15 EU member states cast their votes on the proposed 13.1 per cent anti-dumping duty.
10 nominated in Quetta killings
March 5: The Shia Conference of Balochistan and the people of the Hazara tribe, including heirs of the Quetta killings victims, jointly lodged a report with the City police station , nominating 10 people in connection with the incident. The 10 people nominated by them included leaders of the banned Sipah-i-Sahaba, senior officials of the Anti-Terrorist Force and other police officers.
Rs185bn recovered, says NAB
March 5: The National Accountability Bureau has so far recovered Rs185 billion through plea-bargain and other deals, the NAB chairman Lt-Gen Munir Hafiez said in a statement issued in Islamabad.
Straw visits madressah
March 5: British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw visited a religious seminary, or madressah, in Peshawar. The principal of the Jamia Imdadul Aloom Islamia Maulana Hassan Jan and students received the UK secretary for foreign affairs and presented him with a copy of the Holy Quran. According to official estimates, about 1,065,927 students are getting religious education in 6,518 registered seminaries in Pakistan, but there is no exact data about unregistered seminaries in the country.
‘Osama evaded Pakistani raid’
March 5: A local official in eastern Afghanistan said he has received credible reports that Osama bin Laden escaped the recent Pakistani operation to catch him. Speaking to the BBC, Haji Abdullah, the governor of Pachir-Agam district in Nangarhar province, said he passed the details to Afghan intelligence staff. It comes amid reports of stepped-up American military operations aimed at capturing al-Qaeda’s leader. Osama is believed to be hiding in the mountainous border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Senator defends Afghan Jihad policy
March 5: Senator Javed Ashraf Qazi, former chief of the ISI, defended the policy of Jihad in Afghanistan and paid tributes to all the leaders involved in promoting Jihad. He told the National Assembly all these leaders had taken right decisions on right time to support resistance within Afghanistan because after conquering Kabul, Moscow might have attacked Islamabad. He said our own military started Jihad in Afghanistan and Kashmir and today we were told that we should not meddle into these issues.
US troops not in Pakistan: Abizaid
March 6: The United States was helping Pakistan carry out operations against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the tribal belt but there were no US troops on the Pakistani side , a senior US general said. Gen John Abizaid, commander-in-chief US Central Command, said that so far the US troops were only operating on the Afghan side of the border.
PPP MPA gunned down in city
March 6: A member of the Sindh Assembly belonging to Pakistan People's Party, Abdullah Murad Baloch, was shot dead along with his driver, Hanif Baloch, by unknown assailants in the Al-Falah Society area of Malir, Karachi. The killing of the MPA triggered violence in parts of Malir and Al-Falah Society, which resulted in the suspension of traffic on Sharea Faisal - from Star Gate to Quaidabad in Landhi.
Tehrik-i-Istaqlal wants more provincial autonomy
March 6: Tehrik-i-Istaqlal has called for maximum provincial autonomy to strengthen federation and remove the growing sense of deprivation among provinces. Chairman of the Tehrik, Rehmat Khan Wardag, talking to newsmen in Peshawar said that provincial autonomy was the key to strengthening of federation. He said his party wanted four subjects - foreign affairs, currency, communication and defence - to remain with the Centre and the rest should be transferred to the provinces.
China-Pakistan ties: US releases papers
March 6: Newly declassified US government documents made public speak of almost three decades of US unease over China's alleged cooperation with Pakistan over its nuclear weapons program. One of the briefing papers states: "We have concluded that China has provided assistance to Pakistan's program to develop a nuclear weapon capability" in the areas of fissile material production and possibly also in nuclear device design. Researchers who obtained the documents and made them public said that exactly what the US government knew about the alleged Chinese nuclear sharing with Pakistan remains highly secret.
Islamabad and Riyadh pledge to fight terror
March 7: President Pervez Musharraf and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz today reiterated their countries' determination to fight the menace of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. The president and the Saudi leader held a one-hour meeting in Riyadh.
Ex-official dies in NAB custody
March 7: The chairman NAB has ordered an inquiry into the death of a former divisional engineer of PTCL, Agha Mohammad Sajjad, who died in NAB custody here. An official spokesman of NAB said the former PTCL official who was taken into custody on the charges of corruption from his Lahore residence and was brought to NAB police station, where he suffered a heart attack. The official died on the way to hospital. The NAB official rejected allegations that the death was caused by torture.
PPP welcomes Ramay in party fold: PML-N leadership annoyed
March 7: Mian Anwarul Haq Ramay, former PML-N MNA and parliamentary secretary on information who had joined the PML-Q sometime back, has now joined the PPP. Ramay announced his fresh change of heart at a press conference at his residence in Lahore.
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