Chronology of Pakistan
October 2003 (Continued IV)
Pakistan's debt rating raised
Oct 20: Moody's Investors Service raised its rating on Pakistan's foreign currency debt, saying a narrowing budget gap places the government in a better position to manage the national debt. Moody's lifted Pakistan's country ceiling for long-term foreign currency debt and bank deposits to B2, five notches below investment grade, from B3, citing also a rapid decline in government debt ratios.
Three blasts rock Quetta
Oct 20: Quetta city was rocked by three powerful explosions which occurred with brief intervals in different areas of the city injuring a 10-year-old boy and causing damage to property.
Pakistan, Malaysia sign MoU for manpower export
Oct. 20: Pakistan and Malaysia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Islamabad for export of semi-skilled and unskilled workers from Pakistan to work in Malaysia. The MoU was signed by Dr Fong Chan Onn, Malaysian Minister of Human Resources, and Mian Abdul Sattar Laleka, Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis, on behalf of their respective governments.
Pakistan-Saudi nuclear pact improbable: US
Oct 21: The US State Department said the claim that Pakistan had signed a pact with Saudi Arabia to supply nuclear technology in return for oil was incorrect. "This story has been going around for a couple of decades. It seems very improbable to me that the Pakistanis will do so," a State Department official told Dawn.
Hudood Ord cannot be repealed: MMA
Oct 21: The Hudood Ordinance is strictly based on the teachings of Quran and Sunnah thus it cannot be repealed even on recommendations of the National Commission on Status of Women (NCSW) , however, some procedural changes can be suggested and implemented where inevitable. These views were expressed by Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) member National Assembly and former member of the NCSW, Dr Fareeda Ahmed, while speaking at a news conference at the Parliament House.
Fencing of border with Afghanistan begins
Oct 22: Pakistan has started fencing parts of its western border with Afghanistan to stop Al Qaeda and Taliban men from mounting attacks on Afghan targets and US-led forces, the military said. Military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan said new searchlight towers and checkpoints were also being set up along the Afghan border in southwestern Balochistan province. He did not say how long the fence would be. The Balochistan border accounts for about half of the 2,450-km (1,520-mile) frontier. The move comes after growing calls from US and Afghan officials for Pakistan to take steps to stop militant infiltration into Afghan territory.
Baglihar dam violates Indus treaty
Oct 22: A team of the Pakistan Commission for Indus Waters will return home, apparently convinced that they have found violations by India of a 1960 treaty on water sharing , by building an unauthorized dam on the river Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistani officials said in New Delhi. The three-member team led by Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Waters Syed Jamaat Ali Shah inspected the height of the dam of the Baglihar hydroelectric project, 160 km north of Jammu, during their two-day visit.
Though Pakistan made a request for the inspection four years ago, it was conceded only now by India, Pakistan officials say.
SC moved over case against cop
Oct 22: The Supreme Court was moved by a lawyer urging the court to take suo motu notice of the incident in which an FIR was registered against a police constable in Lahore for stopping the car of a serving Major General of the Pakistan Army. In his application, Advocate Zulfikar Ahmad Bhutta said the constable, instead of being rewarded for performing his duties responsibly, was nominated in a case. The SHO of the area was also suspended, the counsel further said.
India offers 12 steps to normalize relations
Oct 22: Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha announced in New Delhi 12 proposals to normalize relations with Pakistan:
1. Resume talks to restore civil aviation links, including overflight rights.
2. Discuss a resumption of rail links, following aviation talks.
3. Resume bilateral sporting encounters, including cricket.
4. Issue visas in cities outside the two countries' national capitals, to shorten travel.
5. Permit individuals aged at least 65 to cross into India by foot. Previously only groups could walk across, while individuals had to be on a bus.
6. Run more buses on the New Delhi to Lahore route that now operates.
7. Establish links between the two countries' coast guards, before and after fishing season.
8. Have India and Pakistan stop arresting each other's fishermen within certain sea areas.
9. Provide free medical treatment to 20 Pakistani children.
10. Have India and Pakistan increase the staff of each nation's embassy.
11. Consider ferry service between Bombay and Karachi.
12. Start new bus services, one between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad. The other would be a bus or rail link between Khokrapar in Sindh and Munaba in India's Rajasthan state.
33 MIP activists jailed
Oct 22: The Anti-Terrorism Court-I in Islamabad sent 33 activists of Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan (MIP) to Adiala Jail for resorting to rampage in Islamabad soon after saying the funeral prayers of their assassinated leader Maulana Azam Tariq on October 7.
JWP slates police for committing HR violation
Oct 22: Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) expressed concern over the arrest of dozens of poor farmers and bulldozing their houses in Balochistan. It also accused the police of killing two tribal women during their search and arrest operation.
Accord on joint defense projects: Turkey, Pakistan end talks
Oct 23: The second meeting of the Pakistan-Turkey Military Dialogue Group concluded in Rawalpindi with the two sides agreeing to embark on joint ventures in defense production, according to a statement issued here by the ministry of defense.
48 Pakistanis deported from US arrive
Oct 23: Forty-eight deported Pakistanis detained in various US prisons arrived at the Islamabad International Airport. Earlier, the department of homeland security bureau of immigration and customs enforcement office of detention and removals of the United States had informed Pakistan immigration authorities that 84 deportees would arrive. But due to some unknown reasons, only 48 deportees reached in Rawalpindi by a chartered flight from Buffalo.
Pakistan, Turkey agree on defence production ventures
Oct 23: Pakistan and Turkey agreed to launch joint ventures in the defence production sector to help cater each other’s needs in the field. The agreement was reached after two days of exhaustive deliberations in Rawalpindi at the second meeting of the Pakistan-Turkey High Level Military Dialogue Group (HLMDG).
India has 35 nukes, Pakistan has 24: US Congress
Oct 23: India has 30 to 35 nuclear weapons with yields varying between 5 to 25 kilotons, citing a US Congress body report, Press Trust of India reported. As of 2002, India has 30 to 35 nuclear weapons with yields varying between 5 to 25 kilotons despite an Indian claim that it had detonated a nuclear device on May 11, 2002 with a 43 KT yield, the Congressional Research Service (CRS), which advises the US Congress, said in a report. It puts the number of Pakistani nuclear weapons at 24 to 48. Seismic measurements from Pakistani nuclear detonations on May 28 and 30, 2002 suggest weaponized yields more along the order of 9 to 12 KT and 4 to 6 KT respectively.
20 Indian children offered free treatment
Oct 24: Reciprocating the recent Indian gesture to provide free medical treatment to 20 Pakistani children, the National Institute of Cardio-Vascular Diseases (NICVD), Karachi , has offered to undertake coronary angiography and bypass surgery on 20 poor Indian patients without any charge.
ARD vows trial of judges & generals: Anti-govt campaign launched
Oct 24: Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy Chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim has said that all those judges who had legitimized the military coup and allowed changes into the Constitution would be tried along with army generals under Article 6 when the ARD came into power. Speaking at a public meeting organized by the ARD to launch its campaign against the government in Peshawar’s historic Qissa Khwani Bazaar, the PPP chairman said the judges of superior courts were equally responsible for the successive military takeovers in the country. He said after every military coup, the judges had legalized it under the 'doctrine of necessity' which caused a great damage to the democracy.
Sindh minister robbed of car
Oct 24: A car belonging to a provincial minister was snatched at gunpoint near a commercial centre in Clifton, Karachi. Police sources said that Sindh minister for religious affairs Dr Irfan Gul Magsi with his friend went to a market in Block-7, Clifton and alighted the car Toyota. His friend Naveed stayed back at the driving seat. As the minister returned from a nearby shop, he saw three persons kidnapped Naveed at gunpoint and took him away with the car. The carjackers dropped Naveed at some distance and took away the car.
Many local leaders quit PTI
Oct 24: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf suffered another major setback with more than a dozen office-bearers of its Karachi chapter announcing a parting of the ways with the party. They maintained that the party chief, Imran Khan, had joined hands with the forces that had never practised democracy while being in power.
Hudood Ordinance: MQM MNA challenges religious scholars
Oct 24: A Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) MNA, Dr Amir Liaquat Hussain, has challenged the religious scholars and leaders to hold a live TV debate with him on Hudood Ordinance in which he claimed he would prove that this law was unIslamic. Talking to Dawn in Islamabad, the MQM MNA said the Hudood Ordinance had nothing to do with Islam and he could prove it with arguments. Dr Amir said there was no doubt that the word "Hudood" had its mention in Islam but the present Hudood Ordinance was completely unIslamic and it should be repealed immediately.
Opposition warns of Fata backlash against Army
Oct 24: The combined opposition, at a joint press conference in Islamabad, again warned the government and the Pakistan Army of backlash and growing hatred amongst the tribesmen over the ongoing operation in the Fata region. The combined opposition leaders - Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Maulana Meraj Din, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Raja Pervez Ashraf and Liaquat Baloch - demanded an immediate end to the killing of innocent and patriotic tribal people, who have defended Pakistan’s frontiers.
“Pakistan facing threat of militant attacks”
Oct 24: Ashraf Nasir, chief secretary of Balochistan said the threat of militant attacks had increased in the country’s rugged southwest bordering Afghanistan since Pakistan joined the US-led war on terror in 2001. Pakistan lacked the resources to halt infiltration by members of Afghanistan’s ousted Taliban and their al-Qaeda allies across the porous, mountainous border in Balochistan province, he said. "Pakistan’s decision to join the international anti-terror coalition has given militants a solid reason to fight against us," Ashraf Nasir, told reporters. Balochistan, which shares a 1,200 km long border with Afghanistan, has seen a spate of violence in recent months, including a suicide attack on a mosque in Quetta, in July that killed more than 50 people.
Security along Afghan border tightened: 589 checkpoints set up
Oct 25: Pakistan army has taken stringent security measures along the border with Afghanistan to check infiltration of terrorists and other undesired elements from across the border, NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah and Corps Commander Lt-Gen Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai said during separate briefings in Peshawar to a visiting team of ambassadors, high commissioners and diplomats posted in Islamabad. The team was apprised that two division headquarters, four brigade headquarters, 10 infantry battalions, three engineering battalions and one special services group (SSG) battalion had been deployed to check the movement of the suspected elements.
Al Qaeda man held in Faisalabad
Oct 25: Pakistani authorities arrested a foreign Al Qaeda suspect in Faisalabad, an intelligence official said. The Arab-speaking national is believed to be an important member of Al Qaeda with bounty on his head, the official told Reuters but gave no further details.
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan in N-talks, US media insists
Oct 25: Despite a strong denial by all three parties - the United States, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan - reports in the US media continue to claim that Islamabad and Riyadh have been involved in nuclear talks for sometime. A report published in the US newspapers today quoted two official US studies to make their points. One of the studies, conducted last year for the US State Department, reported that senior Saudi officials had discussed the prospect of nuclear weapons' cooperation with Pakistan.
Pakistani among top 10 US 'super cops'
Oct 25: A former Karachi police officer, Muzzaffar Siddiqi, is among America's 10 top police officers selected this year as "super cop" for their meritorious services. They received the annual Law Enforcement Awards from the International Association of Chiefs of Police at Philadelphia. Police chiefs from 89 countries, including two from Pakistan, attended the ceremony.
Respond or go to battlefield, India tells Pakistan
Oct 25: Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes said a series of proposals made by New Delhi this week, aimed at normalising relations with Pakistan, were part of the ‘last effort’ to take forward a process of rapprochement begun in April. Fernandes said: "You have only two options. Sit across the table and sort it out, or go to the battlefield. The fact of the matter is that ultimately even the prime minister can get tired." Fernandes said the 12 proposals, announced on Oct 22, were meant to give a final push to resume talks, but it didn’t imply that India had changed its stance that talks must be preceded by an end to cross-border incursions by in (held) Kashmir.
NA debates $700m cosmetics import from US
Oct 25: A brief question hour in the National Assembly was consumed on frantic discussion by law makers of the treasury benches on the issue of: "Should Pakistan waste almost half a billion dollars annually on the import of cosmetic goods for women from the United States?" The discussion among parliamentarians and Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan took a serious turn when an MNA of the National Alliance, Riaz Hussain Pirzada, passed a sarcastic remark against the female parliamentarians by linking them with cosmetics import from the US. "Have our women parliamentarians inducted through the LFO stopped using cosmetics because we see some slight drop in the total import of such goods from the US in 2002-2003 as compared to year 2001-2002," he put a straight question to a bewildered commerce minister.
Durrani wants Centre to stop action in Fata
Oct 26: NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani said that the province had asked the federal government to stop action in tribal areas and allow the provincial government to sort out things with tribesmen through negotiations. Mr Durrani said the province had told the federal government that the action would not give any positive result and, therefore, it must be stopped.
Rockets hit Kohlu town
Oct 26: Kohlu Township of Quetta was rocked when unknown terrorists fired two rockets from Jandran mountains. Official sources that the terrorists wanted to make target a checkpoint of the Frontier Corps but the rockets missed the target and landed and exploded at an open place.
Rules relaxed for minister to import vehicle
Oct 26: The government has allowed Federal Food Minister Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind to import a bullet-proof 2,500cc vehicle for personal use in relaxation of import rules, official sources told Dawn. The permission has been granted as a special case after the minister moved a summary, stating that he felt threatened by his tribal enemies. Sardar Rind hails from Kachhi district of Balochistan
Shahbaz launches political activity in UK
Oct 26: PML-N President Mian Shahbaz Sharif holds politicians as well as generals responsible for the situation facing the country at present. But he says time has come that mistakes of the past should be ignored to reconstruct Pakistan. He expressed these views while addressing a 'public meeting' in Manchester, UK, with which he started political activities despite being in exile. According to a press release issued by his spokesman in Lahore, Mian Shahbaz Sharif said his party had already decided to work to make the country as had been envisioned by the Quaid-i-Azam and Allama Iqbal.
Corruption cases rose by 770pc in 17 years
Oct 26: The registration of corruption cases has been increased by 770 per cent across the Punjab province during the last 17 years, from 1985 to 2002, the official figures revealed. The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Punjab had registered 370 cases in 1985, whereas as many as 3,000 cases were registered in 2002.
Bill targeting zero deficit presented
Oct 27: The government introduced in the National Assembly the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation Bill 2003 to make it binding on the government to bring down revenue deficit to zero by June 30, 2008, and maintain a revenue surplus thereafter. Briefing reporters about the bill, Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz said the economic managers of the country will be made answerable to parliament in case of any deviation from the set targets. Transparency about public spending and borrowings will be ensured through comprehensive public disclosures, he said.