Chronology of Pakistan
September 2003 (Continued V)
Musharraf to quit Army once democracy stable
Sept 26: President Pervez Musharraf, under heavy pressure from opposition legislators to quit as army chief, said that he would do so once it was clear the country had turned into a stable democracy. Musharraf told the Canadian parliament’s foreign affairs committee that he did eventually plan to quit as army chief — but not yet. "I do understand this is not democratic and I’ve said this very openly in Pakistan...but under the present circumstances of turmoil in the region, internationally and internally, there is a requirement of stability and unity of command that I am providing," he said.
Senate not provided details of cases against ministers
Sept 26 The government did not provide details of the National Accountability Bureau’s cases against the sitting federal ministers.The Senate was told that the information sought many months back by the opposition Senator, Prof Ghafoor Ahmed, was yet to be received in the Upper House.
Karzai urges Pakistan to shut Madaris preaching hatred
Sept 26: Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Pakistan needs to curb Islamic extremism by stopping Muslim clerics from preaching hatred and arresting Taliban leaders. Karzai spoke on Thursday at the non-profit Council on Foreign Relations in New York, just two days after President Pervez Musharraf addressed the same forum. "I want clear, visible action," Karzai said. "Afghanistan needs strong cooperation from its neighbours, especially Pakistan."
Nasrullah's death termed loss to democratic forces
Sept 27: A large number of politicians from across the country paid glowing tributes to the services of the late Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan for the cause of democracy in the country , and termed his death a great loss to the democratic forces. Former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, in their separate condolence messages, termed the death of the ARD chief a "national tragedy" and vowed to continue the mission of the departed soul. The people belonging to every strata of society expressed profound grief and sorrow over the death of Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan.
Six more Pakistanis cleared of charges
Sept 27: Canadian authorities have dropped what they called "security concerns" against six more Pakistani suspects, including a student-pilot who was allegedly scouting around the Pickering nuclear plant near Toronto. Twenty-one people, 20 Pakistanis and an Indian, were arrested in Toronto last month with police suspecting their links with Al Qaeda. Three Pakistanis were cleared of terrorist charges earlier this week but some of them may be tried for violation of immigration laws.
Veteran newsman Burki dies
Sept 27: H.K. Burki, one of Pakistan's most prominent journalists, died at a private hospital in Islamabad after a prolonged illness. He was 82. Besides a long and outstanding career in journalism, Mr Burki, born on November 10, 1920, had been an officer in the British Royal Indian Navy where he was a flotilla commander in the World War Two in Burma, and was a former Pakistan hockey captain. Mr Burki, also an associate of the London-based Royal Photographic Society, remained a foreign correspondent in London and at the United Nations in New York first for the Civil and Military Gazette and then for The Pakistan Times.
Musharraf denies calling MPs immature
Sept 27: President General Pervez Musharraf said he never used the words that could be referred to as the immaturity of parliamentarians and had only discussed the maturing of the "system". Talking to newsmen at Lahore International Airport at the end of his weeklong foreign visit, the president said, "I was astonished to see the news item attributed to me, calling the present assemblies immature".
MMA to ‘ditch’ president if deadline not given
Sept 27: The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal will recall its offer to vote for President Pervez Musharraf in case a cut-off date for quitting military office is not included in the constitutional package, MMA Deputy Secretary-General Liaquat Baloch told The News. He said that their alliance was committed to getting a cut-off date in the package. Because, he added, without it the negotiations would be meaningless. He said the MMA had resisted the pressure to have only verbal assurance from the president to this effect because "we want everything in black and white".
US lobbyist being paid $31,000 per month
Sept 27: Pakistan is regularly paying $31,000 per month to a US firm for the last six years to win the sympathies of White House inmates and Congressmen, according to the official papers sent to Senate by the Foreign Office. So far, Pakistan has made a payment of around $2 million to the same lobbying firm owned by a former friend of General Ziaul Haq. Charlie Wilson who owns the said firm had played an active role in mid 80s with pockets full of American Dollar when the Afghan war was being fought against the Russians from Pakistani soil. He was a regular visitor of Pakistan and used to enjoy considerable access in the government circles in those days. Now he is running Pakistani publicity and public relations campaign in USA since 1997.
HRCP urges Pakistan to follow ILO Conventions
Sept 27: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) urged the government to follow the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions in letter and spirit. I.A. Rehman, Director of the HRCP, demanded of the government of Pakistan to follow the international laws in formulating labour laws.
Fahim new ARD chief
Sept 28: The component parties of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy has elected People's Party Parliamentarians President Makhdoom Amin Fahim as ARD's new chairman, in a meeting held in Multan. Makhdoom Fahim's election follows the sad demise of ARD chief Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan on 26th Sept. All the heads of ARD's component parties participated in the meeting, which also reviewed the future strategy and line of action for the alliance in the absence of its driving force - the Nawabzada.
Al Qaeda calls on Pakistanis to oust Musharraf
Sept 28: Arabic satellite television broadcast an audio tape purporting to come from Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, in which he urged Pakistanis to overthrow President Pervez Musharraf for "betraying" Islam. The speaker on the tape, which was aired by Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya channels, also urged Muslims around the world to fight what Zawahri called the Christian-Zionist crusade "aimed at eradicating Islam and Muslims". It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the tape, the latest in a series of audio and video tapes released to the media since the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on the United States for which Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda is widely blamed.
Pakistan unlikely to ink Rome Statute of ICC
Sept 28: Pakistan is unlikely to sign the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in its present form because among other reservations it is against giving the UN Security Council dominance over the ICC , official sources told Dawn. The Rome Statute was enforced in July 2002. The ICC has jurisdiction in accordance with the legislation over persons with respect to the crimes of genocide, human rights violation, war crimes and aggression. Pakistan had voted in favor of the statute at the UN Conference of Plenipotentiaries in 1998, but has not signed the agreement because of certain concerns. India, Israel and China have also not signed the treaty as yet. The United States had signed the treaty in December 2000, but did not ratify it because of concerns regarding the ICC's jurisdiction over its nationals which it considered as an infringement upon its sovereignty.
C’wealth extends Pakistan’s suspension
Sept 28: Foreign ministers of the Commonwealth countries have decided to extend Pakistan’s suspension from the 54-country group. The Commonwealth said in a statement at the end of a two-day meeting in New York, a deadlock between the government and opposition in Pakistan makes it clear more needs to be done toward restoring a democratic civilian government. The Ministerial Action Group, composed of foreign ministers from Australia, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Botswana, India, Malta, Nigeria and Samoa, was meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s annual ministerial meeting.
Benazir offers deal on LFO
Sept 29: Former prime minister and Chairperson Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Benazir Bhutto said her party was ready to lend unconditional support to the government on certain clauses of the Legal Framework Order, while it wanted give-and-take on some others. Talking to The News at the residence of Dr Manzoor Javed in Maryland, on the outskirts of the US capital, she said the PPP is ready to support unconditionally the clauses of the LFO about joint electorate, women seats in parliament and the devolution of powers to the lower level.
US bombs Pak area as Taliban intensify attacks
Sept 29: US warplanes again bombed Pakistani territory in South Waziristan Agency in pursuit of wanted Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, but no casualties or damage to property was reported. Locals claiming to be eyewitnesses informed The News from Angoor Adda, the border town in the tribal agency, said that as many as four bombs were dropped in the mountainous Zia Uoba area at about 12 noon.
Pakistani leaders reject al-Qaeda’s calls
Sept 29: Leaders of different political and religious parties in the country rejected calls attributed to the al-Qaeda’s number two to overthrow President Pervez Musharraf for betraying Islam. The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) dismissed the calls attributed to Ayman al-Zawahri as violent. "We do not subscribe to Zawahiri’s or anyone else’s views," JI senator Khurshid Ahmed told AFP. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman also rejected the calls. "We don’t need guidelines from al-Zawahri or any other leaders from outside," he said. The Jamaat-ud-Dawa said that the voice on the tape had to be proven. "It is not suitable to comment unless the authenticity of the audiotape is verified," spokesman Yahya Mujahid told AFP.
Debt reduction figures questioned
Sept 30: Senator Ishaq Dar, a former finance minister in the Nawaz Sharif government and parliamentary leader of PML-N in the Senate contested the government's claim that it had reduced foreign debt by two billion dollars in the last three years. He said the claim was contradicted by the figures the government had itself provided to parliamentarians through question-answer documents which showed that the foreign debt outstanding on June 30, 2001, was $27.6 billion as against $30.4 billion on March 31, 2003 - an increase of $2.8 billion over two years.
US planes bomb house in tribal area
Sept 30: US planes dropped bombs at a house near the border town of Angor Adda in South Waziristan Agency, 415km south-west of Islamabad. A local resident, told Dawn on telephone from Angor Adda that two planes dropped bombs at the house of Badshah Jan in Jabba area, two kilometres north of Angor Adda at around 2pm. He said that nobody was hurt in the air raid as nobody was in the house.
''Musharraf's foreign visit cost Rs17.2m'
Sept 30: A sum of Rs17.221 million was spent on President Gen Pervez Musharraf's visit to the United States and three European countries, the National Assembly was informed. In a written reply to a question raised by MNA Shabir Ahmed Khan, Foreign Minister Mian Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said the amount was spent on the president's visit to the US, United Kingdom, France and Germany.
US agrees to bolster Pak defence
Sept 30: Pakistan has demanded a defense system from the United States to counter the Indian acquisition of Phalcon air borne system from Israel. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad after attending a meeting of the Pak-US Defense Consultative Group (DCG) in the US, Secretary Defense Lt General (retd) Hamid Nawaz said the US defense department agreed to the list of all the defense procurement items given by Pakistan except those which require approval of Congress.
Pakistani banks sharing foreign currency account details with FBI
Sept 30: Pakistan has allowed information about foreign currency bank accounts in Pakistani banks to be shared with government authorities in the United States, The News said. The American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are seeking, and getting, the private account details of remittances being sent into banks in Pakistan from anywhere in the world, bankers and other officials have told The News.
‘ANP does not support Hudood laws’
Sept 30: Awami National Party (ANP) is not supporting Hudood Laws, said the ANP parliamentary leader Bashir Ahmad Bilour. Talking to The News at the NWFP Assembly, he said they all were Muslims and had no objection over the Islamic punishments but before punishing the people, a true Islamic society must be established. "Islam is not the name of chopping hands and other parts of the human body," he said adding though Islam orders to amputate the hands of thieves the rulers would have to think over the reasons as to why the person was compelled to commit the crime. He said it was the responsibility of the Islamic government to first fulfill all the requirements of its citizen and then award punishment to them if they commit any crime.