By Rauf Klasra
ISLAMABAD: As if the generous writing off of loans worth Rs59.94billion during the General Pervez Musharraf reign wasn’t bad enough, now official documents show that hundreds of these borrowers were even given these loans with such casualness and deliberate neglect that not even the national identity cards of the borrowers were demanded by the banks, what to talk of other collateral and sureties.
The official record of these written off loans submitted to the National Assembly and available with The News revealed that in an unbelievable large number of cases the lending institutions, a bank and another (now defunct) financial entity, had issued huge loans to the individuals without even getting their National Identity Cards (NICs) as per prudential requirements.
The bank has not given any reason about how the loans were issued to these business parties and the individuals without getting their proper NICs as per requirements. One official has commented that this was not possible without the active collaboration of the bank officials as no bank could give loan to anyone without NICs.
The following cases reveal just another ugly aspect of this sordid plunder of national wealth where, barring a few genuine deserving cases, billions were siphoned away by hundreds of corrupt businessmen colluding with equally corrupt bankers. There were some genuine cases where loans were written off in accordance with the rules. In all cases listed below, none of the cited borrowers had been forced by the lending institutions to submit their ID cards, an otherwise basic requirement.
The ID cards of five directors of Ms Bawani Industries were missing. This loan was ultimately written off.
One foreign national Saral Dynamic Hardware Bobignv too managed to get a loan of Rs5.5million and later got his total outstanding Rs6.4million written off including the principal amount and Rs0.8million mark up. The loan was given in foreign currency to this foreign national.
The two banks wrote off billions of rupees during the Musharraf era and in one case, the defunct bank wrote off a loan of Rs137million outstanding against four individuals.
First Tawakal Modrab Karachi got Rs 628million written off while the borrowers—-Abdul Qadir Tawakal, Rafiq Tawakal,Ali Husasin Mooney and Abid Husain did not even bother submitting their NICs. Shahfa Corporation Lahore and its owners Saluddin Ahmed Sahaf, Wajiddin Mahmood Shaf also got Rs146million written off. Regnet Dyeing and Finishing Mills also got Rs 91million written including Rs50million principal loan. Fatima Foods Lahore also got Rs 80million written off with Rs 40million principal loan waived off. National Garments also got Rs 335million written off including Rs 140million principal amount. In Multan Mohib textile got Rs 1.17billion written off including principal amount of Rs546million. In Karachi Bawani Industries got Rs 70million written off including 11.3million principal amount. The names of the fathers of borrowers are not on official record of the bank who got this loan written off.
The papers show that even a London based n ex-employee of a bank, Abdul Haleem also got Rs 2.744million written off and now the bank says it did not have even the ID card of its own former employee available in record. His principal loan was Rs 2.7million which was written off.
Adamjee Industries also got Rs 48million written off including Rs168million principal amount. Farooq Sheikh, Mrs Shereen Farooq, Zafar Sheikh, Mumtaz Saleem, Tahir Sehikh got Rs 168million loan and got the whole principal wavied off. They also got the mark up of Rs225million written off too. Master Rubber Tyer owners Fayyaz Malik and Farooq Malik got 52m written off.
Even an industrial unit Ms Metropolitan National Textile Karachi owned by Sikandar Ali Jatoi, Mazhar Ali Jatoi, Jamal Hassan, SM Masood was given the loan without any NICs. A sum of Rs190million outstanding the Jaoti family was also written off.
The papers showed that even, the owners of Daweeo Corporation -Kim Woo Choong, Kim Joun Sung, Lee Woo Bok, Yoon Nuke Neon, Chug Myuong Kul did not submit their Ids at the time of obtaining Rs10.8million loan. Interestingly, the same amount was later written off by the bank. They got principal amount written off in addition to Rs2.3million mark up payable against this loan.
Even Ch Shujaat Hussain, Pervez Elahi and their family members who got Rs37.987 loan written off never produced their national identity cards.
Hearts International Rawalpindi got Rs0.9million written off while the bank did not have the IDs of Dr Major Gen retired Zulifkar Ali Khan, Dr Abdus Qudus Khan, Mohammad Rafi, Shamim Ashraf Khan, Naheed Mashud Kiani, Rahat Azfa. Johoson and Philips also got Rs 64 million loan written off and there is no record of NICs of the borrowers-Bilal Ahmed Qureshi, Raja Ahmed Khan, Habibulah Baig, Rasid Y Chinoy, Abdul Rehman Khan, Syed Abdul Noor. Johnson and Philips again got another loan of Rs26million written off and once again the same borrowers did not give their NICs. Ahmed Chemical limited owners Aftab Khan, Jehan Ara Khan, Mahjabeen Ahmed, Sabiuddin Ahmed, Iqbal Ahmed Khan, Iram Aftab, Aftab Ahmed Khan NICs are not available. They got Rs0.6million written off. Ksornos Corporation Lahore also got Rs 4.3million written off. Again NICs of Sh Abdul Hafeez, Sh Imran Hafeez, Sh Salman Hafeez, Sh Nauman Hafeez, Qari Khalid Mahmood, Shahbaz Murad and Zahida Hafeez are not available in the record. Zodesh Limited got Rs 40million written off. The borrowers Zoraia Lashari, Imrana Lashari, Ms Lubna Lashari and Hayat Khan did not give NICs.
GUJRAT: Mohammad Akram Rs 2.5m, Fazal Hussain Rs 0.6m, Malik Mohammad Akthar 0.5m, Yaqoob Brothers Rs 0.5m, Nisa Enterprise Rs 0.5m (Islamabad).
Mohammad Saleem Rs0.7m,
QUETTA: Abdul Qadir Rs 0.511m, Mohammad Alm Rs 0.4m, Haji Moula Dad Kalat Rs 0.5m, Mohammad Hassan Rs 0.5m, Mohammad Ramzan Rs 0.5m, Gul Mohammad Rs 0.5m,
KARACHI: Babar Rafiq Rs0/6, Mosar Ahmed Rs 0.5m, Qaisaurz Zaman Rs 0.6m, Sajid Husain Rs 0.570m, Nasir Rafique Rs 0.531m, Badar Ahmed Rs0.596m, Mazhar Fared Rs 0.683m, Khalid Mahmood Rs 0.653m, Saeed Ahmed 0.61m, Jawad Textile Industries 1m, Masnoor Yousuf Rs0.536m, Mohammad Ismail Rs0.595m, Amir Hashmi Rs0.5m, Sajid Ali Rs0.7m, Mushtaq Hussain Rs 0.579m, Tahir Ehtasham RS 0.6M, Mohammad Noman Bhatti Rs 0.54m, Saleemuddin Rs 0.522m, Anisuddin Rs 0.522m, Monbina Begum Rs0.639m, Miss Tabasum Shehnaz Rs 0.6m, Mohammad Yousuf Rs 0.665m, Mant Lal Mault Rs 0.674m, Athar Maqbool Rs 0.7m, Shahid Khan Rs 0.5m, Azaam Afridi Rs 0.633m, Syed Qasim Hussain Rs 0.539m, Abdul Qayyum Rs 0.681m, Mohammad Burhan Khan Rs0.825m, Syed Khurram Raza Naqvi Rs 0.543m, Hassan Shakeel Rs 0.825m, Ali Hassan Rs 0.534m, Mohammad Irfan Khan Rs 0.550m, Shafiq Ahmed RS 0.820M, Ali Hassan Hassan Rs 0.534m, Mohammad Irfan Khan Rs 0.550M, Khawaja Moin Hasan Rs 0.666m, Raza Hasan Rs0.528m, Syed Afaq Moid Rs 0.679m, Syed Mohammad Nasim Ali Rs0.680m, Syed Aslam Ali Rs0.67m, Asif Rehman Rs 0.665m, Asim Ilyas Rs 0.5m, Adnan Hassan Rs 0.820m, Syed Rasheed Ahmed Rs0.5m, Mobina Afzal Rs 0.7m, Kamran Rauf Rs 0.74m, Najma Akthar Rs0.825m, S Sharifuddin Rs 0.825m, Imtiaz Hussain Zaidi Rs 0.6m, Khalid Baig Rs 0.589m, Mohammad Awan RS 0.6M, Tariq Baloch Rs0.668m, Mohammad Mobin Sheikh Rs 0.614m, Ms Golden Paint industries Rs0.7m, Mohammad Arshad Shakeel Rs 1.441m, Altaf Hussain Shah Rs 0.5m, Mehmoodul Hassan Rs 0.548m, Mashuddin Rs0.9m, Atizaudin Rs 1.5m, Wajihuddin Rs1.5m, Ihtashamuddin Rs 0.557m, FS Aizauddin Rs 0.5m, FS Azauddin Rs 0.58m, Mrs Rubina Rs 0.655m, Abdul Azim RS 0.556M, Abdul Razakk Rs 0.5m, Akthar Hussain Rs 0.519m, Asif Soomro Rs 0.554m, Fayyaz Ahmed Rs 0.544m, M Saleem Rs 0.539m, Sadiq Bano Rs 0.54m, Moizudin Rs 0.562m, Abdul Haq Rs0.5m, Mrs Kasuar Perveen Rs0.514m, Mohammad Rafiq Rs 0.551m, Mohammad Saleem Rs 0.591, Rana Mohmmad Rs0.545m, Rukhsana Begum Rs0.504m, S. Rehan Shahid Rs0.560m. Hssan Khan Rs 0.503m, Kashan Ali Rs 0.624m, Saleem Medical Store Rs 1.5million, Ms Huma Electric Inds Nameem Ullsah Rs 1.4m, Ms Tariq Electric Inds Rs 3.2m, Ms New National Steel Inds Rs 2.5million, Ms Kashmir Industrial Corp Rs 1.1m,
Irfan Basharat Rs 2.1m, Jhangir Hadier Rs 6.5m, Mohammad Sadiq Rs 2.66m, Punjab Ceremaic owners Zahid Shkeel Rs 7.6million, Ms Gulberg Caters owned by Mohammad Aslam Rs0.9m.
Showing posts with label pervez musharraf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pervez musharraf. Show all posts
Political storm brews for President Zardari
President Asif Ali Zardari is facing mounting pressure to relinquish many of his powers, raising the spectre of a damaging political fracas just as the nation battles the Taliban.
Only 15 months into his rule, Zardari is contending with rock-bottom public opinion, strained relations with the powerful military, a bloody insurgency and a vocal opposition party challenging his rule.
He has lost much of the public sympathy that helped his Pakistan People's Party (PPP) win elections in early 2008, soon after the assassination of his wife, the hugely popular two-time prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
Political tensions that have simmered for months bubbled to the surface over the weekend, when a legal amnesty protecting Zardari and key aides from corruption cases expired, plunging the nation into uncertainly.
‘At this point of time when the country needs undivided attention to face its challenges, the government could get entangled in legal battles and their future is so uncertain,’ said independent political analyst Talat Masood.
The corruption amnesty, known as the National Reconciliation Ordinance, was passed by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in 2007.
It quashed charges against Zardari, Benazir Bhutto and other politicians in a gesture of political reconciliation as Musharraf faced increasing pressure to end nearly nine years of military rule and restore democratic elections.
Zardari spent several years in jail for corruption and is still referred to as ‘Mr Ten Per cent’ because of his reputation for allegedly taking kickbacks on deals.
Succeeding Musharraf as president in September 2008, Zardari has immunity from prosecution. But that immunity could now be challenged in the Supreme Court, opening the door for prosecution on outstanding cases.
Rasool Bakhsh Raees, a professor of political science at Lahore University of Management Sciences, said there were numerous grounds for challenging his immunity. And with so many foes, Zardari's position looked perilous.
‘The legal process is going to take its course, and if it does I see slim survival chances for the PPP leadership including President Zardari,’ he said.
Weathering the storm will take political savvy on Zardari's part.
The president on Saturday gave control of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, widely seen as a move to fend off criticism by making good on electoral promises to devolve greater power to parliament.
‘It is a signal to political parties and the army that he is willing to accept his reduced position as a figurehead,’ said Raees.
But this will unlikely be enough to appease his critics.
The opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz is calling on Zardari to relinquish powers he inherited from Musharraf to dissolve parliament and sack the prime minister — the so-called 17th amendment to the constitution.
A key problem, Masood said, was that Zardari had very few allies left. ‘The media and military are not very supportive, which means his future is really uncertain and he will have to surrender his powers.’
Tensions have simmered between the army and Zardari for months, notably over a US aid package signed into law in Washington in October.
It earned a terse rebuke from army chief General Ashfaq Kayani, who expressed ‘serious concerns’ about strings attached to some of the funding.
Any political fracas will likely unnerve Pakistan's Western allies, who have been pressing Islamabad to expand a multi-pronged offensive launched earlier this year against Taliban militants across swathes of the northwest.
The offensives have sparked a wave of retaliatory suicide bombings by the Taliban, with more than 430 people killed in Pakistan in the past two months.
‘Politicians are not paying attention to real issues; the war against the Taliban, suicide bombings and the economy,’ said Hasan Askari, a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University.
‘Pakistani politics is personalised, and only the issues which can pull down Zardari are being focussed on.’
Only 15 months into his rule, Zardari is contending with rock-bottom public opinion, strained relations with the powerful military, a bloody insurgency and a vocal opposition party challenging his rule.
He has lost much of the public sympathy that helped his Pakistan People's Party (PPP) win elections in early 2008, soon after the assassination of his wife, the hugely popular two-time prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
Political tensions that have simmered for months bubbled to the surface over the weekend, when a legal amnesty protecting Zardari and key aides from corruption cases expired, plunging the nation into uncertainly.
‘At this point of time when the country needs undivided attention to face its challenges, the government could get entangled in legal battles and their future is so uncertain,’ said independent political analyst Talat Masood.
The corruption amnesty, known as the National Reconciliation Ordinance, was passed by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in 2007.
It quashed charges against Zardari, Benazir Bhutto and other politicians in a gesture of political reconciliation as Musharraf faced increasing pressure to end nearly nine years of military rule and restore democratic elections.
Zardari spent several years in jail for corruption and is still referred to as ‘Mr Ten Per cent’ because of his reputation for allegedly taking kickbacks on deals.
Succeeding Musharraf as president in September 2008, Zardari has immunity from prosecution. But that immunity could now be challenged in the Supreme Court, opening the door for prosecution on outstanding cases.
Rasool Bakhsh Raees, a professor of political science at Lahore University of Management Sciences, said there were numerous grounds for challenging his immunity. And with so many foes, Zardari's position looked perilous.
‘The legal process is going to take its course, and if it does I see slim survival chances for the PPP leadership including President Zardari,’ he said.
Weathering the storm will take political savvy on Zardari's part.
The president on Saturday gave control of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, widely seen as a move to fend off criticism by making good on electoral promises to devolve greater power to parliament.
‘It is a signal to political parties and the army that he is willing to accept his reduced position as a figurehead,’ said Raees.
But this will unlikely be enough to appease his critics.
The opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz is calling on Zardari to relinquish powers he inherited from Musharraf to dissolve parliament and sack the prime minister — the so-called 17th amendment to the constitution.
A key problem, Masood said, was that Zardari had very few allies left. ‘The media and military are not very supportive, which means his future is really uncertain and he will have to surrender his powers.’
Tensions have simmered between the army and Zardari for months, notably over a US aid package signed into law in Washington in October.
It earned a terse rebuke from army chief General Ashfaq Kayani, who expressed ‘serious concerns’ about strings attached to some of the funding.
Any political fracas will likely unnerve Pakistan's Western allies, who have been pressing Islamabad to expand a multi-pronged offensive launched earlier this year against Taliban militants across swathes of the northwest.
The offensives have sparked a wave of retaliatory suicide bombings by the Taliban, with more than 430 people killed in Pakistan in the past two months.
‘Politicians are not paying attention to real issues; the war against the Taliban, suicide bombings and the economy,’ said Hasan Askari, a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University.
‘Pakistani politics is personalised, and only the issues which can pull down Zardari are being focussed on.’
Zardari forces closure of ‘Meray Mutabiq’ in Dubai
Dr Shahid faces life threats; Geo programme to be telecast from another location; bar widely condemned
Under immense pressure from President Asif Ali Zardari on the Dubai government, ‘Meray Mutabiq’, the popular programme of Dr Shahid Masood on Geo TV, was banned from being telecast on Monday night from the Dubai studios of Geo TV.
Dr Masood presented his programme from a different location without the use of his studio and technical facilities and announced that he had been stopped by the local authorities from presenting his programme.
The popular talk show host also disclosed that he had received serious life threats from PPP leaders who had told him to come to Pakistan and conduct his programme from this country and then “we will see you”.
In an exact replay of the Musharraf era, the use of influence and pressure on a foreign government by the president of Pakistan is a direct attack on the freedom of the press in Pakistan, the Geo TV management said in a statement on Monday night.
It announced that the programme will still be telecast from a different location, as was done on Monday night.The management of Geo TV condemned the action of the Pakistani authorities to use the influence of a foreign government to deny freedom of expression and the Press.
Monday night’s programme of Dr Shahid Masood featured Group Editor of The News Shaheen Sehbai and Editor Investigations of The News Ansar Abbasi, who condemned the action, and with one voice declared that the action would not force Geo TV to succumb to government pressure.
Shaheen Sehbai expressed shock and regret and said the action showed that the PPP leaders had pushed the panic button in desperation otherwise there was no reason why they could not tolerate the voice of any journalist or any TV talk show host.
Sehbai said the action by the PPP rulers was a direct negation of democracy and freedom of speech and would be resisted by all democracy and freedom loving people in Pakistan and round the world. In today’s world of instant communications, Internet, U-Tube, SMS, emails, Twitter and private phone-videos, such a ban was nothing but sheer stupidity.
Journalist Ansar Abbasi said the journalists community had fought similar bans throughout their careers, specially under dictators, and they had always won and they will again win this time. But he said the regrettable part was that the curbs had been imposed by a government which called itself democratically elected.
Dr Shahid Masood in his statement revealed that he had been receiving threats to his life and the banning of his show in Dubai was a clear proof of the desperation and panic in the government. He, however, expressed his determination to continue speaking the truth and exposing the corruption and wrongdoings of the government, without fear.
Geo TV has always raised issues of public importance and had been in the vanguard of the movement for the restoration of the judges, against corruption of public money and for democracy and rule of law.
These issues had resulted in a similar ban imposed by the former dictator General Musharraf for three months after the imposition of the Nov 3 emergency but Geo TV and its journalists and TV hosts stood their ground and finally saw the dictator disappear into the dustbin of history.
The government action against Geo TV programme was immediately condemned by a wide spectrum of political leaders, media organisations and human rights bodies. Spokesman of the PML-N Ahsan Iqbal said it was an attack on the democratic freedom guaranteed under the Constitution and his party strongly condemned it. Chairman of the Pakistan Human Rights Commission Iqbal Haider called it a crude attack on all democratic norms and a violation of constitution which will be fought with full force.
Under immense pressure from President Asif Ali Zardari on the Dubai government, ‘Meray Mutabiq’, the popular programme of Dr Shahid Masood on Geo TV, was banned from being telecast on Monday night from the Dubai studios of Geo TV.
Dr Masood presented his programme from a different location without the use of his studio and technical facilities and announced that he had been stopped by the local authorities from presenting his programme.
The popular talk show host also disclosed that he had received serious life threats from PPP leaders who had told him to come to Pakistan and conduct his programme from this country and then “we will see you”.
In an exact replay of the Musharraf era, the use of influence and pressure on a foreign government by the president of Pakistan is a direct attack on the freedom of the press in Pakistan, the Geo TV management said in a statement on Monday night.
It announced that the programme will still be telecast from a different location, as was done on Monday night.The management of Geo TV condemned the action of the Pakistani authorities to use the influence of a foreign government to deny freedom of expression and the Press.
Monday night’s programme of Dr Shahid Masood featured Group Editor of The News Shaheen Sehbai and Editor Investigations of The News Ansar Abbasi, who condemned the action, and with one voice declared that the action would not force Geo TV to succumb to government pressure.
Shaheen Sehbai expressed shock and regret and said the action showed that the PPP leaders had pushed the panic button in desperation otherwise there was no reason why they could not tolerate the voice of any journalist or any TV talk show host.
Sehbai said the action by the PPP rulers was a direct negation of democracy and freedom of speech and would be resisted by all democracy and freedom loving people in Pakistan and round the world. In today’s world of instant communications, Internet, U-Tube, SMS, emails, Twitter and private phone-videos, such a ban was nothing but sheer stupidity.
Journalist Ansar Abbasi said the journalists community had fought similar bans throughout their careers, specially under dictators, and they had always won and they will again win this time. But he said the regrettable part was that the curbs had been imposed by a government which called itself democratically elected.
Dr Shahid Masood in his statement revealed that he had been receiving threats to his life and the banning of his show in Dubai was a clear proof of the desperation and panic in the government. He, however, expressed his determination to continue speaking the truth and exposing the corruption and wrongdoings of the government, without fear.
Geo TV has always raised issues of public importance and had been in the vanguard of the movement for the restoration of the judges, against corruption of public money and for democracy and rule of law.
These issues had resulted in a similar ban imposed by the former dictator General Musharraf for three months after the imposition of the Nov 3 emergency but Geo TV and its journalists and TV hosts stood their ground and finally saw the dictator disappear into the dustbin of history.
The government action against Geo TV programme was immediately condemned by a wide spectrum of political leaders, media organisations and human rights bodies. Spokesman of the PML-N Ahsan Iqbal said it was an attack on the democratic freedom guaranteed under the Constitution and his party strongly condemned it. Chairman of the Pakistan Human Rights Commission Iqbal Haider called it a crude attack on all democratic norms and a violation of constitution which will be fought with full force.
Pakistan Army clears contentious parts of Baloachistan Package
The Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani after getting some solid guarantees from the top military leadership of the country, is all set to announce an immediate ban on the construction of new military cantonments in Balochistan, general amnesty for the armed activists of the Balochistan Liberation Army(BLA) and talks offer to three rebel leaders-Herbiyar Murree, Baramdagh Bugti and Attaullah Khan Mengal, in his speech in the parliament today (Tuesday).
The sources said, the Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani was said to have endorsed the new package after the Prime Minister Gilani sat down with him and ISI Chief General Shujja Pasha to discuss all the important points of this package concerning the role of military in Balochistan.
The sources said, the ban on construction of cantonment and release the missing Baloch persons was said to have been made part of the package after the clearance from the top military leadership.
The sources said, it has been decided by the government that the that military would not construct new cantonments in the province however the two old cantonments would stay functional. Likewise, it was decided that the heads of the Balochistan and Gawadar Authority would be from Balochistan and no outsider would be appointed there. The SAINDAK and RECODIK contracts might also be reviewed to give ownership to the local Baloch people, with Islamabad only dealing ‘on their behalf’ with foreign contractors.
The top government sources privy to this major development of Balochistan package claimed that as a part of the short term strategy PM Gilani would direct the concerned secret agencies, forces and department to ensure the immediate production of all the missing persons in the province. One source said, the missing persons were being produced and released to create a friendly environment for the start of talks with the rebel leaders, Harbiyar Murree, Barahdagh Bugti and Akthar Mengal, who have been championing the cause of an independent Balochistan.
One top source claimed that these top leaders were taken into confidence by the powers that be before giving a final shape to the Balochistan Package but it might take some time before they come to the negotiating table as these leaders are likely to adopt a wait and see approach before publicly reciprocating the package initiative.
Meanwhile, in a bid to take the friendly Muslim countries into confidence before tabling the “Rahe-i- Haqooq Balochistan” package, a top federal minister, with strong links within both the PM House and Presidency, was given the task to give a secret briefing to about 50 Afro-Arabs ambassadors at the residence of Egyptian ambassador. The briefing was given to take all the ambassadors on board to counter international conspiracies being hatched to destabilize Balochistan.
Meanwhile, inside sources said, the backdoor channels unleashed by President Asif Zardari had played an important role in bringing the Baloch rebel leaders back to the negotiating table. Mr. Zardari was said to have used his Sindhi and Baloch contacts to get Baloch rebel leaders to agree to a new package on Balochistan before start of meaningful talks in the long run. These sources claimed that the PPP government in Islamabad had quietly paid a considerable amount to help Herbiyar Murree to fight a terrorism case in UK and get himself acquitted. The sources said, the amount was paid as a part of Confidence Building Measures(CBM) as PPP government greatly helped him to get the cases against him settled in the British courts. Herbiyar Murree was arrested by British Authorities in December 2007 on the request of General Musharraf. Before the arrest of Herbiyar, his brother Balach Marri was targeted and killed less than a fortnight ago. General Musharraf was using Rashid Rauf as a bargaining chip to bring Herbiyar Marri to Pakistan. But, now Islamabad has apparently taken a reconciliatory approach to soften the Baloch leader and this move may just pay dividends as PM goes to announce the new package.
Likewise, sources said, during the backdoor negotiation with Baramdagh Bugti, the PPP government had also agreed to offer him some concessions. Baramdagh was said to have asked the official negotiators to first give him a new green passport as his old one had expired.
The sources said, the establishment forces too had been in touch with Sardar Akthar Mengal on the issue of new initiatives as the Baloch leaders knew that political commitments with them would not work unless the establishment forces gave them firm assurances. The sources said, the Baloch leaders were now taking these initiatives seriously. The sources said, the abolition of cases against Akthar Mengal and his colleagues on terrorism charges during Musharraf regime had played a major role in convincing these leaders in showing flexibility and resuming a dialogue with the government.
The joint session of the parliament would continue even after the Eid so that the house could debate the new package before its approval. It was decided that a parliamentary committee would be formed to monitor the progress on this package after getting the full nod of the parliament as all these arrangements would be given a legal shape so as the Baloch rebel leadership could not find any excuse on the basis of trust deficit.
The sources said, earlier a four and half hours long meeting was presided over by the PM Gilani on Monday to give a final shape to the new package and his speech to be delivered in the joint sitting on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by Khurshid Shah, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Dr Babar Awan, Raza Rabbani, Naveed Qamar and others.
The sources said, the Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani was said to have endorsed the new package after the Prime Minister Gilani sat down with him and ISI Chief General Shujja Pasha to discuss all the important points of this package concerning the role of military in Balochistan.
The sources said, the ban on construction of cantonment and release the missing Baloch persons was said to have been made part of the package after the clearance from the top military leadership.
The sources said, it has been decided by the government that the that military would not construct new cantonments in the province however the two old cantonments would stay functional. Likewise, it was decided that the heads of the Balochistan and Gawadar Authority would be from Balochistan and no outsider would be appointed there. The SAINDAK and RECODIK contracts might also be reviewed to give ownership to the local Baloch people, with Islamabad only dealing ‘on their behalf’ with foreign contractors.
The top government sources privy to this major development of Balochistan package claimed that as a part of the short term strategy PM Gilani would direct the concerned secret agencies, forces and department to ensure the immediate production of all the missing persons in the province. One source said, the missing persons were being produced and released to create a friendly environment for the start of talks with the rebel leaders, Harbiyar Murree, Barahdagh Bugti and Akthar Mengal, who have been championing the cause of an independent Balochistan.
One top source claimed that these top leaders were taken into confidence by the powers that be before giving a final shape to the Balochistan Package but it might take some time before they come to the negotiating table as these leaders are likely to adopt a wait and see approach before publicly reciprocating the package initiative.
Meanwhile, in a bid to take the friendly Muslim countries into confidence before tabling the “Rahe-i- Haqooq Balochistan” package, a top federal minister, with strong links within both the PM House and Presidency, was given the task to give a secret briefing to about 50 Afro-Arabs ambassadors at the residence of Egyptian ambassador. The briefing was given to take all the ambassadors on board to counter international conspiracies being hatched to destabilize Balochistan.
Meanwhile, inside sources said, the backdoor channels unleashed by President Asif Zardari had played an important role in bringing the Baloch rebel leaders back to the negotiating table. Mr. Zardari was said to have used his Sindhi and Baloch contacts to get Baloch rebel leaders to agree to a new package on Balochistan before start of meaningful talks in the long run. These sources claimed that the PPP government in Islamabad had quietly paid a considerable amount to help Herbiyar Murree to fight a terrorism case in UK and get himself acquitted. The sources said, the amount was paid as a part of Confidence Building Measures(CBM) as PPP government greatly helped him to get the cases against him settled in the British courts. Herbiyar Murree was arrested by British Authorities in December 2007 on the request of General Musharraf. Before the arrest of Herbiyar, his brother Balach Marri was targeted and killed less than a fortnight ago. General Musharraf was using Rashid Rauf as a bargaining chip to bring Herbiyar Marri to Pakistan. But, now Islamabad has apparently taken a reconciliatory approach to soften the Baloch leader and this move may just pay dividends as PM goes to announce the new package.
Likewise, sources said, during the backdoor negotiation with Baramdagh Bugti, the PPP government had also agreed to offer him some concessions. Baramdagh was said to have asked the official negotiators to first give him a new green passport as his old one had expired.
The sources said, the establishment forces too had been in touch with Sardar Akthar Mengal on the issue of new initiatives as the Baloch leaders knew that political commitments with them would not work unless the establishment forces gave them firm assurances. The sources said, the Baloch leaders were now taking these initiatives seriously. The sources said, the abolition of cases against Akthar Mengal and his colleagues on terrorism charges during Musharraf regime had played a major role in convincing these leaders in showing flexibility and resuming a dialogue with the government.
The joint session of the parliament would continue even after the Eid so that the house could debate the new package before its approval. It was decided that a parliamentary committee would be formed to monitor the progress on this package after getting the full nod of the parliament as all these arrangements would be given a legal shape so as the Baloch rebel leadership could not find any excuse on the basis of trust deficit.
The sources said, earlier a four and half hours long meeting was presided over by the PM Gilani on Monday to give a final shape to the new package and his speech to be delivered in the joint sitting on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by Khurshid Shah, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Dr Babar Awan, Raza Rabbani, Naveed Qamar and others.
US given a ‘computer look’: Hersh
WASHINGTON: The United States sought ‘some control, some insight’ into Pakistan’s nuclear command and control system as a means to encourage India to reduce troops at the eastern border, journalist Seymour Hersh told Dawn.
In an interview in Washington, Mr Hersh said that such an arrangement was needed to allow Islamabad to focus on the fight against the extremists along the Afghan border.
In his article in The New Yorker magazine, Mr Hersh claimed that the United States had a covert team ready to fly into Pakistan at a moment’s notice and defend nuclear installations from possible militant attacks.
Mr Hersh’s claims caused an angry reaction in Islamabad where Pakistani officials and the US Ambassador, Anne Patterson, rejected his report as ‘false and baseless’.
Mr Hersh also wrote that he had evidence the US administration had been working on ‘highly sensitive understandings’ with Pakistan’s military that would let the US military provide ‘added security for the Pakistani arsenal in case of a crisis’.
Mr Hersh claimed that a ‘highly classified’ emergency response team had already been activated within the past few months in response to a report that a Pakistani nuclear component had ‘gone astray’.
He pointed out that a good look at the US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen’s recent testimonies at Congress showed that the US and Pakistan had had three years of contacts on this issue.
‘We were given access, a computer look. I am not saying Americans were running around with cameras and were checking out things with their eyes.’
Mr Hersh claimed that this computer access was given in March or April, after the Obama administration finalised its Af-Pak policy.
The policy required Pakistan to deploy more troops at the Afghan border to go after the Taliban.
The Americans, he said, wanted the Indians to pull away first, so that Pakistan could focus on the Afghan border. ‘The Indians said, no. We have 80 nuke weapons pointed at us, we cannot pull back.’
The Americans thought they could encourage the Indians to do so if somehow they had ‘some control or insight into Pakistan’s nuclear command and control system,’ Mr Hersh said.
‘The idea is to reassure the Indians that we are in a position to prevent someone from doing something crazy,’ he said. ‘If the Indians are satisfied, it will allow Pakistan to focus on the Afghan border.’
To enable the Indians to reach that point of comfort, the Americans needed to ‘reassure India that nothing crazy will not happen. After all only target of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons is India, not America,’ said Mr Hersh.
The new arrangement would also allow Pakistani military commanders to ‘call us if they are worried about the loyalty of some their troops’ deployed at the nuclear installations, he said.
The Americans also told the Pakistani commanders that ‘if a group of crazies gets hold of a warhead, you can call us’.
Mr Hersh admitted that from the American point of view, it would be better if Pakistan had no nuclear bombs, but this arrangement was not about disarming Pakistan.
Mr Hersh rejected the suggestion that he was anti-Pakistan and that’s why he was writing such articles.
‘I am not anti-Pakistan. There’s a difference between policy and people. The Pakistanis are unhappy with American policies. American people are always welcomed in Pakistan.’
Asked about his claim that a Pakistani nuclear component had recently ‘gone astray’, Mr Hersh said he heard ‘about something going missing, a loose nuke, a trigger missing’.
He said there’s a special US team which provided guidance to the US ambassador in Islamabad and used a highly classified code. ‘But they are no shooters. They just provide guidance.’
Mr Hersh said he met President Asif Ali Zardari twice while he was in Islamabad working on his article, ‘once for a background talk, then at a dinner. Both meetings took place at the presidential palace in Islamabad’.
At the dinner, ‘we talked about a lot of stuff’, he said. ‘Did he confirm your findings on Pakistan’s nuclear installations?’ he was asked.
‘Obviously, at some point I discussed exactly what I was doing and what I learned. He said what he said. We have to please the big brother.’
‘But the government later rejected your story as baseless?’ ‘I understand that a story like this gets denied,’ said Mr Hersh.
The journalist, who also interviewed Gen Pervez Musharraf for the article, said he believed the former Pakistani president was ‘a disarming fellow, very direct. I liked him, liked him a lot. He is a very likeable man, straightforward. More than I thought’.
‘Did Mr Musharraf say he allowed Washington access to Pakistan’s nuclear installations?’ ‘I wrote what I wrote. Are the words that came out are the words I meant? Yes, of course.’
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