By Mohammad Ahmad Noorani
ISLAMABAD: The unannounced war between the Presidency and the PM House came out in the open on Sunday when, besides others, top presidential aides and a provincial governor blasted the NRO list issued by the state minister for law on the orders of the prime minister.
The list was strongly disputed by top friends and aides of President Asif Ali Zardari as many of them issued strong denials and explanations, with the president’s secretary general Salman Faruqui, saying “the innocent continued to be maligned with the guilty ones even after 12 years of media trial and no effort was being made to separate the two.”
“I offer to appear before any competent forum to substantiate my statement,” Faruqui averred An informed source said President Zardari was aware of the statement issued by Salman Faruqui on Sunday.
MQM leader Altaf Hussain strongly disputed the list from London, saying all the cases mentioned against him were instituted after he had left Pakistan in 1992. Pakistan’s ambassadors to Washington and London, Husain Haqqani and Wajid Shamsul Hasan had disputed their names in the list on Saturday with both offering to contest their cases in courts, if needed.
Haqqani said he was not even aware of any case and would contest it in any court if he were summoned.
The spate of denials and explanations left political observers wondering about the homework that was done before the release of the NRO list and whether any consultations had been held between the Presidency and the PM House before the names were released.
The NAB, on the other hand, claimed that all cases on their files had been included and no discrimination has been done. It was unclear how the PM House or the Law Ministry would reconcile the issues raised by top aides and friends of the president after the release of the NRO list.
An official press release was issued by the secretary general explaining his own position but his observation that “the innocent” had been bracketed with “the guilty” was significant as he did not identify who were the guilty.
Faruqui’s long denial came soon after Governor of Sindh, Ishartul Ebad issued his explanation saying the only case mentioned against him in the list was a 1992 case which had been quashed soon afterwards.
Salman Faruqui took strong exception to the allegations levelled against him in the NRO list of beneficiaries and urged the law minister to take steps to undo the damage done to innocent victims like him.
He said he was falsely implicated in textile quota case long after the original FIR was filed in 1997 against others only to politically victimise him. Even at that time he was not accused of forgery or fraud or illegal allotment of textile quota.
“It is a matter of deep concern and regret that the Sindhu did not find time to go through the record of the case and released to the media an unsubstantiated list containing false allegations that were not levelled even at the time,” he said.
Salman Faruqui said he was dismissed from service on the basis of the same concocted material but the Supreme Court of Pakistan, then also headed by Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, declared his dismissal as against law and principles of natural justice.
He said that the Supreme Court even rejected the revision application filed by the government only to delay his reinstatement and as a result the government had no choice but to reinstate him in service.
Referring to the mention of his name relating to the award of monopoly licence to ARY Gold in 1994 for the import of gold he said that originally he was not among the accused but was included as one of the accused in a supplementary reference that was filed much later.
He said that he had nothing to do with the said licence as he was posted as secretary commerce much later towards the end 1995. He had challenged action against him intended to harass and defame him.
He said that before filing and publishing concocted cases the frivolous charges and allegations should have been carefully reviewed.Faruqui said it was painful that the innocent continued to be maligned with the guilty ones even after 12 years of media trial and no effort was being made to separate the two. “In not doing so, those responsible were perhaps inadvertently helping the guilty at the cost of the innocent,” Faruqui lamented.
A spokesman for governor Sindh Dr Ishratul Ebad on Sunday said that since there had been no case against him under NRO, the question of taking advantage under the NRO by him does not arise.
The spokesman expressed surprise over reports about withdrawal of cases against the governor under NRO. He made it clear that there was no case pending against Dr Ishratul Ebad when he took over as governor in December 2002 and this had been announced at the higher level a number of times as well.
In the past, he said, an FIR was registered against him as political victimisation and that was declared legally nullified before he took over as governor. He said the case, as has been shown in the list released by State Minister for law Afzal Sindhu, the FIR for the same was registered 17 years back and it was legally withdrawn years back.
The governor’s spokesman said the federal government has been contacted over the inclusion of his name in the list. He expressed the hope that after this clarification, all speculations about the matter will end.
He said governor Dr Ishratul Ebad believes in the supremacy of law and even if there had been any case against him, he would have faced the courts despite the privilege he enjoys.
Our Lahore correspondent adds: Adviser to the Punjab Chief Minister Saeed Mehdi has expressed his astonishment over the inclusion of his name in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) beneficiaries’ list and claimed he was implicated in the plane highjack case against Nawaz Sharif and an assets case. However, he claimed he was honourably acquitted in both the cases by courts.
Talking to The News, he said courts had acquitted him in the plane highjack case and also dismissed the appeal of Sindh government against the decision. He said he was acquitted in an assets case by the LHC Pindi bench.
Mehdi said the polo ground case was adjourned by the court and had not heard since. He said that there was no reason of taking benefit of NRO against a case, which had neither been heard nor he was given punishment in it. He claimed that he had not applied for getting benefit of NRO and he did not know as why his name was included in NRO list.
Mehdi said that he was witness in the polo ground case along with Asif Ali Zardari. He claimed that during his imprisonment in Adiala Jail, the prosecutor had approached him and offered him to become approver in this case against Asif Ali Zardari, but he had declined the offer. He said the prosecutor had asked him that he could better understand as why he (Saeed Mehdi) had declined offer to become approver in plane highjack case against Mian Nawaz Sharif, but it was beyond his understanding as why he was not prepared to become approver against Zardari.
Mehdi said that he had plainly told the prosecutor that it was against his honour and dignity to become approver against anyone. He stated that incumbent Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar and jail superintendent were witness to it.
Online adds: Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that he has nothing to do with “Yellow Cab Scheme” adding that he was the worst political victim.
In a statement issued here on Sunday, Rehman Malik said that shallow charges were leveled against him because he had refused to become approver against Benazir Bhutto. He cleared that there are no corruption cases against him and court has exonerated him after regular hearing. It is a false propaganda to malign my character, he added.
Rehman Malik said that PML-Q cabinet had approved NRO and later on it was cleared by the rest of the political parties. He said that issuing of statement by PML-Q leadership on NRO is beyond his comprehension.
The interior minister said that he would make all the facts public at right time. He further added that running democratic system in the country is due to the NRO. Dictator was compelled to doff his uniform, judiciary was restored and elections were held in accordance with schedule and dictator has slipped abroad. He said, “Assassination attempt on me and later on sending me behind the bars and then let scorpions and snakes free in my prison was all part of political victimization against me”.
NNI adds: Nawab Mohammad Yousuf Talpur, member of Central Executive Committee of the Pakistan People’s Party has expressed his surprise over inclusion of his name in the list of beneficiaries of the NRO adding neither he nor his counsel had approached the court for benefit under the NRO.
In a press statement issued Sunday, the senior PPP leader said that he was implicated in the Ursus Tractor Scheme reference, which was never heard by any court after 2000 and he didn’t opt or ask for any benefit under NRO. While no offence was committed in the Ursus Tractor scheme.
The market value of Ursus and Belarus Tractors was Rs300,000 per unit then but the People’s government provided the growers tractors for Rs150,000 per unit.
“Being a co-accused in the case, and the case having been dropped by the court, it was a logical consequence that no action was due against me. Thus consequential result of the process could not be branded as a benefit drawn by me at any forum,” he said adding that the reference was heard by the court between 1997-1999 and thereafter the proceedings were stopped.
“During the proceedings or afterwards, I frequently visited abroad and was never arrested or put on ECL in the case,” he added.
Nawab Yousuf Talpur further said that he was ready to face the case as he had faced it earlier because the cases framed for political vendetta by the previous government could not stand in a fair trial and demanded that his name be deleted from the list of the NRO beneficiary.
Meanwhile Transparency International, the worldwide organisation monitoring corruption jumped into the NRO debate on Sunday night when its Pakistan director Adil Gilani issued a press release explaining what was meant by “corruption”.
“Most of NRO beneficiaries are saying they were not tried under corruption. This is a new joint strategy decided by them. All should know that Article 9 of the NAB Ordinance defines Corruption & Corrupt Practices as under:
“9 (a) A holder of a public office, or any other person, is said to commit or to have committed the offence of corruption and corrupt practices:
(i) If he accepts or obtains from any person or offers any gratification directly or indirectly, other than legal remuneration, as a motive or reward such as is specified in section 161 of the Pakistan Penal Code (Act XLV of 1860) for doing or for-bearing to do any official act, or for showing or for-bearing to show, in the exercise of his official functions, favour or disfavour to any person, or for rendering or attempting to render any service or disservice to any person; or
(ii) If he accepts or obtains or offers any valuable thing without consideration, or for a consideration which he knows to be inadequate, from any person whom he knows to have been, or likely to be, concerned in any proceeding or business transacted or about to be transacted by him, or having any connection with his official functions or[from] any person whom he knows to be interested in or related to the person so concerned; or
(iii) If he dishonestly or fraudulently misappropriates or otherwise converts for his own use, or for the use of any other person, any property entrusted to him, or under his control, or wilfully allows any other person so to do; or
(iv) if he by corrupt, dishonest, or illegal means, obtains or seeks to obtain for himself, or for his spouse* or dependents or any other person, any property, valuable thing, or pecuniary advantage; or
(v) If he or any of his dependents or benamindars owns, possesses, or has [acquired] right or title in any [“assets or holds irrevocable power of attorney in respect of any assets] or
pecuniary resources disproportionate to his known sources of income, which he cannot [reasonably] account for [or maintains a standard of living beyond that which is commensurate with his sources of income]; or
(vi) [If he misuses his authority so as to gain any benefit or favour for himself or any other person, or [renders or attempts to render] [or wilfully fails to exercise his authority to prevent the grant, or rendition of any undue benefit or favour which he could have prevented by exercising his authority];
(vii) If he has issued any directive, policy, or any SRO (Statutory Regulatory Order) or any other order which grants or [attempts to grant] any [undue] concession or benefit in any taxation matter or law or otherwise so as to benefit himself or any relative or associate or a benamidar [or any other person]
[(viii) If he commits an offence of wilful default, {; or }]
[(ix) If he commits the offence of cheating as defined in section 415 of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860 (Act XLV of 1860), and thereby dishonestly induces members of the public at large to deliver any property including money or valuable security to any person; or
(x) If he commits the offence of criminal breach of trust as defined in section 405 of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860 (Act XLV of 1860) with regard to any property including money or valuable security entrusted to him by members of the public at large; (This is applicable to public corporations private sector board members)
(xi) If he, in his capacity as a banker, merchant, factor, broker, attorney or agent, commits criminal breach of trust as provided in section 409 of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860 (Act XLV of 1860) in respect of property entrusted to him or over which he has dominion; and
(xii) If he aids, assists, abets, attempts or acts in conspiracy with a person or a holder of public office accused of an offence as provided in clauses (i) to (xi).]; and
(b) All offences under this ordinance shall be non-bailable and, notwithstanding anything contained in section [426, 491,] 497, 498 and 561 A or any other provision of the code, or any other law for the time being in force no court shall have jurisdiction to grant bail to any person accused of any offence under this ordinance.
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List of NRO beneficiaries contain surprise disclosures
ISLAMABAD: In a surprise disclosure on Saturday, the government released a list of National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) beneficiaries, despite previously refusing to submit these details in the National Assembly and the Senate.
Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid Senator Tariq Azeem had recently sought the details of NRO beneficiaries in a question submitted with the Senate, but the chairman had declared the senator’s question “inadmissible” on technical grounds, and said the matter was sub judice.
Similarly, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani announced on the floor of the National Assembly that the names and details of the NRO beneficiaries would be tabled in the House, but nothing came to light. But when the name of the prime minister’s wife also appeared in media, he not only clarified her position at a press conference, but also said he was displeased because the names of politicians and bureaucrats who benefited from the NRO had not been released.
NAB, however, instantly announced that the name of the prime minister’s wife was not on NRO beneficiaries’ list.
Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid Senator Tariq Azeem had recently sought the details of NRO beneficiaries in a question submitted with the Senate, but the chairman had declared the senator’s question “inadmissible” on technical grounds, and said the matter was sub judice.
Similarly, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani announced on the floor of the National Assembly that the names and details of the NRO beneficiaries would be tabled in the House, but nothing came to light. But when the name of the prime minister’s wife also appeared in media, he not only clarified her position at a press conference, but also said he was displeased because the names of politicians and bureaucrats who benefited from the NRO had not been released.
NAB, however, instantly announced that the name of the prime minister’s wife was not on NRO beneficiaries’ list.
Criminal neglect in checking of explosives
By Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: While the pilferage of high explosives and detonators is risking the lives of the people, the authorities are showing a criminal neglect in checking the manufacture, distribution and use of these lethal mass killer products.
Documents reveal that the ISI found a blasting company in Qillah Saif Ullah a few months back being involved in the sale of high explosives to unauthorised persons. On the basis of the ISI ís report, the company’s license was canceled by the Ministry of Industries on the recommendation of the Interior Ministry. However, the Interior Ministry got back to the Ministry of Industries within 10 days and sought the revival of the license. The Industries Ministry revived the license, ignoring a three-page charge-sheet issued by the department of explosives against the same company. Minister for Industries Watto, however, expressed his unawareness about the case whereas the Interior Ministry spokesman was not available for comments.
Documents reveal that the ISI reported early this year that the blasting company from Qillah Saif Ullah was owned by a retired Subedar Major, who purchases explosives from the POF Wah Cantt and further supplies it to a notorious smuggler, who carries out illegal explosives business.
Sensing the gravity of the report and its possible implications, the Interior Ministry wrote to the Ministry of Industries on May 28 that the company was indulged in irregularities in explosives business and that the security aspects regarding storage/sale process of explosives as per the standard operating procedures were not being adhered and remained a source of concern.
In view of this, the Industries Ministry was requested to temporarily suspend the license of the company. While the Ministry of Industries processed the matter, the Interior Ministry, just within 10 days, wrote another letter, saying that in view of the submission made by the company’s owner before the Interior Ministry, it has no objection to the revival of the license.
Before the department of explosives could feel the heat of the powerful of the ministries of industries and interior, it issued a show-cause notice to the company along with a three page charge-sheet. Some of these charges include that 23 explosives vans were used for transportation of explosives in year 2007-2008 by the company but it had mentioned only eight on its paper; no entry of vehicle was available on the company’s stock registers in which explosives were transported to place of use against the standing instruction; the stock register showed receipt and use of explosive consignments on the same date, which was logically impossible, thus showing that the company had “made fake entries in the stock registers”; there was no entry of 20,000 detonators purchased by the company in July 2007 from Wah Nobel in the company’s record; another consignment of 20,000 detonators purchased in Sept 2007 was missing from the company’s record, meaning thereby that “this consignment did not reach at your magazine and misused anywhere”; another consignment of 20,000 detonators was delivered to the company in April 2008 but in this case too there was no reflection of this consignment in the company’s stock register etc.
Following this show-cause notice, the department of explosives canceled the company’s license on July 6 but within a few weeks time, following an appeal filed by the company’s owner to the Ministry of Industries and owing to the Interior Ministryís pressure, the license was revived though the authorities remain in dark where were the licensed explosives and detonators used/misused.
Sources said that the explosive department has received on Saturday two more FIRs of seizure of vehicles carrying explosives. The matter of concern remains that the suicide bombers and terrorists involved in subversive activities are in vast majority cases using locally manufactured high explosives and detonators.
ISLAMABAD: While the pilferage of high explosives and detonators is risking the lives of the people, the authorities are showing a criminal neglect in checking the manufacture, distribution and use of these lethal mass killer products.
Documents reveal that the ISI found a blasting company in Qillah Saif Ullah a few months back being involved in the sale of high explosives to unauthorised persons. On the basis of the ISI ís report, the company’s license was canceled by the Ministry of Industries on the recommendation of the Interior Ministry. However, the Interior Ministry got back to the Ministry of Industries within 10 days and sought the revival of the license. The Industries Ministry revived the license, ignoring a three-page charge-sheet issued by the department of explosives against the same company. Minister for Industries Watto, however, expressed his unawareness about the case whereas the Interior Ministry spokesman was not available for comments.
Documents reveal that the ISI reported early this year that the blasting company from Qillah Saif Ullah was owned by a retired Subedar Major, who purchases explosives from the POF Wah Cantt and further supplies it to a notorious smuggler, who carries out illegal explosives business.
Sensing the gravity of the report and its possible implications, the Interior Ministry wrote to the Ministry of Industries on May 28 that the company was indulged in irregularities in explosives business and that the security aspects regarding storage/sale process of explosives as per the standard operating procedures were not being adhered and remained a source of concern.
In view of this, the Industries Ministry was requested to temporarily suspend the license of the company. While the Ministry of Industries processed the matter, the Interior Ministry, just within 10 days, wrote another letter, saying that in view of the submission made by the company’s owner before the Interior Ministry, it has no objection to the revival of the license.
Before the department of explosives could feel the heat of the powerful of the ministries of industries and interior, it issued a show-cause notice to the company along with a three page charge-sheet. Some of these charges include that 23 explosives vans were used for transportation of explosives in year 2007-2008 by the company but it had mentioned only eight on its paper; no entry of vehicle was available on the company’s stock registers in which explosives were transported to place of use against the standing instruction; the stock register showed receipt and use of explosive consignments on the same date, which was logically impossible, thus showing that the company had “made fake entries in the stock registers”; there was no entry of 20,000 detonators purchased by the company in July 2007 from Wah Nobel in the company’s record; another consignment of 20,000 detonators purchased in Sept 2007 was missing from the company’s record, meaning thereby that “this consignment did not reach at your magazine and misused anywhere”; another consignment of 20,000 detonators was delivered to the company in April 2008 but in this case too there was no reflection of this consignment in the company’s stock register etc.
Following this show-cause notice, the department of explosives canceled the company’s license on July 6 but within a few weeks time, following an appeal filed by the company’s owner to the Ministry of Industries and owing to the Interior Ministryís pressure, the license was revived though the authorities remain in dark where were the licensed explosives and detonators used/misused.
Sources said that the explosive department has received on Saturday two more FIRs of seizure of vehicles carrying explosives. The matter of concern remains that the suicide bombers and terrorists involved in subversive activities are in vast majority cases using locally manufactured high explosives and detonators.
Hersh claims US nuke team already in Islamabad
By Muhammad Saleh Zaafir
ISLAMABAD: Pulitzer prize winning American journalist Seymour Hersh has claimed that an elite US special forces squad which operates covertly and includes terrorism and non-proliferation experts from the US intelligence community — the Pentagon, the FBI, and the DOE — is already present in Pakistan and could well be housed in the US embassy in Islamabad.
The startling disclosure was made in Hersh’s candid interview with Pakistan’s most popular TV channel Geo News’ widely viewed current affairs programme ‘Meray Mutabiq’, hosted by Dr Shahid Masood. The programme was aired on Saturday late evening.
Seymour Hersh said that the Americans had been constituting such crack teams for various purposes and the team in question here was to deal with any eventuality including any fear of takeover by Taliban or any other ‘development’ with regard to Pakistani nukes.
Group Editor of The News Shaheen Sehbai taking part in the programme expressed the view that Musharraf’s remarks about President Asif Zardari, as attributed by Hersh, could not be casually ignored. He said it must be investigated why Musharraf accused Zardari of not being a patriot, because, according to Sehbai, Hersh had some inside information given to him in interviews with Musharraf and Zardari which he did not reveal in his report. But Sehbai said journalists always attribute information given to them by responsible people to “reliable sources” if these people ask them to refrain from quoting them directly.
Former Director General, Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan, Lt Gen Hamid Gul also participating in the programme, verified the credentials of Hersh and gave a detailed account of US presence in the sensitive areas in Pakistan. He opined that the US wanted to delegate the role of proxy super power of the region to India and for that Pakistan had to be denuclearised.
Former Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmad Khan expressed his apprehensions about the alleged activities but he ruled out any possibility of the US team being in a position to gain access to Pakistan’s nuclear facilities.
The programme (to be telecast again at 2:05pm today - Sunday), host Dr Shahid Masood had raised the question about the action that the team/squad could take in any eventuality. He referred to previous reports of Hersh which appeared in New Yorker magazine last week in which Hersh disclosed that after the US authorities received a report by their embassy in Islamabad indicating that a Pakistani nuclear component had gone astray, a highly classified US military and civil-emergency response team was put on alert. The team which operates clandestinely is reportedly under standing orders to deploy from Andrews Air Force Base, in Maryland (Washington), within four hours of an alert.
When the report turned out to be a false alarm, the mission was aborted but by the time the team got the message, it was already in Dubai while on its way to Pakistan. Hersh quoted a consultant of the US Defence Department in his write-up and later he discussed the role of the US embassy in ‘Meray Mutabiq’ last week, which was hosted by Dr Shahid Masood and participated by Group Editor The News Shaheen Sehbai.
It was the maiden interview of the US investigative journalist in the wake of his thrilling write-up about the US plans towards Pakistan’s nuclear programme and the controversial observations of former President Musharraf regarding his successor. Seymour Hersh while standing by his report, pertaining to the comments offered by former President General (R) Pervez Musharraf about incumbent President Asif Zardari, has disclosed that the former president had given some harsher comments about his successor but in the ultimate scrutiny he allowed the remarks that he made part of his article.
General Hamid Gul disclosed in his talk with Dr Shahid Masood that former president General Pervez Musharraf allowed the US planes to land in Pakistan to pick Osama bin Laden about whom they had an inkling that he was present in a remote village of Balochistan. He said that when Hersh visited him to verify the veracity of the information, “I requested him to publish the story and he obliged. I was of the opinion that the Americans want to get in Pakistan under the pretext of the story that had yet to appear and it could open the way for future US incursions,” the General added.
ISLAMABAD: Pulitzer prize winning American journalist Seymour Hersh has claimed that an elite US special forces squad which operates covertly and includes terrorism and non-proliferation experts from the US intelligence community — the Pentagon, the FBI, and the DOE — is already present in Pakistan and could well be housed in the US embassy in Islamabad.
The startling disclosure was made in Hersh’s candid interview with Pakistan’s most popular TV channel Geo News’ widely viewed current affairs programme ‘Meray Mutabiq’, hosted by Dr Shahid Masood. The programme was aired on Saturday late evening.
Seymour Hersh said that the Americans had been constituting such crack teams for various purposes and the team in question here was to deal with any eventuality including any fear of takeover by Taliban or any other ‘development’ with regard to Pakistani nukes.
Group Editor of The News Shaheen Sehbai taking part in the programme expressed the view that Musharraf’s remarks about President Asif Zardari, as attributed by Hersh, could not be casually ignored. He said it must be investigated why Musharraf accused Zardari of not being a patriot, because, according to Sehbai, Hersh had some inside information given to him in interviews with Musharraf and Zardari which he did not reveal in his report. But Sehbai said journalists always attribute information given to them by responsible people to “reliable sources” if these people ask them to refrain from quoting them directly.
Former Director General, Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan, Lt Gen Hamid Gul also participating in the programme, verified the credentials of Hersh and gave a detailed account of US presence in the sensitive areas in Pakistan. He opined that the US wanted to delegate the role of proxy super power of the region to India and for that Pakistan had to be denuclearised.
Former Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmad Khan expressed his apprehensions about the alleged activities but he ruled out any possibility of the US team being in a position to gain access to Pakistan’s nuclear facilities.
The programme (to be telecast again at 2:05pm today - Sunday), host Dr Shahid Masood had raised the question about the action that the team/squad could take in any eventuality. He referred to previous reports of Hersh which appeared in New Yorker magazine last week in which Hersh disclosed that after the US authorities received a report by their embassy in Islamabad indicating that a Pakistani nuclear component had gone astray, a highly classified US military and civil-emergency response team was put on alert. The team which operates clandestinely is reportedly under standing orders to deploy from Andrews Air Force Base, in Maryland (Washington), within four hours of an alert.
When the report turned out to be a false alarm, the mission was aborted but by the time the team got the message, it was already in Dubai while on its way to Pakistan. Hersh quoted a consultant of the US Defence Department in his write-up and later he discussed the role of the US embassy in ‘Meray Mutabiq’ last week, which was hosted by Dr Shahid Masood and participated by Group Editor The News Shaheen Sehbai.
It was the maiden interview of the US investigative journalist in the wake of his thrilling write-up about the US plans towards Pakistan’s nuclear programme and the controversial observations of former President Musharraf regarding his successor. Seymour Hersh while standing by his report, pertaining to the comments offered by former President General (R) Pervez Musharraf about incumbent President Asif Zardari, has disclosed that the former president had given some harsher comments about his successor but in the ultimate scrutiny he allowed the remarks that he made part of his article.
General Hamid Gul disclosed in his talk with Dr Shahid Masood that former president General Pervez Musharraf allowed the US planes to land in Pakistan to pick Osama bin Laden about whom they had an inkling that he was present in a remote village of Balochistan. He said that when Hersh visited him to verify the veracity of the information, “I requested him to publish the story and he obliged. I was of the opinion that the Americans want to get in Pakistan under the pretext of the story that had yet to appear and it could open the way for future US incursions,” the General added.
SC says NRO validation must by parliament, or else...
Zardari, others to face trials
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday made it absolutely essential for the government to get the NRO and all other ordinances revalidated from parliament within the time given by the court, to prevent all the cases, including those against President Asif Ali Zardari, from being revived automatically.
In the detailed judgment of its July 31 short order issued by the SC, all corruption and criminal cases in which benefit was given under the NRO after February 5, 2008, the date the NRO legally expired, would stand automatically reopened if parliament fails to validate the NRO retrospectively. Simply speaking it means that the benefits were given when the NRO was no longer in existence.
The apex court did not agree with the perception that the benefits drawn from the NRO are past and closed transactions.It instead judged: “Under Article 89 of the Constitution, an ordinance issued by the president if not so laid before the National Assembly, or both Houses of Parliament, stands repealed on expiration of four months from its promulgation.”
Under this judgment, the NRO stands invalid since February 5, 2008, when it completed its 120-day constitutional life. The NRO was enforced on Oct 6, 2007, and within 120 days had to be passed by parliament as a bill or re-issued as an ordinance, which it was not.
Much to the worry of the ruling elite particularly President Zardari, all their corruption and criminal cases were quashed because of the NRO after February 5, when as per the Supreme Court’s judgment, the NRO did not exist. President Zardari’s acquittal from all cases happened during March-April 2008. (See list)
“Only such rights, privileges, obligations, or liabilities would lawfully be protected as were acquired, accrued or incurred under the said Ordinances during the period of four months or three months, as the case may be, from their promulgation, whether before or after November 3, 2007, and not thereafter, until such ordinances were enacted as acts by Parliament with retrospective effect,” the Supreme Court ruled.
The Supreme Court did not discuss the NRO in isolation but set the same principle for all ordinances that were covered under Musharraf’s PCO, now declared unconstitutional. In case parliament validates the NRO retrospectively (with effect from February 5, 2008) as per the judgment of the apex court, the Supreme Court also made it clear in the same judgment: “Needless to say that any validation whether with retrospective effect or otherwise, shall always be subject to judicial review on the well recognized principles of ultra vires, non-conformity with the Constitution or violation of the Fundamental Rights, or on any other available ground.”
It is relevant to mention here that the NRO soon after its promulgation in October 2007 was challenged in the Supreme Court, which has yet to hear the petitions questioning the very validity of the controversial ordinance.
In para 186 of the detailed judgment, the SC said, “Proclamation of Emergency and PCO No 1 of 2007 having been declared unconstitutional and void ab initio and the validity purportedly conferred on all such Ordinances by means of Article 270AAA and by the judgment in Tikka Iqbal Muhammad Khan’s case also having been shorn, such ordinances would cease to be permanent laws with the result that the life of such ordinances would be limited to the period specified in Article 89 and 128 of the Constitution, viz., four months and three months respectively from the date of their promulgation. Under Article 89 of the Constitution, an ordinance issued by the president, if not so laid before the National Assembly, or both Houses of Parliament, stands repealed on expiration of four months from its promulgation. Similarly, under Article 128 of the Constitution, an ordinance issued by the governor, if not so laid before the concerned provincial assembly, stands repealed on expiration of three months from its promulgation.”
In its para 187, the detailed judgment said, “It may be noted that such ordinances were continued in force throughout under a wrong notion that they had become permanent laws. Thus, the fact remains that on the touchstone of the provisions of Articles 89 and 128 read with Article 264 of the Constitution and Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897, only such rights, privileges, obligations, or liabilities would lawfully be protected as were acquired, accrued or incurred under the said ordinances during the period of four months or three months, as the case may be, from their promulgation, whether before or after November 3, 2007, and not thereafter, until such ordinances were enacted as acts by Parliament or the concerned provincial assembly with retrospective effect.”
According to the details gathered by The News, President Asif Ali Zardari’s acquittal from all the corruption and criminal cases happened between March 6, 2008, to May 20, 2008. The likes of Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Suleman Faruqi, Zulfikar Mirza, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, Usman Farooqi, M B Abbasi and many others also benefited after the ordinance lapsed.
Americans see a change in the air in Pakistan
By Dr Shahid Masood
WASHINGTON: Americans see a change fast, but smoothly, coming in Pakistan in the wake of loss of credibility of the man at the helm, following some domestic legal developments.
After meeting top political and defence decision-makers here in the US capital, where I was invited by the National Defence University (NDU) for a two-day seminar on the anniversary of 9/11, I was told in unambiguous terms that a change in Pakistan was inevitable for US policy interests, although Washington does not intend to disrupt the system.
Several important Pakistani political players have also been conveyed the same message by the US political and defence establishment, including the MQM and recently the ANP, whose chief is travelling with President Asif Zardari in New York.
The main problem being faced by the US administration, which it may never admit publicly, is that the present set-up with Asif Ali Zardari as the de facto ruler, has no credibility at home and no ability to deliver on the promises he makes, either on the military side or on the war on terror or on governance issues.
“Zardari has also abandoned the idea of political consensus which he had started to follow in the early days after the February elections,” one official said on background. “He appears to be non-serious in government and lives in perpetual fear and insecurity, preferring to stay out of the country.”
The US side thinks that they had made a sensible move by pushing an alliance between late Benazir Bhutto and General Pervez Musharraf as this team would have provided all the ingredients of a stable and cooperative Pakistan to Washington. She would have provided the political support while Musharraf would have used his military muscle against the terrorists and extremists in a stable environment.
They say Zardari has failed to provide that environment, rather he has involved himself in day-to-day business and administrative matters while his political coalition and parliament have been left looking like dumb and dummies.
Many officials say Zardari has been asking the US administration to bail him out on too many issues and too many occasions. He has sought the US help to tame the Army, keep his alliance partners, especially the opposition of Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N in check, directly or through the Saudis on sensitive issues like Musharraf’s or cutting his own constitutional powers.
All these demands are way beyond the capacity of any US administration to deliver while Zardari has almost left everything to us to handle, an agitated official said. “If we have to handle everything, his own credibility within the country will sink and has sunk to the lowest low.”
Other officials I met were even blunter. They say the US abhors corruption, kickbacks and commissions anywhere in the world as a matter of policy.
Another official said the US would keep track of the parties or persons involved and money transaction in the Pakistan’s rental power venture. There are still no roadmaps or any modality work sheets in Washington on how a change in Pakistan would occur, but the US capital is keeping its fingers crossed as to what comes out of the NRO case pending with the Supreme Court.
The impression gathered from the words of these top Americans is that the US would not intervene if the apex court starts hearing the case. The view is that if the NRO was discussed and details of who benefited, who made what deals and how serious crimes were committed and then whitewashed, start to be revealed in the SC, the moral authority of the NRO beneficiaries would erode fatally. In this scenario, the NRO beneficiaries may themselves throw in the towel seeking a safe exit.
In several informed US and Pakistani circles I moved in for several days in Washington, the same scenario was repeated, often exactly in the same tone and sequence.
A Pakistani, who knows a lot about developments in Pakistan and the US scene, said that apart from this purely legal and domestic scene, there were four possible ways through which Zardari could exit. These ways were repeated by others who had nothing to do at all with the previous source. They are: one, impeachment; two, voluntary resignation in the wake loss of credibility; three, ‘natural’ or man-made elimination of the president, and, four, an Army coup. The impeachment and coup scenarios are considered non-starter and impossibility.
US and some Pakistani circles said that a resignation after enough dirt is thrown in the public domain when the NRO case details begin to unfold is a favourite way out, as it would not, being an outcome of the legal process, disrupt the system.
I was asked many times whether a coup is a possibility in the current situation and I always said no, but the question kept surfacing again and again.
This is probably because there was some loose talk of a shuffle in the military hierarchy by President Zardari in which Army chief General Kayani was to be replaced by some other pliant general who could ensure continuity and stability for the Zardari regime.
This scenario was shot down in Washington instantly as an impossibility, since it had information that the Pakistan Army considered a coup or intervention as a total no-go area and could have brought back another October 12, 1999 type of situation. It is so also because of the fact that Gen Kayani has established, through words and deeds, that he is all for democracy.
With all these scenarios being discussed, the growing feeling is that not much time is left for the current status quo and it will lead to a period of political turmoil in Pakistan if President Zardari continues with his ways any longer.
The sudden emergence of a top MQM delegation in Washington for talks with the policy makers, officials and think tanks of Washington has also raised many questions as the official Pakistani diplomatic channels were totally cut off and I gather that this was done at the insistence of the US side more than the MQM leadership.
Not even a courtesy meeting between Governor Ishratul Ebad and Ambassador Husain Haqqani was held until four days after the arrival of the MQM delegation and meetings with top strategists, including Bruce Riedel, John Negroponte, Richard Boucher, and current State Department officials, including Richard Holbrooke.
A similar exercise has now been planned with the ANP chief while he will be here in the presidential entourage.
What happened in these meetings is known only to the MQM leaders and the US side but the tone and tenor of MQM in the coming weeks and days will give the first hints of whether the course of the PPP-MQM alliance is changing in stormy waters in the middle of the sea. How the ANP reacts is also to be seen but already Asfandyar Wali is said to be very happy with the praise for his party’s governance in the NWFP by US officials as well as the promises to give them direct financial aid. With the MQM and the ANP almost on board, I will be eagerly waiting for the first signs of the new US strategy unfolding in the days and weeks to come.
WASHINGTON: Americans see a change fast, but smoothly, coming in Pakistan in the wake of loss of credibility of the man at the helm, following some domestic legal developments.
After meeting top political and defence decision-makers here in the US capital, where I was invited by the National Defence University (NDU) for a two-day seminar on the anniversary of 9/11, I was told in unambiguous terms that a change in Pakistan was inevitable for US policy interests, although Washington does not intend to disrupt the system.
Several important Pakistani political players have also been conveyed the same message by the US political and defence establishment, including the MQM and recently the ANP, whose chief is travelling with President Asif Zardari in New York.
The main problem being faced by the US administration, which it may never admit publicly, is that the present set-up with Asif Ali Zardari as the de facto ruler, has no credibility at home and no ability to deliver on the promises he makes, either on the military side or on the war on terror or on governance issues.
“Zardari has also abandoned the idea of political consensus which he had started to follow in the early days after the February elections,” one official said on background. “He appears to be non-serious in government and lives in perpetual fear and insecurity, preferring to stay out of the country.”
The US side thinks that they had made a sensible move by pushing an alliance between late Benazir Bhutto and General Pervez Musharraf as this team would have provided all the ingredients of a stable and cooperative Pakistan to Washington. She would have provided the political support while Musharraf would have used his military muscle against the terrorists and extremists in a stable environment.
They say Zardari has failed to provide that environment, rather he has involved himself in day-to-day business and administrative matters while his political coalition and parliament have been left looking like dumb and dummies.
Many officials say Zardari has been asking the US administration to bail him out on too many issues and too many occasions. He has sought the US help to tame the Army, keep his alliance partners, especially the opposition of Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N in check, directly or through the Saudis on sensitive issues like Musharraf’s or cutting his own constitutional powers.
All these demands are way beyond the capacity of any US administration to deliver while Zardari has almost left everything to us to handle, an agitated official said. “If we have to handle everything, his own credibility within the country will sink and has sunk to the lowest low.”
Other officials I met were even blunter. They say the US abhors corruption, kickbacks and commissions anywhere in the world as a matter of policy.
Another official said the US would keep track of the parties or persons involved and money transaction in the Pakistan’s rental power venture. There are still no roadmaps or any modality work sheets in Washington on how a change in Pakistan would occur, but the US capital is keeping its fingers crossed as to what comes out of the NRO case pending with the Supreme Court.
The impression gathered from the words of these top Americans is that the US would not intervene if the apex court starts hearing the case. The view is that if the NRO was discussed and details of who benefited, who made what deals and how serious crimes were committed and then whitewashed, start to be revealed in the SC, the moral authority of the NRO beneficiaries would erode fatally. In this scenario, the NRO beneficiaries may themselves throw in the towel seeking a safe exit.
In several informed US and Pakistani circles I moved in for several days in Washington, the same scenario was repeated, often exactly in the same tone and sequence.
A Pakistani, who knows a lot about developments in Pakistan and the US scene, said that apart from this purely legal and domestic scene, there were four possible ways through which Zardari could exit. These ways were repeated by others who had nothing to do at all with the previous source. They are: one, impeachment; two, voluntary resignation in the wake loss of credibility; three, ‘natural’ or man-made elimination of the president, and, four, an Army coup. The impeachment and coup scenarios are considered non-starter and impossibility.
US and some Pakistani circles said that a resignation after enough dirt is thrown in the public domain when the NRO case details begin to unfold is a favourite way out, as it would not, being an outcome of the legal process, disrupt the system.
I was asked many times whether a coup is a possibility in the current situation and I always said no, but the question kept surfacing again and again.
This is probably because there was some loose talk of a shuffle in the military hierarchy by President Zardari in which Army chief General Kayani was to be replaced by some other pliant general who could ensure continuity and stability for the Zardari regime.
This scenario was shot down in Washington instantly as an impossibility, since it had information that the Pakistan Army considered a coup or intervention as a total no-go area and could have brought back another October 12, 1999 type of situation. It is so also because of the fact that Gen Kayani has established, through words and deeds, that he is all for democracy.
With all these scenarios being discussed, the growing feeling is that not much time is left for the current status quo and it will lead to a period of political turmoil in Pakistan if President Zardari continues with his ways any longer.
The sudden emergence of a top MQM delegation in Washington for talks with the policy makers, officials and think tanks of Washington has also raised many questions as the official Pakistani diplomatic channels were totally cut off and I gather that this was done at the insistence of the US side more than the MQM leadership.
Not even a courtesy meeting between Governor Ishratul Ebad and Ambassador Husain Haqqani was held until four days after the arrival of the MQM delegation and meetings with top strategists, including Bruce Riedel, John Negroponte, Richard Boucher, and current State Department officials, including Richard Holbrooke.
A similar exercise has now been planned with the ANP chief while he will be here in the presidential entourage.
What happened in these meetings is known only to the MQM leaders and the US side but the tone and tenor of MQM in the coming weeks and days will give the first hints of whether the course of the PPP-MQM alliance is changing in stormy waters in the middle of the sea. How the ANP reacts is also to be seen but already Asfandyar Wali is said to be very happy with the praise for his party’s governance in the NWFP by US officials as well as the promises to give them direct financial aid. With the MQM and the ANP almost on board, I will be eagerly waiting for the first signs of the new US strategy unfolding in the days and weeks to come.
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