Ssatellite, the PAKSAT-1R launched by China

BEIJING:

                 China is all set to launch Pakistan’s communication satellite into space at an appropriate time in the coming days, a Chinese news service said on Wednesday.

According to Xinhua news, a spokesman for the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province said Wednesday the satellite, the PAKSAT-1R, will be carried by a Long March-3B carrier rocket.

PAKSAT-1R will replace PAKSAT-1 which is likely to complete its useful life this year.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to China, Masood Khan said the launch will broaden the horizons of cooperation between the two countries.

“Launching of a communication satellite is going to be a symbolic development in Pakistan-China relations, as this will broaden the horizons of our cooperation,” he said

PM assures Shahbaz of addressing concerns

ISLAMABAD:

                          Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani assured the Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif, who called on him at Prime Minister’s House on Wednesday evening, that all their reservations regarding the devolution of ministries to the provinces under the 18th Constitutional Amendment would be addressed. In the meeting Premier Gilani was assisted by Federal Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar and Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khurshid Shah while Senator Ishaq Dar assisted the Punjab Chief Minister.

A two-member committee comprising Syed Naveed Qamar and Senator Ishaq Dar was constituted to work on the differences of Punjab government with the devolution process and afterward the Prime Minister and Chief Minister Punjab would thrash out these differences between the two sides.

The sources informed that Punjab government had raised serious concerns over the devolution of ministries at the last leg and also raised the issue of distribution of assets of the devolved ministries with the federal government.

It is pertinent to mention here that Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif had written to Prime Minister twice in the recent past asking him to convene a meeting of the Council of the Common Interests so that they could raise their concerns regarding the devolution process at that forum.

Meanwhile, according to the press release issued by the media section at Prime Minister’s House, Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani directed the Ministry of Law and Parliamentary Affairs to clear the file of Nandi Pur Power Project, which after completion will generate 400 Mega Watt of electricity.

The Prime Minister issued the directive in his meeting with Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif who along with Senator Ishaq Dar, a PML-N leader, called on him here at the PM House on Wednesday. Syed Khurshid Shah, Minister for Religious Affairs and Syed Naveed Qamar, Minister for Water and Power were also present in the meeting.

In the meeting, it was also decided to convene an energy conference to set a national programme and agenda to address the problem of electricity loadshedding in the country.

It was also decided to hold an education conference in Islamabad to set national standards for education. Education ministers of all the provinces and senior officials of respective education departments will participate in the conference

Shujaat, Fazl take up issues with Zardari

ISLAMABAD:

                        President Asif Ali Zardari Wednesday met separately with two political leaders including PML-Q chief Senator Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman and exchanged views with them on the political situation in the country.

According to the informed sources, President Zardari took them on board over PPP’s decision to restore Local Government Ordinance 2001 in Karachi and Hyderabad to woo back MQM, and Sindh government efforts to restore the system through out the Sindh province.

The sources said they also discussed the idea of creating Saraiki province and the President took them on board over efforts being made in this connection.

Meanwhile, some sources claimed that PML-Q chief has renewed party’s demand to make Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi as Deputy Prime Minister as agreed before PML-Q joined the ruling coalition.

According to the informed sources, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain made it clear to the President that PML-Q joined the government on the condition that Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi would be made Deputy prime Minister instead of senior minister.

PML-Q Chief said that if the government did not realise the demands of PML-Q, this could put the future alliance in danger.

President Asif Ali Zardari assured the PML-Q chief that both the pledges would be met after consultation with other parties in the coalition government. He said that the matter regarding the deputy prime minister is a constitutional subject and it would take some time. However, this could not be immediately confirmed from the PML-Q quarters.

Calm returns to British cities amid heavy security

After several nights of riots, Britain's major cities were relatively quiet early on Thursday amid heavy security and rain.

A day after British Prime Minister David Cameron said that police will be allowed to use whatever tactics they deem necessary to restore calm, the night was relatively quiet in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, Nottingham and other cities that saw several days of riots, arsons and looting.

It was the second relatively calm night for London, where 16,000 police officers were patrolling the streets. Media reported that objects had been thrown at officers in south London's Eltham suburb, but police said the group was quickly dispersed.

Court were open on Wednesday night to hear cases of all those arrested during the riots.

According to the latest police statistics, over 800 rioters have been detained in London since the riots began on Saturday and some 250 of them have been accused of disrupting public order, destroying property and theft.

Violence began in the British capital's northern district of Tottenham on Saturday over the fatal shooting of a young man by police. On Sunday and Monday, it spread to other areas in London and Birmingham

Eulogies for Bin Laden, Shrouded in Mystery

LAHORE:

                 The posters were plastered around the campus of Pakistan’s largest university last month, inviting students to enter a poetry and essay contest eulogizing a major historical figure who spent his last years living in seclusion in this nation.

 Vigilantes for Islami Jamiat Talaba regularly attack male students who are found sitting close to their female colleagues.

The subject of such an outpouring of praise? Osama bin Laden.
The contest may have seemed out of place here at the University of the Punjab, a century-old prestigious institution in this eastern city, known as the artistic and cultural capital of the country. After all, there had been no campus protests denouncing the death of Bin Laden, who was killed in a nighttime raid by United States Navy Seal commandos in the northern garrison town of Abbottabad.
But the big surprise was not the contest itself, at least not in a nation where 63 percent of the people disapprove of the operation that killed Bin Laden, according to a June survey by the Pew Research Center.
Indeed, the big surprise was just the opposite: that the contest organizers chose to remain anonymous, providing nothing more than an e-mail address to send submissions.
For over three decades, this campus has been a stronghold of an Islamic student group known as Islami Jamiat Talaba. The group forcefully imposes its Islamic interpretations on the students, has effectively banned music and cultural activities and scoffs at interaction between men and women outside the classrooms. Its vigilantes regularly attack male students who are found sitting close to their female colleagues. Students have been hospitalized, a dorm was stormed by supporters brandishing guns, and anti-Western and pro-Jihad literature is easily available.
It would seem all but natural that Jamiat, as the student group is commonly referred to, would not only hold such a contest, but do it proudly.
So why all the mystery?
“We are trying to find out who is behind it,” Khuram Shahzad, public relations officer of the university, said, referring to the contest. “We feel it is objectionable political activity, and disciplinary action will be taken against the organizers.”
Perpetuating the suspense, the secret organizers promised to send the prizes only by mail. There was also no announcement of the winners.
Suspicions widely fell on Jamiat because the group makes no bones about its presence on campus and holds tight control in the dorms, constantly reminding visitors and occupants through posters, notifications and pamphlets.
Salahuddin, 20, a student of mass communications, said he often found posters and magazines belonging to different Islamist groups like Jamiat — as well as nationally banned militant groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizb-ut-Tahrir — circulated in the men’s dorms.
“I have seen posters urging students for jihad,” Mr. Salahuddin said.
He also suspected Jamiat’s involvement in the contest, but like many other students, professors and administrators here, he did not have any proof to substantiate his opinion.
Support for Bin Laden on campus is certainly not hard to find. Muhammad Chanzaib, 25, Mr. Salahuddin’s roommate, said he was in favor of the eulogy contest.
“Osama is a hero of Muslims,” he said. “America has killed Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Prof. Naeem Khan, who teaches zoology and has been part of the campus administration, said that three weeks after the killing, the head cleric of the campus mosque started praising Bin Laden and asked people to pray for him.
“I refused and walked out and so did a few other people,” Professor Khan said. “But many students had raised their hands for the prayer.”
Like several others, Professor Khan believed that the organizers’ anonymity was merely a tactic to escape suspension or expulsion.
“They have learnt their lessons,” he said. “Earlier, Jamiat used to openly announce its affiliation, and its members were never shy of having their names imprinted on Jamiat posters and pamphlets. But in the last few years, university administration started taking action against such students.”
Professor Khan, who said he had expelled more than 100 students with extremist leanings during his tenure, said orthodoxy was “spreading like wildfire” in the country in general, and in state-run education institutions in particular.

“There is more radicalization every year,” he said, referring to the campus environment.

Last month, students belonging to Jamiat thrashed Kashif Hussain, a philosophy student, after they found him sitting with a female student early in the morning, before most students had arrived for classes.
“He was sitting with his body touching the female,” said a student who sympathized with Jamiat but declined to give his name. “Such un-Islamic behavior will not be tolerated.”
Mr. Hussain said in an interview that he was merely talking to his fellow classmate, and many on the campus reject the hard line of Jamiat. On June 22, about 50 female students held a rare rally against the groups’ tactics.
Two days later, however, at least 40 Jamiat supporters stormed the dorm where most philosophy students live at 2 a.m. Four of them brandished pistols and revolvers and shot in the air, students and faculty said. Two philosophy students were so severely beaten that they had to be hospitalized. Two teachers were also injured.
The university administration chose not to lodge a police complaint after Jamiat apologized.
Muhammad Zubair Safdar, 25, the leader of Islami Jamiat Talaba at the campus, said he did not condone the violence, and he denied that members of his group were involved in the shooting.
He was sitting in an office, set up in a dorm, and also denied having any links with the contest.
“It could be a reaction to Osama bin Laden’s killing,” Mr. Safdar said. “We have never supported Osama. In fact, we don’t acknowledge the existence of Al Qaeda. It is an imaginary organization,” he said as a few acolytes sitting in the room nodded in agreement.
Mr. Safdar said Jamiat had maintained its presence in the university because it was supported by a vast majority of the students.

“We do everything openly,” he said. “We do not believe in secret activities. We will not let anyone else indulge in secret activities either.”

Three Pakistan Naval Officers to Be Court Martialed Over Base Attack

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan — Three officers of the Pakistan Navy are facing a court martial on charges of negligence in connection with the audacious May 22 attack by small band of Islamist insurgents on a naval base in the southern port city of Karachi, a senior naval official said Thursday.

The court martial, a highly unusual disiplinary action for any Pakistan military officer, appeared to reflect the sense of outrage and embarrassment in the Pakistani armed forces over the attack, which revealed incompetence and possibly complicity with the insurgents by naval personnel inside the base.

The base attack also came as the Pakistan military was still reeling from another big humiliation three weeks earlier — the American commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader, in a residential compound near a Pakistan military garrison only a few hours from Islamabad. Bin Laden’s location alone raised suspicions that some people in the Pakistan military knew he was hiding there.
Both the Bin Laden raid and the insurgent attack on the Mehran Base in Karachi subjected the military to an unprecedented barrage of criticism — even ridicule — in the country, where the armed forces have historically been respected. The outpouring of public criticism led to the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the Bin Laden raid and another internal naval inquiry to examine the naval base raid.
The naval inquiry, led by Rear Adm. Tehseenullah Khan, has accused the base commander and two other officers of negligence and failing to ensure security. At least four attackers easily managed to bypass the base security cordon and destroyed two American-made aircraft. At least 10 Pakistani security officers were killed in a 16-hour fight with the attackers.
A spokesman for the Pakistan Navy declined to provide details about the exact date or expected duration of the court martial against the three accused officers but confirmed that court martial proceedings had been initiated against them.
“There was a Board of Inquiry, and on its recommendation the procedure has started,” the spokesman, Commodore Irfanul Haq, said.
He declined to identify them by name. Local news media outlets identified them as Commodore Raja Tahir, Captain Israr and Lieutenant Ibrar.
Court martial proceedings against officers on charges of negligence or a breach of security are almost unheard of in Pakistan. No such disciplinary action was taken against any senior army officer after the headquarters of Pakistan Army was stormed by a group of militants in 2009.
Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations, the media wing of the military, said that although no army officers had been prosecuted for negligence, several attackers were arrested and brought to justice.
Pakistani officials have said they believe the naval base attackers received inside help, but have not announced any arrests of possible accomplices. A former navy commando, who had been arrested in connection with the investigation, was released.
A Pakistani investigative journalist, Syed Saleem Shahzad, was killed a day after he reported that the attack on the naval base was a reprisal for the navy’s arrest of naval personnel who had belonged to an Al Qaeda cell. American officials have said they have seen classified intelligence that suggests the Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan’s spy agency, ordered the journalist’s killing. The agency has denied this.

PM sounds out Saudis on weapons sale

JEDDAH:
                Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani held extensive talks with King Abdullah on Monday.
They discussed ways of enhancing trade and economic ties between the two countries. The two sides agreed to continue close coordination on all major issues and to stand by each other in times of need.
The meeting was marked by complete unanimity of views on most regional and global issues, sources said.
This visit was basically to perform Umrah, the Pakistani side conceded, yet the Saudi leadership opted to invite the prime minister on an official working visit of the Kingdom.
This was a special gesture from Saudi Arabia as they rarely invite foreign leaders on official visits during Ramadan, Pakistani diplomats said.
Prime Minister Gilani profusely thanked the king for the kind gesture. Sources said that the prime minister laid out before the king the difficulties and the tough economic conditions the country was facing because the on going war on terror.
The Pakistani side reportedly reiterated its interest in selling heavy defence equipment, including tanks and armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has been evaluating the possibility for some time.
It is believed that Prime Minister Gilani also made a request to Saudi officials to extend the deferred oil payment facility to Pakistan again, so as to help it overcome the current budgetary problems. Saudi Arabia indicated it would consider the suggestion.
The current situation in Afghanistan, especially the emerging situation in the wake of the anticipated US pullout and its fallout on the entire region, was also discussed between the two leaders.
Saudi Arabia underlined the significant role that Islamabad had to play in bringing about a peaceful, negotiated, end to the Afghan imbroglio.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia agreed to the need of peace and stability in the Middle East.
Early on Monday morning, Prime Minister Gilani and his entourage performed Umrah, praying for the solidarity, stability and progress of Pakistan and the Ummah.
Before meeting King Abdullah, the prime minister also addressed the Pakistan Investment Forum at an Iftar dinner hosted by them.
He assured the business community that Pakistan was in safe hands and that Pakistan’s economy was on way to recovery.
He said that the current democratic era had provided political stability to the country – so very essential for the growth and economic prosperity of any country.
The prime minister said that Pakistan was facing numerous challenges.
He said these included the country’s war against militancy and terrorism, the impact of the global recession, high international prices of petroleum products, and the massive damages of up to $10 billion caused by the floods last year.

However, he said the national economy was resilient and pursuing a vigorous reform agenda.