SC drug reaction suo moto hearing today

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court will hear today suo moto notice of the deaths of more than 90 heart patients under treatment at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), either from spurious drugs or due to wrong prescription of blood thinning and lipid lowering medicines.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took notice of a note initiated by Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani and issued notices to the attorney general, Punjab advocate general, federal and provincial secretaries, DG FIA and IG Punjab. The CJ directed the office to register the note as a petition under Article 184(3) of the Constitution as prima facie it seemed that the provisions of Articles 9 and 14 of the Constitution had not been adhered to strictly.

The chief justice further directed that the case be listed before a bench, headed by Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, today and issued notices to the Attorney General, the Advocate General Punjab, Secretaries Health of the Federal Government as well as government of Punjab, PPO Punjab and DG FIA to appear before the bench and file a reply before the petition.

Obama confirms drone strikes in Pakistan

President Barack Obama on Monday confirmed that US drone aircraft have struck Taliban and Al-Qaeda targets within Pakistan -- operations that until now had not been officially acknowledged.

When asked about the use of drones by his administration in a chat with web users on Google+ and YouTube, Obama said "a lot of these strikes have been in the FATA.

"For the most part, they've been very precise precision strikes against Al-Qaeda and their affiliates, and we're very careful in terms of how it's been applied," Obama said.

"This is a targeted focused effort at people who are on a list of active terrorists, who are trying to go in and harm Americans, hit American facilities, American bases, and so on."

Explaining that many strikes were carried out "on al-Qaeda operatives in places where the capacities of that military in that country may not be able to get them," Obama confirmed that Pakistan's lawless tribal zone was a target.

"So, obviously, a lot of these strikes have been in the FATA, and going after al-Qaeda suspects who are up in very tough terrain along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan," he said.

"For us to be able to get them in another way would involve probably a lot more intrusive military action than the ones we're already engaging in."

US officials say Pakistan's tribal belt provides sanctuary to Taliban fighting for 10 years in Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda groups plotting attacks on the West, Pakistani Taliban who routinely bomb Pakistan and other foreign fighters.

Sixty-four US missile strikes were reported in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt last year, down from 101 reported in 2010, according to AFP tallies.

The United States had until now refused to discuss drone strikes publicly, but the program has dramatically increased as the Obama administration looks to withdraw all foreign combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

The Pakistani government is understood to agree to the program despite popular opposition at home, and drones have reportedly killed dozens of Al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives and hundreds of low-ranking fighters since 2004.

But the missile strikes fuel widespread anti-American resentment, which is running especially high in Pakistan since US air strikes inadvertently killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.

A US-NATO investigation blamed the deaths on a litany of errors and botched communications on both sides. But Pakistan rejected the findings, insisting the strikes had been deliberate.

Islamabad is now reviewing its entire alliance with the United States and has kept its Afghan border closed to NATO supply convoys for two months.

It ordered US personnel to leave Shamsi air base in western Pakistan, widely believed to have been a hub for the CIA drone program, and is thought likely to only reopen the Afghan border by exacting taxes on convoys. (AFP)

Haqqani jets out of Pakistan finally

ISLAMABAD: Erstwhile envoy to US, Husain Haqqani has finally taken off for Abu Dhabi,

Earlier, he arrived at the airport after Supreme Court lifted travel restrictions imposed on a former diplomat, in a fresh sign that a probe into a major scandal threatening the president is running out of steam.

Haqqani did not talk to media at the airport.

His flight out of Pakistan suffered an hour’s delay

After staying in Abu Dhabi for a while, he will jet to Washington, USA.

Three Rawalpindi students recovered

RAWALPINDI: Three students missing from Rawalpindi's Gawalmindi area have been recovered,

According to parents the children left home for school in the morning but never reached there and now after 16 hours they were recovered from Baboo Mohalla.

Police registered an FIR and launched search operation. According to police the three of them were fast friends and were not kidnapped.

Syria security forces kill 34 civilians rights group.

Syrian security forces killed 34 civilians, including 10 children, in clashes across the country today, a rights group said.

"The toll for the day has risen to 34 civilians killed by the security forces in several regions of Syria, mostly in Homs," said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Separately, seven deserters and eight regular soldiers died in clashes, according to the rights group, among them a colonel killed in Homs, a protest hub in central Syria.

The Observatory said the army launched an offencive today evening in the Karm al-Zeitoun district of Homs, killing 26 civilians, including nine children, and wounding dozens.

And in the rebel city of Hama, also central Syria, where the army launched a major assault on Tuesday, four civilians were killed, including a 58-year-old woman shot dead by snipers, according to the same source.

Elsewhere, one civilian reportedly died in the restive northwestern province of Idlib, and two others were killed in the suburbs of Damascus.

In the southern province of Daraa, cradle of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's regime, a teenager was killed when security forces fired indiscriminately on a student demonstration in the town of Nawa, the Observatory said, citing residents.

Today's casualties could not be independently verified because of government restrictions imposed on journalists covering the unrest in Syria, which first has broke out last March and has claimed more than 5,400 lives according to UN estimates.

UN appeals funds for children

GENEVA: United Nations appealed for $1.28 billion to fund its 2012 humanitarian operations in more than 25 countries including Pakistan. While the crisis in Somalia and across the Horn of Africa accounts for nearly one-third of the total amount, the list of countries includes many long-standing or "silent" emergencies.

Launched in Geneva, the UNICEF 2012 Humanitarian Action for Children report says: "Throughout the world, millions of children are living amidst crises that persist for years. While some of these emergencies attract significant media and political attention, others never reach international awareness, and many become silent emergencies in which deep humanitarian need, existing far from the public eye, is too easily and quickly overlooked."

"In the Sahel, we are facing a nutrition crisis of a larger magnitude than usual. In addition, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad and the Central African Republic, to name just a few, are all emergencies requiring funding if their most vulnerable people, children and women, are to survive," said Rima Salah, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director, at the launch of the report.

The UNICEF report describes the daily situation of some of the world's most vulnerable children and women caught up in emergencies across the world and the funding required to meet their immediate and long-term needs.

Panetta believes Pakistan knew of bin Laden hideout

WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta still believes someone in authority in Pakistan knew where Osama bin Laden was hiding before US forces went in to find him, he said in a TV interview to air Sunday.

Intelligence reports found Pakistani military helicopters had passed over the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan where US Navy SEALs discovered and killed bin Laden last year, according to excerpts of an interview Panetta gave to CBS News.

"I personally have always felt that somebody must have had some sense of what was happening at this compound. Don't forget, this compound had 18-foot walls... It was the largest compound in the area.

"So you would have thought that somebody would have asked the question, 'What the hell's going on there?'" Panetta told CBS.

The Pentagon chief said that concern played a significant factor in Washington not warning Pakistan officials of the impending raid: "it concerned us that, if we, in fact, brought (Pakistan) into it, that-- they might...give bin Laden a heads up," he said.

Panetta acknowledged he did not have "hard evidence" Pakistan knew of the Al Qaeda leader's whereabouts.

US Navy SEALs killed Bin Laden on May 2 in a raid on a compound in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad, north of the capital Islamabad, and later buried the 9/11 mastermind at sea. (AFP)

Case registered against Khurram Rasool in Karachi

KARACHI: A case has also been registered in Karachi against the former media coordinator of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Gilani.

According to the details, FIA Corporate Crime Circle Karachi official registered a case against Khurram Rasool after recording statement of the company's managing director Haji Hameed Tili.

The statement stated that the accused did fraud of Rs 10 crore with the company. FIA was also told that the accused issued various cheques to the company which could not be cashed.

NAB probe team while contacting FIA Karachi summoned detailed report about the fraud, which would be submitted in Supreme Court.

Policeman among three killed in Karachi

KARACHI: Three people including a policeman were killed in various incidents of firing, meanwhile, a bus was also set on fire by unidentified men in the metropolis on Friday night, Geo news reported.

According to the police, unidentified armed men opened fire outside a factory in Ram Swami area of Garden, injuring four people, which were rushed to Civil hospital. A man succumbed to injuries in the hospital.

Another incident took place in Pak Colony where a policeman, identified as Yousuf, received bullet wound. He lost his life during medical treatment. Police official said that the policeman was deployed at Arambagh.

Meanwhile, a man was gunned down by unidentified men near Disco Mor.

In Gulshan e Iqbal, a firing incident caused stampede near Aladin Park after which a bus was set on fire.

Bilateral ties needed with US: Sherry

WASHINGTON: Pakistani Ambassador to United States Sherry Rehman has said that ties with US should be bilateral and not unilateral, adding that Pakistan should be given its justified status.

During a meeting with members of Pakistani community in embassy here, Sherry Rehman said that Pakistan-US relationship are important through which peace and stability could be assured in the region.

She said that Pakistan has given clear message to US that ties between both the countries should be based upon mutual respect and equality.

Sherry said that Pakistan was passing through an important political change, adding that the government would complete its term.

Will foil conspiracies hatched against government: President Zardari

KARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari while addressing a gathering said the politics of the PPP was not dependent on votes

The president added that they could change the destiny of Pakistan if the bureaucracy let them work and cooperated for the length of the government’s term.

“There are new conspiracies hatched against us everyday and we will foil all of them” the president said.

Speaking on the country’s economy, the president once again reiterated that Pakistan required trade not aid.

The president said the currency swap programme was initiated with Turkey and China, adding that other countries would be approached.

President Zardari however did mention that the State Bank was against this programme.

Political forces, civil society and media want democracy: PM Gilani

AVOS: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said political forces, civil society and the media want democracy in Pakistan.

Prime Minister Gilani is in Davos attending the World Economic Forum where he spoke with Geo News correspondent Khalid Farooqui.

On elections, the prime minister said that the government would decide when they would be held.

“All institutions are working within the jurisdiction of the constitution, nothing is happening after the person creating problems was removed” Gilani said.

The prime minister added that the days of article 58-2b were over.

On Mansoor Ijaz, the prime minister said that the US businessman had been summoned by the courts and thus he would not make any statement regarding Ijaz.

Shahbaz promises Mansoor Ijaz full security in Lahore

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Thursday extended his personal guarantee to provide impregnable security cover to US businessman Mansoor Ijaz and asked him to arrive in the Punjab to record his statement in the memo scandal.

It is pertinent to point out that both Allama Iqbal International Airport and Benazir International Airport are located in the Punjab.

Responding to questions, the Punjab chief minister said he would take personal responsibility for providing complete security to Ijaz during his visit to Pakistan.

Shahbaz said that he would welcome Ijaz and provide him security till his departure from Pakistan. He also requested the Supreme Court appointed judicial commission to record Mansoor's statement in Lahore.

While responding to a question regarding provincial government's restrictions inside the airport he said the Supreme Court would be approached to gain the authority

All Sindhis are equal: Altaf Hussain

SUKKUR: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Chief Altaf Hussain has said that he would protect Sindh,

Addressing a public rally in Sukkur, Hussain said Sindh adds 70 percent of revenue to the national exchequer adding that if the province stops providing this 70 percent revenue, the country could not be run with only 30 percent. Sindh should be given share as per the population.


MQM leader said 'all Sindhis are equal there is no new or old'. He said he hated the word 'minority'. Hussain further said he only wants elimination of feudalism.


The MQM Chief called upon the provincial and federal government to release funds for development projects in Sukkur. 


Hussain also stressed for the establishment of university and college besides standard hospital there.


He announced Rs.1 million for the Sukkur press club and asked Rabitta Committee to issue this amount at the earliest.


Altaf said Shia and Sunni lawyers were being killed in Karachi, adding that it is a conspiracy to bring them face to face. He urged the people to foil all such conspiracies.


Altaf demanded of the government to provide security to lawyers' fraternity and journalists. He also asked the government to improve the overall law and order situation in the province.


Issue of Balochistan should be resolved amicably, he said and added use of power should be avoided in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Peace be restored in KPK by taking people into confidence, he said.


He said nationalists talk about Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai but the message of great sufi poet is 'love'. 

Democracy flourishes with stable instutions: Hina Rabbani Khar

DAVOS: Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar who is attending the World Economic Forum said Thursday that democracy can only flourish if institutions were stable.

Khar added if there was a consistent democratic government in Pakistan then the country’s problems might not have been this complicated.

The foreign minister said there was no particular model of democracy and it takes time for democracy to flourish.

“People’s expectations from democracy are increasing worldwide” Khar said.

Funeral prayers held for killed lawyers

KARACHI: Funeral prayers were held for the three lawyers killed on Wednesday.

The funeral prayers were attended by thousands including members of the legal fraternity.

Lawyers across the country also boycotted court proceedings in protest to the killings while the Shia Ulema Council announced three days of mourning.

Supreme Court to begin hearing of Asghar Khan case from Feb 29

iSLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has set February 29 as the date for initiating the proceedings of Asghar Khan case.

According to details, the case was filed by Air Marshal (Retd) Asghar Khan in 1996 following a statement of former interior minister Naseerullah Babar in the Parliament in which he alleged that in 1990 Rs140 million had been dished out with the help of ISI among the political opponents of Pakistan People's Party.

The petition filed by Asghar Khan said, ISI distributed money among the political opponents of PPP during the general elections of 1990.

The proceedings were started on the case in 1996 when Justice Sajjad Ali Shah was Chief Justice of Pakistan.

The then Army Chief General Aslam Baig, in a reply submitted with the Supreme Court said:

- President Ghulam Ishaq Khan had set up an election cell in the Presidency under the supervision of Roidad Khan and Ajlal Haider during 1990 general elections.

- ISI had on the instructions of the election cell gave away Rs140 million to the opponents of PPP.

- It is a usual thing for ISI to extend help to their favorite politicians in elections and its approval is granted by the chief executive of the government.

Former ISI chief Lt. Gen. (Retd) Asad Durrani in his affidavit said:

- The money was distributed among politicians on the directive of General (Retd) Aslam Baig (Chief of Army Staff at the time).

According to Asad Durrani the money was distributed as below:

Nawaz Sharif got Rs3.5 million; Mir Afzal Khan Rs10 million; Lt. Gen. Rafaqat got Rs5.6 million for distribution among journalists; Abida Hussain Rs1 million; Jamat-e-Islami Rs5 million; Altaf Hussain Qureshi Rs500,000; Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi Rs5 million (Sindh); Jam Sadiq Rs5 million (Sindh); Muhammad Khan Junejo Rs250,000 (Sindh); Pir Pagara Rs2 million (Sindh); Maulana Salahuddin Rs300,000 (Sindh); different small groups in Sindh Rs5.4 million and; Humayun Marri Rs1.5 million (Balochistan).

US talking with Pak to abandon gas purchases from Iran

WASHINGTON: United States has confirmed that it has stepped up efforts to lobby Pakistan to abandon gas purchases from its western neighbour Iran.

During a daily press briefing, the state department’s spokesperson Nuland Victoria said that US was talking to countries around the world to cut global dependence on Iran, adding that Pakistan was one of the countries that the US was working with.

Replying to a question, the spokesperson that she didn’t have anything specific that where those conversations with Pakistan were leading. She said that US was talking about all kinds of diversification.

According to the British website, the officials from USAID have taken part in a meeting at Pakistan’s petroleum ministry to indicate that LNG could be made available by the US at $4.5 per mmbtu.

Siddle strikes with Tendulkar, Gambhir wickets

ADELAIDE: Australian paceman Peter Siddle rocked India's hopes of avoiding the follow-on with the big wickets of Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir on the third day of the fourth Adelaide Test on Thursday.

Siddle had Tendulkar and Gambhir dismissed to brilliant diving catches behind the wicket in the space of 10 balls to have the beleaguered tourists again under pressure.

Spinner Nathan Lyon followed up with the wicket of misfiring V.V.S. Laxman for 18 shortly before lunch to have the Australians bowling at India's lower order.

At lunch, India, chasing Australia's 604 for seven declared, were 122 for five and needing 283 more runs to avoid the follow-on, with Virat Kohli on 21 and Wriddhiman Saha on five.

Tendulkar again missed out on his 100th international century when he was dismissed for 25 inside the opening hour.

Siddle struck with the second ball of his fifth over enticing an edge off Tendulkar's bat for a diving Ricky Ponting to scoop it up low down at second slip.

Gambhir was out in Siddle's next over when he was unable to keep down a lifting delivery and was caught off the shoulder of his bat by a diving Mike Hussey at gully for 34.

The wholehearted Siddle had captured two huge wickets in 10 balls to seize the initiative for Australia. It was the third time in the series Siddle claimed Tendulkar's wicket and he had figures of 3-29 off seven overs at lunch.

Laxman's miserable series continued when he edged a bouncier Lyon delivery into the gloves of Brad Haddin. In seven innings in the series Laxman has scored just 120 runs at 17.14.

The Indians are facing a 4-0 series wipeout in the final Test after heavy losses in the opening three Tests. (AFP)

Swiss return 1.7bn francs in seized Arab Spring assets

GENEVA: Switzerland said Tuesday it has returned nearly 1.7 billion Swiss francs (1.41 billion euros, $1.83 billion) in illicitly placed assets to countries involved in the Arab Spring regime changes.

"The return of illicit assets is a key component of the system set up by Switzerland to protect its financial sector and to fight against international financial crime," the foreign affairs ministry said in a statement.
It did not name the countries to which money had been returned however.

Switzerland revealed the figures during a meeting of international experts on Monday and Tuesday in Lausanne that focused on the recovery of illicit assets held by autocratic leaders in countries where regime changes occurred.

The seminar included experts from international aid organisations in 15 countries.
Meanwhile, Swiss courts have expanded investigations into frozen Tunisian and Egyptian assets, amid suspicions that a crime syndicate may be linked to them.

"In addition to the suspicion of money laundering," investigators are probing the possible involvement of a "criminal organisation," a spokeswoman for the Attorney General's office, Jeannette Balmer, told AFP

New UN showdown with Russia over Syria looms

DAMASCUS: Britain and France joined forces with Arab allies on Wednesday to push the U.N. Security Council to back an Arab League call for Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad to step aside, setting the stage for a showdown with Syria's ally Russia.

"The U.N. Security Council must support the Arab League's courageous decisions which are trying to end the repression and violence in Syria and find a solution to the political crisis," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said.

The Security Council could vote as early as next week on a new draft resolution, which delegates from Britain and France are crafting in consultation with Qatar, Morocco, the United States, Germany and Portugalenvoys said. The new resolution replaces a Russian draft Western diplomats said was too weak.

U.S. President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union address on Tuesday that Assad would "soon discover that the forces of change can't be reversed."

It remains unclear whether Russia - which together with China vetoed a European-drafted resolution in October that condemned Syria and threatened it with sanctions over its 10-month crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators - is prepared to once again to block council action on Syria.

"We hope Russia won't use its veto against the Arab League, which is what it would be this time," a U.N. envoy said. "They'll put up a fight. There will be negotiations. We'll see."

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country remained opposed to sanctions on Syria and reiterated its opposition to military intervention. But the Western-Arab draft, obtained by Reuters, calls for neither military action nor sanctions, but for the council to support the Arab League. (Reuters)

Al Qaeda 'still a real threat' to US: Panetta

WASHINGTON: Despite the killings of Osama bin Laden and radical US-Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, the al Qaeda terror network remains a "real threat to the United States," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a TV interview late Wednesday.

CBS News released excerpts of an interview with Panetta scheduled to run Sunday, in which the Pentagon chief discusses US strategy to disband al Qaeda's global networks.

"We're going after al Qaeda, wherever they're at," Panetta told CBS in the interview excerpt.

"And clearly, we're confronting al Qaeda in Pakistan. We're confronting the nodes of al Qaeda in Yemen, in Somalia, in North Africa. ... and obviously whatever al Qaeda links are involved in Afghanistan," he said.

Have US forces have defeated Al Qaeda?

"Not yet," Panetta said. "They're still a real threat. There's still al Qaeda out there. And we've got to continue to put pressure on them wherever they're at."

Panetta however said that US forces have "undermined their leadership significantly."

Of the network's 10 main leaders listed after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, only one is still alive: Ayman al-Zawahiri, who took over after bin Laden was shot dead in a dramatic US commando raid in Pakistan in May.

In the past year, eight of al Qaeda's top 20 leaders were eliminated, most by missiles fired from US drones operating under an expanded covert warfare effort launched by President Barack Obama after taking office in January 2009.

Those killed include Awlaki, slain in Yemen in a US drone strike on September 30.

Former CIA chief Panetta took over as defense secretary in July, replacing Robert Gates, a holdover from the presidency of George W. Bush. (AFP)

Three lawyers shot dead in Karachi

Karachi: Three lawyers were killed when unidentified armed men opened fire on their car near then Aram Bagh area of Karachi.

A fourth lawyers is in critical condition and is undergoing surgery at the Civil Hospital.

The police have described the act as target killing and say the attackers were riding motorcycles and chased the lawyers from the city court.

Lawyers have announced a nationwide strike in protest of the killings.

According to the MLO of the civil hospital, the lawyers were shot at close range.

Eyewitness accounts state that the police failed to act and only opened aerial firing after the attack had already taken place.

The police were also late in cordoning off the crime scene.

Home Minister Sindh Mansoor Wasan has ordered the suspension of SHO Aram Bagh, while Interior Minister Rehman Malik has summoned a report from IG Sindh.

PPP demands suo moto against PIC tragedy

LAHORE: Federal Minister for National Heritage and Pakistan People's Party Lahore President Samina Khalid Ghurki has demanded of the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo moto notice against deaths of heart patients due to medicines given by Punjab Institute of Cardiology here.

In a press statement issued here on Wednesday, she also demanded stern action against the responsible of the incident. She urged Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif to take solid steps and form a strategy to avoid such incidents in the future as it was his duty to take care of the precious lives of the people.

She said the PPP did not want to politicise the issue but it wanted an action against the culprits.

Abid Siddiqui, PPP Lahore Information Secretary, in his separate statement said that it was duty of the party as an opposition to highlight the rights of the people so it demanded the CM to take action against the responsible of the PIC incidents. (APP

72 die from substandard medicine in Lahore

LAHORE: Substandard medicines dispensed by the Punjab Institute of Cardiology have claimed 72 lives.

Several patients are still being treated at various government hospitals and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has ordered that all facilities be provided to them.

Sharif has also announced compensation of Rs 500,000 for the victims’ families and Rs 200,000 for patients.

The investigation team formed by the Chief Minister has also confiscated the medicine record of the PIC after raiding the drug testing laboratory.

Teams are also visiting neighbourhoods across the city gathering the substandard medicine.