Pakistan - Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan endorsed PTI

ISLAMABAD, Dec 12: Veteran political leader Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan announced here on Monday his support to the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) in what he termed its struggle to bring a qualitative change in the country by removing the present rulers and ensuring free and transparent elections.

Speaking at a press conference along with him, PTI chairman Imran Khan came up with a bizarre threat: `I shall not allow polls to be held unless the Election Commission strikes off 35 million fake votes, as ordered by the Supreme Court.

Asghar Khan also announced that he was quitting as president of Tehrik-i-Istaglal.

Journalists were surprised at what he termed `endorsement` of PTPs policies instead of joining the party, as a section of the press had predicted.

He said he was ready to join Imran Khan in his struggle to ensure free and fair polls as well as to remove the rulers who, he alleged, might sell the country if allowed to continue to rule.

On his part, Imran Khan reiterated his determination to go ahead with a rally scheduled for Dec 25 in Karachi, warning the administration not to `stand in our way` `This rally will be held even if there is a war,` he thundered.

`We have decided not to take part in any by-election unless electoral rolls are rectified in accordance with the court order and the Election Commission is made independent.

The PTI chief said he would take stern action against workers who indulged in fistfights at the party office moments before he was to address reporters to welcome a PPP provincial minister from Nowshera, Pervez Khattak, into the party.

The PTI chief came down hard on PML-N leaders Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan when asked to reply to his challenge of approaching the Supreme Court over asset declaration. `He is the greatest liar who backed out after announcing that he would quit politics if Nawaz Sharif took part in the 2008 polls.

Imran Khan said: `A commission should be set up to probe my assets and those of the Sharifs.

He appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take up for immediate hearing a case filed by Asghar Khan in 1996 about alleged distribution of ISI funds among politicians.

The PTI chief said he would quit politics if any such funding for his party or any property owned by him except those declared by him was proven.

Defending his decision to welcome into the PTI `all types of politicians`, most of whom, he admitted, were joining because they `have foreseen a vote surge` for it, he said it did not mean that everyone of them would be allotted party tickets.

`Majority of the party`s candidates will come from the younger lot.

ASGHAR SCEPTICAL: Air Marshal Asghar Khan claimed that all elections in the country had been rigged or manipulated and future polls would also be no different. He advised Imran Khan to train his party`s workers to guard against `stealers of electoral results`.

He said the present rulers were inept and dishonest and had he been younger, he would have migrated to Bangladesh.

Pakistan - Envoy Meeting to redefine US-Pak Ties

ISLAMABAD, Dec 12: Pakistani envoys in major capitals around the world at their foreign policy review talks here on Monday worked at identifying different elements of ties with the United States and Nato that need to be redefined.

The 15 envoys at the end of their twoday deliberations will come up with a set of recommendations that will form the basis of future relationship with the US.

Notwithstanding the publicly-stated broad scope of the discussions `deliberating on different aspects of country`s foreign policy` it was evident from the agenda that the proceedings were USspecific.

Ambassador-designate to the US Sherry Rehman, who played a key role throughout the conference, will unveil the recommendations at the end of the conference.

`We want peaceful, positive and balanced relations with the US based on mutual respect and mutual interest as no relationship can be sustained for long if it is one-sided,` said an ambassador whilesharing the essence of the day-long discussions which continued late into the night.

Explaining the purpose of the exercise, which is quite rare in the country`s foreign policy formulation process, the ambassador said it would help reorient the policy to be closely linked with security and development requirements.

The ambassadors were briefed by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Finance Minister Hafeez Sheikh and ISI chief Lt-Gen Shuja Pasha before they set about their work spanning over three working sessions. Later in the night a drafting committee, based on the working sessions, started framing the proposals.

The committee, headed by Sherry Rehman, comprises ambassadors Khalid Khattak (Russia), Zamir Akram (Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva), Jalil Abbass Jilani (EU, Brussels), Masood Khan (China), Masood Khalid, Sohail Mehmood (Tokyo) and Tehmina Janjua (Italy).The recommendations will be presented to the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, which has been tasked with the review process. These will then be tabled in a joint session of parliament, along with inputs from the parliamentary committee.

The review process was initiated after the recent denouement in ties with the US following Nato air strikes on two army posts which killed 24 soldiers on Nov 26.

In a retaliatory move, the government blocked the Nato supply route, boycotted the Bonn conference on Afghanistan and got the Shamsi airbase, once used for drone operations, vacated.

The United States has expressed its desire to get past the incident by complying with the deadline given by Pakistan for vacating the base and agreeing to expedite the inquiry into the attacks which the government insists were deliberate. The Pakistani claim is, however, denied by the US and Nato. Both have termed the incident unfortunate.

Pakistan - Ban on BBC Documentry by Cable Operators Association

THE All Pakistan Cable Operators Association announced on Tuesday that it would stop relaying the broadcast of a number of international news channels. The `ban` went into effect the same night in many areas. While the primary target appears to be the BBC, other channels` transmissions have also been sporadically interrupted in different areas.

The APCOA has said it plans the phase-wise curtailment of access to other foreign news channels too. Through such tactics, it hopes to force them to stop `maligning the country`. This is precisely the sort of narrow-minded nationalism that results in making the country a laughing stock. The APCOA is not just censoring access to information which cable operators are committed to providing to their viewers it is also depriving citizens of their right to know what is being said about them in the rest of the world, and amounts to censoring the global discourse on Pakistan.

Secondly, blocking channels can set a dangerous precedent. There have been a number of occasions where attempts have been made by the state aswell as by non-state actors to stop certain information from reaching the public or to influence journalistic output. The APCOA`s move opens the window for other, more coercive tactics. The next target could be local news organisations. Meanwhile, the `ban`appearstohave been triggered in part by a documentary being aired on the BBC which, the APCOA feels, is `negative propaganda` against Pakistan`s state institutions.

Blocking the channel, though, amounts to trying to wish it away. Any journalistic work can easily be countered by providing evidence that it is based on erroneous assumptions.

There is also the disturbing possibility that the APCOA`s hand may have been forced. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority should step in at this stage. The need is to open up Pakistan`s information and media landscape, not restrict it further. The APCOA has called upon Pemra to cancel the landing rights of `channels maligning the country`. In fact, landing rights to news networks ought to be granted across the board so that Pakistanis have access to various shades of opinion.

Pakistan - Shamsi Air Base A Covert Foriegn Policy

SUPRISING are the ways of the state. With a `final` countdown under way for the American presence at Shamsi airbase in Balochistan to be brought to an end, Pakistanis are still none the wiser about how the base came to be under the control of foreigners. At a broader level, despite much public agitation over drone strikes here, the public at large has been given no real understanding of exactly what role the state plays in the strikes, even if in the unlikely scenario the role is limited to just approving the use of Pakistani airspace for drones. Perhaps there was once an era in which Pakistan`s engagement with outside powers could be conducted in absolute secrecy. But as times have changed, as information has become that much harder to suppress and, perhaps most importantly, as relations with the US continue to deteriorate, the skeletons in the Pakistani state`s closet will keep tumbling out.

Several questions need to be asked. Who authorises the transfer of Pakistani property, whether privately or publicly held, to a third country? Under what law is this transfer arranged? Has parliament been taken into confidence? Is there a need for special legislation to approve ofsuch transfers? In the case of the Shamsi airbase, can Pakistanlegally lease the property out to another country, in this case the UAE, which can then in turn lease it out to another country? And if the airbase itself can be leased out, what about the airspace over and around the base? Does Pakistan not have control of its own airspace? If armed drones are buzzing around Pakistani airspace, who has authorised weapons of war to be used inside Pakistan by a third country and under what law was this authorisation given? Outside the world of espionage and covert wars, there are still important questions. From the leasing out of land, such as in Rahim Yar Khan and Jhal Magsi, for hunting purposes to talk of agricultural land being under the control of foreign countries which can then export the produce for their own use, the state here has flirted with novel uses of its own territory. This is all the more surprising given how frequently the `sovereignty` argument is invoked when these covert deals go awry or a foreign power becomes more assertive of its `rights` over Pakistani territory. In the half-truths and half-lies over the Shamsi airbase, there is an important lesson: the truth will eventually come out, so it would be better for the state to find more transparent ways of conducting foreign policy.

Iran - Attack on British embassy

THE mob attack on the British embassy in Tehran on Tuesday and the `law` passed to expel the UK ambassador a day earlier give an astonishing picture of the situation in Iran. Here is a country that is home to one of the world`s oldest civilisations allowing a mob to ravage an embassy. Not surprisingly, Britain has reacted by expelling Iranian diplomats on its soil. The Iranian foreign ministry regretted the attack on the embassy and on the diplomatic compound where British diplomats had been `sequestered` but Tehran will have to do a lot to convince the world that the government did not have a hand in it. The taking of American hostages during the early days of the revolution, when the US was closely identified with the ousted monarchy, was understandable, though not condonable, given the circumstances. But that a similar drama, though on a lower scale, should be enacted more than three decadesafter the revolution casts the present set of Iranian rulers in a bad light.

The mob attacked the embassy over Britain`s decision to slap new sanctions on Iran. While we have pointed out in these columns the futility of the sanctions, it should be noted that an oil-producing country like Iran is quite capable of withstanding the sanctions.

The country has means at its disposal to engage Britain diplomatically and adopt policies that help Iran economically and politically. But by letting the mob violate diplomatic norms, the Iranian government hasn`t earned any friends. While the UN and western powers have condemned the attack, even Iran`s friends will find it difficult to applaud the mob action. The diplomatic police came after the protesters had done their job. That will only add to the suspicion that a government which is increasingly dependent on religious leaders had a hand in the violence.

Pakistan - US given deadline of 11 Dec to vacate shamsi airbase

SLAMABAD, Nov 30: Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told a Senate committee on Wednesday that the decision to get the Shamsi airbase vacated from US troops was irreversible.

And in Karachi, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani made a similar statement and said the United States had been given the deadline of December 11 to abide by the decision.

Ms Khar also said that Pakistan would stick to its decision to boycott the Bonn conference on Afghanistan.

She regretted that red lines had been repeatedly crossed.

`Enough is enough.` The government would not tolerateany incident of the spilling of even a single drop (of blood) of its citizens.

She said the decision taken in reaction to the Nato attack was meant to protect national security and sovereignty.

`There will be no compromise on national interest,` she said at a meeting of the Senate`s Standing Committee on Foreign Relations. Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir also attended the meeting.

Ms Khar said Pakistan had been playing a responsible role for peace in the region and rendered more sacrifices than any other country in the war on terror.

She ruled out the possibility of reopening the Nato sup-ply line. She said a mere apology would not work because Pakistan not only lost its soldiers but its sovereignty had also come under attack.

Ms Khar said the government was in the process of reviewing its relations with the US and coalition forces.`We are a sovereign state and we will not allow our sovereignty to be tainted.

Pakistan`s role in the war on terror must not be overlooked.

About the memogate controversy, she said the Foreign Office had no record of thealleged memo. She stressed that the government had not sought any help from the former US military chief for reining in the army.

It was a fabricated document, she said, adding that concocted stories had been published against Pakistan in the past as well. According to her, Mansoor Ejaz, the US businessman of Pakistani origin, had targeted the Pakistan Army and ISI by claiming to have transmitted the memo to Admiral Mike Mullen.

She said Prime Minister Gilani Yousuf Raza had decided in national interest to remove Ambassador Husain Haqqani.

The foreign minister said a number of questions had been raised over the alleged role of Mr Haqqani in the scandal and he was summoned to explain his position. The matter would be fully investigated, she said, adding that an ambassador could not do anything without the permission of the Foreign Office.

Members of the Senate committee said the government should raise the issue of Nato strikes in the United Nations and take the parliament into confidence. The committee`s chairman, Senator Salim Saifullah Khan, said Pakistan should not lose the opportunity to inform the world about its viewpoint.

The committee expressed reservations overformer foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi`s statement about security of Pakistan`s nuclear assets and said it was against the integrity of the country.

Talking to reporters, Mr Saifullah said the memogate scandal had tarnished the country`s image and all members of the committee wanted the government to take action and punish those involved in the conspiracy.

He said the government was avoiding to adopt strong stance to get the attacks stopped.

He said the committee members strongly condemned the Nato air strikes and praised the government`s decision to block the Nato supply lines and get the Shamsi airbase vacated.

He said it was beyond comprehension that the Nato strikes continued for more than two hours and the army did not respond.

Pakistan - Nato Strik Footage

ISLAMABAD, Nov 30: The Inter-Services Public Relations released on Wednesday a video footage showing the two Pakistani posts destroyed in strikes carried out by Nato helicopters and a warplane on Saturday.

Twenty-four troops, including two officers of Pakistan Army, were killed and 13 others injured during the attack on the Volcano and Boulder posts in Salala area of Mohmand Agency.

The footage showed aerial views of the posts set up in a difficult terrain 800 metres high in mountains. White smoke could be seen spiralling from large swathes of blackened ground on either side of the remote rocky mountaintop where the posts were situated.

Army spokesman Brigadier Syed Azmat Ali said the smoke was a result of the nearly two-hour incident in the early hours of Saturday. The footage was filmed on Sunday morning, he said.

Scattered sandbags, tarpaulin sheets and corrugated iron sheets can be seen lying around one of the abandoned posts, and soldiers wander through the wreckage, one taking photographs.

In another shot a stone hut can be seen, metres from the remains of a rock wall, next to which magazines of ammunition have been abandoned.-APP/AFP