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Recent Appearances... Rantburg

India-Pakistan
'Signing emergency order as COAS was Musharraf's mistake'
2014-09-18
[DAWN] The head of the team that investigated the high treason charges against retired General Pervez Perv Musharraf
... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ...
, on Tuesday, admitted before a special court that in his capacity as president, he could constitutionally impose a state of emergency. But he maintained that the November 3, 2007 proclamation he issued as chief of army staff was unconstitutional.

During his cross examination, FIA Additional Director General Khalid Qureshi said that in his capacity as president, Gen Musharraf could have imposed emergency following advice from then-Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

He was answering a question, posed to him by Musharraf's counsel Farogh Nasim, asking him whether the general was "empowered on November 3, 2007 to impose emergency while holding dual office of president and chief of army staff (COAS)".

However,
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster...
Mr Qureshi stated under oath that the prime minister did not advise Gen Musharraf to impose emergency, adding that Musharraf issued the November 3 proclamation as COAS, not as president.
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India-Pakistan
Musharraf refuses to appear before Lal Masjid commission
2013-02-23
[Dawn] Former President General (retired) Pervez Perv Musharraf
... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ...
has refused to appear before the one-man commission constituted by the Supreme Court to probe into the Lal Masjid operation of 2007.

The commission on January 31, 2013, had decided to summon Mr Musharraf and former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz after recording the statements of a number of witnesses who alleged that the former president was responsible for the military operation that left 103 people, including 10 military personnel, dead.

An official of the commission confirmed that Mr Musharraf had refused to appear before the commission.

He said the commission had summoned the former president thrice with the last summon sent to his residence abroad through the foreign ministry. However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things...
he did not receive it.

According to him, the commission would not take any coercive measure against Mr Musharraf for defying the summons because it had no power to compel any witness to record their statement.

It may be mentioned that Maulana Aziz, the Khateeb of Lal Masjid, his spouse Umme Hassan and some other holy mans have held Gen Musharraf responsible for the operation.

Testifying before the commission, Maulana Aziz on December 31, 2012, said "Gen Musharraf was against our religious ideology.
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India-Pakistan
Lal Masjid operation: SC moved for registering cases against 22 persons
2012-05-09
[Dawn] A former nazim
...small time big shot, the chief elected official of a local government in Pakistan, such as a district, tehsil, union council, or village council...
of Jamia Hafsa on Monday approached the Supreme Court seeking direction to the police to register cases against 22 persons, including former President Pervez Perv Musharraf
... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ...
and ex-Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz for their alleged role in the killing of innocent people and desecration of the holy Koran during the Lal Masjid operation in the year 2007.

On May 4, separate complaints were lodged by 11 people against the 22 persons with the Aabpara police. The police registered the complaints in its daily diary and issued separate numbers to the complainants.

The police also sent the complaints to its prosecution department for legal opinion.

When contacted, Advocate Tarqi Asad, the counsel for petitioner Maulana Abdul Qayyum, the former nazim and teacher of the seminary, said a request was also made to the apex court to take up the matter on Tuesday (today) when another identical petition would be heard.

The petition named as respondents the secretary interior, inspector general of Islamabad police and the station house officer (SHO) of Aabpara. The court was requested to order the SHO to register criminal cases against those responsible for the deaths of the innocent persons and desecration of the holy Koran.

"Deaths caused during the operation were in violation of Articles 9, 10, 10-A and 14 of the constitution. Besides, desecration of the holy Koran is against the sentiments of Mohammedans and a violation of Article 20," the petition said.

It stated that as per finding of the apex court on October 2, 2007, 103 bodies had been recovered from the premises out of which only 16 could be identified. The remaining were handed over to their families, but 12 of them were not accepted due to lack of identification.

The petitioner added that as per statements of principal Majida Younus alias Umme Hassan and a former student of Jamia Hafsa, Ayesha, recorded in the same court order, about 1,300 orphan students were on the premises who remained untraceable. "The number of those killed was very high but only 103 deaths were admitted by the respondents."

The petitioner stated that in the court's order it was also admitted that 662 persons were tossed in the clink
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
and later released. "But the fact is that most of them were never released and they were either killed or are still in detention."

The claim can be verified from the statement of one of the legal heirs of the victims, Ghulam Mohammad that he had seen his son when he was tossed in the clink
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
but his whereabouts was never known afterwards.

The petitioner claimed that another man -- Muzammil Shah -- had informed the court during the last hearing that his son Mohammad Ali was alive till July 6, 2007, but after that nothing was known about him.

In view of the order, legal heirs of the victims had been filing applications with the police and civil authorities from time to time requesting them to register criminal cases against the responsible persons. However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well...
they were told that only the Ministry of Law and Justice could allow registration of such cases.

The petitioner pleaded that FIR be registered on charges of murder and desecration of the holy Koran against the former president and prime minister as well as Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, former federal and state ministers Mohammad Ali Durrani and Tariq Azeem, former religious affairs minister Ijazul Haq, former interior minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, former foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri, former Chief Minister Punjab Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, former environment minister Faisal Saleh Hayat, director crisis management cell Javaid Iqbal Cheema, General (retired) Javed Majeed, then director general (operation) Rangers General Hussain Mehdi, former secretary interior Syed Kamal Shah, former IGP Islamabad Iftikhar Ahmad, former deputy commissioner Islamabad Chaudhry Mohammad Ali, former SSP Islamabad Capt (retired) Zafar Iqbal, former chief commissioner Islamabad Khalid Pervaiz, former DIG Islamabad Shahid Nadeem Baloch, former DG ISPR Waheed Arshad, former chairman CDA Kamran Lashari and those who participated in the operation.

Besides, the petitioner also prayed the court to set aside the December 27, 2011, agreement signed between Umme Hassan and the government under which the victims' families would not make any claim or get any case registered against anyone in future.
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India-Pakistan
Pakistan to extradite British terror suspect
2007-11-16
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has begun extradition proceedings for Rashid Rauf, a suspect in a terrorist plot to blow up US-bound passenger planes in Britain, a senior official said on Thursday. The arrest by Pakistan of British national Rauf in August 2006 sparked a worldwide security alert and arrests in Britain.

“We have started the legal proceedings today for the extradition of Rashid Rauf. He is wanted by the British government,” Tariq Pervaz, director general of Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency, told AFP. “The proceedings will take a week to 10 days,” Pervaz said. “The extradition will be decided on by a court of law after the completion of the formalities.”

Pakistan’s outgoing cabinet had earlier Thursday ratified an agreement on the transfer of prisoners between Pakistan and Britain, a statement from Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s office said.

In April, the Pakistani foreign ministry denied reports that Rauf would be extradited to Britain in exchange for a sixth-round draft choice and a terrorist to be named later separatist leaders.
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India-Pakistan
Caretaker Government to Take Office in Pakistan Ahead of Elections
2007-11-15
Pakistan's parliament is scheduled to dissolve itself at midnight Thursday to make way for a new caretaker government to oversee January elections. VOA's Barry Newhouse reports from Islamabad that while President Pervez Musharraf tries to make the elections appear credible despite emergency rule, his opponents are busy uniting against him.
I'm mildly surprised by this, hence the pic. Forming a caretaker government introduces a new level of uncertainty for Perv at a time when he's desparately trying to lock things down in his favor. It's not at all clear to me that the caretakers will be all Perv's drinking buddies. Perhaps Fred or John Frum have a clue on that one ...
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz addressed a final cabinet meeting late Thursday before the new caretaker government takes office Friday. State television broadcast footage of Aziz praising officials for their accomplishments. "We have promoted press freedom and freedom of expression. No government has been more tolerant that ours in hearing criticism," Aziz said.
That just might be true in Pakland, which is a sorry statement in and of itself.
The claims of progress by the close ally of General Musharraf stood in stark contrast to political opposition leaders, who say security forces continue to pursue the president's critics.

Ahsan Iqbal is a spokesman for the political party of exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He spoke to VOA by telephone. "After elections were announced, they should have put an end to all these arrests of opposition leaders," said Iqbal. "But they are still hounding us; they are still searching for us. I am in a hideout. The entire leadership of the PML-N is either in jail or in detention or they are in hiding. So how can there be fair and free elections in the country."

While the government crackdown is succeeding in preventing mass protests, its success is unifying political opposition leaders.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has confirmed that she has spoken with Mr. Sharif about forming a broad coalition to challenge General Musharraf. "I think that we the leaders of political parties need to exchange ideas of what could be a possible agenda for all of us to rally around," she said.
She'll ally herself with Nawaz just long enough to get his votes, and then dump him like a cheap date. He's very likely to remain sleeping in Saoodiland for a long time to come.
Ms. Bhutto made the comments in a phone interview with Dawn News, an independent television news broadcaster that returned to local airwaves Thursday for the first time since emergency rule was imposed November 3.

Dawn and a few other stations have agreed to abide by a new code of conduct that bars news coverage that directly criticizes President Musharraf, the army or the judiciary. Criticism of the president's policies is allowed.
But since the policies and the man are intertwined, criticize at your peril.
News anchors and hosts can face heavy financial penalties and up to three years in prison if any part of their shows is considered in violation of the law. Most political reporters for the networks have not returned to work.
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India-Pakistan
Foreigners behind Swat unrest: Orakzai
2007-10-30
Foreigners are responsible for creating a disturbance in Swat Valley but their names cannot be disclosed, said NWFP Governor Ali Muhammad Jan Orakzai on Monday. However, he denied that Taliban operatives from Waziristan were in Swat.

Talking to reporters after performing the groundbreaking ceremony of FATA House here, he said the Swat situation would be resolved before general elections and they would not be delayed. He said a military operation was the final option and the government was trying to resolve the Swat situation through a jirga.

Earlier, Orakzai called on Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz at Prime Minister’s House to discuss the Swat situation. Aziz told the governor that the government was assisting the provincial government in maintaining peace in Swat through dialogue and consultation.

Orakzai also called on President General Pervez Musharraf, who requested the provincial government’s help in maintaining security in the country’s Tribal Areas. According to Online, the president said security forces had launched an operation in Swat on the provincial government’s request to help maintain law and order.
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India-Pakistan
Pak PM denies military ops in Swat as over 15 killed in clash
2007-10-29
Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Sunday denied that any military operation has been launched in northern Sawat valley amid reports that the heavy exchange of fire has claimed more lives in the scenic valley. "On the request of provincial government for help in maintenance of law and order, Frontier Constabulary and Frontier Corps have been involved", he said while talking to newsmen in Southern Karachi city. "We are trying to restore peace in Swat", said the Prime Minister, adding that the situation will soon be under control because the government does not want disruption in law and order and loss of innocent lives.

His comments came as the military spokesman Waheed Arshad confirmed that on Sunday at least 10 militants were killed in clashes with security forces. Security sources told KUNA that in Sunday's gunbattle between supporters of local militant commander Maulana Fazlullah and security forces at least 15 including security personnel were killed and many were wounded. Forces launched offensive against Maulana and his supporters on Friday a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up near an army truck, carrying huge cache of ammunition. The explosion killed about 39 security personnel and wounded several civilians.
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India-Pakistan
Talk for peace in Swat and Waziristan, says Altaf
2007-10-28
MQM Chief Altaf Hussain has proposed to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and ruling PML Chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain that the government must resolve the controversial issues in Swat and Waziristan through negotiations. “Should efforts for a peaceful solution fail, security forces should be more than careful in their actions to the extent that not a single innocent person is killed,” he exhorted.

Hussain was talking to them by phone from London when they visited Nine-Zero. The MQM chief recalled that Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Senator Mushahid Hussain of the PML had held talks with Akbar Bugti in Dera Bugti but that process did not end well. He said repercussions of that operation are felt all over Pakistan.

He said that an insurgency is thwarted in accordance with the law and the government has the authority to do so but the killing of civilians/innocent people strengthens the position of the insurgents. “Be careful and deal with it prudently,” he said.
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India-Pakistan
Perv says Sharif to remain in exile
2007-10-27
(AKI/DAWN) Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf has said that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif would not return before the general elections in January. According to the Pakistani daily Dawn, Musharraf said the ruling Pakistan Muslim League and its allies were in a position to win the elections and the next prime minister would be from the PML.

Addressing about 170 legislators of the party, including federal ministers, the president said: “You have been supporting me for the last five years and you will not be disappointed by me in the days to come. I am with you and it is my heartiest desire that you win elections and form the government.”

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, secretary-general Mushahid Hussain Sayed attended the dinner held at the prime minister's residence. Qari Gul Rahman, a dissident with the six-party religious alliance MMA, and Shahabuddin Khan of the Awami National Party, who voted for Musharraf in the presidential election, were also at the dinner.

The president denied reports that the local bodies would be dissolved before the polls on the demand of certain parties. He said the reconciliation process had been initiated to end the tug of war between political parties and it was proceeding well, the minister of state for information, Tariq Azeem told Dawn.

Musharraf also said that foreign experts would not be involved in the investigation of the 18 October blasts in Karachi which targetted former premier Benazir Bhutto. “Our own experts are competent enough to undertake this task and they have done it in the past.” He also rejected speculation that foreign troops would be allowed to intrude into Pakistan’s tribal areas to attack militants.

Prime minister Aziz congratulated the president on winning the election and said that even if opposition parties had participated in the process, Musharraf would have polled the same 57 percent votes of the electoral college.

Earlier, the president had an informal meeting with some senior members of the PML, including Baluchistan chief minister Jam Mohammad Yousuf and Sindh chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim Khan. He discussed with them the electoral strategy, petitions pending in the Supreme Court, security situation and the formation of an interim set-up, sources said.
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India-Pakistan
No foreigners to investigate Karachi blasts: Musharraf
2007-10-26
President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Thursday rejected the demand of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto for foreign experts to assist the probe into the Karachi blasts and said Pakistani agencies were capable of investigating such incidents.

Sources said the president and the prime minister met at the president’s camp office in Rawalpindi and reviewed the progress made by the investigators of ther October 19 blasts.

They said they were confident about the capabilities of local security agencies, as the agencies had, in the past, successfully exposed the perpetrators of attacks carried out on them, sources said. “No foreign agency will be included in the investigation,” sources quoted the president as saying.
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India-Pakistan
Welcome home, Benazir: Dozens Die In Assassination Bid
2007-10-19
Continues yesterday's stories...
Dozens of people have been killed during an assassination attempt on the former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Karachi.
Not like it was unexpected. If there's any surprise at all it's the timing.
Two bombs went off in a procession welcoming her back to the country after eight years in exile. Her bullet-proof bus had just passed when the blasts happened.
If I'da been her, I'd probably have wanted to travel by tank...
She was unhurt and has been taken to her house in the city but at least 89 people were killed and over 100 others wounded.
She was unhurt and has been taken to her house in the city but at least 89 people were killed and over 100 others wounded. An initial small explosion was followed by a huge blast just feet from the vehicle. At least one of them was thought to be a suicide bombing.

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf said the attack represented "a conspiracy against democracy."
Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf said the attack represented "a conspiracy against democracy" and the US also condemned the atrocity.

Ms Bhutto's procession had been heading to a rally near the tomb of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. Hundreds of thousands of people had lined the route. Militants linked to al Qaeda, angered by her support for the US war on terrorism, had threatened to assassinate her.

Christina Lamb, Ms Bhutto's biographer, was on the truck at the time of the explosions. She told Sky News of the terrifying moment that one of the bombs went off, covering her in blood. "We had been on the bus for about nine hours, there were huge crowds and we were talking about what a great atmosphere there was. Suddenly there was an enormous blast and a huge ball of orange flame came across the front of the bus. Everybody just screamed. I was covered in blood, but it wasn't mine, it was somebody else's. There were about 20 people on top of the bus, it was pretty exposed in retrospect."

She added that Ms Bhutto had by chance gone downstairs in the bus away from the blast at the time it went off. "I'm sure she feels really devastated that this has happened," she added.
Probably not quite as bad as she'd be feeling if she'd been shredded, like Baitullah wanted.
Four bullets were reportedly fired at the convoy but were held by the reinforced glass on the bus.

Earlier, Ms Bhutto pledged to fight for democracy as she ended her exile over allegations of corruption amid chaotic scenes at Karachi airport. With tears in her eyes as she walked off the plane that had brought her from Dubai, Ms Bhutto waved at supporters and said: "I feel good. I counted the hours, the minutes and the seconds just to see this land, sky and grass."

The 54-year-old said she was fighting for democracy and to help her country defeat the extremism that she said had given it the reputation as a hotbed of international terrorism.

Some 2,500 paramilitary troops had been deployed around Karachi airport and 10,000 more were on standby for her homecoming.

Brushing off fears of Islamic militant attack, Ms Bhutto told Sky News in an exclusive interview this week that only she could bring democracy back to Pakistan. Ms Bhutto's return follows negotiations with President General Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup.

132 killed in suicide attacks
At least 132 people were killed and hundreds injured late on Thursday night as suspected suicide bombers targeted former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on her return from eight years in self-imposed exile... The attack bore the hallmarks of Al Qaeda and resembled assassination attempts by militants linked to the terrorist network on President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in recent years. Intelligence reports also warned of threats of suicide attacks against Ms Bhutto by militants linked to Al Qaeda, the Taliban and Baitullah Mehsud, the Sindh home secretary said on Wednesday.
“The blasts hit two police vehicles which were escorting the truck carrying Ms Bhutto. The target was the truck,” senior Karachi police official Azhar Farooqui told Reuters.

Suicide bombing: SP Raja Umer Khitab told Daily Times the first blast was a suicide attack. He said the police had recovered part of a torso wearing a suicide jacket, as well as the head and hands and feet of the suicide bomber. According to witnesses, the bomber tried to enter the inner security cordon of PPP workers around Ms Bhutto but was stopped, and then he set off the explosion. Witnesses said the second blast originated from a golden-coloured Pajero parked on the road.
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India-Pakistan
General elections in January: Aziz
2007-10-11
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Wednesday that elections for the national and provincial assemblies would be held in the first week of January under a caretaker setup and predicted that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and its allies would emerge victorious. “I think the elections for national and provincial assemblies will be held in the first week of January,” Aziz said while speaking at an Iftar-dinner arranged for journalists at Prime Minister’s House. He said a caretaker government would be set up after the present government’s term had completed to ensure free and fair elections.
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