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The Express Tribune Newsletter: June 6, 2012
SC orders govt to appoint judges for vacant courts
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the federal and provincial governments to appoint judges against all vacant seats in different courts "within seven days."
The apex court said provincial chief justices should be consulted and judges appointed against vacant seats in banking, narcotics, FIA, accountability, excise, labour and environment courts.
It maintained in its written order that "we fail to understand how a matter can be dealt with expeditiously if judges are not appointed." It observed that criminals were being released on bail due to delays in hearings amid an absence of judges.
The court asked provincial chief secretaries and registrars to appoint all the federal and provincial judges as early as possible. The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry also asked the federation to consult the judiciary before it appoints the members and chairman of the Federal Services Tribunal.
The chief justice noted that since the tribunals deal with judicial functions, the government should take special heed to "appoint competent and qualified persons with judicial backgrounds."
The written order observes that services tribunals get permanent legal assistance under the Constitution and thus efforts should be made to appoint the most suitable persons.
The court lamented that presently, except for a few, a majority of the persons in the tribunals have no judicial background and appointments have been made to oblige certain people. It said that the above mentioned observations should serve as guidelines for the government, which could issue an ordinance to accomplish the same.
Meanwhile, the court expressed its dissatisfaction over the government ignoring a written summary of the Sindh High Court's chief justice and delaying the appointment of a judge in a banking court of Karachi.
Chief Justice Chaudhry claimed that the government has deliberately put the appointment on hold as a National Logistics Cell case is pending. He added that the mentioned banking court is lying vacant since May 22, 2011.
Expressing his astonishment over the banking court's inefficacy in the commercial hub of the country, the chief justice asked the federation's deputy attorney general: "Do you know these courts hear corruption cases?"
Deputy Attorney General Aleem Abbasi told the court that out of the 29 banking courts in the country, only three were not functional or lying vacant. The apex court asked Abbasi to give a break-up of how much money still had to be recovered, adding that the accused succeed in getting bails from other courts as these courts have no knowledge of banking-specific cases. The case has been adjourned till June 20.
Published in The Pak Sar Zameen, June 6th, 2012.
Orignal From: SC orders govt to appoint judges for vacant courts
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| Officers dead body recovered in Gayari Posted: <p> </p><p>The body has been identified as of Lt Colonel Tanveer-ul-Hassan. Martyr Lt Colonel Tanveer was the Commander of the Northern Light Infantry (NLI) Battalion.</p><p> </p><p>On Tuesday, dead bodies of two martyres Akbar Hussain and Muhammad Ali were recovered from the site <br />Funerla prayer of Akbar Hussain was offered in Kamba, Skardu while Muhammad Ali’s funeral prayer was offered in Shaggar.</p><p> </p><p>Both of the martyrs were laid to rest with military hounour while flowers were place on their graves on behalf of the Army Chief and Force Commander Gilgit-Baltistan.</p><p> </p><p>At least 139 soldiers, including some civilians were buried under huge snow on April 7 in Gayari sector.<br /> </p>
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| US thought Taliban had nuclear bomb: reveals new book Posted: <p> </p><p>US President Barack Obama confronted the ultimate security nightmare early in his administration -- the possibility that the Taliban had acquired a nuclear bomb, according to a new book published Tuesday.</p><p> </p><p>The book, "Confront and Conceal" by New York Times chief Washington correspondent David Sanger, says Obama was told in a dramatic Oval Office meeting in early summer 2009 of "ambiguous" evidence supporting such a fear.</p><p> </p><p>Intercepted conversations between members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) led intelligence agencies to warn the group could have a bomb, and the CIA picked up "chatter" of possible attacks on US cities, the book said.</p><p> </p><p>But Sanger reports that no one in the intelligence community could be sure about the authenticity of the threat.</p><p> </p><p>Some seasoned analysts believed that any danger was more likely to be posed by nuclear material combined into a radiological or "dirty" bomb.</p><p> </p><p>Other officials in US spy agencies believed that there were serious doubts about the intelligence, but no one was willing to ignore the fears, amid concern about the security of Pakistan s fast growing nuclear arsenal.</p><p> </p><p>Senior Obama administration officials have previously confided that the fear of a terrorist or insurgent group acquiring nuclear materials is the national security threat most likely to keep them awake at night.</p><p> </p><p>Obama has made halting proliferation a signature of his presidency and was instrumental in the debut of a new global nuclear security summit, which took place for the second time in Seoul in March.</p><p> </p><p>"There are still too many bad actors in search of these dangerous materials and these dangerous materials are still vulnerable in too many places," he said in Seoul, warning that it would take just a small amount "to kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people."</p><p> </p><p>According to Sanger s book, Obama decided that with the 2009 case, he could not take any chances and dispatched a nuclear detect and disablement team to the region, though not directly to Pakistan, in case it was needed.</p><p> </p><p>After several days of tension, Sanger wrote, the threat dissipated. Pakistan surveyed its arsenal and reported that no nuclear components were missing.</p><p> </p><p>One school of thought about the incident suggested that Taliban members had been hoaxed and bought material from a third party that was useless in the manufacture of nuclear weapons.</p><p> </p><p>Other officials believed that the US National Security Agency (NSA) had misunderstood the dialect of Taliban members on the intercepts, and been mislead into believing their worst fears, the book said.</p><p> </p><p>However, Sanger quoted one official as saying that facing a possible nuclear crisis so early in Obama s presidency "created a lasting impression on all of us."</p><p> </p><p>Since the incident, US officials have held regular meetings with members of Pakistan s nuclear establishment in neutral locations like London and Abu Dhabi to discuss nuclear safety, Sanger wrote.<br /> </p>
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| PMs eligibility: SC to hear petitions against Speakers ruling Posted: <p> </p><p>The Supreme Court had admitted the petitions of PML-N and PTI for hearing against the ruling of Speaker National Assembly over the disqualification of the prime minister.</p><p> </p><p>A three member bench of the Supreme Court headed the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chuadhry will hear the petitions.</p><p> </p><p>The petition by the PML-N was filed by Sialkot MNA Khwaja Mohammad Asif under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, arguing that the PM stands disqualified in light of the apex court’s verdict and that he should be barred from performing further duties as the prime minister.</p><p> </p><p>PTI’s petition, filed by party chairman Imran Khan, similarly asks the apex court to restrain Gilani from further acting as the prime minister, and to declare Speaker Fehmida Mirza’s ruling unlawful.</p><p> </p><p>The Supreme Court had convicted PM Gilani on April 26 for contempt of court for not writing a letter to the Swiss authorities for reopening money laundering cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.</p><p> </p>
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| US confirms 'Sesame Street' funding withdrawn on corruption Posted: <p> </p><p>US has confirmed that funding for "Sesame Street" in Pakistan was withdrawn because of fraud allegations.</p><p> </p><p>During a briefing Tuesday, the US State Department s deputy spokesman, Mark Toner was asked about media reports about withdrawal of funding and whether it was indeed a matter of corruption in the theater company that was producing it, because the company itself had claimed that the USAID simply ran out of money for it. The official denied the company s claim and confirmed that it was on account of alleged corruption, for which an inquiry was underway too.</p><p> </p><p>"Look, what happened here was there’s an anti-fraud hotline that was set up by the US Agency for International Development in Pakistan. And we did receive via that hotline what we believe were credible allegations of fraud and abuse by the Rafi Peer Theater Workshop, which is the workshop – theater workshop that manages the Sesame Street program in Pakistan. So we did launch an investigation into the allegations. We’ve also sent the theater workshop a letter that terminates the project agreement", he explained.</p><p> </p><p>"About the scope or this allegation that we ran out of money. The initial agreement between USAID and the Rafi Peer Theater Workshop was for $20 million, of which 6.7 million has been spent as of the last fiscal quarter ending March 31st. So there is an investigation underway looking at these allegations. No one’s questioning obviously the value and positive impact of this kind of programming for children, but this is – again, as I said, this is about allegations of corruption", Toner said while further contradicting that this was about the shortage of funds.</p><p> </p><p>When specifically asked whether the theater group was not going to get the remaining amount of the originally promised 20 million dollars now, the deputy spokesman conceded that this was indeed the case. He was unsure if the United States would have the right to get the disbursed money back. "As I said, there’s an investigation underway. We’ll wait for the results of that investigation", he stated.</p><p> </p><p>On another question seeking clarification as to how has the US decided to terminate the agreement, if the results of the investigation were not back yet and they did not know what it was actually wrong, he said the allegations were serious enough. "Again, we deemed that the allegations were serious enough that we wanted to suspend or cut off the program until we were able to complete this investigation. Because we take misuse and misspending of US taxpayer dollars very seriously", he pointed out.</p><p> </p><p>The US State Department s deputy spokesperson was asked again and again about the nature of the fraud, but he refused to divulge any details. "We do acknowledge the programming is beneficial, but we had what we believe were credible allegations, so rather than continue to throw good money after bad, we thought it was prudent to cut off this program and wait for the results of the investigation", he asserted.</p><p> </p><p>- Contributed by Awais Saleem, Dunya News correspondent in Washington, DC<br /> </p>
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| No greater role for India in Afghanistan: Pentagon Posted: <p> </p><p>Pentagon has contradicted reports that Secretary Defense Leon Panetta has asked India to play a greater role in Afghanistan.</p><p> </p><p>The Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. John Kirby, addressing a media briefing on Tuesday, termed all such reports as "exaggerating". "These reports have been slightly exaggerated. I don t think the Secretary asked them to do more, rather than to just express how much he appreciated what they were doing to help provide support in Afghanistan and some of the things that they have expressed interest in continuing to do in Afghanistan, and also in the region. So I think it was more a statement of appreciation for everything they have done and hope that they continue to stay involved as a leader in the region", he explained.</p><p> </p><p>Speaking generally about the role of India and other regional countries in Afghanistan, he said "it s a vital part of the world and our engagement in the region is not about bilateral relations only with one particular country. We have long said the security in Afghanistan is tied very closely to our relationship with Pakistan and with other countries in the region including India, which is a global power. They are meeting their responsibilities and we welcome that.</p><p> </p><p>He also clarified reports that the US Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta had asked India for a deeper involvement for training of Afghan armed forces. "I think he expressed gratitude for what they have done and his hope that they would continue to remain further engaged in Afghanistan", he pointed out. .</p><p> </p><p>On the reported death of al-Qaeda s number-2, Abu Yahya al-Libbi in a drone strike in Pakistan s tribal area of North Waziristan, he refused to discuss the details. "We don t discuss specifics of counter-terrorism operations, so I am not going to speak to the specifics of operations or to confirm or deny these press reports", he categorically stated.</p><p> </p><p>"This is a very dangerous individual and for him to longer walking the earth would be a good thing for everybody. I think the leadership development programme of al-Qaeda has some risks and hazards, which we think are good.</p><p> </p><p>Senior leaders of al-Qaeda, no matter where they are, by virtue of what they choose to do for a living, are a threat to the US but the people around the world. The President and Secretary of Defense have made it clear that we are going to deal with these threats, wherever they are.</p><p> </p><p>- Contributed by Awais Saleem, Dunya News correspondent in Washington, DC<br /> </p>
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| Hearing of contempt case against Rehman Malik today Posted: <p> </p><p>A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry will initiate the hearing of contempt case.</p><p> </p><p>Rehman Malik had been issued contempt of court notice by the Supreme Court on changing the investigation team in steel mills corruption case.</p><p> </p><p>The court maintained in the detailed verdict that action will be taken against Rehman Malik who allegedly influenced the investigation team.</p><p> </p><p>Rehman Malik will record his statement of defence in the Supreme Court.<br /> </p>
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| Peshawar: US Consulate personnel sent to jail Posted: <p> </p><p>A Peshawar court has granted bail to three personnel from the US Consulate but the three personnel of the consulate were sent in Central Jail Peshawar after failure in fulfilling the legal requirements. The Judicial Magistrate had ordered all three personnel to submit Rs100,000 bail each for release.</p><p> </p><p>On Monday four diplomats and three Pakistani personnel from the US Consulate were stopped on the Motorway and arms and ammunition were recovered from their vehicle. The three Pakistani personnel were arrested and an illegal weapons case was lodged against them.</p><p> </p><p>The three had been released on the personal guarantee of US Consul General in Peshawar Marie Richards Monday night and three Pakistani employees were presented before a local court in Peshawar on Tuesday. US consulate employees were detained for possessing illegal weapons.</p><p> </p><p>During case proceeding, the accused including security in-charge Manzoor, drivers Ihsan Khan and Asif Khan were released after posting Rs 100,000 bail bond.<br /> </p>
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| Jansher Khan squash complex inaugurated in Peshawar Posted: <p> </p><p>Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) Senior Vice President, Air Vice Marshall Razi Nawab inaugurated the squash complex.</p><p> </p><p>This is the third complex in Peshawar with the name of squash hero after Hashim Khan and Qamar Zaman compexes.<br />The squash complex consists of two training courts and a championship court.</p><p> </p><p>After the inauguration of Jansher Khan Complex, a match was also played between Farhan Mehboob and Nasir Iqbal.<br /> </p>
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| Domestic flights delayed due to bad weather condition Posted: <p> </p><p>According to PIA Flight Inquiry, the flights’ departure from Karachi to Islamabad and Lahore was delayed due to bad weather condition.</p><p> </p><p>A flight was directed to land back in Karachi due to dust storm in Lahore while flights of a private airline from Lahore to Karachi and Islamabad also delayed due to weather condition.</p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile, PIA and private airline flights from Islamabad to Karachi were also delayed due to bad weather condition and four flights to Islamabad were also delayed.<br /> </p>
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| WH confirms death of al-Qaeda's number-2, al-Libbi Posted: <p> </p><p>The White House spokesman, Jay Carney, speaking at a briefing Tuesday, confirmed media reports about killing of al-Libbi in a drone strike in Pakistan s tribal area of North Waziristan a day ago. "Our intelligence community has intelligence that leads them to believe that al-Qaida s number-2 leader, Abu Yahya Al-Libbi is dead. I can t get into details about how his death was brought about, but I can tell you that he was al-Qaeda s general manager, responsible for overseeing the group s day-to-day operations in the tribal areas of Pakistan and he managed outreach to al-Qaeda s regional affiliates", he informed.</p><p> </p><p>Jay Carney termed the death of al-Libbi a great loss for al-Qaeda. "His death is part of the degradation that is taking place to core al-Qaeda during the several years, and that degradation has depleted the ranks to such an extent that there is now no clear successor to take on the breath of his responsibilities, and that puts additional pressure on al-Qaeda s post bin Laden leader, al-Zawahiri to try to manage the group in an effective way", he remarked.</p><p> </p><p>He observed that taking out al-Libbi would further weaken al-Qaeda. "This would be a major blow, we believe, al-Libbi s death is a major blow to core al-Qaeda, removing the number-2 leader for the second time in less than a year, and further damaging the group s morale, cohesion and further bringing it closer to its ultimate demise than ever before", he stated.</p><p> </p><p>The spokesman, though, refused to confirm that al-Libbi was killed in the drone strike in Pakistan. "What I can tell you is that our government is able to confirm al-Libbi s death. I don t have anything for you on the circumstances of his death or the location. I can simply say that he was the number-2 leader in al-Qaeda", he contented.</p><p> </p><p>"This is the second time in a year that the number-2 leader of al-Qaeda has been removed from the battlefield that represents, in the wake of the death of Osama bin Laden, another serious blow to the core al-Qaeda and what is an ongoing effort to disrupt, dismantle and ultimately defeat a foe that brought great terror and death to the United States on September 11, 2001 and its perpetrated acts of terrorism against innocent civilians around the globe", he mentioned.</p><p> </p><p>When asked to comment on the significance of al-Libbi in al-Qaeda s hierarchy, Carney said "he was very much an operational leader and manager of al-Qaeda with a range of experience that is hard to replicate. I think it is a job that is hard to fill and there may not be, given the duration of weight of the people who have held that job, a lot of candidates hoping to fill".</p><p> </p><p>"So the point is that removing leaders like al-Libbi from the very top of al-Qaeda is part of the ongoing effort to disrupt and dismantle and ultimately defeat al-Qaeda and that is an important piece of business", the WH official said while declining to comment further on specific questions regarding the impact of such a strike in Pakistani territory on the already tense bilateral relations between both countries.</p><p> </p><p><strong>- Contributed by Awais Saleem, Dunya News correspondent in Washington, DC </strong> <br /> </p>
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| CJP takes suo moto notice against his own son Posted: <p> </p><p>A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry will start the hearing of the case.</p><p> </p><p>Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took the notice after appearance of news in media regarding allegations leveled against his son, Dr. Arsalan</p><p> </p><p>One such major allegations leveled against Dr. Arsalan, who runs his private business, also involves a real estate tycoon, as according to the grapevine, Dr. Arsalan has been alleged to have eked out quite a many lucrative benefits for himself out of his many such contacts.</p><p> </p><p>Details / presence of many relevant documents, in connection with these allegations have also surfaced, which also pertain to certain 3 tours worth millions of rupees, Dr. Arsalan and his family had partaken to London in 2009.2010, and 2011, as sponsored by his close real estate tycoon.</p><p> </p><p>Dr. Arsalan is reported to be leading a brittle social life, which involves a lot of travel, while CJP has also summoned the details of the allegations, including the relevant CDs.<br /> </p>
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| Dope tests of three cricketers taken in Sri Lanka Posted: <p> </p><p>The national team practiced in Canady for One Day series while anti-doping squad of ICC took dope tests of three players.</p><p> </p><p>Team manager Naveed Akram Cheema said these were routine tests. He said Shahid Afridi has not been gagged from Speaking with the Media.<br /> </p>
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| Asif claims to have green passport till last breath Posted: <p> </p><p>He said this in a message on Social Website on Tuesday in response to the Supreme Court notices of dual citizenship.</p><p> </p><p>The notices were sent to 13 parliamentarians including Khawaja Muhammad Asif for holding dual nationality. According to the notice the any parliamentarian who has dual citizenship cannot hold public office.</p><p> </p><p>Khawaja Muhammad Asif strongly rejected the notice and said, “I am Pakistani and do not hold any other citizenship”.</p><p> </p><p>The PML-N leader said that he will file a defamation suit against the lawyer who mentioned his name in the list without verification.</p><p> </p><p>“I am proud to be a green passport holder,” he added.</p><p> </p>
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| President reaches Beijing to attend SCO Summit Posted: <p><br />The President will also hold talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the Summit. </p><p><br />The talks will focus on relations strategic‚ political‚ cultural‚ and people-to-people contacts between the two countries.</p><p><br />Presidential Spokesman Farhatullah Babar in a statement said that during the summit‚ Pakistan will try to get full membership of Shanghai Cooperation Organization.</p><p><br />He said after becoming full-time member of the SCO‚ Pakistan will play a more vital role in the region.</p><p> </p>
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| Establishement wants to kill me, says Asma Posted: <p><br />Talking to media, Former President Supreme Court Bar Association said she came to know, somehow, about the plan of her murder through an insider who advised her to remain cautious and alert. Without disclosing name of the informer, she claimed the information she learned was reliable.</p><p><br />She said she was ready to pay any price in the vital interest of the nation and would continue her struggle for the rights of the people of Pakistan.</p><p><br />She said Rangers were deployed at her home on Monday late night and she was in contact with the government.</p><p><br />She told the newsmen that she was invited to a lawyers’ seminar and had planned to visit Ireland on Wednesday. However, she cancelled her programme and would stay in Pakistan to give a clear message that she was not afraid of anyone, she added. <br /> </p>
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