Rice, Musharraf discuss need for free, fair elections

DAVOS: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held talks with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday which focused on the importance of Pakistan's upcoming elections, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
"They talked about the importance of the upcoming elections and that they need to be free and fair elections," McCormak said after a closed-door bilateral meeting between the two on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Their talks also stressed the need for the Pakistani people to "have confidence" in the electoral process, he said.
Musharraf was in Davos on the second leg of a European tour aimed at shoring up his battered image after months of turmoil and the assassination of opposition leader and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto last month.
In Paris on Wednesday, Musharraf pledged that elections postponed after Bhutto was killed and now scheduled for February 18 would be free and fair.

NWFP hikes flour mills’ quota

PESHAWAR: The Frontier government has increased the wheat quota to mills from 4000 tons a day to 6500 tons, official sources told the Statesman Tuesday. The decision was taken by the government in the light of the recommendations put forward by the NWPF representatives in the Islamabad meeting which stressed the government to provide the mills with a daily quota of 8000 tons to make the province self sufficient in flour production. The NWFP government has finally accepted the proposal

Perpetrators of 1st attack on BB held: Hamid

 

 

PESHAWAR: Caretaker Federal Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz Khan has claimed that the perpetrators of attack on the late Benazir Bhutto's homecoming procession in Karachi on October 18 have been arrested and will be soon produced in a court of law. The minister expressed these views while talking to journalists after inaugurating new building of Tarnol Police Station here on Tuesday. He said the terrorists involved in suicide attacks near Hamza Camp in Rawalpindi, Kamra Cantt and Sargodha have also been arrested and they would soon be produced before the court.

Entire political leadership in danger: Interior Ministry

 

 

ISLAMABAD: Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier (Retd) Javed Iqbal Cheema Tuesday said the government has prepared a security advisory plan for politicians to avert life threat to them.
He told the weekly media briefing that the advisory is aimed at providing general guidelines to the political leadership for their safety and security.
Cheema said after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto it is of paramount importance that political leadership is sensitized about looming threat and asked them to adopt a security conscious approach.
"The government would provide adequate security cover to the political leaders, it is incumbent upon the political leadership itself to play its role in taking necessary steps to ensure their own safety by cooperating and paying heed to security advisory."
He said all Home secretaries and heads of law enforcement agencies have been given directives to ensure foolproof security of all political leaders under threat.
Under the security advisory the political leadership is mandatory to maintain close liaison with provincial home departments and local police through nominated focal person.
Political leaders should give due heed to security advise rendered by the local police chief. They are advised to keep provincial administration/ police informed of travel plans; not to hesitate to ask for security measures required for a specific event; avoid unnecessary public exposure; keep travel plans flexible/ unpredictable; plan and use different routes for traveling; security clearance of personal guards and employees through local police should be ensured; prefer use of security personnel provided by the government over personal guards; gather/ Cornor meetings may be used as preferred mode of electioneering and big rallies should be avoided as far as possible; unnecessary exposure during slow movement of vehicles should be avoided; unidentified persons should not have access to residence; unidentified persons should not be allowed to get closer to the leader; personal guards/ party workers detailed for security duty should be issued with security passes for recognition by local police.
Cheema said law enforcement agencies are taking additional security measures in the light of the Karachi incident to make sure that the designs of the perpetrators of terrorism are foiled.
He said the government is taking all precautionary measures and exercising extreme vigilance, adding it is with the cooperation of the entire nation that the country can overcome the danger posed by the terrorists and extremist elements trying to create instability.
Referring to Scotland Yard team, the spokesman said that six experts in the field of explosive and graphics who left Pakistan had finished their job. "The number of experts would keep increasing or decreasing according to the needs and requirements of investigation."
He said foolproof security arrangements are in place across the country to ensure peaceful religious rites during the sacred month of Muharram.
All resources including troops and rangers have been mobilized to assist the law enforcement agencies for round the clock vigilance around religious places, he said.
About Karachi blast, Cheema said it shows the desperation of terrorist elements who struck at innocent people in the industrial Quaid-e-Abad areas.

PBC to boycott courts on every Thursday

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has decided to observe boycott of superior courts only on Thursday every week in view of the problems being faced by litigants and has asked lawyers throughout the country to appear before courts in cases on five days every week.

According to a PBC press release issued here on Monday, the top body of the lawyer community also decided that lawyers would observe token boycott only for one hour from 10.30 to 11.30am every day.

The PBC said the decisions were taken in public interest, keeping in view hardship of litigants and the need for minimizing boycott duration.

According to the decisions, all bar associations in the country shall hold general meetings and take out processions and rallies outside the court premises every Thursday.

Every Bar Association shall form a hunger strike camp where at least two members shall sit in hunger strike for at least two hours every day.

No Bar Association shall invite any PCO judge to bar functions and office bearers of all Bar Associations shall boycott all functions of PCO judges.

The Council shall hold national conventions at Islamabad and the provincial capitals to advance the cause of restoration of judiciary of 2nd November 2007. First convention will be held on February 9 at Islamabad which will be followed by a march by lawyers to the residence of Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

PBC also passed various resolutions including one demanding the immediate release of Aitzaz Ahsan, President Supreme Court Bar Association, Ali Ahmed Kurd and Tariq Mehmood and other political prisoners in the country.

Country left ‘drowned in blood’

ISLAMABAD: Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif said Monday that US-backed anti-terror operations have left Pakistan "drowned in blood," issuing some of his harshest criticism yet of President Pervez Musharraf.

Nawaz made his comments to a rally of 3,000 supporters at Barakao near Islamabad. It was his first major campaign speech since Bhutto's killing and it contained some of his harshest criticism yet of Musharraf and the alliance with Washington forged after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"Musharraf has destroyed Pakistan. He is blindly following America's orders," Nawaz said. "The whole of Pakistan is drowned in blood."

He alleged the army left "girls riddled with bullets" when it raided Lal Masjid and female seminary in the capital last year. The government said more than 100 extremists were killed in the operation, and disputed claims that female students also died.

Nawaz said his party will take revenge of assassination of Benazir Bhutto after coming into power.

"When we came into power, we will take revenge of shahadat of Benazir Bhutto and blood letting of poor workers", he said.

Former premier Nawaz Sharif demanded the formation of a national unity government without President Pervez Musharraf to hold free, fair and transparent polls in the country.

"National government without Musharraf is the only solution to the present crisis faced by the country," he said.

PML-N chief reiterated his demand for formation of a national unity government to hold free, fair and transparent polls in the country.

He said that PML-N would however not accept a national unity government headed by President Pervez Musharraf.

"I have never accepted Pervez Musharraf as president," Nawaz Sharif said.

The PML-N leader condemned what he called "provocative" statements against him and PPP by former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Ellahi.

Nawaz Sharif said his government had served the country and the masses by undertaking various development projects including construction of motorway and Mera Ghar Scheme for the poor.

He said it was during his government that Pakistan became a nuclear power whereas afterwards, he alleged the country had lost its creditability in the world as a result of flawed policies.

Nawaz Sharif said the government during last several years had disappointed the masses who were facing flour, gas and power crises.

He said the government was responsible for crushing hike of prices of foodstuff as flour was selling now at Rs22-25 per kilogram which Rs7 during his second tenure.

The former premier urged the people not to vote for a party which was "responsible for Lal Masjid raid and operations in tribal areas."

Masses should vote for PML-N candidates in order to bring a change in the country, he said.

Earlier, Nawaz Sharif was warmly welcomed by party leaders and workers when he arrived at Barakao from Murree.

Shams warns millers against flour smuggling to Afghanistan

PESHAWAR: Caretaker Chief Minister Shamsul Mulk while taking strong note of smuggling of Flour to Afghanistan on the pretext of its supply to FATA has cautioned the owners of flourmills not to consider FATA as Afghanistan and refrain from ignoring domestic problems in this regard.

He was presiding over a meeting here on Monday convened to discuss ways and means to deal with the present Atta crisis.

Minister for Food Alamzeb Khan, chief secretary, secretary home, secretary food, DCO and flour mills owners attended the meeting.

The chief minister during the meeting talked to the caretaker chief minister Punjab on phone about certain problems and difficulties in the smooth supply of atta from Punjab to the Frontier province and in response, the chief minister Punjab assured him of removing hindrances in its supply.

Addressing the meeting, the chief minister said that his government was doing no injustices to flour mills owners at any level, however, being accountable to the people, it had to take some strict measures in the public interest.

He said that previously the flour mills were being provided 1500 tons wheat per day which was raised by the caretaker government to 3000 tons on daily basis followed by another increase of 1000 tons wheat per day. However, despite the increase in quota, artificial atta crisis was created for which consequently the provincial government had to cancel the quota of flour mills in order to control smuggling and hoarding.

The chief minister rejected the rumors with reference to ban on wheat and atta supply. He said that the government would restore quota to flour mills provided they refrain from smuggling and hoarding.

The meeting was told that the Frontier Constabulary would take control of flour mills in the province and movement of atta shortly which would help control the present crisis. The chief minister warned that the elements complicating the issue of atta would be dealt with sternly.

He urged the need for a coordinated strategy between administration and flour mills owners to deal with the affairs of flour mills association and the present atta crisis.

Musharraf terms election dates change reports baseless

KARACHI: President Musharraf says the caretaker government is in control of conducting free, fair, transparent elections, and all allegations regarding a change in election date are baseless.
Addressing the Sindh cabinet, the president said that the polls would be conducted peacefully. He said no persons or groups would be allowed to disrupt the electoral process.
Earlier at the Governor's House, President Musharraf addressed the wheat crisis and said smuggling was the main cause of the issue he said the smuggling of wheat and flour was in the process of being stopped.
Speaking on post-November 27th violence in Sindh -- the President said handling security in Karachi was a key issue, and such violence would not be allowed again.
He also added that the issue of poverty would be addressed by growth in the industrial and communication sectors.

Better TV is coming, but are you ready for it?The digital dilemma: Disappearance of analog signals just a year away

Behind the placid pictures, a made-for-TV storm is looming.

Since the first days of television, the method of beaming pictures into our living rooms hasn’t changed much. But on Feb. 17, 2009, television stations across the country will hit the off button on this time-tested technology and switch to new transmitters, sending computerized digital signals through the air.

When the change comes, the estimated 30 million televisions that use traditional antennas will go to snow without a digital converter box. The cable industry is spending $200 million to educate customers, and Congress has set aside $1.5 billion to help subsidize the purchase of converter boxes.

Still, half of American viewers don’t know the storm is coming, according to a poll conducted last month by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing. For the 1 in 5 American households that still use rabbit ears or antennas on the roof, “the day of reckoning is coming,” said Barry Umansky, a communications professor at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind.

Not enough spectrum for all those signals
The switch to all-digital television, and a similar switch in the wireless communications industry, is partly a repercussion of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when police and fire communications channels were clogged by too much traffic.

The Federal Communications Commission first ordered the eventual transition in 1996, but Congress didn’t set a deadline until the the 9/11 Commission reported that first-responder systems needed a major upgrade.

Digital TV
What equipment do I need?
If you currently receive free over-the-air television programming on an analog television set, you will need a DTV converter box to continue to receive television service after Feb. 17, 2009. DTV converter boxes will be available in early 2008. To help consumers cover the cost of the converter box, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration will be issuing up to two converter box coupons valued at $40 each to households in early 2008. Information about the DTV converter box coupon program is available at www.ntia.doc.gov.

Source: KSHB-TV


The problem, said Umansky, a longtime broadcast industry lawyer, is that “America’s seemingly wide-open skies are chock full of radio signals, and there just aren’t enough frequencies for all the people who need to use them.”

By taking back the analog frequencies, the government will “allow the nation’s airwaves to be used by firefighters, police and other first responders to help the nation when there might be a natural or manmade disaster,” said Todd Sedmak, communications director of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Doctors who treated Pakistan opposition leader say records removed

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan - Pakistani authorities have pressured the medical personnel who tried to save Benazir Bhutto's life to remain silent about what happened in her final hour and have removed records of her treatment from the facility, according to doctors.

In interviews, doctors who were at Bhutto's side at Rawalpindi General Hospital said they were under extreme pressure not to share details about the nature of the injuries that the opposition leader suffered in an attack here Dec. 27.

"The government took all the medical records right after Ms. Bhutto's time of death was read out," said a visibly shaken doctor who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Sweating and putting his head in his hands, he said: "Look, we have been told by the government to stop talking. And a lot of us feel this is a disgrace.The doctors now find themselves at the center of a political firestorm over the circumstances of Bhutto's death. The government has said Bhutto, 54, was killed after the force of a suicide bombing caused her head to slam against the lever of her vehicle's sunroof. Bhutto's supporters have pointed to video footage, including a new amateur video released Monday, as proof that she was killed by gunfire.

Serious implications
The truth about what happened has serious implications in Pakistan. The ability of a gunman to fire at Bhutto from close range, as alleged by her supporters, would suggest that an assassin was able to breach government security in a city that serves as headquarters of the Pakistani military, bolstering her supporters' claims that the government failed to provide her with adequate protection.

If a gunman were to blame, it would also raise questions as to why the government has for days insisted otherwise. Bhutto's supporters have called for an international investigation.

The government has repeatedly dismissed allegations of a coverup, and some U.S. medical experts, when asked Monday to review an official hospital description of her wounds, speculated that a skull fracture and not a bullet wound killed Bhutto.

The medical personnel in Rawalpindi, meanwhile, have mostly remained quiet.

"Our doctors have become caught up in this very emotional and political issue," said Fayyaz Ahmed Khan, the doctors' supervisor at Rawalpindi General. "It's a terrible position for our medical professions to be in."

A newly released video that was obtained by Britain's Channel 4 and broadcast Monday cast doubt on the government's claims and appeared to corroborate witnesses' stories. The footage appeared to show a gunman and a suspected suicide bomber approaching Bhutto's sport-utility vehicle. Seconds later, the video showed gunfire and Bhutto's hair and scarf being blown back just as a bomb explodes.

Government officials identified Baitullah Mehsud, a pro-Taliban commander in the restive South Waziristan region, as the organizer of Bhutto's killing. But some observers said the government has been too quick to blame the attack on the Taliban.

Jameel Yusuf, a lead investigator in the 2002 disappearance of American journalist Daniel Pearl in Karachi, said the Pakistani government had blundered badly by not sealing off the crime scene. Moments after Bhutto was killed, workers hosed down the blood at the blast site before any evidence could be collected.

"When you're dealing with a murder of this nature, you need to have forensics," Yusuf said.

Several witnesses say they had yet to be interviewed by police.

Kamran Nazir, 19, was badly injured by shrapnel at the rally where Bhutto was killed. On Monday, he was at Rawalpindi General, with his father at his bedside. His breathing was labored, and the top layer of skin on his face was singed off. He said he was shocked that police had not questioned him.