Posts Tagged ‘Iran’

Measles kills 12 children in Pakistan tribal area

An outbreak of measles in part of Pakistan’s tribal northwest has killed 12 children in three weeks and is spreading due to a shortage of medicines, doctors said Monday.
Doctor Mohammad Ali Shah, chief of the main hospital in Miranshah, the biggest town in North Waziristan, told AFP that military operations, power cuts and curfews meant there was a shortage of medicines.
“For the past three weeks …

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Pak-Iran trade deal faces delay

ISLMABAD  – Finalisation of the Pakistan and Iran barter trade deal may be delayed for indefinite period as the Iranian authorities have not contacted the government so far for import of one million tons of wheat.Talking to Online here Sunday, Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Mir Israrullah Zehri said that federal secretary of his ministry had already …

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With Likeminded by PML-N’s side: Nawaz’s ‘grand alliance’ gathers steam

The general secretaries of both parties signed the agreement at Raiwind, according to which the PML-N will give 11% of national and provincial assembly seats to Likeminded candidates. The issue of party symbol – whether Likeminded candidates will contest elections using PML-N’s tiger – will be decided later.

Insiders added that both parties have also agreed to woo more Muslim League factions.

Earlier on Wednesday, Sindh National Front chief Mumtaz Bhutto had formally announced the merger of his party with the PML-N, giving the latter a major boost in Sindh’s electoral politics.

Seat-adjustment formula

Talking to the media after signing their agreement, Likeminded’s General Secretary Humayun Akhtar Khan and his counterpart from PML-N, Zafar Iqbal Jhagra, said, “The vote-bank of Muslim Leagues has been united to defeat the PPP in the upcoming elections.”

“According to the agreement made between the two parties today, 30 general seats in the National Assembly will be allotted to Likeminded in the upcoming elections,” Akhtar said.

He said the same percentage of general seats will allotted to Likeminded for all provinces, adding that allocation of reserved seats for women, minorities and the Senate will be based on other terms.

According to sources, however, Nawaz has agreed to allot 13, not 30, seats in the national and provincial assemblies to Likeminded candidates.

Strengthening the Leagues

The PML-N chief met with Likeminded’s Chairman Hamid Nasir Chattha for the first time after 1993 to devise a strategy on strengthening the Leagues.

Sources said Chattha has been tasked to convince PML-Q’s former and sitting ministers in the federal cabinet to defect to the PML-N. The PML-Likeminded is a breakaway faction of the PML-Q.

Sources added that Nawaz and Chattha agreed to form a grand alliance, led by the former, against the PPP-led coalition government.

Since the Chaudhrys of Gujrat, the PML-Q leaders, are least likely to join this alliance, sources said that Chattha has been tasked to continue his litigation against Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and seek his disqualification from the party post.

Chattha, while talking to The Express Tribune, confirmed that he would convince sitting PML-Q lawmakers and ministers to join the grand alliance. Only a politics of alliance would oust the PPP-led coalition government, he said.

Chattha added that formation of ticket-awarding parliamentary boards would be discussed later.

Apprehensions

Sources said that Chattha and his colleagues were not ready to rely on Nawaz over several issues.

Likeminded’s candidates are not sure if they would be awarded tickets to contest the election by Nawaz, if the party merges with the PML-N, sources said.

Nawaz had refused to award party tickets to many aspirants at the eleventh hour, they said, citing the case of Humayun Akhtar, who barely got a ticket in the 1996 elections, and his younger brother Haroon, who was denied a ticket in the 2012 Senate elections.

If the PML-N betrays Likeminded, they would announce an alliance with some other political party, sources added.

The group had entered into negotiations with PTI Chairman Imran Khan last year to discuss a possible alliance. The talks broke down though after Imran asked Likeminded leaders to join his party.

Likeminded’s Punjab chief resigns

Likeminded’s Ata Manika, in protest, has resigned from his party post as president of the Punjab chapter following the party’s alliance with the PML-N, Express News reported.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani called him from London, assuring his utmost cooperation.

Talking to the media, Manika said that despite playing a pivotal role in forming Likeminded, the party leadership did not even consult him regarding the decision to form an alliance with the PML-N.

However, later in the night a Likeminded delegation managed to win back Manika who then lent his support to the agreement with PML-N.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2012.

No foreign-sourced email services, Iran tells companies

The order prohibits banks, insurance firms and telephone firms from using foreign hosts for their sites or to inform their clients using foreign providers such as Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail or MSN – File photo

TEHRAN: Iran’s telecommunications ministry has barred local banks, insurance firms and telephone operators from using foreign-sourced emails to communicate with clients, a specialist weekly said on Saturday.

“The telecommunications minister has ordered the use of domain names ending with .ir” belonging to Iran, Asr Ertebatat reported.

The order prohibits banks, insurance firms and telephone firms from using foreign hosts for their sites or to inform their clients using foreign providers such as Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail or MSN, it said.

The weekly said that individuals seeking to communicate with such firms must now use email addresses ending with iran.ir, post.ir or chmail.ir.

Entities linked to the Iranian government must use addresses ending in gov.ir or .ir, while universities should use emails ending in ac.ir or .ir, the report added.

Iran has announced that as of May, a national information network will be used to replace the Internet in the daily management of the administration of state entities, the banking system and public enterprises.

Officially, the launch of the “Iranian Internet” aims to secure communications by making them independent from foreign Internet operators.

Iranian authorities announced in December having repatriated 90 per cent of official websites and encouraged Iranian companies to do the same.

For the past two years, Tehran has been slapped with Western economic and financial sanctions due to its controversial nuclear programme.

The regime also regularly accuses the West of using the web for an “undeclared war” to destabilise it, and Telecommunications Minister Reza Taghipour has argued that Google and Yahoo posed a “threat to national security.”

With over 36 million Internet users out of the population of 75 million, electronic media played a major role in the popular protests which rocked the country after the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009.

The authorities have since cut off or reduced Internet connections and speed.

The telecommunications ministry in April, however, denied that the authority has decided to cut outside Internet connections to support the development of Iran’s own intranet.

Earlier this year, access to foreign-sourced emails was cut without explanation, disrupting the operations of many companies and millions of Iranians while prompting sharp criticism within the regime.

Since the unrest of 2009, authorities have sharply reduced the available bandwidth of the Internet and blocked access to tens of thousands of foreign websites, including opposition sites.

US President Barack Obama on March accused Iran of imposing an “electronic curtain” of censorship, announcing steps to use software and social media to help Iranians communicate online.

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Via DAWN.com

US resumes Bahrain arms sales despite rights concerns

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Bahrain Crown Price Salman bin Hamad al Khalifa is welcomed at the Pentagon by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. – AFP photo

The United States will resume some military sales to Bahrain, a key Gulf ally facing Iran, despite human rights concerns linked to months of popular protests against the island kingdom’s rulers, the State Department said on Friday.

The Obama administration notified Congress that certain sales would be allowed for Bahrain’s defense force, coast guard and national guard, although it would maintain a hold on TOW missiles, Humvees and some other items for now, the department said in a statement.

“We have made the decision to release additional items to Bahrain mindful of the fact that there are a number of serious unresolved human rights issues that the government of Bahrain needs to address,” the statement said.

The State Department did not give a total value for the items being released but emphasized that the equipment being approved was “not used for crowd control” as the majority Shi’ite community continues to protest against the Sunni royal family following a crackdown last year.

US officials said among the sales now allowed to go forward would be harbor security vessels and upgrades to turbo-fan engines used in F-16 fighter aircraft as well as legislation which could pave the way for a future sale of a naval frigate.

Items still on hold, besides the missiles and the Humvees, include teargas, teargas launchers and stun grenades.

DECISION CRITICIZED IN CONGRESS

The decision was criticized by Senator Patrick Leahy, who wrote a provision Congress passed last year requiring the administration to consult lawmakers before allowing sales of teargas and other crowd-control items to governments of countries undergoing democratic transition in the Middle East.

“While I am pleased that the administration is continuing to withhold tear gas, small arms and other crowd-control items from the Bahraini security forces, this arms sale sends the wrong message,” Leahy, a Democrat, said in a statement.

“The government of Bahrain has yet to respect the Bahraini people’s legitimate demands, or to hold accountable its own police and military officers for arresting, torturing and killing Bahraini protesters,” Leahy said.

The resumption of military sales follows a visit to Washington this week by Bahrain Crown Prince Salman Hamid al-Khalifa, who met Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

“The Vice President expressed concern about the recent escalation of street violence, including attacks against security forces,” the White House said. Biden also pressed on the importance of safeguarding human rights and of government accountability for past abuses, messages that were reinforced by Panetta, the Pentagon said.

In October, the Obama administration delayed $53 million in planned sales to Bahrain pending the outcome of a local investigation into alleged human rights abuses since an uprising began in February 2011.

Bahrain has been the host of US naval headquarters in the Gulf for more than 60 years and is seen as a central bulwark for US efforts to deter Iran.

Human rights advocates have criticized Washington for its muted response Bahrain’s crackdown contrasted with strong US

public support for popular protests in Egypt, Tunisia and Syria.

The State Department said Bahrain’s government had taken steps to implement reforms but that “the country is becoming increasingly polarized and much work remains to be done.”

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Via DAWN.com

US resumes Bahrain arms sales despite rights concerns

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Bahraini Shia Muslims hold a slogan which is read in Arabic as “No to dictatorship” during a demonstration. – AFP Photo

WASHINGTON: The United States will resume some military sales to Bahrain, a key Gulf ally facing Iran, despite human rights concerns linked to months of popular protests against the island kingdom’s rulers, the State Department said on Friday.

The Obama administration notified Congress that certain sales would be allowed for Bahrain’s defense force, coast guard and National Guard; although it would maintain a hold on TOW missiles, Humvees and some other items for now, the department said in a statement.

“We have made the decision to release additional items to Bahrain mindful of the fact that there are a number of serious unresolved human rights issues that the government of Bahrain needs to address,” the statement said.

The State Department did not give a total value for the items being released but emphasized that the equipment being approved was “not used for crowd control” as the majority Shia community continues to protest against the Sunni royal family following a crackdown last year.

US officials said among the sales now allowed to go forward would be harbor security vessels and upgrades to turbo-fan engines used in F-16 fighter aircraft as well as legislation which could pave the way for a future sale of a naval frigate.

Items still on hold, besides the missiles and the Humvees, include teargas, teargas launchers and stun grenades.

 Decision Criticised In Congress

The decision was criticized by Senator Patrick Leahy, who wrote a provision Congress passed last year requiring the administration to consult lawmakers before allowing sales of teargas and other crowd-control items to governments of countries undergoing democratic transition in the Middle East.

“While I am pleased that the administration is continuing to withhold tear gas, small arms and other crowd-control items from the Bahraini security forces, this arms sale sends the wrong message,” Leahy, a Democrat, said in a statement.

“The government of Bahrain has yet to respect the Bahraini people’s legitimate demands, or to hold accountable its own police and military officers for arresting, torturing and killing Bahraini protesters,” Leahy said.

The resumption of military sales follows a visit to Washington this week by Bahrain Crown Prince Salman Hamid al-Khalifa, who met Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

“The Vice President expressed concern about the recent escalation of street violence, including attacks against security forces,” the White House said. Biden also pressed on the importance of safeguarding human rights and of government accountability for past abuses, messages that were reinforced by Panetta, the Pentagon said.

In October, the Obama administration delayed $53 million in planned sales to Bahrain pending the outcome of a local investigation into alleged human rights abuses since an uprising began in February 2011.

Bahrain has been the host of US naval headquarters in the Gulf for more than 60 years and is seen as a central bulwark for US efforts to deter Iran.

Human rights advocates have criticized Washington for its muted response Bahrain’s crackdown contrasted with strong US public support for popular protests in Egypt, Tunisia and Syria.

The State Department said Bahrain’s government had taken steps to implement reforms but that “the country is becoming increasingly polarized and much work remains to be done.”

“We are concerned about excessive use of force and tear gas by police. At the same time, we are concerned by the almost daily use of violence by some protesters,” the statement said, urging both sides to refrain from incitement.

The Obama administration has been under pressure to stick by Bahrain’s ruling family, notably from Sunni-led Saudi Arabia and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, in the face of protests by the country’s Shia’s.

The original $53 million sale proposal included 44 Humvee armored vehicles and several hundred TOW missiles along with associated equipment. Prime contractors would be privately held AM General and Raytheon Co.

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Via DAWN.com

House panel backs $642 billion US defense bill

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The Republican-controlled House will vote on the spending blueprint next week, but is expected to get stiff resistance from the Democrat-controlled Senate. -File Photo

WASHINGTON: The House Armed Services Committee on Thursday overwhelmingly backed a $642 billion US defense bill that calls for construction of a missile defense site on the East Coast, restores aircraft and ships slated for early retirement and ignores the Pentagon’s cost-saving request for another round of domestic base closings.    

Despite the clamor for fiscal discipline, the committee crafted a military spending blueprint that’s $8 billion more than the level President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans agreed to last summer in the deficit-cutting law. The panel vote early Thursday morning was 56-5.

Rep. Howard ”Buck” McKeon, the Republican chairman of the committee, said in a statement that the legislation meets his goal of ”keeping faith with American’s men and women in uniform; restoring fiscal sanity to a defense budget that is inconsistent with the threats America faces and rebuilding a force after a decade of war.”

The Republican-controlled House is expected to vote on the spending blueprint next week, but the legislation will be significantly changed in the Democratic-controlled Senate, where lawmakers are sticking to the lower spending level.

Over hours of sometimes testy debate, the committee backed construction of a missile defense site on the East Coast, rejecting Pentagon arguments that the facility is unnecessary and Democratic complaints that the nearly $5 billion project amounts to wasteful spending in a time of tight budgets.

Republicans insisted that the site is necessary in the event that Iran or North Korea develops an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of attacking the East Coast.

Democrats countered that throwing billions of dollars at a missile defense system plagued by failures made no sense, especially when the threat from the two nations is highly uncertain and many in Washington are demanding fiscal discipline.

This ”would be spending up to $5 billion in the next three years on a missile defense system that doesn’t work,” said Rep. John Garamendi, a Democrat who offered an amendment to eliminate the project from the Republican-backed bill.

The chief proponent of constructing the site, Rep. Michael Turner, a Republican, said, ”We need to proceed with missile defense whether this president wants to or not.”

On a largely party-line vote, the panel rejected Garamendi’s effort, 33-28. Since the mid-1980s, the Pentagon has spent nearly $150 billion on missile defense programs and envisions another $44 billion over the next five years. But it is not looking to construct a facility on the East Coast.

Gen. Charles Jacoby, the head of US Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, told Congress earlier this year, ”Today’s threats do not require an East Coast missile field, and we do not have plans to do so.”
The progress of Iranian and North Korean programs remains unclear. The United States and its allies accuse Iran of using its nuclear program to develop atomic weapons. Iran insists it is producing nuclear energy.

North Korea suffered a failed rocket launch last month when its Unha-3 rocket broke apart, raising questions about the immediate threat to the United States from a North Korean long-range missile.

Lt. Gen. Patrick J. O’Reilly, the head of the US missile defense program, told Congress recently that North Korea lacks the testing for a capable system and has made little progress in its spaceflight program.

Nevertheless, the committee envisions construction of the site by the end of 2015, with the Pentagon deciding on a possible location. The bill includes $100 million to study three potential sites.

The committee rejected the Pentagon’s call to mothball 18 Air Force Global Hawk drones, and it restored four Navy cruisers slated for early retirement in next year’s budget.

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Via DAWN.com

Militants vow to launch holy war for Osama bin Laden

MIRANSHAH – Militants in North Waziristan on Tuesday distributed pamphlets pledging holy war to mark the first anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden, albeit a week late.
Masked militants armed with assault rifles handed out copies of the pamphlet from pick-up vehicles in Miranshah.
“Let us pledge today that we will continue our jihad and sacrifice our lives and property in the way …

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IAEA official killed in car accident

dubai – An International Atomic Energy Agency official believed to be part of a nuclear inspection team working in Iran was killed in a car accident, Iranian media reported on Tuesday. The S Korean national was travelling with another S Korean official near Arak heavy water plant at midday local time when their car skidded and rolled over.
, Fars News quoted Iran’s Atomic Energy …

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Bomb blast rocks Panjgur

quetta – A powerful bomb explosion rocked Panjgur, a border town near Iran, on Tuesday. Explosives planted to a vehicle in Chattan Bazaar, near Deputy Commissioner Office went off with a big bang. One person received minor injuries while windowpanes of nearby buildings and vehicles were shattered.

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Middle East nuclear talks thrown into doubt

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The facilitator for the Middle East Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone Conference Jaako Laajava from Finland speaks at the Preparatory Committee for the 2015 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in Vienna, Austria, on Tuesday, May 8, 2012. Hopes dimmed Monday for staging major nuclear talks later this year between Israel and its Muslim rivals, as Iran and Arab countries at a 189-nation conference piled pressure on the Jewish state, accusing it of being the greatest threat to peace in the region. -AP Photo

VIENNA:  Talks on ridding the Middle East of nuclear weapons looked in doubt on Tuesday as the Western official organising them said he had yet to secure the needed attendance of all countries in the region.

The statement by Finnish diplomat Jaakko Laajava at a meeting in Vienna was a sign of the difficulties involved in getting Israel, its arch foe Iran and other Middle East nations to sit around a table this year to discuss the divisive issue.

Laajava, whose appointment was announced by the United Nations last October, did not say which countries were still leaving their attendance unclear, but both Iran and Israel are believed to be among them.

Underlining the deep divisions on the issue of weapons of mass destruction, Iran and Arab states used the Vienna meeting on the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to repeat their criticism of Israel over its assumed atomic arsenal.

Egypt, which originally proposed talks on creating a nuclear arms-free Middle East, said such a conference would represent a crossroads for Arab states and warned that “its failure would invite them to revise” their nuclear policies.

It did not elaborate, but the wording may be interpreted as a veiled warning regarding Arab states’ commitment to the NPT, a pact designed to prevent the spread of atomic arms.

Israel is not a member of the voluntary 1970 pact so was not represented in Vienna but the United States warned that “continued efforts to single out Israel … will make a (Middle East) conference increasingly less likely”.

Egypt’s plan for an international meeting in 2012 to lay the groundwork for the possible creation of a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction was agreed at an NPT review conference two years ago.

“ACHIEVABLE” GOAL

In his first public briefing on the issue since he took up the job, Laajava told delegates in Vienna he had held a series of meetings with regional states and they shared the goal of establishing such a zone, but they differed on how to do so.

“Unfortunately, while much has de facto been already achieved in these consultations in terms of identifying common ground, I cannot yet report that the conference will be attended by all states of the region,” he said.

Laajava said Finland was prepared to host the meeting any time during 2012, suggesting December was a possibility. Iran and Arab states see Israel’s assumed atomic arsenal as a major threat to peace and stability in the Middle East.

Israel – widely believed to be the only regional state with such arms and the only one outside the NPT – and the United States regard Iran as the region’s main proliferation threat, accusing Tehran of seeking to develop such weapons.

The Jewish state has said it would sign the NPT and renounce nuclear weapons only as part of a broader Middle East peace deal with Arab states and Iran that guaranteed its security.

Israel does not rule out taking part in the planned conference, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said last week, but added it was “awaiting clarification on some issues”.

Thomas Countryman, US assistant secretary for international security and non-proliferation, told the meeting in Vienna that a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction was an achievable, but long-term, goal.

However “a comprehensive and durable peace and full compliance by all countries in the region with their non-proliferation obligations” was needed for this to happen, he said.

Mark Fitzpatrick, a director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies think-tank, said the rationale for creating a zone in the Middle East free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction was stronger than ever.

It could “be an answer to the Iranian nuclear crisis that threatens to spark regional proliferation and engulf the Middle East in another war” and “remove the sense of double standards over Israel’s nuclear programme”, Fitzpatrick said in a report.

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Via DAWN.com

Traders’ body takes oath

HAFIZABAD – The newly elected office-bearers of Anjuman-e-Tajran Gujranwala Road Hafizabad, after taking oath, resolved that they will serve the traders community to the best of their capabilities.
Punjab Anjuman-e-Tajran Vice President Sh Muhammad Amjad was the chief guest at the oath-taking ceremony. He administered oath to the newly elected office-bearers of Anjuman-e-Tajiran. Among those who …

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Pakistan militants vow holy war for bin Laden

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Militants vowed to continue fighting the United States, a year since the death of al Qaeda Chief Osama bin Laden.—File Photo

MIRANSHAH: Militants in Pakistan’s North Waziristan on Tuesday distributed pamphlets pledging holy war to mark the first anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden, albeit a week late.

Masked militants armed with assault rifles handed out copies of the pamphlet from pick-up vehicles in Miranshah, the main town of the tribal district that has become known as Pakistan’s premier al Qaeda and Taliban hub.

“Let us pledge today that we will continue our jihad (holy war) and sacrifice our lives and property in the way of Allah like Sheikh Osama did,” it said, unsigned and dated May 2, the anniversary of the Al-Qaeda leader’s killing by US troops.

“Today, a year since Sheikh Osama bin Laden embraced martyrdom, the enemy America is repenting. It is facing defeat and Pakistan’s future is also bleak,”it said.

The pamphlet distribution followed two days of rare fighting between troops and Islamist militants in Miranshah that killed 19 soldiers and civilians, officials said.

Gunbattles in North Waziristan are relatively rare because of an agreement between insurgents and the military not to attack each other.

Pakistan has resisted US pressure to conduct a major offensive in the district, saying it is too overstretched fighting homegrown insurgents elsewhere in the tribal belt.

Bin Laden was killed on May 2 2011 in a secret US Navy SEAL operation in a walled-off compound in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad. Pakistan went on high alert last week over fears of revenge attacks, but the anniversary passed off peacefully.

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Via DAWN.com

China’s Pakistani coach excited about team’s future

Khan said the women’s team has shown progress and the upcoming T-20 tournament would be a turning point. -Photo by AP

KARACHI: China’s coach Rashid Khan on Tuesday expressed high hopes for his women’s team at this year’s Asia Cup Twenty20, saying that they were outperforming the men.

The 52-year-old former Pakistan paceman has spent five years coaching China since the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and International Cricket Council marked the country as one of the biggest new markets for the game.

Khan said the women’s Twenty20 tournament in October in Guangzhou, southern China, would be a turning point.

The Chinese women’s team “has shown more progress than their men’s team and I pin my hopes on the Asia Cup Twenty20 event… as the turning point where my team will create upsets,” Khan told AFP while on holiday in Pakistan.

Besides the hosts, formidable teams from Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand will participate in the event.

Khan said the pool of women players in China was increasing.

“Chinese women are athletic and are showing interest in cricket. At present we have a pool of 150 players and with the introduction of the game in schools and colleges more and more women will come,” said Khan.

China finished fourth in the Asian Games in Guangzhou in 2010 before finishing runners-up in the ACC women’s Trophy the same year, losing to Hong Kong in the final.

China’s under-19 women’s team finished fifth out of nine teams in the ACC under-19 event held in Kuwait in February and Khan said these performances were encouraging.

He welcomed support from the Chinese authorities and said the ACC’s decision to send Chinese players on coaching courses had honed their talent.

“Without the ACC’s support the progress of Chinese cricket would not be possible and the recent initiative to send Chinese players to England and various other countries have helped groom them a great deal,” said Khan.

Top Chinese women players Huang Zhou, Zhou Haijie and Yu Miao will train in England and Khan hoped they would mature as a result.

Khan said his men’s team will feature in the ACC Trophy Challenge in Thailand in December, where they have a good chance against low-ranked teams like Bahrain, Iran, Myanmar, Qatar, Singapore and Thailand. – AFP

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North Waziristan clashes ‘killed 19, injured 71’ in two days

Among the dead were 12 Pakistani soldiers, three of whom were captured and beheaded, a local intelligence official told AFP.—File Photo

MIRANSHAH: Clashes between troops and militants in North Waziristan killed 19 soldiers and civilians, and wounded nearly 100 others, officials said Tuesday.

Violence flared Sunday when gunmen armed with rockets attacked a military convoy near Miranshah, the main town in the tribal district on the Afghan border.

Among the dead were 12 Pakistani soldiers, three of whom were captured and beheaded, a local intelligence official told AFP.

“Seven civilians, including two children and three women, were killed and 71 others were injured during two days of violence,” the official added.

At least 20 soldiers were also wounded, he said.

On Monday, helicopter gun-ships attacked a three-storey building housing weapons shops in Miranshah’s main bazaar, causing a huge fire, witnesses said.

Two other intelligence officials in the area confirmed the death toll of 19.

Officials on Monday had put the overall death toll at 15.

Intelligence officials also said 17 militants were killed in the clashes.

An AFP reporter saw the bodies of 12 militants.

Calm has since returned, after local tribal elders interceded between the political administration and militants, officials said.

Shops and the main bazaar in Miranshah re-opened on Tuesday, an AFP reporter said.

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NWA operation ‘in the offing’ as 13 troops beheaded

MIRANSHAH – Taliban militants killed 14 soldiers in Miranshah, beheaded all but one of them and hung two of the heads from wooden poles in the centre of town, officials said Monday.The killings in Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal area, highlight the situation facing the military in dealing with the militancy.The US has repeatedly demanded that Pakistan launch an offensive …

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The untold tales of Lyari

Lyari in the early 20th century. – File photo

Gang wars, poverty, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), football and, maybe, boxing are the notions usually associated with Lyari, one of Karachi’s oldest neighbourhoods. There is, however, more to Lyari than these stereotypes.

Historically, the inhabitants of Lyari were among the first settlers Karachi.

In her book “The Dual City: Karachi During the Raj,” renowned architect Yasmeen Lari writes: “By 1890 the population of Lyari had already reached 24,600.” These figures are indicative of Lyari’s high population rates even before the notion of partition emerged. Even today, the area remains among the most densely populated, with the highest ratio of inhabitants-per-square-kilometre.

Some of the most popular names to have been associated with Lyari include Hussain Shah (Olympic boxer), Umar Baloch, Ghulam Abbas and Ustaad Qasim (footballers), Waja Ghulam Muhammad Noor ud Din (educationist), Syed Sajjad Ali Shah (former Chief Justice), Waja Khair Mohammad Nadvi (scholar who translated Quran into Balochi language) and Sikandar Baloch (former Mr Pakistan in body building).

Lyari’s history, however, goes beyond these names.

Quaid-e-Azam and Lyari
In 1948, during the days of his illness, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was travelling near Lyari, when his car came to a sudden halt in the area. The inhabitants were quick to offer their services to the country’s founder. In those early post-partition days, Lyari was home to a sizable immigrant population, which was welcomed by the old settlers of the area despite their own financial woes.
Later that year, when Jinnah lost his life to prolonged illness, it was one of Lyari’s oldest sons Noor Mohammad Baloch, who performed his burial, as well as that of the country’s first prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan.

After Jiinah’s death, government officials got in touch with Zulekha Bibi, who was in charge of Marwari Grave Yard to prepare for the burials. Zulekha instructed Baloch and others to finalise and carry out the services.

A certificate showing appreciation for the services of Zulekha Bibi – a resident of Lyari overlooked arrangements for the burial of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan. – Photo courtesy Ayoub Baloch

The literary Lyari
Apart from being home to sports greats, Lyari has also attracted one of the biggest names of Pakistan’s literary world. For Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Lyari was like a passion. In the early 1970s, Faiz frequented the Abdullah Haroon College, where he taught and served as principal (1972-73).

“We were very fortunate to have Faiz sahib at the college,” says Zafar Ali Zafar – a Balochi and Urdu poet from Lyari.

“He (Faiz) would travel from the Nursery area (in Karachi) to Lyari to offer his services because it was very close to his heart,” recalls Zafar.

Zafar says Faiz inspired him and his poetry. “He even selected a poem for me to recite at a Radio Pakistan mushaira (poetic symposium).”

Decades after Faiz’s death, Lyari still maintains a literary aura.

“The Abbas Ali Zehmi Academy remains an active hub for literary dialogue, with Ghani Bux and Hassan Ali Hassan among the most active poets.”

Muhammad Baig Baloch is another literary figure from Lyari. “He has written several books in Urdu, English, Sindhi and Persian in addition to translating major literary works into Balochi language.”

Lyari has also been central to the region’s politics. The Madressah Mazhar ul Uloom played a pivotal role in anti-British movements (including the Khilafat Movement) in the pre-partition era. Lyari-based Qadir Bux Rind Baloch (alias Kadu Makrani), an anti-British freedom-fighter met his death in the Chakiwara area in 1887, when he was hanged.

In the days of the martial law imposed by Ayub Khan, members of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) would meet at Lyari’s Kakri ground.

From Lyari to Australia
Lyari is commonly known for its passion for camel-cart racing. The area, however, was once the centre of camel trade to countries as distant as Australia.

Traders Dost Muhammad Brohi and Jorak introduced the camels of Balochistan and Afghanistan to Australia, via steam ships in the 1890s

Camel trade took Brohi, a Baloch born in 1870, to Australia in 1983, but it was his love for British girl Annie that made him settle down in the country and marry her in 1986.

Brohi, however, remained unsettled in the Australian lifestyle and after several brawls, his wife’s brothers killed Brohi in 1909.

,Annie was then invited by the Brohi family, to visit Karachi. Upon her arrival, Anne was murdered by Brohi’s brothers, who accused her for their brother’s death.

In 1993, Brohi and Annie’s granddaughter Jane Garnand landed in Karachi, in search of Annie’s grave, which she later found in the Clifton area.

Education on the streets
Lyari boasts a distinctive record of school systems, such as the ARM and Kiran Hasht Chowk and Baghdadi areas are, in particular, the hub of education. Here, local non-government organisations have been operating “street schools” for students of primary and secondary classes.

The educated youth of the area have launched the “Lyari Naujawan Tehrik” against the prevalence of drugs and crimes in the area. The movement came under threat from the drug mafia but also brought in other NGOs, which set up schools for informal education.

Despite the odds, street schools in Lyari offer hope to the people of Lyari, as they discourage the youth from falling prey to the gang wars.

“Financial problems are real ailment of Lyari, “according to M.Y Baloch a concerned local.

“Political parties have failed to meet our needs and even the ruling party made empty pledges, said Baloch.”

Lyari, can be called a mini-Pakistan, with colours of culture, sports, and traditions. The Lyari River was clean and a healthy habitat for fish, before the 1970s. It has now turned into a dirty stream. The sea breeze from Lyari cooled the other parts of Karachi, which has now been blocked by the Lyari Expressway.

Locals believe their miseries can be dealt with, if the government is sincere.

“The people of Lyari need love not force,” insists Zafar, as he recalls a Balochi proverb: “Hoo’n Go’n Hoo’na Shodag Nabet – you can’t wash blood with blood.”

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Via DAWN.com