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Monday, June 28, 2010

How the summits stack up G2o

G20 leaders have accepted a Canadian compromise on post-recession economic policy that includes aggressive deficit-cutting targets but allows individual countries to devise their own approach to meeting those goals. It's a saw-off between U.S. President Barack Obama, who favours continued economic stimulus spending to head off a double-dip recession, and European leaders who want G20 countries to move swiftly to reduce debts run up during the 2008-09 economic slowdown. “Advanced economies have committed to fiscal plans that will at least halve deficits by 2013 and stabilize or reduce government debt-to-GDP ratios by 2016,” reads a leaked draft communique. But the leaders also agree to support economic growth policies and recognize that some countries will start cutting their budget deficits later than others. “We are committed to taking concerted actions to sustain the recovery, create jobs and to achieve stronger, more sustainable and more balanced growth,” the communique says. “These (actions) will be differentiated and tailored to national circumstances.” The G20 has also concluded it will be left up to individual countries to decide whether they want to impose a bank tax or establish some kind of rainy day fund to offset another financial collapse that sparked the worldwide recession, the Star has confirmed.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Tackling terrorism


India and Pakistan are talking again officially. The interior ministers from both countries met ahead of yesterday’s South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) conference in Islamabad. Little was said after the meeting between India’s Home Minister P. Chidambaram and his Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malik save that they had agreed to further discussions. Both sides noted however that the talks had taken place in an atmosphere of “goodwill.” This at least is a start. It will however require a great deal more than goodwill for these two nuclear-armed nations to reach the durable and stable relations that have eluded them since partition in 1947. Both are however united by having to face the ogre of terrorism, which has dealt each serious blows. However, while Pakistan is largely occupied fighting the Taleban, the threat to India is related to Kashmir.  Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) which has been behind many terror attacks on India, most recently the November 2008 Mumbai atrocities, is dedicated to the ouster of New Delhi’s forces from Indian controlled Kashmir. Once supported by Islamabad as part of its claim to all of Kashmir, the organization is now officially banned in Pakistan. Seven suspected LeT members alleged to have been behind the Mumbai attacks are currently awaiting trial in the Pakistan courts. The Indians are angry however that the acknowledged founder of the terrorist movement, Hafiz Saeed was released by the Pakistani authorities because they had insufficient evidence to prosecute him. Instead Saeed, who now runs an Islamist charity, Jamaat-ud-Dawa has since been under house arrest. It is important that the rule of law prevail in the fight against terrorists, who are dedicated to its overthrow. Nevertheless, the Indians are right to argue that the Pakistan’s police and intelligence services should be trying harder. It has to be that they know a great deal about LeT from the days when they were providing it with covert support in its rebellion in Kashmir. It is equally true that Pakistan’s main intelligence agency the ISI knows a great deal about the Afghan Taleban from the days when, with US encouragement, it was supporting the Mujahideen insurgency against Soviet occupation. The discouraging suspicion that the ISI remains a law unto itself, despite the return of democratic politics to Pakistan, no doubt makes the Indians leery of assurances from Pakistani politicians that they are doing all they can to break the back of LeT insurgency. Yet a large part of the wide front of issues on which the two countries must build rapprochement and trust lies within the intelligence sphere. Turning around the long-standing rivalry between the Indian and Pakistani intelligence communities will be no small matter. Nevertheless, if they can agree on the limited agenda of LeT and work together successfully to blunt and finally break this particular source of terror, then maybe they will have established a productive working relationship for other challenges. The key is surely that the ISI buys fully into Islamabad’s renewed dialogue with New Delhi and leads a successful crackdown on LeT.

Tropical Storm Alex Threatens Mexico, May Spare BP Cleanup

Tropical Storm Alex bore down on the coast of Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula today, and may spare BP Plc’s efforts to contain and clean up the largest oil spill in U.S. history. “This should have a very minimal effect on the cleanup,” said Jill Hasling, executive director of the Weather Research Center in Houston, which provides weather forecasts to the oil industry worldwide. She said the closest approach to the leaking well might be 400 miles (643 kilometers), based on the storm’s current track. Alex is about 75 miles (120 kilometers) east of Belize City and is moving to the west-northwest at about 13 mph, according to a 2 p.m. local time advisory from the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. The storm has maximum sustained winds of about 45 mph, more than the 39 mph threshold needed to be classified a tropical storm. Admiral Thad Allen said the U.S. Coast Guard is monitoring the Atlantic season’s first tropical storm, which is poised to pass through the southern end of the Gulf of Mexico. The rig is located in the northern end of the Gulf.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Pakistan scans Google, other sites for blasphemy

Pakistan will monitor seven major websites, including Google and Yahoo, to block anti-Islamic links and content, an official said Friday. Seventeen lesser-known sites are being blocked outright for alleged blasphemous material. The moves follow Pakistan's temporary ban imposed on Facebook in May that drew both praise and condemnation in a country that has long struggled to figure out how strict a version of Islam it should follow. Both the Facebook ban and the move announced Friday were in response to court orders. The sites to be monitored include Yahoo, Google, MSN, Hotmail, YouTube, Amazon and Bing, said Pakistan Telecommunication Authority spokesman Khurram Mehran. "If any particular link with offensive content appears on these websites, the (link) shall be blocked immediately without disturbing the main website," Mehran said. An example of one of the 17 sites being blocked include islamexposed.blogspot.com, Mehran said. That site features postings with headlines such as "Islam: The Ultimate Hypocrisy" and links to anti-Islam online petitions.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Michael Jackson death: One year later

Today the world remembers Michael Jackson. Hundreds and maybe thousands will gather in Gary, Ind., the Jackson family hometown, to witness the unveiling of a statue to honor the pop icon; his mother Katherine is expected to attend. In Los Angeles fans will gather at Forest Lawn Memorial Park where the King of Pop is entombed. And in Detroit, where it all started, Motown announces today the opening of an exhibit, which will feature photographs from concert performances, television appearances, international tours and the TV cartoon series featuring the Jackson 5.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Asif Zaradri’s Formula for Perpetual Power (It is the same Formula that General Musharraf Tried but Failed)

Asif Zardari (AZ) thinks of himself as a political genius. He may well be right. After all he has managed to obtain complete control over the reins of power even though he is supported by no more than 15% of the electorate. It is rare to get an insight into his thinking; he makes his best political speeches from the grave site of his beloved wife – Benazir Bhutto – in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh. Yesterday, 21 June, the country was celebrating the 57th birthday of his wife. Celebration may not be the right word to describe an event linked to a person who is dead – particularly one who was brutally assassinated in full public view. But it was indeed an occasion to celebrate by AZ. If she had not been assassinated, AZ would have been kept out of sight of the public because of his reputation. After all his only link with politics was his renown as the commission agent who charged 10% for every permit and sanction given by his dear wife. However, it is also well known that the couple were leading separate lives. If Benazir had been alive, she would have been a popular Prime Minister and he would have been confined to Dubai the same way as the mother of Benazir, Begum Nusrat Bhutto. With such dubious political background, AZ has come to own every thing that belonged to the Bhutto family. Even Benazir’s seat in the National Assembly is occupied by AZ’s his sister – Faryal Talpur. He has to be a political genius to accomplish such feats. In his speech on the 57th Birthday of Benazir, he made some remarkable statements. He said: ‘he has put in place such a formula that his PP would win even if it loses the elections’. He explained that his formula was based on ‘firm links with the MQM and the ANP’; with his allies he was sure to have a foothold in power in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KP) as well as the Sindh Provinces . In his scheme, the Punjab – 58% of the population of Pakistan – would continue to sidelined, by its caution owing to the fear of the Sindh Card that he has so deftly played. He expressed annoyance that the workers of the PPP did not appreciate his grand design and are still suspicious of the MQM. He said that he is seeking accommodation with the MQM in accordance with the vision of his beloved wife – Benazir. He said he had not forgotten her assassins but reiterated that he would not resort to revenge. To confuse matters further (or perhaps to advance his peculiar politics) he fired off a letter to the UN Secretary General expressing his dissatisfaction with the UN Report on her assassination. Whatever he said was self contradictory; it offended many and confused even more; he satisfied no one. That cannot be deft politics, but it is! AZ formula for perpetual rule over Pakistan is the same as that of General Musharraf (GM). He is a Mohajir; the MQM was his political home; and he sought an alliance with the PPP – the party of rural Sindh. An alliance of urban Sindh (MQM) and rural Sindh (PPP) can easily sideline the Punjab and KP who are remote from the sea. Karachi is the sea port through which almost all the trade of Pakistan and Afghanistan passes. With the MQM in  control of Karachi , it can hold entire Pakistan to ransom. Besides, the dictator in chief of the MQM lives in London from where he collaborates with enemies of Pakistan and receives directions. AZ knows enough about the links of the MQM with India and Israel to be afraid. He has his own links with them but he knows that the MQM links are closer. He is struggling to secure a similar constituency of loyalty for himself to rival that of the MQM. The minorities he is cultivating are the Shias and the Qadianis. That is remarkably similar to the politics of GM who shook hands with Ariel Sharon and had a Qadiani – Tariq Aziz – as his close confidante, courier and international gofer. AZ is a shia in a country where the shia population is no more than 10% (Mohajir population is 7%); he had dinner with Israeli Ambassador in New York and has Rehman Malik as his close confidante, courier and international gofer. The question is: would AZ succeed whereas Musharraf failed? It appears that AZ may fail much more spectacularly than GM. The public support for AZ is only 15% which is lower than the lowest for GM. His policy of appeasing the MQM while target killing of PPP workers and Pathans goes on relentlessly in Karachi is making the PPP rank and file very angry. It is well known that the massacre of PPP workers upon the arrival of Benazir in Karachi was the work of the MQM. The workers of the PPP also believe that AZ has something to do with the assassination of Benazir. Why a proper criminal investigation has not been ordered so far, they ask! Bhutto legacy would continue to attract votes but Zardari as the leader of the PP is becoming unacceptable in Sindh. While the effort by GM to make an alliance of a minority that is dominant in Karachi (MQM) with a party with country wide support (PPP) made sense, the effort of AZ to make the same alliance is viewed with revulsion and contempt. It is seen as submission to blackmail by a minority of the majority. Perhaps AZ is aware of that. After all, he did seek an alliance with PML(N) and formed a coalition with it at the outset. They fell out on the issue of restoration of Judges dismissed by GM. There was a likelihood of the alliance being restored after their restoration but the PML(N) was wise to stay away. It realised that the embrace of the PPP is like that of a python – the Boa constrictor. PML(N) government in the Punjab is not providing good governance; it is even trying to ape the PPP with its ‘prone to waste and corruption’ scheme of ‘Two Rupee Roti’. But the PML(N) has avoided strategic errors. It led the movement for the independence of judiciary; it did not rejoin the coalition after the judges were restored; it co-operated for the revision of the Constitution and NFC Award; and it opposed the renaming of NWFP. But it has made two errors since. It needs to review its position on Hazara Province , and it should stop saying that ‘Generals destroyed institutions’. The demand for Hazara Province is the natural outcome of what AZ calls ‘giving that province an identity’. The Hazarawals do not share that identity  – the gift of AZ. Nawaz Sharif (NS) must see that and say that. The accusation against the Generals is a lie. When they were managing the Electricity Departments (WAPDA/PEPCO etc) , Railways, Steel Mills, PIA etc, these companies were profitable; under ‘civil’ management they need a subsidy of 350 billion rupees.  Ex servicemen as VCs of universities eliminated indiscipline among students as well as teachers and made them a place for learning rather than politics. The fashion to revile the services symbolises ingratitude for their service and sacrifices; it is not good for the solidarity of the nation. NS cannot promote national cohesion by reviling the armed forces. It is wise to have raised the issue of the Kalabagh Dam. Its rejection is associated with the ANP and MQM and now the AZ PPP. All these parties call themselves ‘secular’, which is an expression which means ‘irreligious’ to most people.  Overwhelming majority in Pakistan does not see themselves as ‘irreligious’. The JUI, which is a Takfiri, group, is also a part of the AZ formula for perpetual power. The JUI is an ally of the ‘irreligious’ because it has a soft corner for India and the ‘secularists’ are all pro-India. PML(N) subscribes to Islam as the polity of Pakistan . Each component of the ruling coalition is natural nemesis of the PML(N). It is not good politics to question vague objectives of the adversary; but it is good to attack them when they come out with an evil objective. Opposition to Kalabagh Dam is an evil objective. Dams do not consume water; they store water which can be used by all the barrages downstream. More water would be available to Sindh if the Kalabagh Dam is built. If the fears of Sindh cannot be eliminated without dropping the proposal for high level canals from the dam, it should be dropped. AZ has declared his hand. He wants to rule Pakistan and Punjab being ruled by his opposition suits him. That is the scheme of the devil that wishes to undermine Pakistan by imposing upon it rule of enemy collaborators. To advance the enemy agenda, AZ continues to pick fights – one at a time – inside the country in order to neutralise the potential of Pakistan to project its power outside to protect its interests. It is time, as the Americans say, “not to be mad but to get even”. It is time to pick a fight with AZ on Kalabagh Dam, on Drone Attacks and on Iran-Pakistan Gas pipeline.  I am sure AZ would end up losing all these fights and his dream for perpetual power would end in nightmare.

Obama makes the right call on McChrystal

Gen. Stanley McChrystal put President Obama in a terrible bind. Forgive the insubordinate remarks the commander of allied forces in Afghanistan made in an article in Rolling Stone, and President Obama destroys the chain of command that puts civilians in charge of our military, condones disrespect and poor discipline in the ranks and looks like a wimp besides. Fire him, and the president risks disrupting an increasingly deadly military offensive at what may be the most critical point in what is now America’s longest war. The president will no doubt get criticism from the supposed friends of the military that his decision to replace the general puts the troops at greater risk over what amounted to a series of ill-advised jokes among General McChrystal and his staff. But more is at stake here than the egos of President Obama, Vice President Biden and other members of the president’s national security staff. Civilian control over the military is a foundational principle of our nation (one established here in Maryland when George Washington resigned his commission in the old Senate chamber of the State House, and President Obama would have done greater harm by allowing such a breach to go unpunished. This was not the first time General McChrystal had skated close to the line of insubordination. During the deliberation over whether to increase troop strength in Afghanistan or to engage in a more limited action there, General McChrystal spoke out publicly about his view that we needed tens of thousands more soldiers. That also put the president in a tough situation politically. If he had chosen not to escalate the war, he would have been pilloried for bucking the view of his top military commander in the country. In that light, the remarks in Rolling Stone start to look like a pattern. And putting aside the issue of whether General McChrystal violated the terms of his relationship with the commander in chief, the remarks diminished his ability to be an effective leader. In addition to being insubordinate, the general’s actions were sloppy and reflected a lack of discipline among his top aides. If they couldn’t keep such incendiary views to themselves around a reporter holding a notepad and a tape recorder, how are they to handle the complex diplomatic tasks essential to winning the war in Afghanistan? And if that’s how General McChrystal believes it’s appropriate to act toward his superiors, how can he expect the officers to report to him to show proper deference and respect?

American 'Bin Laden hunter' released by Pakistan

An American man detained in Pakistan for trying to track down and kill Osama Bin Laden has been freed and will return to the United States later Wednesday, his family told local media. Colorado-based construction worker Gary Faulkner was released by authorities in Pakistan late Tuesday before flying home to the United States via Dubai, a relative told ABC7 News in Denver. "They got the news late yesterday that he was coming in. So, they're really looking forward to seeing Gary. It's been a while," Faulkner's brother-in-law John Martin was quoted as saying on the network's website. Faulkner was detained on June 13 in the remote mountains of Chitral, once a rumored hiding place of bin Laden, near Afghanistan's Nuristan province, armed with a pistol, dagger, sword and night-vision equipment. Long haired and bearded, a Christian believer but suffering from health problems, Faulkner dubbed "the American Ninja" was on a solo mission to track down and kill al Qaeda figurehead bin Laden, his family has said. Brother Scott Faulkner told CNN that Gary Faulkner had been motivated to hunt bin Laden out of a desire to avenge the September 11, 2001 attacks and a belief in God, saying he was not crazy, psychotic or schizophrenic.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

World Cup offers besieged Gazans rare escape

There was standing room only at the seaside cafe as World Cup fans escaped the Gaza Strip's dreary confinement for a 90-minute match only briefly interrupted by power cuts. Palestinians have always been avid football fans, but this year's tournament is drawing record crowds to flag-decked cafes with humming generators across impoverished Gaza, where there are few other ways to pass the time. "All the people of Gaza have are the sea and the World Cup," says Abu Mohammed al-Sultan, 44, who set up a projection screen at the beach cafe. "I figured I would combine the two and double my customers." Israel and Egypt have sealed Gaza off from all but basic goods and severely limited travel since the June 2006 capture of an Israeli soldier. The sanctions were tightened when Hamas seized power a year later, and Israel has said the closures and its naval blockade are needed to keep the Islamist movement from importing weapons. Since Israel's deadly seizure last month of an activist aid flotilla, both countries have eased the closures, with Egypt allowing some students and patients to leave and Israel expanding its list of permitted imports. But the enclave of 1.5 million residents, 80 percent of whom rely on foreign aid, remains largely cut off from the world, and the World Cup provides a rare release from the grim boredom of day-to-day life. Gazans organised their own mock World Cup last month in anticipation of the real thing, with 16 local teams posing as national squads and "France" routing "Jordan" to win the championship.

Obama in dilemma over general after show of disrespect

US President Barack Obama faced a dilemma on Tuesday after his commander in Afghanistan showed disdain for the White House, as sacking the general could carry too high a cost at a pivotal moment in the war. General Stanley McChrystal's role as commander was hanging in the balance after a damaging profile in Rolling Stone magazine in which he and his aides openly mock top civilian officials and speak dismissively of Obama himself. Analysts said Obama must decide if he can still trust the general after the disrespectful display, or whether replacing him might derail the war effort amid an overhaul of strategy overseen by McChrystal. The embarrassing episode could not have come at a more sensitive moment in the troubled Afghan war, amid a surge of 30,000 US troops and plans for a make-or-break operation in the southern province of Kandahar. "This is an unfortunate distraction at a critical time," said a senior defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Although Obama had plenty of grounds to fire McChrystal based on the article, sacking him could jeopardize a delicate timeline that envisages a military push against the Taliban and then the start of a US withdrawal in July 2011, some analysts said.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Pakistan arrests 'German militant' disguised in a burka


A suspected militant from Germany has been detained in north-west Pakistan wearing a burka, police say. They told the man was in a vehicle with two other men and a young girl when they were stopped at a check-point in Bannu district. The German was travelling with a fake Pakistani passport, officials say. Meanwhile the Taliban has offered to swap 33 soldiers captured on the Afghan border if a number of militants are in return released from Pakistani jails. They have warned the soldiers may be harmed if the government refuses.

Pakistan 10th most failed state of world


Just three places below Afghanistan, Pakistan has been ranked the 10th most failed state in the 2010 Failed State Index released by the Foreign Policy magazine on Monday. The list is topped by Somalia, followed by Zimbabwe, Sudan, and Chad. India is ranked 87 in a list of 177 countries. Burma has been placed at 13, Sri Lanka 22 and Nepal at 25. China is ranked at 57th place. Norway is ranked at the bottom of the list.

Monday, June 21, 2010

List of richest person of pakistan top 5

1 - Mian Muhammad Mansha Yaha Pakistan 
Ranking: 1 Worth: £1.25b ($2.5billion) Industry: Businessman
Mansha has around 40 companies on board. Mansha, who owns the Muslim Commercial Bank is also setting up a $ 17m paper mill. He is one of the richest Pakistanis around. Nishat Group was country's 15th richest family in 1970, 6th in 1990 and Number 1 in 1997. Mansha is on the board of nearly 50 companies. He is deemed to have made investments in many bourses, currency and metal exchanges both within and outside Pakistan . He could have bought the United Bank too, but then who doesn't have adversaries. Nishat Group comprises of textiles, cement, leasing, insurance and management companies. If Mansha was bitten by Bhutto's nationalization stint of 1970, his friends think he was compensated by Nawaz Sharif's denationalization programme to a very good effect. There is no stopping Mansha and he is still on the move. Nishat group assets are $4.4Billion. He is sometimes even regarded as the richest Pakistani around by his friends claiming he does not "show it off". 

2 - Asif Ali Zardari Pakistan
Ranking: 2 Worth: £900m ($1.8billion) Industry: Politics
Asif Zardari dubbed "Mr 10%" (& now MR 50%) an unknown happy-go-lucky son of a small-time businessman who struck gold by marrying one of the worlds most glamorous women Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benzair Bhutto. Taking advantage of his wife's authority he is known to have taken kickbacks from many deals inside and outside of Pakistan . The most famous was a $4 billion deal to buy 32 Mirage jets from the French company Dassault. Documents, which include letters from Dassault executives, indicate an agreement was reached to pay a 5% "remuneration" - about $200m - to Marleton Business, a BVI company controlled by Zardari. Besides these many more kickback deals were taken with companies such as ARY Gold, Société Général de Surveillance (SGS), Cotecna, and ZPC Ursus, a Polish tractor company.  Zardari assets holding amount into hundreds of millions of dollars easily, Having 8 prime properties in the UK, of which once is the famous Rockwood Estate 365 acres in Surrey, worth £4.35m has now been sold and money sent back to the Govt. of Pakistan. Also 14 multi-million dollar mansions in the USA, including owning Holiday Inn hotel Houston, Texas Owned by "Mr 10%" and Iqbal Memon and Sadar-ud-Din Hashwani.  They (Zardari and B.Bhutto) also have huge business ventures in the Middle East running into hundreds of millions if not billion mark. Mr Zardari also has huge stakes in sugar mills all over Pakistan ,which include: Sakrand Sugar Mills, Nawabshah, Ansari Sugar Mills, Hyderabad , Mirza Sugar Mills, Badin, Pangrio Sugar Mills, Thatta and Bachani Sugar Mills, Sanghar. 

3 - Sir Anwar Pervaiz UK
Ranking: 3 Worth: £750m ($1.5billion) Industry: Businessman
Chairman of Bestway Group. The Bestway Group started in 1976 with its first Bestway cash and carry warehouse opened in London . Today the have in total around 50 Cash and Carry's. Including their recent takeover of rival group Batleys for around £100m. Bestway Group ventured into Pakistan 's huge the cement business in 1995 and set up cement manufacturing plant in Pakistan at a cost of $120 million. 
Taking Advantage of Pakistan growing economy they also acquired a 25.5% stake in United Bank Limited in 2002. Today, the Bestway Group has interests in cash & carry wholesale, property investments, retail outlets, milling of rice, lentils and pulses, cement production and more recently into banking. The group's total sales amounted to in excess of £ 2 billion. The group provides direct employment to thousands in the UK and Pakistan . The have many interests in Pakistan too. Sir Anwar Pervaiz and his his partners sheer hard work has bought them to outstanding international levels, which definitely makes him an ideal role model for many young Pakistanis today. He still on the move! 

4 - Nawaz Sharif & Shahbaz Sharif family Saudi Arabia/Pakistan 
Ranking: 4 Worth: £700m ($1.4billion) Industry: Politics/Businessma n
Mr Sharif Businessman turned politician the former Prime Minister of Pakistan. He was ousted in a military coup in 1999 and was forced to forfeit $9million dollars and some of his assets including his $5m Mansion is Raiwind near Lahore . Before becoming PM he was a major share holder along with his brother and cousins of Ittefaq Group, having assets well in excess of £50m in the 90's. However he got richer when he took commissions from foreign companies for construction in Pakistan . He build the first motorway and many new roads and took heavy kickbacks. He then also stole $100m from the Iqra funds, he started a new scheme "Ghar Apna" in which he again looted around $40m, the "Mulk swaaro" scheme involving public & govt. money collections to help pay pf Pakistan's debts also was pocketed. Today he lives in exile in Saudi Arabia where it is known he has a new huge business empire in various sectors. 

5 - Saddaruddin Hashwani Pakistan 
Ranking: 5 Worth: £550m ($1.1billion) Industry: Businessman
Saddaruddin Hashwani is Chairman Hashoo Group is known for his dominance in Pakistan 's hotel industry, though Hashwanis are have huge strength in real estate business too. Hashwanis are involved in trading of cotton, grain and steel and till the nationalization of cotton export in 1974, they were widely being dubbed as the Cotton Kings of Pakistan. Today, this group has excelled in export of rice, wheat, cotton and barley. It owns textile units, besides having invested billions in mines, minerals. hotels, insurance, batteries, tobacco, residential properties, construction, engineering and information technology. In 1984, Hashwani defeated the Lakhanis in the bid for Premier Tobacco but was arrested along with his brother Akbar in 1986 for allegedly evading customs duty on cigarettes. Sadarduddin' s brother Akbar and the children of another late brother Hassan Ali Hashwani together ma nage around 45 companies. Akbar runs the second Hashwani Group. He is one of the most well-known magnates in Pakistan who is a regular invitee at the Diplomatic Enclave. The list of local and international bigwigs known personally to Hashwani is unending. 

Pakistan says will abide by U.S. sanctions on Iran

Pakistan will abide by any U.S. sanctions on Iran, which Washington has warned could hit Pakistani companies involved in a $7.6 billion Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline deal, the prime minister said on Monday. Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani's remarks came the day after U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke warned Islamabad against becoming too committed to the project because of the expected sanctions' effects. "If the U.S. imposes sanctions, they will have international implications and Pakistan as a member of the international community will follow them," he told reporters at a press conference in the southern Sindh province. The U.S. Congress is finalising legislation tightening sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, which Washington believes is being used to develop weapons. Tehran denies that. Holbrooke urged Pakistan to wait and see the final legislation before moving ahead on the deal, signed in March. Pakistan is desperate for new energy sources, saddled with expensive power generation and a daily shortage of as much as 5,000 megawatts. Frequent power outages hamper industry and have sparked street protests against President Asif Ali Zardari's government. Washington has not criticised the gas pipeline project too loudly, forced to balance its need to back Pakistan, a crucial ally in the global war against al Qaeda, against its goal of isolating Iran.

Obama Administration Keeping Blackwater Armed and Dangerous in Afghanistan

Blackwater is up for sale and its shadowy owner, Erik Prince, is rumored to be planning to move to the United Arab Emirates as his top deputies face indictment for a range of alleged crimes, yet the company remains a central part of President Obama's Afghanistan war. Now, Blackwater's role is expanding. On Friday, the US State Department awarded Blackwater another "diplomatic security" contract to protect US officials in Afghanistan. CBS News reports that the $120 million deal is for "protective services" at the US consulates in Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif. Blackwater has another security contract in Afghanistan worth $200 million and trains Afghan forces. The company also works for the CIA and the US military and provides bodyguards for US Ambassador Karl Eikenberry as well as US lawmakers and other officials who visit the country. The company has four forward operating bases in Afghanistan and Prince has boasted that Blackwater's counter-narcotics forces have called in NATO airstrikes. The new security contract was awarded to one of Blackwater's alter egos, the United States Training Center, despite theindictments of five senior company officials on bribery, weapons and conspiracy charges. Its operatives in both Afghanistan andIraq have been indicted for killing innocent civilians. The Senate Armed Services Committee has called on the Justice Department to investigate Blackwater's use of a shell company, Paravant, to win training contracts in Afghanistan. Despite these and numerous other scandals, the State Department once again awarded the company a lucrative contract.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Israel announces new Gaza blockade procedures

Israel has announced new procedures to ease its blockade on the Gaza Strip, saying it would start allowing in all goods except for weapons and materials that can be used to make them. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that Israel would publish a list of banned goods, and all items not on the list would be allowed into the Palestinian territory. Israel has been under growing international pressure to ease its blockade since last month's commando raid on an aid flotilla bound for Gaza in which eight Turkish activists were killed. Mr Netanyahu will discuss 'additional steps' with US President Barack Obama during a visit to Washington on 6 July.

Legal challenge to ban on Muslim preacher Zakir Naik


An Indian Muslim preacher banned by the home secretary from entering the UK for his "unacceptable behaviour" is to challenge the ruling in the courts. Zakir Naik, a 44-year-old television preacher, had been due to give lectures in Sheffield on 25 June and Wembley Arena the following day. Theresa May said that visiting the UK was "a privilege, not a right". The Islamic Research Foundation, based in Mumbai, India, said he was seeking a judicial review in the High Court. The home secretary can stop people entering the UK if she believes there is a threat to national security, public order or the safety of citizens. That includes banning people if she believes their views glorify terrorism, promote violence or encourage other serious crime. However, somebody cannot be banned just for having opinions that other people would find offensive. The Islamic Research Foundation said in a statement: "It is deeply regrettable the British Government has bowed to pressure from sectarian and Islamophobic pressure groups by preventing the entry of Dr Zakir Naik, who has been visiting and delivering talks in the United Kingdom for the past 15 years. "Dr Zakir Naik is undoubtedly an opponent of terrorism and as such has often spoken out against all acts of violence and violent extremism. "He has emphatically and unequivocally condemned the killing of civilians and is one of the world's regular noted orators on this topic. "In the wake of the exclusion order and based on legal advice, Dr Zakir Naik intends to bring the matter before the High Court... and request a judicial review to have the exclusion order overturned."

Kyrgyz Officials Order Uzbeks to Remove Barriers

The Kyrgyz authorities demanded on Saturday that makeshift roadblocks that have turned this distressed city into a patchwork of no man’s lands be removed, setting up a confrontation with ethnic Uzbeks that could lead to more bloodshed. The mayor of this southern city issued an ultimatum that Uzbeks voluntarily dismantle the barricades they have sheltered behind by Sunday night or force would be used to eliminate the barriers, some made with the wreckage of trucks destroyed in the rioting, minibuses and large boulders. The Uzbeks have been holed up in their neighborhoods for days in the wake of the ethnic violence that killed thousands and caused a massive refugee crisis. The violence has severely destabilized Kyrgyzstan, a poor former Soviet republic that has a strategic location in Central Asia. The United States has a military base in the country that plays a significant role in supporting the NATO mission in Afghanistan.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Israel's propaganda war


Israel's ability to shape public opinion regarding the flotilla massacre is intimately linked to its long-standing campaign to manipulate global public perceptions of what has been happening in Palestine all along since Israel's birth in 1947. Its policy remains consistent. It is a successful strategy always focusing on Jewish victimhood. The success is rooted in a political reality. Where knowledge is limited, and the desire and means to learn and understand the complex reality or issues doesn't exist, public opinion can be manipulated and shaped by whoever generates the most powerful symbols. The precise truth or falsehood of this portrayal hardly matters. For most of the world thus far, the Palestine issue is poorly understood and not a matter of immediate concern. The manipulators intend to shape the perceptions of a global public with limited interest in or understanding of the issues, filling in the blanks with their own narrative. Their use of the media is a powerful political weapon designed to define perceptions. Using an amalgam of incidents and images to display, a propaganda war is being waged to create sympathy. The moral question has been made ambiguous. What seems to matter is the ability to identify the victim as victimizer through obfuscation and confusion thus helping form global opinion that would lead members of the international community to adopt political stances advantageous to the opinion managers. Israel's success in establishing its own narrative in the public sphere as the dominant one is in no small measure due to the excellence of the Jewish community in the media field. Moving stories made into movies like the "Exodus" and many others are poignant accounts of Jewish suffering. It is equally important to recognize the Palestinian/Arab inability to offer their own narrative in a coherent constructive way Times have changed. Because of plethora of technologies now there are opportunities for many to present alternative ideas and counternarratives and be heard across this planet...   The ground seems to be shifting.  The flotilla incidence has gotten the State of Israel in a pickle. Though all its faithful propagandists are out in public arguing that there was nothing wrong with the raid on the ships carrying aid to Gaza, and the American media are straining every which way and even very much against their better instincts, to cooperate, they are not succeeding in making a dent in the public perception. There remains in the minds of most people across the globe the perception that things truly shocking and fundamentally unacceptable took place out there on the high seas.  Eyewitness accounts have begun to come back from those arrested on the ships.  With all clarity it is apparent that the Israeli forces did their best to pre-empt the account of the story, giving thereby prima facie evidence of careful planning for exactly what happened. They took care to cut off all communication from those ships at sea except their own. All cameras, electronic devices that could hold any pictures or video were confiscated and have not been returned. That was an accomplishment, as practically everyone on board had cameras and recording devices. It was only by hiding away a few of those tiny memory cards that passengers were able to retain any of the horrifying pictures and video that are now beginning to emerge. Even now, few people have seen those other than on Internet postings. Our America media are not publishing them.

PM Gilani enjoys liking of 67% Pakistanis: US survey

Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani enjoys the liking of 67 percent Pakistanis, as shown in the global attitudes survey by the Pew Research Centre, Washington. People in public circles see this support by a majority of Pakistanis for Prime Minister Gilani as a compliment, as generally the rating for a sitting prime minister declines. “No doubt it is a compliment for Prime Minister Gilani and the PPP government, as generally the support for the leaders in government declines”, viewed Azmat Ilyas Rana, a student of International Relations in Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad. “I think it is the reconciliatory approach of the government and flexible attitude of Prime Minister Gilani, which has earned him liking by 67% Pakistanis,” Ali Raza, a political analyst commented. Most of the people, asked by this agency to comment on the rating as depicted in the survey, were of the view that Prime Minister Gilani owing to his philosophy of political accommodation and the way of handling the crises, make him a leader favoured by majority of people in the country. The survey conducted by a leading US research group also depicted views of Pakistanis on various issues like terrorism and extremism, relations with India vis a vis Kashmir issue, Pak-China relations etc. Eighty-nine percent Pakistanis surveyed by the US research group say they think of themselves first as Pakistanis, rather than as members of their ethnic groups. As many as 70 percent Pakistanis have unfavorable view of the Taliban and 61 percent reject Al Qaeda openly. Crime and terrorism are seen as major problems by virtually everyone. Long-running concerns about India are also reflected in the poll. The dispute over Kashmir is cited as a major problem facing Pakistan by no fewer than 88 percent. Pakistani’s express overwhelmingly positive opinions about Asian giant - 84 percent have a favourable view of China and 80 percent consider China a partner to their country.

Iranian activists to ship aid to Gaza


An Iranian ship carrying 3000 tons of humanitarian assistance will depart for Gaza this week, the director of the Iranian Red Crescent Volunteers Community announced on Friday.
“The ship will be carrying 3000 tons of food, clothing, and medical supplies, and 20 people will be on board. The ship will set sail for Gaza by the end of the week,” Mashallah Portolouei said in a press briefing in Mashhad.
“So far, 150,000 people have voluntarily registered to head to Gaza,” he added.
The volunteers are not connected to any political group. Like other activists around the world they are seeking to help Gazans.
Three weeks ago the Israeli forces attacked a Turkish flotilla of ships trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, killing 9 activists.
Following the assault which provoked widespread outrage, many countries have prepared tons of aid to send to Gaza.
In attempt to break Israel's four-year blockade of the Gaza Strip a group of dozens of Lebanese women activists also said earlier this week they would set sail for Gaza with an aid ship loaded with medical supplies. The women insisted, however, that they were not affiliated to any political organization, and said the ship would carry 30 Lebanese activists as well as 20 foreigners including several Europeans .

Kyrgyzstan crisis a threat to China's influence

Bustling trade between China and Kyrgyzstan has slowed to a trickle since deadly violence broke out in Kyrgyzstan, and experts say the crisis could diminish Beijing's economic clout in the country while bolstering rival Russia's already dominant influence. Most days, as many as 200 trucks loaded with televisions, apples, T-shirts and other Chinese goods enter Kyrgyzstan at the Yi'erkeshitan Pass. On Thursday, however, no trucks and just four people crossed at the pass high in the Tianshan mountains in far western China's Xinjiang region, according to an official with the border crossing administration. "The entry is still open, but what happened in Kyrgyzstan really had an impact on the flow of people and trade across the border," said the man, who like many Chinese bureaucrats would give only his surname, Wang. Hundreds and maybe thousands have died in rampages led mainly by ethnic Kyrgyz against Uzbeks in the country's south. Before the violence, China had sought to exert primarily economic influence on its neighbors to the west, in what has been called a 21st century iteration of the "Great Game" — Russia and Britain's fight for power in Central Asia more than 100 years ago. Rather than cavalry troopers and spies, however, China has deployed intrepid traders who have established a thriving commerce in everything from fruit to car parts, electronics to textiles. While Russia and the U.S. traded barbs about the presence of the others' troops in the country, China's professed noninterference paid great dividends: Bilateral trade jumped to $9.3 billion in 2008, according to Beijing's ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, up from just a few hundred million dollars at the start of the decade. But now, Beijing finds itself shut out of the primarily political and military solutions being offered by the Russia and the U.S.