Like rest of the areas in Pakistan, arrangements are also being made in Sindh to celebrate Eid Milad-un-Nabi (PBUH) with religious fervour and zeal tomorrow, Sunday.
The public and private buildings and the mosques of the city have been illuminated in an aesthetic manner. City government, towns and union councils administration are paying special attention to the cleanliness. Also, a committee of ulema has been constituted to spread tolerance among the masses.
The committee will meet the organizers of mosques situated in sensitive areas and processions being taken out in Malir Town. Law enforcement agencies have made foolproof security arrangements to cope with any untoward incident on the occasion
Courtesy: PT
Friday, March 30, 2007
Tribal-militant clashes intensify in Pakistan
Fighting between local and foreign militants Friday killed 52 people, bringing to more than 200 the number of dead in recent days in a conflict between Pakistanis and suspected al-Qaida-linked extremists, a senior official said.
Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said 45 Uzbek militants and seven tribesmen died in battles in South Waziristan, a lawless region used as a rear base by Taliban militants fighting in Afghanistan. The U.S. fears that al-Qaida is regrouping there.
Since fighting began last week, 213 people have been killed, including 177 Uzbeks and their local allies, Sherpao said.
The conflict intensified Friday after foreigners failed to comply with an ultimatum from tribal elders to leave their territory, Sherpao said.
Under pressure from the U.S. to do more against the Taliban and al-Qaida, the government has claimed that the violence in South Waziristan vindicates its policy of using traditional leaders, not the army, to combat militancy along the border.
Some analysts, however, say that militants with links to the Taliban and al-Qaida are involved on both sides of the current conflict, and that blood feuds could deepen insecurity in a region viewed as a possible hiding place for Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri.
Courtesy: Indystar
Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said 45 Uzbek militants and seven tribesmen died in battles in South Waziristan, a lawless region used as a rear base by Taliban militants fighting in Afghanistan. The U.S. fears that al-Qaida is regrouping there.
Since fighting began last week, 213 people have been killed, including 177 Uzbeks and their local allies, Sherpao said.
The conflict intensified Friday after foreigners failed to comply with an ultimatum from tribal elders to leave their territory, Sherpao said.
Under pressure from the U.S. to do more against the Taliban and al-Qaida, the government has claimed that the violence in South Waziristan vindicates its policy of using traditional leaders, not the army, to combat militancy along the border.
Some analysts, however, say that militants with links to the Taliban and al-Qaida are involved on both sides of the current conflict, and that blood feuds could deepen insecurity in a region viewed as a possible hiding place for Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri.
Courtesy: Indystar
Pakistan shuts the Islamist radio station
Pakistani authorities have shut down an illegal FM radio station set up by pro-Taleban clerics in Islamabad during growing concern about the spread of Islamist influence.
President Pervez Musharraf, an important ally in the US-led war on terrorism, has long warned against the spread of what he calls extremism although critics say his government has done little to tackle religious hardliners.
Concern about the spread of militancy, or Talebanisation, intensified this week as militants battled police in a previously peaceful northwestern town and hardline students of an Islamabad madrassa launched a Taleban-style drive against vice.
Burqa-clad female students of the madrassa abducted three women on Tuesday after accusing them of running a brothel. The women were later released but one said they had been tortured into confessing.
Islamabad’s Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, and its religious school, or madrassa, are well known for their pro-Taleban and anti-US and anti-government stand.
Earlier in the week, the students roamed through several Islamabad markets, urging music shop owners to stop selling discs. The Taleban banned music in Afghanistan before they were driven from power by US-led forces in 2001.
The Taleban sprang from Pakistani madrassas, near the Afghan border, in 1990s and their influence quickly spread. The militant movement took control of much of Afghanistan in 1996 and they imposed severe restrictions on women, banned all music, television, movies and virtually eradicated the drugs trade.
As part of their campaign against vice, the students in Islamabad and their hardline clerics set up an FM radio station on Wednesday to propagate their strict version of Islam. Authorities reacted quickly to shut it down.
“We took action as soon as the issue was brought to our notice. We have stopped the transmissions,” a spokesman for the government’s electronic media regulator said.
He declined to say how the transmissions had been stopped but said further action would be taken if warranted.
The madrassa students have been at odds with city authorities for months over government efforts to demolish mosques illegally built on state land.
Women students occupied a library next to their mosque in January as part of their campaign against the authorities, which soon abandoned their efforts against encroachment.
The students are still occupying the library, demanding several demolished mosques be rebuilt.
Their mosque compound has taken on the air of a rebel camp with young men with sticks posted at gates and at look-out points along its banner-strewn walls.
Courtesy: TPQ
President Pervez Musharraf, an important ally in the US-led war on terrorism, has long warned against the spread of what he calls extremism although critics say his government has done little to tackle religious hardliners.
Concern about the spread of militancy, or Talebanisation, intensified this week as militants battled police in a previously peaceful northwestern town and hardline students of an Islamabad madrassa launched a Taleban-style drive against vice.
Burqa-clad female students of the madrassa abducted three women on Tuesday after accusing them of running a brothel. The women were later released but one said they had been tortured into confessing.
Islamabad’s Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, and its religious school, or madrassa, are well known for their pro-Taleban and anti-US and anti-government stand.
Earlier in the week, the students roamed through several Islamabad markets, urging music shop owners to stop selling discs. The Taleban banned music in Afghanistan before they were driven from power by US-led forces in 2001.
The Taleban sprang from Pakistani madrassas, near the Afghan border, in 1990s and their influence quickly spread. The militant movement took control of much of Afghanistan in 1996 and they imposed severe restrictions on women, banned all music, television, movies and virtually eradicated the drugs trade.
As part of their campaign against vice, the students in Islamabad and their hardline clerics set up an FM radio station on Wednesday to propagate their strict version of Islam. Authorities reacted quickly to shut it down.
“We took action as soon as the issue was brought to our notice. We have stopped the transmissions,” a spokesman for the government’s electronic media regulator said.
He declined to say how the transmissions had been stopped but said further action would be taken if warranted.
The madrassa students have been at odds with city authorities for months over government efforts to demolish mosques illegally built on state land.
Women students occupied a library next to their mosque in January as part of their campaign against the authorities, which soon abandoned their efforts against encroachment.
The students are still occupying the library, demanding several demolished mosques be rebuilt.
Their mosque compound has taken on the air of a rebel camp with young men with sticks posted at gates and at look-out points along its banner-strewn walls.
Courtesy: TPQ
Bob Woolmer's murder linked to Dawood, Al-Qaeda
Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer's mysterious death took a new twist with a media report in London linking his murder to Dawood Ibrahim and Al-Qaeda.A report in The Sun claimed a Pakistan-based bookie was thrown out of Woolmer's room after an altercation with the coach.The daily quoted sources claiming that the bookie, who had vanished after Woolmer's death on March 18, is an associate of Dawood Ibrahim, who is wanted over funding Al-Qaeda and also for the 1993 Mumbai blasts.The report quoted intelligence officials, who tour with the Indian cricket team, as saying that the bookie was seen at the World Cup in Jamaica with Dawood's brother Anees Ibrahim.Jamaican officials, however, said they were not told by the Pakistani cricketers about any such row between the coach and the bookie. The report, however, claimed that two Pakistani players, in their statement to the police, did mention about the furious bust-up."Bob Woolmer said he had thrown a bookie out of his room. He didn''t give a reason," an official said. Deputy Commissioner of Jamaican Police Mark Shields said, "This issue has come up before but we have so far been unable to substantiate it.""But we are prepared to consider it further now that we have names and more details. We will be investigating." Woolmer was found strangled in his 12th floor room of the Pegasus Hotel room on March 18, hours after Pakistan's shock World Cup defeat against minnows Ireland.
Courtesy: Indiadaily
Courtesy: Indiadaily
The Sindh govt allies vying for control of new deptt
The power-sharing row between two strong coalition partners of the Sindh government is creating a delay in the activation of the Sindh Criminal Prosecution Department. The department was created with financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) under its Access to Justice Program (AJP). A summary moved by the newly-created department for approval of the Sanctioned New Schedule (NEW) to allocate a budget for the appointment of 1500 of employees as well as the provision of furniture, vehicles and other pre-requisites, is lying with Sindh Finance Department for last six months without any action due to the political tug of war between coalition partners.Well-informed sources told The News on Tuesday that currently the newly-formed department was under the control of the Sindh Chief Minister. However, a major coalition partner, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, wanted control, which was being resisted by the CM.They informed that the total cost of the ADB program was around US$350 million and but, owing to non-activation of the department, it had stopped the third tranche of nearly US$8 million that was due last December.Such departments have started functioning in the other three provinces of Pakistan, but in Sindh the bill has, so far, not been passed by the provincial assembly owing to differences within the ruling coalition.
Courtesy: TN
Courtesy: TN
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