Friday, July 13, 2018
#Pakistan - #nawazsharifreturns - Nawaz, Maryam sent to Adiala Jail
The National Accoutability Bureau (NAB) team arrested convicted Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz upon their arrival at the Allama Iqbal International Airport on Friday.
After being taken into custody, the ousted prime minister and his daughter were flown to Islamabad airport through a special aircraft from where they were shifted to the Rawalpinid’s Adiala Jail.
Earlier, a plane carrying Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz along with several party leaders arrived at the Allama Iqbal International Airport at 8:50 pm.
PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif led a rally from Lohari Gate to the Allama Iqbal International airport to welcome the ousted prime minister and his daughter.
Moreover, many incidents of brawl between police and PML-N workers took place in different areas of the disctrict. According to reports, three policemen were injured in a clash at Ravi toll plaza.
Sharifs decided to return home following the accountability court’s verdict in the Avenfield properties reference which sentenced Nawaz Sharif to 10 years in jail. Maryam Nawaz was sentenced to 7 years while her husbanand was handed one-year jail term in the verdict.
The Sharif family has been told by their lawyers that possibility of getting any relief in the sentence would be very difficult, if they fail to come to Pakistan within the 10-day deadline for filing appeal.
Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar was already shifted to Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail after NAB presented him before the accountability court.
https://dailytimes.com.pk/267071/nawaz-maryam-sent-to-adiala-jail/
Protests staged against Pakistan army over Haroon Bilours death
In the wake of a suicide blast that killed Awami National Party (ANP) leader Haroon Bilour, members of the party staged a protest in Peshawar on Thursday against the Pakistan Army.
The protesting members raised slogans slamming the army for the blast. "Yeh jo dheshadgardi hai, iske peeche wardi hai," they said.
At least 20 people, including ANP leader Bilour, were killed, and 63 others injured in a suicide blast on July 10, as reported by the Express Tribune.
According to Geo TV, the explosion occurred in Peshawar's Yakatoot, where Bilour had arrived to address a gathering as part of his election campaign.
Bilour was contesting the upcoming July 25 General Elections from Peshawar's PK-78 constituency.
According to the capital city police officer, Qazi Jamil, around eight kilograms of TNT was used in the explosion.
Bilour, whose father, late Bashir Ahmed Bilour, was also killed in a suicide bombing in 2012, was taken to a hospital immediately after the blast. However, he succumbed to his wounds.
Reacting to the incident, Pakistan Peoples? Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the attack was a conspiracy.
"The nation should be aware of the fact as to what do terrorists wish," Zardari added.
http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-protests-staged-against-pakistan-army-over-haroon-bilours-death-2636641
Bilawal reaches Peshawar, condoles with Bilour family
Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday offered condolence to members of the Bilour family over the death of Awami National Party (ANP) leader Haroon Bilour.
Despite being denied permission to fly, the PPP chairman travelled by road from Lahore to the Bilour residence in Peshawar.چیئرمین پاکستان پیپلزپارٹی بلاول بھٹو زرداری پشاور میں غلام احمد بلور سے ہارون بلور شہید کی عیادت کررہے ہیں۔@BBhuttoZardari @BakhtawarBZ @AseefaBZ pic.twitter.com/akPccH9O60
— PPP Punjab Social Media Official (@PPPPunjab_SM) July 13, 2018
Bilawal prayed with the family and reaffirmed his commitment that in spite of this heinous and cowardly attack the elections must not be allowed to be derailed, as democracy remains the best revenge.
ANP senior vice-president Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, Ilyas Bilour, Daniyal Bilour son of Haroon Bilour, and PPP leader Barrister Masood Kausar were also present on the occasion.
Haroon Bilour was among 22 people killed when a suicide attack attacked a party corner meeting in Peshawar. He was contesting for the PK-78 constituency in the upcoming election.
Earlier, the PPP chairman strongly critcised after he was denied to board a flight from Lahore and ultimately decided to travel to Peshawar by road.
Bilawal also condemned the terror attack in Bannu targeting Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) leader and Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) candidate Akram Durrani which killed four people and injured 35 others.
He said that his heart goes out to those who have lost their lost ones, and asked for consensus to tackle violent extremism as the main priority.
“Condemn terrorist attack on Akram Durrani. Heart goes out to families who continue to lose loved ones. Clarity and ability to create and maintain consensus on countering violent extremism would be the number one priority for any other country facing such consistent autocracies,” said the PPP chairman on social media site Twitter.
#PESHAWAR July 13 Danyal Bilour son of #ShaheedHaroonBilour is recalling the terrible scenes of the terrorist attack on his father to the Chairman #PPP @BBhuttoZardari, who visited the Bilour House to offer condolence to the bereaved family on Friday. pic.twitter.com/2eQmere1Y4
— NA 237.PS 89🇱🇾PPP 🇱🇾 Kaleem Baloch (@MKaleemBaloch2) July 13, 2018
#Pakistan - #Mastung - Suicide bomber kills 128 in attack on #Pakistani election rally
Gul Yousafzai
A suicide bomber killed 128 people at an election rally in southwestern Pakistan in the second election-related attack on Friday, officials said, amid growing tensions over ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s return ahead of the July 25 vote. The bombing was the most deadly attack in Pakistan in over three years and is the third incident of election-related violence this week. It came as Pakistan’s caretaker government launched a crackdown on political gatherings. Sharif, who was ousted by the Supreme Court last year and convicted in absentia of corruption a week ago, arrived in the country to rally his party ahead of the general elections. Baluchistan Home Minister Agha Omer Bangulzai told Reuters that the death toll in the attack had risen to 128 people, with over 150 wounded. Senior police official Qaim Lashari had earlier said that more than 1000 people were in attendance at the rally in the town of Mastung in the violence-plagued province of Baluchistan. Islamist militants linked to the Taliban, al Qaeda and Islamic State have been operating in the province, which borders Iran as well as Afghanistan. It also has an indigenous ethnic Baluch insurgency fighting the central government.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, the group’s AMAQ news agency said. The group provided no further detail or evidence for its claim. In February 2017, Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a shrine in southern Pakistan, killing 83 people and wounding over 150.
Among those killed in Friday’s attack was Baluchistan provincial assembly candidate Siraj Raisani, whose brother Nawab Aslam Raisani had served as the provincial chief minister from 2008 to 2013. “My brother Siraj Raisani has been martyred,” said Haji Lashkari Raisani, another brother who is also contesting a national assembly seat from Baluchistan.
ATTACKS
Raisani is the second electoral candidate to be killed in pre-election violence this week.
Police had earlier said that the attack targeted Raisani’s convoy but later changed their statement as video footage of a large tent showing damage from the blast was circulated.
Earlier in the day, a bomb blast killed four people in the northern town of Bannu when it struck the campaign convoy of Akram Khan Durrani, an ally of Sharif’s party from the religious Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal party (MMA). A suicide bomber blew himself up at a rally by an anti-Taliban political party in the northern city of Peshawar on Tuesday, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province killing 20 people including Haroon Bilour who was hoping to win a provincial assembly seat in July.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
Bilour was part of the predominantly secular, ethnic Pashtun nationalist Awami National Party, which has long competed with Islamist parties for votes in Pakistan’s volatile Pashtun lands, along the border with Afghanistan. His father, senior ANP leader Bashir Bilour, was killed in a suicide bombing in late 2012, in the run-up to Pakistan’s last election.
Bilawal questions arrests of PML-N members, Lahore ‘siege’
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari questioned on Friday that on what grounds Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) members were being arrested and the city of Lahore was under “siege.”
The PPP chairman said the arrest of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was on legal grounds, however, that of party members was beyond understanding.
The PPP chairman said the arrest of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was on legal grounds, however, that of party members was beyond understanding.
“Understand the legal grounds for arrest of MNS after NAB conviction but on what grounds are workers and leaders being arrested?” he said on Twitter.
Bilawal also questioned why the city of Lahore was under “siege” when the “right to peaceful protest is fundamental for democracy.”
The arrests coincided with the return of party supremo Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz to the country.
The father-daughter duo has been on their way to Pakistan, a week after they were sentenced in the Avenfield reference. They are expected to land in Lahore at 8:50pm.
Earlier in the day, the Lahore High Court ordered the release of PML-N workers illegally detained by the law enforcement agencies.
According to PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif, around 400 workers have so far been detained and arrested from Lahore and Rawalpindi.
On Thursday, Shehbaz had slammed the interim Punjab government for the arrests of workers from Lahore, ahead of party supremo Nawaz Sharif’s return.
The former Punjab chief minister had described the arrests as “naked pre-poll rigging.”
http://www.thesindhtimes.com/pak/07/bilawal-questions-arrests-pml-n-members-lahore-siege/
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari condemns terrorist bombing on Akram Durrani’s convoy in Bannu
In a statement, the PPP Chairman expressed deep grief and sorrow over the martyrdom of innocent people and urged for best medical facilities for those injured in the blast.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said providing fool-proof security to the masses and the contesting candidates was the responsibility of the caretaker government, which has to be fulfilled without any delinquency.
PPP Chairman said that people and the institutions have to unite to face the challenge of growing terrorism incidents during the election campaign.
https://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/