Don't take for granted the hand of friendship, President Pranab Mukherjee tells Pakistan

Sponsorship of terrorism through non-state actors is a matter of deep concern, President Pranab Mukherjee said today making it clear to Pakistan that India is ready to offer a hand of friendship but that should not be taken for granted. In his address to the nation on the eve of 64th Republic Day, he said in the recent past, serious atrocities on the Line of Control on Indian troops have been seen, an apparent reference to the beheading of an Indian soldier by Pakistan Army. "Neighbours may have disagreements; tension can be a subtext of frontiers. But sponsorship of terrorism through non-state actors is a matter of deep concern to the entire nation," he said. He said India believes in peace on the border and is always ready to offer a hand in the hope of friendship. "But this hand should not be taken for granted," he said.

Allies in Libya, Enemies in Mali

By: Ali Hashem for Al-Monitor

Thanks to French President Francois Hollande, who felt the need to step in to contain the collapse of Mali, and a calamitous rescue operation by Algerian forces that resulted in the deaths of 37 hostages, the Western media has discovered Mali. The largest West African country is under threat of division in a war that sees government troops, along with a Western coalition led by the French, battling well-armed ethnic Tuaregs and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Ansaruldin group, who were already at war with each other. Once known as French Sudan, Mali is one of France's main allies in sub-Saharan Africa. Fears are growing in Paris that the chaos might spill out to neighboring states fom what was anciently called "French West Africa," drastically affecting regional and international stability and peace. But that’s not all. France is concerned the spread will put what remains of its influence in this part of the world under serious threat. The war in Mali, many believe, wasn’t entirely unpredictable for those keeping a close eye on the situation. There were strong indicators, such as weaponry and fighters crossing the loose borders. The country was forced to face the ambitions of well-armed ethnic Tuareg fighters, who returned home after the fall of Moammar Gadhafi’s regime in Libya. Tuaregs revived their 100-year-old dream of an independent state in the Azawad territory to the north of Mali. They took advantage of a coup d'état that ousted President Amado Toumani Toure to control their area and declare independence with the help of an al-Qaeda-affiliated group. The latter were looking for a safe haven in a hostile environment, especially amid the end of the Libyan war. The Islamists, later on, overthrew the Tuaregs and installed Shariah law in the area, a move some sources suggest was prompted by post-revolution Libya, whose leaders were keen to uproot any pro-Gadhafi sentiments near their borders. Post-revolution Libya is perhaps the most critical factor in the struggle for Mali; the fall of Gaddafi and the links the Ansaruldin have with the new rulers of Tripoli gave this war a different perspective. It is as if Mali were the arena where another version of the Libyan war resumed, though with different objectives. Less than two years ago, NATO strikes helped the rebellion in Libya and paved the way for the opposition to end 40 years of Gadhafi rule. At that time foreign intervention was welcomed by Libyans, and not much opposed by Arabs and Muslims. This was in stark contrast with the reaction to foreign intervention in Iraq in 2003. While in Libya, I had the chance to meet Abdulmonem Al Mukhtar, once a member of the Islamic Libyan fighting group, who was killed just weeks after we met in April 2011. Al Mukhtar fought against the Americans in Afghanistan and returned to Libya on March 2011 along with 100 of his loyal fighters to take part in the war. Near Ajdabiya, to the east of Libya, I asked how he could be an enemy of NATO in Afghanistan and an ally in Libya. He laughed, told me not to be a “fanatic" and added, "In Afghanistan, they are an occupation force. Here, they are helping us topple the dictator." It wasn’t only Abdulmonem who approached the situation this way. Everyday people gave similar answers, and mainstream media organizations weren’t far behind in that logic. There was a common belief that in a war for liberation, all means were justifiable. Later on some of the Syrians revolting against President Bashar al-Assad started demanding foreign intervention to help them defeat the regime, and so did those who supported them around the Arab and Muslim world. People initially welcomed foreign intervention — at least, until they contemplated it further. As a result of the Libyan war, a new war started in the region. Once again, the tables are turned. Yesterday’s allies in Libya are today’s enemies in Mali. Voices refusing foreign intervention became louder and louder, calling on the West, specifically France, to respect the sovereignty of the sub-Saharan state. Some dubbed the military intervention a new crusade, while the presidents of Egypt and Tunisia and the prime minister of Libya all warned the intervention will fuel conflict in the region. Many didn’t realize that a war in Mali had surfaced until news of foreign intervention made headlines. Some are starting to raise questions about the consequences of foreign military intervention, and the forces it will unleash. The Libyan “success” preceded the terrorist attack on the US consulate in Ben Ghazi, which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, and now we have Mali. It is not that the war in Mali started only now; it's only now that the world started thinking of its consequences.

Rallies mark anniversary of Egypt uprising

Egyptians have returned to the streets to mark the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, the former president. Hundreds took to the capital's now iconic Tahrir Square on Friday morning, where youths protesting against the government clashed with Cairo police. The ministry of health said 16 people were wounded in the violence.

Bahraini forces fire tear gas at anti-regime protesters in Manama

Saudi-backed Bahraini forces have fired tear gas to disperse anti-regime demonstrators, who took to the streets in the capital, Manama, in defiance of a regime ban on protests

Bleak 2013 humanitarian outlook for Afghanistan

More violence and a worsening humanitarian situation are likely in Afghanistan in 2013, say aid agencies. “The worsening conflict trends over the last five years indicate that civilians will continue to suffer because of armed violence and that the humanitarian situation will deteriorate,” says the new Common Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP) for 2013, published by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The report brings together the major humanitarian challenges facing the country in 2013, a year that will see the continued withdrawal of international forces: Afghan security forces will take control of three-quarters of the country by June. Afghanistan has some of the worst humanitarian indicators in the world - 34 percent of the population are food insecure and 10 percent of children die before they start primary school. With many Afghans lacking access to rudimentary government services like basic education, water, primary health services and housing, the humanitarian community is requesting US$471 million to cover the cost of projects in 2013. Many analysts think the steady withdrawal of international forces in 2013, ahead of full withdrawal in 2014, will lead to an upsurge in violence as anti-government forces capitalize on their stronger position vis-à-vis national security forces. The strength of these national forces is disputed. Some analysts saw “significant improvements within the Afghan military” in 2012, while the CHAP points to high levels of desertion and low levels of re-enlistment, meaning that a third of the Afghan force needs replacing each year. While civilian deaths and injuries declined by 4 percent in the first 10 months of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011, according to the UN Assistant Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA), targeted attacks on civilians by anti-government forces increased by 53 percent in the first half of 2012, and overall, violence in 2012 has spread increasingly beyond southern and eastern areas. Over the last few years the space for humanitarian work has reduced, especially as anti-government forces have radicalized and fragmented: aid workers say air transport is frequently the only safe way to reach remote areas. However, the international pullout may also provide opportunities for more independent aid work and greater differentiation from the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs), which operate closely with the government and military. Aid groups increasingly have to work in areas where the Taliban and other non-government actors operate, making perceived neutrality crucial. Many international organizations opt to manage projects from Kabul and work through local NGOs, says a recent report by the Overseas Development Institute. “The privileged humanitarian access enjoyed by national NGOs should be more fully exploited,” Suzanne Murray-Jones, senior adviser with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Afghanistan, told IRIN, saying that they often need capacity-building and adequate funding to do the job. To ensure that humanitarian work is carried out in the provinces with the greatest need, the 2013 CHAP plan introduces a ranking of provinces by assessed humanitarian need, to avoid aid being directed at areas that are either easy to reach or politically important.

Natural disasters

If humanitarian challenges in 2013 were limited to conflict, they would be serious enough. But Afghanistan is also frequently a victim of natural disasters, which on average affect around a quarter of a million Afghans each year. Harsh winters, deadly avalanches, earthquakes, landslides, droughts and floods leave nearly half of Afghanistan’s districts hazard-prone. The last 12 months saw a good wheat harvest but with droughts in eight out of the last 11 years, a poor harvest looks probable in the coming year, according to the CHAP 2013 report. Oxfam’s Afghanistan associate country director Kate O'Rourke says years of conflict have worn down people’s coping mechanisms: “Investing in projects designed to reduce the impact of disasters and improve people's resilience and their ability to deal with crises when they do occur is key. Only then will Afghans who are at risk be better prepared and able to cope, instead of being affected by reoccurring humanitarian `spot fires' that they are constantly trying to recover from, as they are now."

Economic pressure

Economic growth has been around 7 percent over the last few years, but opportunities remain few and the private sector is hamstrung by the lack of a reliable electricity supply. While large mining projects are being planned, the aid effort and the tens of thousands of international troops that make up a key part of the economy are set to reduce in size in the coming years. “Afghanistan is entering a very challenging period that will likely be characterized by growing economic vulnerability resulting from a reduction in international assistance and the pullout of most international forces that is expected to translate into significant economic contraction and job losses,” said Mark Bowden, the humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan. Afghanistan is the world’s most aid-dependent country, with aid worth around $15.7 billion per year, roughly the same as the national GDP. The World Bank estimates that 6-10 percent of the population have worked in aid-financed employment.

Displacement

Four decades of conflict in Afghanistan have been one of the key drivers of displacement, creating substantial refugee populations requiring support. Around 2.7 million Afghans live in Pakistan and Iran, while within the country, 450,000 people are displaced; 34 percent of them newly displaced in the first three-quarters of 2012. Meanwhile, UNHCR say nearly six million refugees have returned to Afghanistan in the last decade, something that has put considerable pressure on the economy and services. “Many are being perceived as not having reached parity with other members of the communities in which they are living, and there is a possibility of additional unplanned, large-scale return,” said Murray-Jones at UNHCR.

Funding

To manage these needs in 2013, the humanitarian community is requesting $471 million, an increase on 2012 when the Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) was $448 million. In a sign of donor fatigue and the pressure on leading donor country budgets due to the global economic slowdown, humanitarian funding dropped by around half in 2012. Afghanistan was the fourth-least funded humanitarian crisis, as a percentage, among the 22 global appeals, although at least $270 million in aid is provided annually outside the CAP funding mechanism.

Lahore: Measles outbreak: 10-year-old dies, 22 new cases reported

The Express Tribune

A 10-year-old died of measles at Mayo Hospital’s paediatric ward on Wednesday, doctors said, becoming the first casualty of the disease in the city. Muhammad Wasif was brought to the hospital on Tuesday night and had developed pneumonia. Another 10 children with measles were also admitted to Mayo Hospital. “They are being kept in isolation as measles is a droplet infection, meaning it is highly contagious. If a kid with measles is kept in the ward with other kids, there is a 90 per cent chance all of them will catch measles,” said a doctor at the paediatric ward. “We may also face problems in accommodating all the kids in isolation due to space issues.” A Health Department official said that 12 children infected with measles had been admitted to other public hospitals in Lahore, taking the total number of known cases in the city to 92. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesday expressed concern about the rising number of measles cases and directed the Health Department to prepare an emergency plan within two days for the prevention of measles. He directed officials to make sure that the anti-measles vaccine is available in the province and to launch a public awareness campaign regarding preventive measures. Children in the affected areas must be vaccinated, he said at a meeting with Health Department officials. Special Assistant on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique, the Planning and Development chairman, the Health, Law, Prosecution and Home secretaries, the acting inspector general of police, the Lahore commissioner, the Gujranwala commissioner, the Lahore DCO, the Health director general, the director general of the Forensic Science Laboratory and Dr Faisal Masood also attended the meeting. Multan and Gujranwala Forty cases of measles have been reported in Multan, and three children are currently under treatment, but there have been no deaths from the disease, according to EDO (Health) Dr Munawar. He said vaccination teams had been set up to inoculate children in affected areas. He said that the disease had arrived in the district from Sindh, where some 200 children are thought to have died in a recent outbreak. Six new measles patients were reported in Gujranwala on Wednesday. Health officials said the children were being treated at Civil Hospital. Health Director General Dr Nisar Cheema said the number of measles patients being reported in the Punjab was far less than Sindh, and the outbreak had not yet become an epidemic in the province. He said that more cases of measles had been reported in the Punjab in previous years than in this year so far.

Will Karachi be saved?

Chances of Karachi being once again the city of lights are getting dimmer with every passing day as at least one dozen and a half residents are being daily subjected to target killing. It seems as if Karachi is an open field for armed bandits on an indiscriminate killing spree. The Sindh metropolis was handed over to the Rangers after the police had miserably failed to control the situation prevailing for well over five years. The leadership of three coalition partners, the PPP, MQM and ANP has long been indulging in the blame game but has failed to take effective action against those responsible for the crime of bloodletting. On Wednesday, Federal Minister and leader of Sindh PPP Maula Bux Chandio openly admitted that if action was initiated against armed gangsters, government allies got offended. Hitting back at Chandio’s statement ANP leader Shahi Syed said that if talks could be held with the Taliban and India, why the same process could not be followed with MQM on target killing in Karachi. MQM’s Nasreen Jalil responding to this said it was an irony of fate that despite being in the government, they had to lift the dead bodies of their workers. BNP Senator Hasil Bizenjo said there were no go-areas in Karachi which are dens of armed bandits. Keeping these statements in mind, it is hard to imagine that Karachi could be the city of lights again, but given the will nothing is impossible.

Pakistan: The measles and polio menace

DAILY TIMES

Disturbing news concerning the state of our collective health and disease prevention efforts are rife these days from Sindh to Punjab to FATA, and even in foreign climes. The rampant measles outbreak that has afflicted the Sukkur region of Sindh has left some 500 people dead in the last two months, most of them children. The virus has taken on terrifying proportions. It is highly contagious because it is spread from person to person through the air via infectious droplets — leaving a trail of sick and dying children with no hope in sight. The virus does not show any signs of slowing down. In fact, it is tearing through provincial boundaries showing up in all the other provinces, including far flung North Waziristan where some five children have already died and 20 more have been infected in less than a week. This situation is deplorable; helpless children are being struck down by this sickness and the government seems equally as helpless in helping these innocent souls. The high numbers, which speak of an epidemic in the making, have nudged the Ministry of Inter-provincial Coordination to establish a nationwide vaccination programme to counter the fast paced spread of measles. This is too little too late. Disease is no respecter of provincial and national boundaries. The lacklustre way the authorities have been managing the emerging crisis has been disastrous. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has already categorised Pakistan as a country that must be monitored, given the catastrophe of our anti-polio drive. WHO has given Pakistan an ultimatum: counter polio by September 2013 or be quarantined with a ban enforced on international travel. Speaking of polio, two cases of the disease have been reported in Egypt with it being found that this particular polio strain crossed over from Pakistan. This has prompted the Egyptian authorities to start an anti-polio drive in Cairo. It has also made it mandatory for all children travelling from Pakistan to be immunised at the airport before entering Egypt. We should be ashamed of ourselves; we have left our children to rot and foreign lands are apprehensive of letting our citizens enter their country. The government has to tackle this issue on a war footing. It is essential that a medical emergency be declared across Pakistan with inter-provincial coordination taking precedence over anything else. It is not enough now for provincial governments alone or singly to tackle these emerging health problems but for all levels of government, including the federal authorities, to counter this looming catastrophe.

The Taliban of Timbuktu

By KARIMA BENNOUNE

BEFORE the recent French intervention in Mali began, 412,000 people had already left their homes in the country’s north, fleeing torture, summary executions, recruitment of child soldiers and sexual violence against women at the hands of fundamentalist militants. Late last year, in Algeria and southern Mali, I interviewed dozens of Malians from the north, including many who had recently fled. Their testimonies confirmed the horrors that radical Islamists, self-proclaimed warriors of God, have inflicted on their communities. First, the fundamentalists banned music in a country with one of the richest musical traditions in the world. Last July, they stoned an unmarried couple for adultery. The woman, a mother of two, had been buried up to her waist in a hole before a group of men pelted her to death with rocks. And in October the Islamist occupiers began compiling lists of unmarried mothers. Even holy places are not safe. These self-styled “defenders of the faith” demolished the tombs of local Sufi saints in the fabled city of Timbuktu. The armed groups also reportedly destroyed many churches in the north, where displaced members of the small Christian minority told me they had previously felt entirely accepted. Such Qaeda-style tactics, and the religious extremism that demands them, are completely alien to the mainstream of Malian Islam, which is known for its tradition of tolerance. That openness is exactly what the jihadists seek to crush. “The fact that we are building a new country on the base of Shariah is just something the people living here will have to accept,” the Islamist police commissioner in the town of Gao said last August. Until military action began this month, local citizens were on their own in resisting the imposition of Shariah — and they fought back valiantly. A radio journalist was severely beaten by Islamist gunmen after speaking on the radio against amputations. Women marched through the streets of Timbuktu against Islamist diktats on veiling until gunfire ended their protest. The acting principal of a coed high school in Gao told me his school had been occupied by militants from the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa. They announced that they had come to protect the premises. Instead, they quickly stole its computers, refrigerators and chairs. “We consider ourselves under occupation,” the principal told me. “We consider ourselves martyrs.” He has risked his life to keep his school open, to continue to educate boys and girls together, though he must put them on opposite sides of the classroom now. “My presence creates hope for my students. I cannot kill this hope,” he told me. Since the jihadist takeover, Gao’s economy has come to a standstill. Every Thursday, there are theocratic show trials in Arabic, a language many residents do not speak. The fundamentalists focus on teaching the predominantly Muslim population of Gao “how to be Muslim.” Like Al Shabab in Somalia and the Taliban in Afghanistan, they have a morality brigade that patrols the city, checking who is not wearing a sufficient veil and whose telephone sins with a musical ringtone. Speaking to a woman in public is an offense; this ban has caused such terror that some men flee in fear if they simply see a woman on the street. The principal had been attending public punishments to document the atrocities. This meant repeatedly watching his fellow citizens get flogged. He has seen what it looks like when a “convict” has his foot sawed off. Close to tears, he said: “No one can stand it, but it is imposed on us. Those of us who attend, we cry.” Some local and international opponents of military intervention have advocated negotiation with the rebel groups as an alternative. But negotiating with groups who believe they are God’s agents and whose imposed mode of governance is utterly alien to the people of northern Mali is unlikely to succeed, especially while the north remains occupied. “The population is not for the Shariah” is the refrain I heard again and again — from those displaced from Timbuktu and Kidal; from women and men; from Muslims and Christians. The preservation of Mali’s tradition of secularism is essential for them all. Policy decisions regarding this potential Afghanistan-in-the-Sahara must be informed by the fact that what is happening there is not simply a question of regional or global security, but of basic human rights. The current intervention in Mali could deal a decisive blow to the recent advance of fundamentalism across North Africa, but only if French and West African soldiers take care to distinguish between civilians and their jihadist oppressors, who hide among the innocent. They must also avoid simply shifting the problem elsewhere in the region. After all, one of the causes of the Islamist occupation of northern Mali was the displacement of armed men from Libya after the overthrow of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011. Algeria had lost hundreds of thousands of its own people to fundamentalist armed groups since the 1990s. Since then, many Algerian jihadists have crossed the border into northern Mali, reproducing the problem there. Some Malians fear that foreign intervention may have grave consequences for their homes and livelihoods. But most of the displaced northerners I met last month, before France intervened, had already decided that “the risks of nonintervention are 10,000 times worse than the risks of intervention,” as a women’s rights activist told me in Bamako. Or, as a young refugee from Gao whom I met in Algeria put it: “We do not want war, but if these people don’t leave us alone, we have to fight them.”

Karima Bennoune, a professor of international law at the University of California, Davis, is the author of the forthcoming book “Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here: Untold Stories From the Fight Against Muslim Fundamentalism.”

Balochistan: WFP gives medical equipment worth Rs16.2m

The Express Tribune

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on Wednesday handed over medical equipment worth Rs16.2 million to the health department in Balochistan. During a ceremony, Dr Masood Qadir Nosherwani, Director General Health Services received the equipment from Jean-Luc Siblot, the WFP representative in Pakistan. Siblot said, “During 2013, we are investing in the nutrition department to overcome food security situation and malnutrition problem.” He said that WFP has also trained over 1,400 staff of the health department and NGO partners in managing supplementary feeding and in commodity management. The current donation of equipment includes blood pressure apparatus, delivery tables, oxygen cylinders, infant scales, and furniture for patients and staff.

‘US, Pak moving out of tense phase’

The United States and Pakistan are moving away from the tense phase that marred their relations last year, according to a senior US commander in Afghanistan. At a Pentagon briefing, Deputy Commander of the US Forces in Afghanistan Lt Gen. James Terry said that after 2014 the United States would focus on providing `right resources’ to the Afghans so that they could hold territory from insurgents. “From a military perspective, we are moving away from the tense phase with Pakistan,” said Gen Terry when asked about relations with Islamabad which nose-dived after a series of incidents last year put the two allies on a collision course. The general, however, conceded that a trilateral mechanism, which aims to improve cooperation among the Pakistani, Afghan and US militaries will `take time to get in shape’. But the US commander also noted that Pakistan and Afghanistan were now talking directly to each other on border issues, which was a good sign. He noted that Afghanistan and Pakistan were also talking to each other on political levels, which had a `potential’ to improving their ties. He said the cooperation centres the United States helped establish at Pak-Afghan border were also a mechanism to address these issues.The process of flag meeting of Nato, Afghan and Pakistani military officials had also started. Responding to a question, Gen Terry said it was difficult to say how many insurgents were still operating along the Pak-Afghan border, although some estimated them to be around 20,000. Asked to comment on media reports that the insurgents may resurface after the US withdrawal, he said it’s difficult to predict future scenarios at this stage.Gen Terry rejected a suggestion that the US withdrawal would make Afghanistan more vulnerable. “We want Afghans to stand up, not stand alone,” he said, noting that the international community had made commitments to support Afghans during the transition period. He pointed out that Afghan security forces had already started shouldering security responsibilities, terrorist safe heavens in the country had been greatly reduced and insider attacks were also being checked. The US commander pointed out that some Afghan clerics had also started speaking against suicide attacks, which was encouraging. Gen Terry said that since Afghan forces would not have adequate close air support, the United States would boost their surface fire capability. He also signalled that US forces won’t just be sitting on their bases and advising headquarters staff. “This is not simply about doing less,” the US general said, but rather about giving the `right resources’ to the Afghans, at the battalion-level and above, so they could hold territory from insurgents. Gen Terry noted that `some of this training of Afghan forces will obviously have to be done in contact’ with insurgents — especially providing some of the `enabling capabilities’, like the air support that only the US can provide for now.

13 children hurt in Peshawar school fire

GEO TV

Thirteen children were injured when fire broke out in a private school located in Nothia area of Peshawar Thursday morning, Geo News reported. According to sources, fire started to engulf the classrooms of a private school due to short circuit that occurred in a mobile tower fixed within the school boundary. As a result of blaze, thirteen children received burn injuries who have been shifted to Lady Reading Hospital for treatment. Fire brigades and rescue teams reached the site soon after getting the news.

Balochistan cauldron

A Business Recorder exclusive notes that only 11 out of a total of 39 clauses of the Aghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan Package (AHBP) - a package that was specifically designed to heal the festering wounds of the Baloch people - have been implemented so far and that too partially. Nasir Ali Shah, a long time PPP loyalist who has never hesitated from telling it like it is, categorically stated that the government failed to implement the economic aspects of the package. He highlighted the government's failure to connect Gwadar port with other parts of the country leave alone develop the port as promised, or to comply with its commitment to provide jobs to 5,000 Baloch youth in federal institutions. Funding committed for special incentives to the Bugti and different tribes from Kohlu have not been released and while some teachers were hired under the package yet in spite of the passage of two years they have not been regularised. Shah acknowledged that some 4,000 jobs were provided but only to those from the Marri tribe from Kohlu, a factor that smacks of political favouritism. The politically challenging aspects of the package have also not been complied with including constituting a commission that would investigate the death of Nawab Akbar Bugti leave alone actually initiating the probe itself. Targeted killings have not abated and though the numbers of the disappeared has declined mainly due to what is regarded as Supreme Court intervention yet few are under the misapprehension that the policy itself has changed in the relevant circles. There is no doubt about the fact that the PPP-led government's start in terms of healing the wounds of the Baloch people was propitious with the Chairman of the party Asif Ali Zardari, who had not then been elected as the country's President, publicly apologising to the Baloch people for atrocities committed against them. This was followed by the announcement of the AHBP in 2009, however, thence began a series of government decisions that not only allowed the status quo to continue but also further alienated its exiled leadership with no government functionary opting to meet exiled leader Sardar Akhtar Mengal who came to the country for four days to make a statement before the Supreme Court. Fortunately, Sardar Mengal did meet with several leaders of the Opposition including Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan leaving one with the hope that the process of dialogue with the disgruntled Baloch leadership is not dead. While resources remain an issue and there is little doubt that the treasury remains strapped for cash with analysts arguing that the fiscal deficit would be double what was budgeted (ie 7.5 percent instead of the budgeted 4.2 percent) yet the Ministry of Finance has been disbursing development funds to the PPP and coalition partners' parliamentarians for political gains in the forthcoming elections; yet unfortunately Balochistan remains a non-priority. In addition, recent events have led to the realisation that the Baloch people are living under conditions that are reminiscent of the Wild West with the elected leaders and police officials engaged in illegal activities including kidnapping for ransom. The decision by the federal government to sack the provincial government was not voluntary as one would have hoped but instead in response to the peaceful protest on Alamdar Road in Quetta for four days in sub-zero temperatures by the Hazara community, a protest that echoed in other major cities of the country including Karachi. The protesters refused to bury their dead in the aftermath of another targeted genocide till Governor's rule was imposed. The Prime Minister finally accepted all the demands though the law and order situation remains tense and the army has not yet been called. In short, it is imperative that implementation of AHBP begins in letter and spirit if the country is to succeed in forestalling further alienation of the common man in Balochistan.

China urges Philippines to avoid complicating disputes

China urged the Philippines to avoid taking any action that could complicate the South China Sea issue, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday. The comments come after the Philippines decided to take its disputes with China to a UN tribunal. At a daily press briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said that relevant disputes should be solved through negotiations between sovereign states directly involved. It is a consensus between China and members of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), stated in the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, or the DOC in short, Hong said. He stressed that all countries signing the declaration should adhere to their commitments. China has always been committed to addressing disputes with the Philippines through bilateral consultations and negotiations so as to safeguard bilateral relations and regional peace and stability, Hong said, noting that it showed China's utmost goodwill and sincerity. The spokesman stressed that China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and its adjacent waters and that it has consistently opposed the Philippine illegal occupation of some islets and reefs of the Nansha Islands. Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said on Tuesday that the Philippines government has taken the South China Sea disputes to an Arbitral Tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Lavrov Slams Syrian Opposition 'Obsession' with Toppling Assad

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday lashed out at the Syrian opposition for its "obsession" with toppling President Bashar Assad which he said was holding up peace efforts in the country. "For now, everything is running up against the opposition's obsession with toppling Bashar Assad's regime," Lavrov told reporters at his traditional start-of-year news conference. "As long as this irreconcilable position remains in place, nothing good can happen. Armed actions will continue and people will die." He said that the opposition's insistence on ousting Assad was thwarting efforts to find a diplomatic solution backed by the former international peace envoy Kofi Annan and his successor Lakhdar Brahimi. Lavrov took particular aim at the Syria National Coalition -- a broad-based group backed by the West founded in Doha last year -- for seeking the toppling of Assad as one of its fundamental aims. Over almost two years of conflict that the United Nations estimates has already cost more than 60,000 lives, Russia has cooled on Assad but has vehemently resisted Western pressure to call on him to quit. "Our priority is not reaching a geo-political aim -- like the toppling of the Assad regime -- but a stabilization of the situation and a rapid end to the bloodshed to save Syrian lives," said Lavrov. His comments came a day after a top Russian official raised the prospect of a protracted conflict in Syria in which neither Assad nor the rebels would gain the upper hand. "The situation can develop in different ways. I think it could become protracted in nature," Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said.

Karzai calls for prison torture investigation

The Afghan government has set up a delegation to investigate reports of torture in Afghan-run detention facilities. The delegation, which was announced on Tuesday, was created two days after the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan published a report on the "ill-treatment of conflict-related detainees in Afghan custody." The fact-finding team - including advisors from the interior ministry and the National Directorate of Security, the Afghan intelligence agency, which were both implicated in the report - will be "tasked to fully investigate the claims of torture, mistreatment, death threats and sexual abuse in prisons, and any faults or misconduct during questioning and trial of detainees." The UN report, based on interviews with hundreds of detainees held in 89 facilities between October 2011 and October 2012, details 14 abusive practices, including the twisting of genitals, extracting fingernails and electric shock. Perhaps most damning is a statement by an unnamed operative within the agency, who is quoted as saying "NDS has several secret places in which they detain and torture people."

Conflicted relationship

The response to the allegations has highlighted the conflicted relationship that Afghan officials have with international agencies. The initial response upon the report's January 20 publication was denial. An NDS official, speaking to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity, called the claims against the intelligence agency baseless. "People say they were beaten, but where are the bruises? If we rip out people's fingernails, then show the scars. Prove it," the official said, adding that the NDS only detains "the enemies of Afghanistan." "When people manage to speak to them alone, the stories change. They are looking to defend themselves, so they make up these false stories." The official argued that the 635 detainees interviewed by the UN were duped by a "welcoming war" of words by critics of the Afghan government, an increasingly common narrative in Kabul. These doubts were echoed by Aimal Faizi, a presidential spokesman. "While the Afghan government takes very seriously the allegations made in the UN report, we also question the motivations behind this report and the way it was conducted," he said. When asked about the claim in the report that "all tortured detainees were taken out of their cells... and they were transferred to another building inside the same compound to hide them," the NDS official said countless groups have observed the agency's practices. "Anyone we interrogate, we document it all. Everything we've done is in writing." Both the official and Faizi pointed to "numerous groups" that have observed the conditions in Afghan-run detention facilities to question the findings of the report. A tweet sent by Faizi only hours after the report's publication said "the Red Cross and human rights groups have full access to all our detention facilities and the detainees within these facilities." In a statement to Al Jazeera, the International Committee of the Red Cross said they have "good access to detention facilities in Afghanistan and good collaboration with Afghan and international military forces in the country." Robin Waudo, a communications coordinator, said "if the [Red Cross] delegates witness ill-treatment first-hand while being present at a detention facility anywhere in the world, they would in every case intervene immediately and urge the authorities to put an end to it." But Sayed Mohammad Saeeq Shajjan, a Harvard law graduate now running a law firm in Kabul, said when legal and rights groups observe the conditions in the facilities, it is a closely monitored and guided process. The president's commission, which will conduct a two-week investigation, will "also not find anything," Shajjan said. "They will only speak in front of NDS authorities, to people they are confident will not speak up against the detention authorities." A Kabul-based judge, speaking on condition of anoymity, because he is not authorised to speak to the media, agreed. "The NDS utilises not one, but several abusive methods to obtain information. But there is nothing we can do, no one is allowed to interfere, especially in terrorism-related cases," the judge said.

Arrest first

Shajjan said he has heard repeated stories of torture methods being used for false confessions in cases based on false accusations. He recalled one client, Shah Mahmood, who turned to show Shajjan where the blood would drip from on his back after being lashed by ropes. "During his detention in Takhar, he was tortured badly, he was beaten with ropes, slapped and punched," Shajjan said. Unarmed at the time of his arrest, Shah Mahmood, an Uzbek, was accused of being a member of the Taliban by a district governor in northern Takhar province. "The district governor wanted Shah Mahmood to divorce his wife, who was known for her beauty. After demanding he divorce his wife three times, the district governor, who wanted to marry Shah Mahmood's wife, accused Shah Mahmood of being part of the Taliban." Shah Mahmood spent nine months in NDS detention where he was beaten on a daily basis until he would confess to being a member of the group. In another case, Shajjan said, Asef, a Kabul resident, "was deprived of his sleep, beaten with cables, received electric shocks and hanged from his hands for anywhere from three to 12 hours at a time" while in NDS custody. The torture led to a false confession and a 16-year sentence on allegations Asef had planted explosives in the house of a neighbour he was having a civil dispute with. Another detainee reported threats of sexual abuse using bottles if they do not confess, a practice documented in the latest UNAMA report. Like Shah Mahmood and Asef, Shajjan said many in NDS custody are innocent, but "they always arrest first and ask later".

Bangladesh: Justice at last

http://www.thedailystar.net

The long awaited process of justice has yielded its verdict against Abul Kalam Azad alias Bachchu Razakar. The court awarded him capital punishment under the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973. This is commendable because of the extraordinary nature of the crimes he committed. On the one hand, he stood against Liberation War and helped the enemy. And on the other, he has been found guilty of perpetrating crimes against humanity. We also commend the government for its single-minded determination to start the process, persist with it, and bring about this first verdict. By awarding capital punishment to the guilty, the International Tribunal-2 has done justice on two levels. First it has begun meting it out to those who eluded punishment all these years since 1971. It has also repaid debt to those who fell victim to his criminal designs. As a member of a party that actively opposed and worked against the national war of liberation, he attacked and killed the sympathisers of the liberation war. In addition, he committed crimes against humanity by participating in the genocide of innocent people, particularly members of Hindu community. The due process of law has been observed. The charges brought against him were established by evidences provided by the living witnesses including relations of the victims. The accused was provided with a defence lawyer to enable him to defend himself against the charges levelled against him by the prosecution. But his prosecutor could not come up with necessary defence as the accused has been absconding. His family members also did not extend any cooperation. The question of any vengeance or political vendetta does not arise, nor can any political motive be imputed to the trial process. By conducting the trial against the perpetrators of crimes against humanity in 1971, the nation has demonstrated to the world that in Bangladesh law works and even passage of long time does not make one immune from the application of law and justice. With this historic verdict, Bangladesh has come out of the culture of silence and vindicated itself through carrying forward a much needed trial process.

North Africa Is the New Afghanistan

By Daniel Greenfield

When Obama took office four years ago, North Africa wasn’t keeping CIA analysts up at night. There were known trouble spots in the region, but no one thought that it was likely to turn into the next Afghanistan. Then along came the Arab Spring. Egypt, the great regional power, has since fallen into the hands of the Islamists and has become part of the pipeline for Islamist fighters moving weapons from Libya into Gaza and Syria. Islamists have won elections in Tunisia and Morocco. With the Muslim Brotherhood in ascendance in Libya, Algeria is the only large North African country to have beaten back the Islamists. Now it’s also under attack. Islamist ambitions had led to a brutal civil war in Algeria that the country is still recovering from. With Libya and Egypt to the West and Mali to the south, it is now more vulnerable than ever. And if Algeria sinks into another civil war, then North Africa really will be reduced to the level of another Afghanistan. And that may be exactly what the Gulf oil tyrants behind the Arab Spring really want. British Prime Minister David Cameron is already speaking of a North African conflict that could last for decades. It is a more sober assessment than the earlier claim by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius that the fighting in Mali would be over in a matter of weeks. By the time French President François Hollande got around to naming a timeline, it was the familiar one to most people from Afghanistan and Iraq. “We have one goal. To ensure that when we leave, when we end our intervention, Mali is safe, has legitimate authorities, an electoral process and there are no more terrorists threatening its territory.” It was the Afghanistan timeline all over again. When Mitt Romney brought up Mali in the presidential debate, the reference was met with sneers from the left and bewilderment from the media. “Despite Romney Claims, Mali is No Afghanistan, Expert Says,” is how US News and World Report headlined the rebuttal. Three months later, it’s become increasingly clear that not only is Mali turning into Afghanistan, but North Africa is sliding down the same muddy slope. It took French military intervention to keep a local Al Qaeda franchise from threatening Mali’s capital. And that was followed by a hostage crisis in Algeria. The common denominator for the violence in both Mali and Algeria is Libya. The Algerian attackers reportedly came out of terrorist camps in Southern Libya. While the Libyan government claims that there are no terrorist camps in Southern Libya, it has almost no authority or power outside Tripoli, and it is heavily infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists. While Gaddafi could promise the United States that he would end the sponsorship of terrorists and had the authority to be held to it, the new Libyan government is a fragile arrangement of factions that can offer nothing and will offer nothing. It has already disavowed French intervention in Mali. And it is likely that elements in the Libyan government were aware of the impending attack in Algeria, just as they were reportedly aware of the attack on the Benghazi mission. The new Libyan government is the Karzai government all over again; a collection of shifting factions that offers no support to the West, instead undermining it at every turn. The only thing that Obama, Cameron and Sarkozy had learned from the wars fought in Afghanistan and Iraq was to avoid the public turning on them by minimizing their casualty footprint. By avoiding troops on the ground, the trio thought that they had dodged all the problems that Bush and Blair had with Iraq. It never occurred to them that the reason Bush and Blair opted for occupation and reconstruction was to try and tamp down the resulting chaos. Despite their best efforts, their own people are coming back in body bags from Libya and Mali. And the killing has only begun. The new war in Mali began when Tuareg nationalists fighting in Libya teamed up with Islamists to refight an old civil war in Mali. The new civil war would have ended like the old one did if not for the ridiculous amount of weapons that Qatar and France had shipped to the Libyan Jihadists which made it possible for them to rampage across Mali. The good news in Mali is that the Jihadists are not particularly popular with the native population. But then neither were the Taliban. The Judo trick of occupation is that once there are enough foreign troops within reach; the Jihadists can make way for local fighters looking to make some money or expand their influence with a few attacks here and there. And this isn’t a non-profit enterprise. Building Islamist Emirates in North Africa is about more than just being able to chop off the hands of thieves or flog women for not wearing the Burqa. It’s about the flow of money and drugs from the east to the west and all parts in between. Before Al Qaeda put in its bid for Mali, the country’s lawless reaches had already become a mecca for Latin American drug cartels moving their product to Europe. The intersection between drugs and Jihad in Afghanistan and Mali are no coincidence. There are two substances that fund Islamic terrorism: oil and drugs. The alliance between Islam and the Left is built on the interlinked drug networks of Marxist regimes and guerrilla groups in Latin America and their Islamist counterparts in Asia and the Middle East. Bosnia gave the Islamists access to the lucrative European markets for human trafficking and Afghanistan cut the Islamist groups in on a piece of the Golden Triangle. North Africa gives them something even better, the interface between Europe and Africa with a Latin American connection. Fracking may be on the verge of turning the oil market upside down, but drugs aren’t going anywhere and the Islamists are betting on drugs to keep them going when the oil money trickles away. North Africa’s close connections to Europe make it the ideal stepping stone for the conquest of Europe that the Islamists look forward to. With the carnage growing in North Africa, it remains to be seen whether Obama, Cameron and Hollande will be able to succeed in North Africa where they failed in Afghanistan.

Zardari : No power can postpone elections

President Asif Ali Zardari said on Tuesday that elections will be held on time and no one can postpone them. The president said this while presiding over meetings with Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders from Jacobabad, Larkana, Tando Allahyar and Dadu. He advised both the federal and Sindh governments to resolve the pending issues as early as possible. He said the elections were nearing and the PPP wanted to contest the elections on the basis of its performance. Zardari, who has been in Karachi for one month now, was holding meetings with the party leaders to assess their performance and position.Sources said Zardari conveyed to the party legislators and leaders that performance of the government was good in its five-year tenure. The president asked the leaders about the political situation and position of opponents in these four districts. The sources said the president told the legislators that party tickets would be awarded on the basis of position of the candidates. He said the party needed young, educated and energetic candidates to meet public expectation. The sources said MNAs and MPAs of these four districts congratulated the president for the success of his political reconciliation policy. The party legislators gave credit to both federal and Sindh governments for development projects in the province. The president asked all assembly members about their assessment of the coming election scenario.According to official press release, special prayers were offered for Benazir Bhutto at the start of each meeting and the PPP elected representatives briefed Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who chaired these meetings, about the political situation and development in their respective districts. The PPP chairman inquired the office-bearers and workers present in the meetings about how the ministers, MNAs and MPAs are serving their respective constituencies. Those who attended the meeting were Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Secretary General PPP Sindh Taj Haider and Lal Bux Bhutto, Speaker Sindh Assembly Nisar Khuhro, Federal Minister Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, Senior Minister Pir Mazharul Haq, Law Minister Ayaz Soomro, Nazeer Bughio MNA, Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani MNA, Jameel Soomro, MNA Shamshad Bachani, MPA Abdul Rahim Khoso, MPA Haji Munawar Abbasi, Provincial Minister Tauqeer Fatima Bhutto, Saira Shehliani, MPA Rafiq Jamali, Imran Leghari MPA, Provincial Minister Ali Nawaz Shah Rizvi, MPA Imdad Pitafi, MPA Ghulam M Shahliani, MPA Ghulam Sarwar Siyal, MPA Fayaz Ahmed Bhut, MPA Kalsoom Chandio, Hashaam Riaz and others.

United Nations: India miffed as Pakistan pitches for observers' role in LoC conflict

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/

The tension between India and Pakistan reared its ugly head at the UN Security Council with both parties sparring over the relevance of the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) at the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. With Pakistan trying to use its UNSC presidency to internationalise the Kashmir issue in the aftermath of the brutal killing of two Indian soldiers on January 8 - as was reported by Mail Today on January 11 - India stressed that the mission's role has been "overtaken" by subsequent agreements signed by the two nations under which they had resolved to settle differences "through bilateral negotiations". The exchange between the two nations occurred during a UN Security Council open debate on peacekeeping, which was organised by Pakistan under its current presidency of the 15-nation powerful UN body. Presiding over the debate, Pakistan's foreign secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani said his country has been a "proud participant" in peacekeeping missions. "Pakistan is also host to one of the oldest UN peacekeeping missions - the UNMOGIP. This mission has played an important role in monitoring peace along the Line of Control in Jammau and Kashmir," Jilani said. But the reference to the UNMOGIP was rejected by India's ambassador to the UN, Hardeep Singh Puri, who suggested that it would be better to spend resources allocated for the observer group elsewhere. "Suffice it to point out that the UNMOGIP's role has been overtaken by the Simla Agreement of 1972 between India and Pakistan, signed by the heads of the two governments and ratified by their respective parliaments," Puri stated. In fact, India's position regarding the UNMOGIP was made evident by national security adviser Shiv Shankar Menon some days ago. Asked about the UNMOGIP at a media briefing in New Delhi, Menon had queried, "did it still exist", clearly making it apparent that India did not see any role for the UN body even though Pakistan has been pressing for it. The Indian envoy's stand mirrors what External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on Tuesday. "India will not allow third party involvement and expect Pakistan to handle the issue bilaterally," he said.

Foreign madressah students worry Punjab police

In the aftermath of 9/11, the number of foreign students studying in the madressahs of Punjab had dropped sharply but about 450 are still on their rolls and causing a bit of worry to the province’s police. A recent field survey of the madressahs by the Special Branch of the provincial police revealed that 289 of them are, technically, staying illegally in the country. An overwhelming majority of them, 275, were found lodged in the madressahs in Lahore. Many of the foreign students have been continuing their stay in the residential madressahs without fulfilling legal formalities, the field report said. It suggested the Punjab government to direct local authorities to ensure the registration of foreigners at district police level to keep a watch on them on regular basis. Those found violating Pakistan’s immigration laws “should be sent back” to their home country. The report partly blamed the administration of madressahs for not paying attention to the legal status of the foreign students on their rolls. In the face of West’s ‘war on terror’— and description of the madressah system as “the breeding ground of Islamic extremists” — the former president Pervez Musharraf ordered, in 2005, that the foreign madressah students staying in Pakistan illegally must leave the country and the legal ones register themselves with the authorities. Seven years later, the secret police has counted 444 resident foreign students in the madressahs all over Punjab. Interestingly the highest number, 135, came from Indonesia, the next highest were the 99 students from Thailand. Other foreign nationalities studying in the Punjab madressahs are Kazakhstan (44), China (30), Philippines (28), Kyrgystan (21), Malaysia (20) and Myanmar (9), according to the survey report. It suggested the provincial government seek action by the federal ministries of interior and foreign affairs against the 289 foreign students found not holding valid documents. But it advised that before taking action the Wafaq-ul-Madaris, a body that manages the madressah network in Pakistan, be taken into confidence and approach the students’ diplomatic missions to provide security clearance for them. Asked for comments, the chief of the Wafaq-ul-Madaris Qari Mohammad Hanif Jalandhari told Dawn that when the visa of a foreign students expires, his madressah applies for an extension to the ministry of interior and that “normally the request is granted”. “Terrorist attacks, security reason and wrong policies of the government are the main reasons for the local madressahs losing their attraction to foreign students, which was a source of building people-to-people contacts,” he said. Today 444 foreign students are on the rolls of the madressahs in Punjab — 390 of them in Lahore alone. Only 115 students in Lahore madressahs hold valid visas, according to the special branch’s report. When the City Police Officer Rawalpindi Azhar Hameed Khokhar was contacted and asked about the status of foreign students in local madressahs, he said: “No foreign student has been studying in the Rawalpindi district as they had stopped coming to Pakistan due to security situation.” But the special branch’s field survey of the madressahs in Rawalpindi discovered four foreign resident students – one of them without a visa. Likewise, of the 11 foreign students studying in the madressahs in Chakwal, five held no visa. In contrast, all the 17 foreign madressahs students found in Gujrat were legal residents, as were the two studying in Khanewal madressahs. In Attock, the survey found 12 foreign madressah students, with four continuing their studies without having valid visa, while the madressahs in Faisalabad had three foreign students with one found staying illegally. Visas of three of the five foreigners studying in Rahim Yar Khan madressahs were found with expired visas.

Pakistan: Good news from foreign investment front

Business Recorder

After declining almost continuously for a long period, foreign private investment has improved considerably during the first half of FY13. According to the latest data released by the State Bank on 15th January, 2013, it has jumped by as much as dollar 269.2 million or 63.9 percent to reach dollar 690.5 million during July-December, 2012 as compared to dollar 421.3 million in the corresponding period last year. The main factor responsible for this steep increase was a net inflow of dollar 127.8 million in portfolio investment in sharp contrast to the net outflow of dollar 109.8 million in July-December 2011. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) which is the most important component of foreign investment to enhance productive capacity of the economy, however, indicated a slower growth of only dollar 31.6 million or 6.0 percent to stand at dollar 562.8 million in July-December, 2012. So far as the inflow of foreign investment during the latest month ie December, 2012 was concerned, it was highly encouraging, some would say even promising for restoring health to the economy. While portfolio investment in December, 2012 showed a net outflow of dollar 17.1 million as compared to dollar 28.8 million in the same month last year, foreign private investment and DFI were up dollar 153.9 million or 185.42 percent and dollar 142.2 million or 127.2 percent respectively, during this period. An improvement in the level of foreign investment should ordinarily be regarded as a very positive sign for the economy and a vote of confidence by foreigners in the economic management of the country. Undoubtedly, a higher amount of DFI could be very helpful in reviving growth, introducing new technology, increasing exports, generating employment etc. The inflow of DFI during the first half of the current year could also inspire the hope that at the current rate, the net inflow of foreign investment during FY13 would be higher than dollar 760 million received in the previous year though it will still be far below the level of dollar 5.454 billion attained in FY2008. However, before entertaining hopes for a permanent reversal in DFI trends with its positive impact, the rise during this particular period needs to be interpreted with great care. This is so because the level of private foreign investment during July-December, 2012 has risen mainly due to a substantial inflow of portfolio investment which is invested in the shares market for speculative purposes and could leave the country at a very short notice due to any negative development in the host country or better prospects abroad. As such, it does not contribute to strengthening the productive capacity of the country. Also, it needs to be noted that although the level of foreign investment has increased during the latest period, it is still too low to make a significant impact on the health of economy. Other countries in the region are receiving much more foreign investment than Pakistan. Lastly and more importantly, the latest picture about the trend in foreign investment has emerged basically due to a sudden spurt in its level from the US, Hong Kong and Italy. Although we don't know the actual reasons for such a sharp increase in foreign investment from these countries but most probably it could be only a one-off phenomenon. The fact of the matter is that we have to upgrade infrastructure, remove energy shortages, curb militancy, improve law and order situation, reduce corruption etc and just be a normal country before expecting increased flow of foreign investment from abroad on a sustained basis. Only a brave soul could invest in a country where sectarian killings and suicide bombings are rampant, sit-ins could paralyse life in the capital, electricity or gas is a rare commodity and the Prime Minister is likely to be arrested. All said and done, we want to see a sustained increase in the level of foreign investment for improving country's economic prospects but a number of hurdles have to be overcome first to create conducive conditions for the sustainability of the present trend.

PESHAWAR: Laudable initiative

http://www.thefrontierpost.com

Speaking at the death anniversaries of Khan Abdul Ghaffar (Bacha) Khan and Khan Abdul Wali Khan at Peshawar's Nishtar Hall on Monday, Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali reiterated his plan of convening an all parties conference on the issue of terrorism that is certainly a commendable initiative because the unabated subversive and sabotage activities by religious extremists have since become the number one predicament of the country. The ANP had, in fact, had the courage of convening such a moot of soon after the martyrdom of Bashir Ahmad Billlour in December and the ANP president only re-emphasized its importance as a vehicle to formulate a comprehensive anti-terrorism political policy because not only the ANP but several other parties in the country were target to militancy and extremism. When the ANP announced the convening of an APC, several parties, including the MQM, Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party and PML-Q, instantly agreed their participation. Asfandyar also met President Asif Ali Zardari in Karachi on Jan 10 with an invitation to the meet as the co-chairperson of the Pakistan People's Party. The ANP also contacted with the PML-N and several other political organizations for the moot. The ANP, despite the huge loss of the late Billour in a terrorist attack, had not shut the door for talks with the Taliban. It rather invited the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan to come on the negotiating table with the only condition that the TTP should renounce violence. In a general perspective, convening any such moot without a matching policy and corresponding steps will be a useless exercise. The most outstanding step in this direction was taken on October 22, 2008 when a joint session of parliament adopted a well thought out resolution after a two-week in-camera briefing by military intelligence officers. Although that occasion was restricted in a sense that not all parties but their parliamentary groups were part of the deliberations, all mainstream parties, however, availed the opportunity of listening of the nuisance direct from the horse's mouth. That resolution, among other things, sought to review the country's national security strategy and revisiting the methodology of combating terrorism. Although parliament approved army operation against militants, the matching political strategy has yet to be worked out. This is an exclusive reminder to the ANP whose leadership was also the part of those deliberations to pick the thread from the parliament's resolution to add a political strategy to fight terrorism in all its manifestations. For example, the ANP may include volatility of Karachi which is adding to the worries on the economic front besides pure law and order conditions. Then there is Balochistan where political instability coupled with insurgency like situation, caused by the involvement of foreign powers, is assuming a monstrous proportion. They may also make FATA part of their APC agenda where sheer poverty and deprivation of the people of their political and socio-economic rights is giving birth to militancy. In fact, the ANP APC should present a comprehensive plan to a national policy on all critical areas of life. The ANP moot must also take into account a general apathy of the international community to Pakistan falling prey to the twin-menace of militancy and extremism that has killed thousands of the people since its inception. This must also be mentioned that Pakistan cannot defeat terrorism on its own, simply because this a global issue even in Pakistan's perspective. The roots of international terrorism, of which Pakistan is the primary victim, lie in the complex nuisance of international history played out over the last three odd decades by world actors in South and West Asia regions. This burden of history is being borne by Pakistan alone. This also is a hard and regrettable fact that the powers which sowed the seeds of terrorism in areas bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan in connivance with the dictatorial rule in Pakistan, have simply abdicated their role to remedy the wrong. The ANP's APC in this context can make a new history provided all the political parties also seize this opportunity in the same spirit providing the input that commensurate with turning out an institutional effort to take on the challenging task. The host party that has the philosophy of Bacha Khan as the guiding light, will hopefully create an epoch making milieu in achieving the objective of making Pakistan a land of peace, love, tolerance and forward looking policies that guide the nation of 180 million people to the ultimate destination of egalitarianism.

Two blasts in Peshawar, no casualties reported

Two blasts ripped through Bacha Khan Chowk in Peshawar on Tuesday, however, no loss of life was reported. The blasts only caused damage to the nearby shops of CDs, sources said.

Saudi Women Protesters Arrested, Spark Arab Spring II?

A group of protesting Saudi Arabian women were arrested earlier this month, prompting a groundswell of outrage that may ultimately result in a sequel to the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. In what is seen as a new phenomenon in the kingdom, a ripple of outrage has begun following the arrests that came in response to demonstrations protesting the detention of male family members. The incident, which took place in the town of Buraida, was reported by CNN, which quoted Saudi activists who said the kingdom has been trying to silence the women. Buraida is the provincial capital of Qassim Province, a conservative area of the country in which the detention of women is seen as a red line not to be crossed. Mothers, daughters, sisters and wives had gathered to demand rights denied to their male relatives by the Board of Grievances. A female Saudi journalist covering the story, Iman Al Qahtani, told CNN that she was stopped by Saudi secret police – the Mubahith – when she tried to gain access to those who had been arrested, and was warned to leave town. The Amnesty International human rights organization documented the incident, calling in a statement for the release of the 18 women and 10 children who were arrested and detained. “There is no way the Saudi Arabian authorities can justify detaining people if they have simply peacefully exercised their rights to freedom of expression and assembly,” said Phillip Luther, Middle East and North Africa AI program director. Thus far, just seven women have been released. But the incident may have finally brought a new ‘Arab Spring’ to the kingdom, having also inspired a groundswell of demonstrations in support for the women from protesters as far away as Riyadh, the capital, and even in Mecca, the religious center of the country. Such protesters have included men, many of whom are related to thousands of inmates being held with no access to lawyers and without trials in connection with ‘counter terrorism’ sweeps throughout the kingdom. They are beginning to chant a new slogan around the country: “The people call for the liberation of the prisons.”

Rallies ahead of Bahrain revolution anniversary

Anti-regime protesters in Bahrain hold overnight rallies in defiance of a standing government ban on such protests as the second anniversary of the anti-government uprising in the country draws closer.

Rallies were staged in several towns and villages across the tiny Persian Gulf sheikdom on Monday. The demonstrators chanted slogans, calling for the downfall of the Al Khalifa regime. In the village of Malikiyah, located some 18 kilometers (11 miles) southwest of Manama, Saudi-backed Bahraini forces fired tear gas and used shotguns to disperse the anti-regime protesters. The revolution began in mid-February 2011 when people, inspired by the popular revolutions that toppled the dictators of Tunisia and Egypt, started holding massive demonstrations. The Bahraini government promptly launched a brutal crackdown on the peaceful protests and called in Saudi-led Arab forces from neighboring states to assist the suppressive campaign. Dozens of people have been killed in the crackdown, and the security forces have arrested hundreds, including doctors and nurses accused of treating injured revolutionaries. A report, published by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry in November 2011, found that the Al Khalifa regime had used excessive force in the crackdown and accused Manama of torturing political activists, politicians, and protesters. The protesters say they will continue holding anti-regime demonstrations until their demand for the establishment of a democratically-elected government is met.

Cricket : ''Afghanistan look to Pakistan for growth''

Afghanistan will attend a four-week conditioning camp in Pakistan ahead of their international fixtures against Scotland in March. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) is also contemplating a long-term plan to make Pakistan the national team's base for the next five years. During their camp at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore, Afghanistan will train under the supervision of the PCB's coaches besides their own head coach Kabir Khan. Their preparations include a series of 12 matches against various regional teams and Pakistan A. Afghanistan have ODI status till 2015 and have been using Sharjah Cricket Stadium as their home ground since 2010 due to a lack of cricketing infrastructure in the country. They are now looking to shift base to Pakistan. "The idea is play and train with the quality cricketing structure in Pakistan," Kabir Khan, the Afghanistan coach, told a press conference at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. "Sharjah gave us basic facilities but unfortunately we didn't find quality cricket to develop with. We need quality programmes and Pakistan, with a rich cricketing background, can help us. Apart from the cricketing aspect, the cost of being in Sharjah is a lot more than here in Pakistan. "We are in process of building our infrastructure (in Afghanistan) and have two stadiums as well. But we don't have academies, if we have academies then we don't have specialised coaches. In Pakistan we can find the quality coaches and quality teams to play with. We are here with the top 22 cricketers from Afghanistan including the budding talent from the Under-19 circuit. Only three of our top cricketers - Shapoor Zadran, Mohammad Nabi and Samiullah Shenwari - (are not here) have gone to play in Bangladesh Premier League." Afghanistan will be making their third trip to Pakistan in the last two years, having lost a one-day series 3-0 to a second-string Pakistan side in May 2011 followed by their participation in a domestic Twenty20 competition in Karachi. The talks between the PCB and the ACB about a comprehensive development programme for Afghanistan cricketers in Pakistan are currently at a preliminary stage but both boards have 'verbally' agreed to a long-term deal. "We are working out a deal that will help Afghanistan's cricketers in their development," said Intikhab Alam, the PCB director for game development. "Another idea in the pipeline is to induct their team in our domestic one-day and Twenty20 tournaments, as that would be a good opportunity for their development process." Afghanistan last competed in the Asian Cricket Council Elite Trophy in October, finishing in third place. Their next international fixture is against Scotland, a two-ODI series at Sharjah Stadium, before taking them on in the ICC World Cricket League Championship.

All parties conference: ANP undeterred by lukewarm response

The Express Tribune

Although two major political parties have refused to attend the Awami National Party’s (ANP) all-parties conference (APC), the ANP stands undeterred to form a joint counterterrorism policy. Awami National Party (ANP) chief Asfandyar Wali Khan on Monday said his party will continue to extend invitations to major political parties in the country to help create a joint strategy to tackle terrorism. “We will keep asking political parties to come forward and formulate a joint anti-terrorism strategy, till they agree. We have to end militancy on Pushtun soil,” Khan said. Khan’s announcement came a day after the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl and Jamaat-e-Islami refused to participate in the ANP’s proposed APC, which aims to formulate a unilateral anti-terrorism policy. He was speaking on the 25th death anniversary of Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan (popularly known as Bacha Khan) and the seventh death anniversary of Khan Abdul Wali Khan, which was commemorated at Nishtar Hall on Monday. “It is the traditional Pushtun way, when someone disagrees we send a jirga to convince them. If they do not agree we send it again and again until they agree,” he said hoping that soon other parties will agree to come on board. “If someone thinks this is only the ANP’s war, let me remind them that they are mistaken.” While referring to the killings of Hazaras in Quetta and violence in Karachi, he said: “Extremism is a national issue. The ANP has invited all political parties several times to come forward and find a solution to end this menace, which has sabotaged peace in the country.” In his address, Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti said Peshawar is the strongest fort of the ANP. He added the party is now a strong political force in many districts of the province including Peshawar, Swabi, Charsadda and Mardan. Hoti further commented that the five year performance of the present Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government is far better than any other government’s performance in the past 60 years. He also paid tribute to the sacrifices of slain party leaders Bashir Ahmad Bilour, Alamzeb Khan, Dr Shamsher Ali Khan, Mian Rashid Hussain among other party workers. The CM announced that a children’s hospital named after Bashir Ahmad Bilour will be established in Peshawar. The cost of the hospital is estimated at Rs2.2 billion. Strict security measures were taken at the premises and Sher Shah Suri Road was blocked with barbed wire for all kinds of traffic.

Pakistan: The Reko Diq saga

THE Supreme Court recently declared void and illegal a mining deal for the Reko Diq copper project signed 20 years ago between the Balochistan government and international mining companies. The apex court in its ruling said that the agreement reached on July 23, 1993 was in conflict with the laws of the country. In 2011, Tethyan Copper Company (TCC), a joint venture between Antofagasta of Chile and Canada’s Barrick Gold Corporation, approached the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes’ Tribunal in Washington D.C. and claimed damages after the Balochistan government refused to give the go-ahead for extracting copper and gold from the project site. The TCC alleged that the provincial government had violated the company’s rights under the 1993 Chagai Hills Exploration Joint Venture Agreement (CHEJVA). The court’s decision has weakened the TCC’s case in the international tribunal as CHEJVA has been declared void, which means that TCC has no rights to claim under the 1993 agreement in the international court. The Balochistan government had first signed the contract for the exploration area with international mining company BHP Billiton in 1993 and established a joint venture with the respective interests of the province at 25 per cent and BHP at 75 per cent by virtue of a deed of waiver and consent signed in June 2000. The Australian Mincor Resources bought out BHP stakes in 2000. The TCC, a subsidiary of Mincor Resources, has an alliance with BHP Billiton. In April 2006, it assumed all rights and obligations of BHP under the CHEJVA by means of a novation agreement. Hence Reko Diq was now jointly owned by Antofagasta with 37.5 per cent, Barrick Gold with 37.5 per cent, and Balochistan with 25 per cent stake. The two foreign firms purchased these interests from the Australian TCC which holds 75 per cent interest in the exploration licence encompassing the Reko Diq region. The latter is said to hold the world’s fifth largest deposits of gold and copper. Initially, the deal was done with BHP, but the problem started when BHP sold its interests to TCC and the latter sold it to Barrick Gold and Antofagasta. It must be asked why the Pakistani authorities did not refuse the transfer of the Reko Diq project from the internationally reputed BHP Billiton to TCC. It was due to the incompetence and inefficiency of the then government in 2000 that it could not exploit the opportunity to seek fresh offers for exploitation of Reko Diq’s reserves after BHP had failed to make significant progress on the project. Balochistan’s mishandling has thrown the project into a prolonged and complicated litigation process in the international tribunal. This has further delayed the development of the gold mine. The TCC spent $400 million on exploration and technical studies since 2006, the year that Barrick bought a stake in the project for a reported $130m. TCC — which was willing to invest $3.3 billion — offered the Balochistan government a 25 per cent equity stake in the company in addition to a royalty fee on its revenues. In 2011, the Balochistan government rejected TCC’s mining lease application because it was said to be incomplete and the company violated the agreement. After failing to secure meetings with the Balochistan government, the company took the matter to the international tribunal to seek compensation for the money invested in the project. Balochistan has to pay a heavy price for mishandling the Reko Diq project. The cash-strapped province has been deprived of the economic bonanza associated with the development of a world-class copper and gold mine in Chagai district. The province was deprived of the much-needed multi-billion-dollar foreign investment at a time when foreign investors have lost interest in the insurgency-hit province. The province was even unable to bear the cost of the legal battle in the international tribunal against the foreign mining firms. The federal government refused to pay Balochistan the Rs450m fee for legal experts to plead the international case filed by the TCC. It was the government’s inefficiency that made it a disputed project in which no third party will be able to invest till the tribunal completes its proceedings. The Balochistan government could have negotiated with TCC for a better deal addressing the province’s genuine reservations about the project rather than closing all doors of communication with the company and even refusing to meet its executives. The stand-off between a foreign mining company and provincial government sends a negative signal to prospective foreign firms eying to invest in the country. Can the next Balochistan government run the project on its own? Can it afford the financial and operating costs of mine development? Reko Diq can be indigenously developed without discouraging foreign investors by dividing the 400-square-kilometre area into various zones, leasing out land to foreign firms and also keeping major portions for indigenous development. The funds from leasing out land to foreign firms would enable the country to bear the investment, financial and operating costs for developing the project indigenously. Also, it must be asked that if Balochistan is serious about developing Chagai’s copper deposits indigenously, why has it agreed to the five-year extension in the lease period of Saindak copper and gold project acquired by the state-owned Metallurgical Corporation of China in 2002 on lease, which expired in October last year? Why has it not decided to take over the Saindak mine from the Chinese, who have reportedly been involved in excessive mining that has reduced the lifespan of the mine and brought no economic benefit to the area?

Pakistan: Let's do it with or without IMF

We have been stressing in these columns for the last one year or so that Pakistani authorities would be obliged to negotiate another programme with the IMF with strict upfront conditionalities to deal with the crisis developing in the external sector. It seems that we were not very much wide off the mark while pointing out such a possibility. Talking to the media after the conclusion of negotiations with Pakistan on 18th January, 2013, Jeffery Franks, the regional advisor to the Fund on Pakistan did not mince words about the state of economy. According to him, future funding to Pakistan will be linked to "broadest and deepest" political support for upfront economic reforms and policy changes to prove the government's seriousness. It was also made abundantly clear that so far Pakistan had not requested for a new programme, but if such a request was made, the disbursements would follow prior policy actions for macroeconomic stabilisation. To emphasise his point further, the Advisor stressed that the IMF mission could only support a new programme before the Fund's management and its Executive Board when right policies were there to prove that authorities had taken steps towards achieving macroeconomic stability. Another important point that appeared to have emerged during the interaction with journalists was that a new loan programme could most probably materialise during the tenure of the interim government to be put in place with consensus among major political parties. The economic situation of the country, according to the IMF assessment, is dire at present. Budget deficit during FY13 has been projected at 7.5 percent of GDP or Rs 1.624 trillion, growth rate at 3.5 percent and current account deficit at 0.7 percent of GDP. The real issue in the external sector is that there are not sufficient resources even to finance this small deficit. Pakistan needs to take a combination of steps in the power sector and fair enforcement of taxation measures to bring down fiscal deficit to 3.0-3.5 percent of GDP in two to three years. Inflation also needs to be brought down on a sustainable basis while foreign exchange reserves must rise to $15 billion mark. This would require a lot of macroeconomic adjustments through removal of bottlenecks including reforming the energy sector, restructuring of PSEs, improving business climate and strengthening and simplifying tax system. The energy sector could be the starting point for upfront policy adjustments through a combination of technical efficiency, controlling theft and improving generation mix. For a fair and transparent tax system, agriculture, services, and retail business needed to be brought into the tax net while exceptions allowed through different SROs and other legal or illegal instruments are needed to be withdrawn. The size of the new programme could range between $4 and $5 billion and this has to be complemented by boosting capital inflows from other sources. The briefing by the IMF Advisor about the current status and progress of negotiations with Pakistan tells a lot about the Fund's strategy to deal with the country when a request is made for another programme, which may not be far off due to relatively low level of foreign exchange reserves available with the State Bank at this point in time. The general impression in this connection that the visiting IMF team was in Pakistan only for post-monitoring of the earlier SBA does not appear to be correct because a lot of ground seems to have already been covered in relation to a new programme as revealed by the mission chief. Also, contrary to the belief in certain circles, it needs to be remembered that under the IMF rules, the repayment instalments due on the SBA availed earlier can neither be restructured nor postponed and the country has to honour its payment obligations in time (however, funds received under a fresh programme can be used for existing loan repayments). Coming to the analysis of the current situation by the IMF mission chief, it is difficult to deny the veracity of his observations. The country definitely faces a lot of problems in almost every field. For instance, Pakistan needs to accelerate its GDP growth rate by removing energy shortages, improving law and order situation etc to a respectable level of around 6 percent, reduce its budget deficit to a figure between 3 and 4 percent of GDP, make its monetary policy forward looking to bring down inflation rate to 5 percent or so, and balance its current account in a way so that the deficit, if any, could be filled through autonomous inflows. The reforms suggested in each area are also quite relevant to the situation and need to be undertaken for ensuring macroeconomic stability. Those who think that the IMF always prescribes harsh measures and makes the lives of ordinary people more difficult are wrong. The fact of the matter is that countries like Pakistan approach the IMF when risks to the economy have grown to an extent that extraordinary measures are needed to avoid the impending crisis. The mission chief has alluded to upfront conditionalities a number of time in his remarks due to the seriousness of the situation and low credibility of the country in pursuing agreed reforms earnestly in the past. However, authorities of the country need to evaluate the current overall economic situation independently before entering into serious negotiations with the Fund about a new programme. In our view, the unfolding external account situation of the country, which is generally the reason to seek a bailout package from the IMF, though not satisfactory, is not alarming either, at least as yet. In fact, current account of the country has posted a surplus of dollar 250 million during the first half of FY13 on the back of receiving much-needed foreign inflows under the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) and record growth in overseas workers' remittances in sharp contrast to a dollar 2.43 billion deficit in the corresponding period of last year. Yes, we need to have foreign exchange reserves equivalent to three months of imports (between dollar 14 billion and dollar 15 billion) but looking at our past record, dollar 9 billion presently held by the State is not such a low level as it could keep us afloat for another year or so. As such, the real focus of the new arrangement should be a reduction in budget deficit to a sustainable level and the country urgently needs a very bold stabilisation programme in this particular area with or without the support of the Fund. For this, the country has to own the next programme and not behave as it has been forced by a hostile institution with some ulterior motives. If this was the approach, it would become immaterial if the new programme was signed by an interim set-up or a political government formed as a result of vote. At present, there clearly appears to be divide between the fiscal and monetary authorities in the country. Ministry of Finance appears to favour a programme now - while the Governor SBP sees no imminent crisis and feels the situation is manageable until June of this year. This newspaper would have liked to see a stabilisation programme in place as of November. The reason is simply the unpredictability of international oil prices. Further, even if the import price of crude oil and deficit POL products fall, the quantum of country's energy needs will go up with import of LNG and LPG. Therefore, there will be pressure on BoP which is not there at present. The present energy deficit is stifling growth. It needs to be doubled to take care of armies of unemployed youth. We are also required to take certain administrative steps to curtail line losses and force consumers to continue paying for the theft plaguing the system. The present government will be replaced by a caretaker set-up and a new government will be there post-election. It is extremely important for this 'transition' to be managed properly. The last caretaker set-up, which was headed by Mohammadmian Soomro, earned scathing criticism for its failure to act as an interim government better co-ordinated to serve country's economic interests. Therefore, political parties at the centre and in the provinces need to reach consensus on a three-year macroeconomic stabilisation programme now - with or without the Fund - for a country where people were and still are generally uninformed, disorganised and disconnected.