Yousuf helps Pakistan claim lead.....

This chameleon game changed character yet again late on the fourth day. Mohammad Yousuf was serenely moving towards what seemed an inevitable hundred when he fell to crack open the game to several thrilling possibilities. New Zealand hold the advantage and are the frontrunners to pull off something special in Napier, but with its frail batting line-up pitted against the mercurial Pakistan bowling, who knows what can happen if the target is around 200.

On a stop-start day, interrupted constantly by rain, Pakistan had threatened to shoot themselves in the foot by gifting wickets to Martin Guptill, before they rallied through a 128-run stand between Yousuf and Faisal Iqbal. The sun kept peeping in and out of the clouds, Faisal alternated between nervous edginess and flamboyance, but Yousuf draped an elegantly solid hue on proceedings. His innings appeared to have seemingly pushed Pakistan towards safety when he fell to make matters more interesting.

Though the morning's play was filled with drama it was freakish in nature, and it was in the afternoon that the real contest between bat and ball began. Iain O'Brien and Daniel Vettori bowled as well as they could on a flat pitch but Yousuf stood firm. The caressed square-drives on a stretched front foot, the stylish flicks and the authoritative punches off the back foot were all showcased against the seamers but it was his battle with Vettori that stood out.

There was one piece of action which perfectly caught the spirit of the contest between the two: Yousuf came down the track but Vettori cleverly slowed the pace and shortened the length. However, Yousuf waited to adjust to the lack of pace, and though he couldn't reach the pitch of the ball, he didn't panic or lunge out; instead he almost nonchalantly wafted through the line and found enough power and timing to lift it over long-on. Vettori used the crease well, varied his pace and utilised the arm-ball intelligently but Yousuf handled him with aplomb. He moved forward or back as the length demanded and picked the arm ball on most occasions.

Faisal was nowhere near as solid as Yousuf but he fought on to score a valuable fifty. His iffy footwork meant he was caught on the crease a few times and was forward when he should have been back, but he soldiered on. He was even dropped on 48 when he edged O'Brien straight to Ross Taylor, but he punctuated his nervy shots with a few extravagant cover drives. It was an innings in which he delighted and frustrated equally before he fell, guiding Martin to Taylor, who held on this time.

Umar Akmal walked in and played a breezy innings filled with cuts, pulls and a few plays and misses.It also contained the most audacious shot of the day - a delightfully flamboyant and whippy bottom-hand-powered six over long-on off Darryl Tuffey. The afternoon, though, was a calm affair when compared with the events that preceded it.

If the English fast bowler Fred Trueman were alive and commentating on the game this morning, we would surely have heard his legendary phrase: "I just don't know what's going off out there". Nothing Pakistan do shocks anyone any more but even their die-hard followers would have raised their eyebrows when Guptill, who had not bowled a ball before this game in Test cricket and has just a solitary first-class wicket, removed the openers in quick succession to leave Pakistan wobbling.

It was a bizarre and fascinating little first session of play. What made Vettori open the bowling with Guptill? More importantly, what were Pakistan's openers thinking? Not much, if you go on the available evidence. When Guptill tossed the third delivery of the day outside off stump, there wasn't anything deceptive in its trajectory. It was a gentle, perhaps a bit loopy, delivery that floated harmlessly outside off but Salman Butt scooped it back to the bowler. The bottom-hand had kicked in too much and he couldn't keep the off drive down.

Batsmen do make mistakes and irregular bowlers do pick up lucky wickets, but surely Guptill couldn't do it again? Wrong. He flighted, nay floated, a full toss in the seventh over of the day. Farhat, who seemed muddled after Butt's dismissal, moved down the track to try to snap out of the nightmarish start to the day but ended up patting the full toss straight back to Guptill. Surprisingly, there was no visible reaction from Guptill when he took the catch. Perhaps he was too shocked to be merely surprised.

It was a day that had everything: a comically manic start from the most unlikely source, a calm hand from a veteran, an edgy attempt to save a career, a cocky kid, and a lingering suspense about what tomorrow might bring.


Pakistan 223 and 347 for 4 (Yousuf 89, Faisal 67, Butt 66, Farhat 61) lead New Zealand 471 by 99 runs

PML-N leader becomes party in NRO cases ....

The Supreme Court has accepted Nawaz Sharif's petition to become a party in NRO cases. The chief Justice has said that the hearing will be completed today (Monday).

Larger bench of the Supreme Court chaired by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chouhdry is hearing NRO petitions after three days gap. So far, lawyers of petitioners Dr Mubasshar Hassan, Roedad Khan, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Tariq Asad, and Fazal Ahmed have presented their arguments. Lawyer of Feroz Shah Gilani A K Dogar will present his arguments today. Lawyer of petitioner Mubasshar Hussain, Abdul Hafeez Pirzada will present his views on the new petition filed by the federal government.

On Dec 11, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz filed a petition in the Supreme Court to become party in the cases against the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). Lawyer Ashtar Ausaf Ali filed the plea to restore an earlier petition moved by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in 2007, challenging the National Reconciliation Ordinance. However, then chief justice Abdul Hameed Dogar rejected the petition in February 2008.

Gunmen kill 16 policemen in Afghan ambushes ...

KABUL: Islamist gunmen and renegade police stormed two posts in Afghanistan on Monday, killing 16 policemen in attacks that underscored the vulnerability of fledgling local security forces.

Recruiting and training Afghan forces is central to a US strategy to end the eight-year war against Taliban-led insurgents and start withdrawing American soldiers, but Afghan police struggle with insufficient resources and personnel.

In near simultaneous ambushes in the early hours of Monday, gunmen stormed two police posts in the northwest and south, the main heartland of the Taliban insurgency, killing 16 policemen, the interior ministry said.

Related article: Obama's tough decisionRelated article: Air strike havoc in Germany "Eight police were martyred in a terrorist attack in the province of Baghlan... eight police were martyred in another terrorist attack in the province of Helmand," it said in a statement.

But a local official blamed the attack in the southern province of Helmand on three renegade policemen, who turned their guns on colleagues -- the latest in a string of similar attacks.

"Three of them were involved in the plot. They fired at their police colleagues killing seven. One of the three grabbed weapons and a police vehicle and managed to escape to the Taliban," provincial spokesman Daud Ahmadi said.

"Two others were hiding in nearby areas and were detained during a search operation in the morning," he added.

The possibility of Afghan police involvement raised fresh questions about loyalty in the force, which observers say is poorly paid, badly equipped and suffers from high levels of corruption and drug addiction.

Last month, a policeman on a shooting spree killed four of his colleagues before being shot dead by soldiers in southwestern Afghanistan.

In early November, a "rogue" Afghan policeman shot dead five British soldiers at a checkpoint in the Nad Ali district of Helmand -- where the vast majority of Britain's nearly 9,000 troops are based -- before fleeing.

The other attack Monday saw Islamist militants ambush a police post on a highway bisecting northeast Afghanistan from Kabul through Baghlan province, which is a main NATO supply route for troops fighting the Taliban insurgency.

Baghlan governor Mohammad Akbar Barakzai blamed the attack on Hezb-e-Islami, an Islamist militant group strong in parts of the northeast, where violence has steadily increased over the past two years.

A man claiming to speak for Hezb-e-Islami told AFP in a telephone call that his group had carried out the attack.

He said one of the group's fighters also died.

Hezb-e-Islami is led by former Afghan prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who is on the US most-wanted list of terror suspects.

Barakzai said the post had been set up recently to protect NATO supply convoys, which are increasingly coming into landlocked Afghanistan from the north owing to frequent attacks on the principal route through Pakistan.

The NATO-led force in Afghanistan on Monday announced the arrests of two insurgent "facilitators" wanted for supplying weapons to militants in eastern province of Khost and Kandahar in the south.

Afghanistan's insurgency, led by the Taliban but joined by other nebulous groups, is at its most virulent since the 2001 US-led invasion ousted the militia from power despite the deployment of 113,000 US and NATO troops.

US President Barack Obama this month ordered an extra 30,000 American troops into the war in a bid to reverse the Taliban momentum, deny Al-Qaeda a safe heaven and train Afghan forces.

President Hamid Karzai has vowed to assume full responsibility for security in the next five years, but says Afghanistan needs aid to help fund its security forces for up to 20 more years.

A senior NATO commander has put the number of police at 68,000, covering a vast, rural country with an estimated population of between 26 and 30 million.

The United States hopes to increase the number of Afghan soldiers and police to 287,000 by July 2011 -- its target date to start withdrawing US soldiers -- but commanders have warned of the challenges involved in recruiting forces. AGENCIES

Obama opposes drone attacks in Quetta !!!!!

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has opposed extending drone strikes to Quetta, saying that a surge in strikes in this region would only result in huge mass causalities, a US magazine has reported.

Presidnet Obama has opposed the drone attacks in Quetta during the discussion over the extension of drone strikes from the tribal areas of Pakistan to Balochistan’s Quetta city in the advisory committee meeting. He fears that drone attacks in heavily populated areas of Quetta will cause huge mass casualties.

According to a report published in the US magazine Newsweek, President Obama is of the view that such attacks will also cause strong reactions from political and military leadership.

The magazine reported that President Obama favored the opinion that the decision to extend drone attacks will be folly, unwise and will jeopardize civilian lives.

The report referring to sources stated that the meeting mulled over the surge in drone strike on Pakistan but no final decision could be reached and the meeting agreed further discussion over the issue. SAMAA

Ulema call suicide bombings as un-Islamic .....

Ulema approved a unanimous resolution, prescribing suicide bombing as un-Islamic.

In a joint meeting of Ittehad-e-Bain-ul-Muslimeen committee and the Ulema Board presided over by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, they said Ulema want to see the country on the road to peace and prosperity and they will support the government in its efforts against terrorism. Muttahida Ulema Board Chairman Sahibzada Fazal Karim tabled this resolution.

Addressing the Ittehad-e-Bain-ul-Muslimeen committee at the Chief Minister’s secretariat on Sunday, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said Ulema have always worked for promotion of peace and religious harmony, and the present situation demands their further role for this purpose.

Senator Pervaiz Rashid, Senior Adviser Zulfiqar Khosa, Punjab Auqaf Minister Ehsanuddin Qureshi, Education Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, Adviser Jehanzeb Burki, chief secretary, Auqaf secretary and other officials were present on this occasion.

Shahbaz said there is a need for forging unity in the ranks for countering internal and external threats, extremism and militancy. He said the government fully appreciates cooperation of Ulema, sectarian harmony and rooting out terrorism. He said the government had succeeded in overcoming sectarian violence during its last tenure with the cooperation of Ulema and 70 books containing provocative material were destroyed during this period.

He said Ulema had played a historic role in the creation of Pakistan and there is a need for similar efforts on their part for coping with the present critical situation. He said Ulema are fully cognizant of the sensitiveness of the prevalent situation and should make collective efforts for countering the threat of sectarianism, terrorism and militancy by sinking their petty differences. He said Islam is the religion of tolerance and accommodation, and there are a number of shining examples in the Islamic history of respecting each other’s views and beliefs. He said the existing situation calls for unity. Shahbaz asked Ulema to expose extremists and black sheep in the society.

He said, “We should rise above sectarian, religious and mutual differences and strive for national solidarity during Muharram.” He said the country’s enemies want to destabilise our country which is a matter of pondering for us.

Ulema paid rich tributes to the Punjab chief minister for unanimous approval of NFC award and vowed to extend full cooperation to the Punjab government for maintaining peaceful atmosphere during Muharram. The meeting issued joint declaration in which Ulema made their commitment to maintain religious harmony and brotherhood during Muharram.

Agencies add: During a quick chat with journalists, Shahbaz made it clear there is no danger/threat of terrorism in South Punjab. Shahbaz said standpoint of the Punjab was that the provinces should be given a larger share of financial resources as strengthening of the provinces would strengthen the federation. SAMAA/AGENCIES