Pakistan face improbable task on final day

MELBOURNE: Pakistan's bid to script an improbable win in the first test against Australia looked all but over as they ended day four 170-3 with the target still 252 runs away. Pegged on the back foot, the tourists will look to anchor down and salvage a final day draw.



They would, however, take confidence in the fact that two of their most competent batsmen, Mohammad Yousuf and Umar Akmal (easily the most reliable in the side with only three tests under his belt), are at the crease offering gritty resistance. Yousuf stood on an assured 45 off 70 balls while Akmal raced a flowing 27 from 34 balls punctuated with five boundaries. Pakistan's survival and any hopes of sneaking to victory, however slim they may be, will depend on how long the 19-year-old bats.

Leaving Afghanistan

Many concerned observers instinctively oppose withdrawing US/Nato troops from Afghanistan in the belief that a bloodbath must follow, a resumption of the post 1989 warlord frenzies after the Soviet forces left and the US lost interest.

Dishing out expensive Stingers was one thing, dispensing rebuilding funds was quite another. But in America wasting billions on weapons traditionally is a leniently treated affair while even thinking of channelling large sums towards benefits for average people — such as a national healthcare system — meets fierce resistance from elites and the populist right.

For Afghanistan a reconstruction splurge was never in the offing. Whatever humanitarian aid reached the shattered country after 1989 became ripe pickings for ‘tolls’ and bribes. A cut-throat struggle raged for several years after Najibullah’s overthrow which only the Taliban stemmed by imposing its repulsively medieval form of law and order.

Still, it is possible that a genuine reconstruction effort might have averted the brutal blooming of the Taliban, who foolishly played host to Osama bin Laden. Najibullah had offered Pakistan and the US a neutral arrangement but both ignored him.

Ten Afghan civilians killed in military operations: Karzai

KABUL: Ten civilians, mostly school children, have been killed during Western military operations in eastern Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai's office said Monday, citing “initial reports”.

Karzai condemned the killings which his statement said took place in Kunar province, bordering Pakistan, on Saturday.

“Initial reports indicate that in a series of operations by international forces in Kunar province... 10 civilians, eight of them school students, have been killed,” the statement said.

“President Karzai strongly condemns the operation which caused civilian deaths and has appointed a delegation to investigate the incident,” it said.

Terrorists out to destabilise Pakistan: Sharif

LAHORE: Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has strongly condemned the suicide attack on the main Ashura procession in Karachi on Monday afternoon.

Speaking to the media in Lahore, the PML-N chief said the blast in Karachi was yet another attempt by terrorists to destabilise the country and that 'they are enemies of Islam and Pakistan.'

Sharif added that the amendments made by military dictators in the 1973 constitution must be immediately abolished in order to restore some form of stability in Pakistan. –DawnNew

Sindh shuts down, mourns Karachi catastrophe

KARACHI: Shops and businesses remained closed across Sindh as people in Hyderabad, Khairpur, Nawabshah, Sukkur, Badin, Dadu, Mirpurkhas and other parts of the province mourned the devastating suicide attack on the main Ashura procession in Karachi.

In Karachi itself, the blast left a devastating effect. The death toll rose to 40 and dozens more remain injured in hospitals.

Majority of shops and markets were closed in the city as fire-fighters were still battling to extinguish the flames that engulfed several markets set ablaze by angry mobs.

On Monday evening, a suicide bomber attacked the main Ashura procession on Karachi's Mohammad Ali Jinnah Road. Thousands of people were moving along the traditional Ashura route when a suicide bomber blew himself up towards the front end of the procession.

In the ensuing melee, several people fled from the scene in a state of panic, while others continued to march towards the Hussainian-Iranian where the procession was to culminate.

After the blast, angry mobs roamed the streets setting fire to nearly 1500 shops and markets. The mobs also torched several vehicles, including police mobiles. — DawnNews

Destabilising Karachi amounts to destabilising Pakistan’

KARACHI: Interior Minister Rehman Malik appealed for calm on Tuesday in Karachi, where shop owners surveyed gutted premises a day after a suicide bomber killed at least 40 people and triggered a city-centre riot.

The bombing of a Shia procession in Karachi underscored multiple security challenges facing Pakistan.

“I appeal to the people of Karachi to remain peaceful. This is the economic hub of Pakistan,” Rehman Malik told reporters after attending the funeral of a paramilitary soldier who authorities said pounced on the suicide bomber.

“Anybody trying to destabilise Karachi is actually destabilising Pakistan,” Malik said.

Malik had also ordered a thorough inquiry into the incident

Signature was taken on blank paper: Kasab

NEW DELHI: Ajmal Kasab, under-trial in Mumbai terror attacks, on the fourth consecutive day today denied all charges framed against him in the case. He told the 26/11 trial judge M L Tahiliyani in Mumbai that his signature was taken on a blank sheet of paper by police with regard to his confessional statement. “The confession recorded by magistrate was not read out to me and it does not contain the truth," he said. He again told the special Mumbai court that he did not arrive in Mumbai by fishing trawler, Kuber but by Samjhauta Express. He also denied that he had talked to Abu Hamza from satellite phone. “If I had talked to him, then my voice would have been recorded,” he said. When asked about Abu Ismail, Kasab asked “who is he, I do not Know...I was not with him”.

CNG dealers plan indefinite strike from Dec 30

ISLAMABAD: CNG dealers have announced an indefinite strike across the country from Dec 30 in protest against the government’s decision to raise CNG prices and curtail gas supplies to CNG stations. Transporters have also announced their support for the strike. Addressing a press conference after a meeting of CNG dealers who had gathered in Islamabad on Wednesday, CNG Association of Pakistan chairman Ghayas Paracha said the government was bent upon destroying the CNG sector. It is not only a matter of CNG stations, the government will have to consider the overall impact of its decision which could lead to the collapse of the entire industry,” he added. He said the government had gone back on its commitment made in 1992 that the price difference between CNG and petrol would be 50 per cent. “They wanted to encourage CNG at that time and made us invest in the new field. We took the risk of importing equipment. Some parts are now being manufactured in the country. We will not allow the price of CNG to be near that of petrol,” Mr Paracha said. There are about 2,500 CNG stations in Punjab and the NWFP and 542 in Sindh and Balochistan. More than 2.5 million vehicles are operating on CNG. Dealers said that an investment of Rs185 billion had been made in the CNG sector. Mr Paracha said that any further increase in CNG prices would severely affect the industry which provided jobs to half a million people. He said the CNG price would go up to Rs57 per kilogram after the 13.6 per cent increase in electricity tariff from January. The government has already raised the tariff by six per cent in October. The dealers also criticised an offer made by the textile sector at a recent meeting with officials to buy all CNG stations. “Instead of getting into the CNG business, the textile sector should focus on giving up subsidies and grants given to it by the government,” they said. They said that even Rawalpindi Chambers of Commerce and Industry president Kashif Shabbir had stated that the decision to increase the CNG price was not helpful of any sector. Immediately after the dealers’ call for strike, office-bearers of the transport association announced complete support for the strike.

SC refuses to accept Rehman Malik’s verbal statement

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday stopped Interior Minister Rehman Malik from making a speech inside the court and ordered him to submit a written reply to a contempt of court charge. Rehman Malik appeared before the apex court without a lawyer and tried to personally explain his position with regard to the allegations that he violated the apex court order by changing the investigative team probing into allegations of corruption in Pakistan Steel Mills. ‘You should go and file a written reply to the show cause notice as required under Supreme Court rules,’ Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary told the interior minister before adjourning the hearing for one month

Suicide attack on Imambargah in Rawalpindi

RAWALPINDI: A suicide bomber has struck an Imambargah in Rawalpindi, police sources said. The blast took place at the enterance to the Imambargah. Initial reports suggest that at least two people have been killed in the attack. Three others were wounded including a policeman. Security has been heightened across the country during the month of Muharram in wake of the recent upsurge in militant attack