Pictures of Apple Keyboard with and without numeric keypad
Both of these have same price.
Mammoth Rs 6.10/ltr increase in POL prices surfaced
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has made announcement the rise in Petroleum Product (POL) prices by Rs6.10 a litre to Rs71.21 from Rs65.11 per litre, Geo News reported Sunday.
According to sources, the price of High Speed Diesel has risen to Rs71.89, Light Diesel oil to Rs61.07, HOBC to Rs86.84 and Kerosene oil to Rs64.60 per litre.
The new price of HOBS has soured to Rs86.84, meanwhile, shortly following the announcement rise in petrol product prices, the sale of POL products at most petrol pumps all across country has come to halt, sources revealed.
Apple iPad v. A Rock
An intresting comparision between a rock and a apple ipad device based on some facts published by techcrunch. One thing they have forgot to add that iPad even does not have a flash support.
How to delete linux, unix or mac OS X bash commandline history ?
You wanted to delete your bash or command line history this can be easily done in few steps. The commandline or bash history is first of all stored in a temporary location i.e in ram then it is stored in ~/.bash_history just after you exsit the session. Now in order to fully delet the bash history one need to delete the history from both locations.
1. Delete bash history
Simply type this command
$ rm -rf ~/.bash_history
2. Delete current hisrtory stored in ram.
# history -c
iPad a new tradmark dispute for Apple
Few hours after Apple announcment of iPad many companies are caliming to be the ligetimate user and tradmark owner of the name iPad for their prodcts. Apple is likely to face a legal case from Fujitsu over the iPad
trademark that it has used for its recently unveiled tablet PC. Fujitsu is selling a handheld device called iPad (shown in above picture) since 2002, and has an outstanding trademark application dating back to 2003. In addition to this Europe’s largest chip-maker STMicro, Siemens and Canadian lingerie company Coconut Grove, all sell products called iPad.
A chinnees company ZOMG! Maker of Chinese iPad clone P88 is planning to sue Apple for cloning its tablet! The company further charging that Apple has not only replicated the design of its
multi-touch tablet, but also the device support and the sleeve. They’re
identical, he says. A company representative Wu added,
“I was very angry and flabbergasted when I saw the news of the iPad presentation two days ago… It is certainly our design. They’ve stolen because we present our P88 to everyone six months ago at the IFA (International Electronics Fair in Berlin).”
Sales of the P88 haven’t been too bad, but “if the iPad enters the Chinese market, we will definitely take a hit,” says Wu. He adds that he has already applied for a patent for the product last May — a process that can take up to a year in China. “We’ll have to follow the law,” says Wu, admitting that it will be difficult to take on Apple in the United States, but “if the iPad enters the Chinese market, we will sue them this spring.”
Pakistan’s Cricket dream shattered by Aussies in U19 World Cup final
Pakistan colts in a hard-fought final of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World
Cup were beaten by 25 runs against Australia boys with 20 balls
remaining here on Saturday.
Both teams were running to win the title for the third time in the history of Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
Chasing
a moderate target of 208 runs, Pakistan batsmen batted well against sea
winds and accurate Aussie bowlers but could make182 runs in 46.4 overs.
Captain Azeem Ghumman was the top-scorer with 41. He batted with calm and caution hitting only one four in 90 balls.
However,
Hammad Azam, the most prolific scorer who has been unbeaten throughout
the tournament could not maintain his record and was dismissed for a
nought, caught behind by Triffitt off Hazlewood. His early ouster made
a panic in the Pakistan team’s dressing room.
Earlier, Pakistan winning the toss decided to send Kangaroos first and kept their grip tight over the match.
Sarmad
Bhatti grabbed three wickets and Fayyaz Butt claimed two as the Aussies
were 207-9 in 50 overs in the final counter of tournament.
Though
Pakistani pacers successfully claiming wickets on regular intervals but
they failed in keeping run rate down while the Aussies persistently
collected ones, twos, three and certain times boundaries and out of the
park.
The leading run scorers from Australian side were JS Floros (35), TJ Armstrong (37) and KW Richardson (44).
Chief secretary’s car impounded five days after accident
Punjab Chief Secretary Javed Mehmood’s car, which was involved in the accident which caused the death of a retired colonel, was taken into police custody for investigations on Thursday, five days after the incident took place. Col (r) Muhammad Ikram died in hospital after a collision with the chief secretary’s car in the Cantt area on January 23. Ikram was severely injured and was taken to the Combined Military Hospital, where he died shortly after being admitted. The Punjab Services Department on Thursday handed the vehicle over to Sarwar Road police, after the media highlighted the fact that the car had not been impounded for investigation despite the passage of five days via Daily Times
How to run Flash apps on Apple iPad?
Every iPad prospective user have this question in mind that how to run flash apps and contents on their newly acquired gadget. Steve jobs made this clear during his keynote address that Apple’s iPad doesn’t support Flash natively. In response to this Adobe posted an official blog
about building iPad applications with flash. They have announced the Packager for iPhone at MAX 2009 which will allow Flash developers to create native iPhone applications and will be available in the upcoming version of Flash Pro CS5. Here is a selection from Adobe official blog
Our very own Christian Cantrell has posted an in-depth article on the Adobe Developer Connection, Authoring For Multiple Screen Sizes, that details best practices in creating applications that run on multiple screens. If you want to prepare applications today that will work great on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, follow the guidelines from this article today.
In response to this apple iBook Store policy adobe also criticized apple for not supporting ePub content
Pakistan Army ‘Not Impressed’ With US Offered Drones
“Too Little, Too Late, We Already Have Superior UAVs”
Mariana Baabar
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan military sources say they are not impressed by the offer of the United States to supply RQ-7 Shadow Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), as they already have superior quality UAVs, which they have upgraded, and which are in use.
The disappointment is understandable since unlike the drones that fly and take out targets inside Pakistan’s Fata region, the ones being offered to Pakistan are unarmed and commonly used for intelligence gathering.
Later, when DG ISPR Major General Athar Abbas was asked about the overall weapons being provided to Pakistan for counterinsurgency and other military supplies, he remarked, “Too little, too late”.
It was US Defence Secretary Robert Gates who, in a meeting with the media at the residence of the US ambassador, said the US was enhancing Pakistan’s intelligence capabilities. He said the offer comes because Islamabad had requested for them. “We have a lot of information on the Afghan side that we share … we also help Pakistan build its own capacity. We will be providing them with UAVs (Shadow) together with equipment and training,” he said.
To a question whether the US was attaching any conditions to these UAVs, he replied, “I do not know”. In the past, the US was wary of passing on the drone technology to Pakistan as Islamabad could use it in areas other than it had specifically been given for.
One American journalist accompanying him asked about the possibility of stopping arms sale to India and Pakistan altogether. “We have to judge each country’s requirement on its own. We sell Pakistan F-16s and we sell India transport aircraft. We make a decision judiciously,” Gates replied.
Gates appeared relaxed with the questions being thrown at him by the local and US media but it was the ‘D’ word that he refused to entertain. Though several questions relating to US drones were asked, he shrugged them off and would not even give an answer as to whom in the US this question could be put.
When he said that there were no US bases inside Pakistan. he refused a reply when asked from where these US drones flew. Amongst the defence secretary’s aides in uniform that greeted the media before he arrived were those who offered their greetings in chaste Urdu and one of them also spoke excellent Pashto!
As if on cue, the Pakistan military’s announcement that it could not overstretch itself in fresh areas of operation also saw Gates admitting to a query that a ‘trust deficit’ existed. “There is responsibility on both sides. From the US side, we turned away from Afghanistan in 1989. We could have remained engaged but we did not even try. Then the Pressler Amendment brought an end to military-to-military conversation for 12 years when we had no contacts. We cannot rebuild trust through rhetoric,” he said.
Turning to the present moment, Gates said that the US was deeply impressed with Pakistan’s military operations and the level of activity and clearing of areas. “Very impressive. Pakistan is a sovereign state and makes its own decisions on future operations. The past year has been extraordinary. Let me put it this way. If we are in a car together, it is Pakistan in the driving seat with its foot on the accelerator. We are prepared to help and also express our condolences to the 3,000 Pakistani soldiers killed. General Kayani gave me a detailed briefing,” explained the defence secretary.
To a query about the Coalition Support Fund that has been held up and which Pakistan needs on an emergency basis, Gates replied, “It will come and we are also reviving $500 million deferred payment.”
He explained instances in the past where Pakistan’s procedures lacked proper documentation. “We are working with Pakistan on the documentation and will give it to Congress. We are working on it now and some people we are seeking to add to the US Embassy will help,” he said.
When a question of opening up dialogue with the Taliban inside Afghanistan was put to him, he replied, “Afghanistan has its own reconciliation and reintegration plan. It is how low-level Taliban can work in their own community. These are Taliban foot soldiers who work for money. As economic development proceeds and there is greater security, more and more foot soldiers will come back,” he pointed out. But he did not agree that there were any chances of the Taliban forming the next government in Kabul. However, he did say that there were conditions if they wanted a future political role.
“If the adversaries are willing to become part of the political fabric of Afghanistan and they are prepared to play a legitimate role, abide by the Constitution and recognise the Kabul government. What do the Taliban make of Afghanistan? It was a desert (during their last government). “Are they ready to rebuild?”
To several queries regarding the role of India in the region, Gates said that the last thing he wanted to avoid was another Mumbai-like attack. “We all have common enemies and in the past year they tried to destabilise Pakistan itself. We have regional problems that need regional cooperation,” he said.
He said the US was ready to play a constructive role between India and Pakistan and was well prepared. “In 1990 then President Bush sent me to the region and we made suggestions. Both parties do not want intervention and we are comfortable with that,” he said.
When told that with Kashmir unresolved, now more issues, like India’s role in Afghanistan, were leading to confrontation, Gates replied, “Al-Qaeda does not care about Kashmir. Kashmir is an issue for both sides.”
He said he was unaware that at the forthcoming London conference, a formal role would be offered to India. But he acknowledged that India had significant development programmes. Calling al-Qaeda a cancer, Gates did not mince his words when he said: “They are all bad”. Refusing to distinguish between the Pakistani Taliban, Afghan Taliban, al-Qaeda, Haqqani network and the various Lashkars, he said it would be a mistake to look at them individually.
Pakistan to US: Are You With Us Or Against Us?
The tide has shifted dramatically in recent years. Resurgent Afghan Taliban, better armed, trained, and deadly effective, now have control over 80% of Afghan territory. There has been a significant increase in offensive targetting of US and NATO bases and Afghan government officials and buildings in the last couple of years, with even Kabul coming under increasing pressure.
On the other side of the border, the CIA and Indian supported TTP has been getting a hiding at the hands of Pakistan’s armed forces with even the US and NATO stunned at the efficiency and success of the army operations against TTP militants in Swat and South Waziristan. For the first time in 8 years, Pakistan now has the upper hand and has started to dictate terms to the US, starting last week with the rejection of US request to extend the operation to North Waziristan where Jalaluddin Haqqani’s faction allegedly operates from. Anticipating an imminent turnaround in Pakistan’s Afghan policy and fearing the US supply lines into Afghanistan may come under pressure, the US immediately sought to pacify the Pakistan Armed Forces with promises to deliver 12 ‘unarmed’ shadow drones – which hasn’t worked.
The White House and Pentagon are in shock, as this turnaround by the Pakistan Army couldn’t have come at a worse time for them – with the recent attacks on CIA’s Chapman outpost in Khost, a failed civilian government incharge, an incompetent Afghan army, and with 30,000 US troops on their way to what many now realise is a lost cause.
And now the New York Times reveals an interesting conversation between Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and an unnamed senior Pakistan Army official that took place last week. The biggest sign yet of the reversal of fortunes comes with a simple but symbolic ‘Are you with us or against us?’ from the Pakistan Army to the United States. The NYT article follows:
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Nobody else in the Obama administration has been mired in Pakistan for as long as Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. So on a trip here this past week to try to soothe the country’s growing rancor toward the United States, he served as a punching bag tested over a quarter-century.
“Are you with us or against us?” a senior military officer demanded of Mr. Gates at Pakistan’s National Defense University, according to a Pentagon official who recounted the remark made during a closed-door session after Mr. Gates gave a speech at the school on Friday. Mr. Gates, who could hardly miss that the officer was mimicking former President George W. Bush’s warning to nations harboring militants, simply replied, “Of course we’re with you.”
That was the essence of Mr. Gates’s message over two days to the Pakistanis, who are angry about the Central Intelligence Agency’s surge in missile strikes from drone aircraft on militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas, among other grievances, and showed no signs of feeling any love.
The trip, Mr. Gates’s first to Pakistan in three years, proved that dysfunctional relationships span multiple administrations and that the history of American foreign policy is full of unintended consequences.
As the No. 2 official at the C.I.A. in the 1980s, Mr. Gates helped channel Reagan-era covert aid and weapons through Pakistan’s spy agency to the American allies at the time: Islamic fundamentalists fighting the Russians in Afghanistan. Many of those fundamentalists regrouped as the Taliban, who gave sanctuary to Al Qaeda before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and now threaten Pakistan.
In meetings on Thursday, Pakistani leaders repeatedly asked Mr. Gates to give them their own armed drones to go after the militants, not just a dozen smaller, unarmed ones that Mr. Gates announced as gifts meant to placate Pakistan and induce its cooperation.
Pakistani journalists asked Mr. Gates if the United States had plans to take over Pakistan’s nuclear weapons (Mr. Gates said no) and whether the United States would expand the drone strikes farther south into Baluchistan, as is under discussion. Mr. Gates did not answer.
At the same time, the Pakistani Army’s chief spokesman told American reporters at the army headquarters in Rawalpindi on Thursday that the military had no immediate plans to launch an offensive against extremists in the tribal region of North Waziristan, as American officials have repeatedly urged.
And the spokesman, Maj. Gen Athar Abbas, rejected Mr. Gates’s assertion that Al Qaeda had links to militant groups on Pakistan’s border. Asked why the United States would have such a view, the spokesman, General Abbas, curtly replied, “Ask the United States.”
General Abbas’s comments, made only hours after Mr. Gates arrived in Islamabad, were an affront to an American ally that gave Pakistan $3 billion in military aid last year. But American officials, trying to put a positive face on the general’s remarks and laying out what they described as military reality, said that the Pakistani Army was stretched thin from offensives against militants in the Swat Valley and South Waziristan and probably did not have the troops.
“They don’t have the ability to go into North Waziristan at the moment,” an American military official in Pakistan told reporters. “Now, they may be able to generate the ability. They could certainly accept risk in certain places and relocate some of their forces, but obviously that then creates a potential hole elsewhere that could suffer from Taliban re-encroachment.”
Mr. Gates’s advisers cast him as a good cop on a mission to encourage the Pakistanis rather than berate them. And he was characteristically low-key during most his visit here, including during a session with Pakistani journalists on Friday morning at the home of the American ambassador to Pakistan, Anne W. Patterson.
But Mr. Gates perked up when he was brought some coffee, and he soon began to push back against General Abbas. American officials say that the real reason Pakistanis distinguish between the groups is that they are reluctant to go after those that they see as a future proxy against Indian interests in Afghanistan when the Americans leave. India is Pakistan’s archrival in the region.
“Dividing these individual extremist groups into individual pockets if you will is in my view a mistaken way to look at the challenge we all face,” Mr. Gates said, then ticked off the collection on the border.
“Al Qaeda, the Taliban in Afghanistan, Tariki Taliban in Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Haqqani network – this is a syndicate of terrorists that work together,” he said. “And when one succeeds they all benefit, and they share ideas, they share planning. They don’t operationally coordinate their activities, as best I can tell. But they are in very close contact. They take inspiration from one another, they take ideas from one another.”
Mr. Gates, who repeatedly told the Pakistanis that he regretted their country’s “trust deficit” with the United States and that Americans had made a grave mistake in abandoning Pakistan after the Russians left Afghanistan, promised the military officers that the United States would do better.
His final message delivered, he relaxed on the 14-hour trip home by watching “Seven Days in May,” the cold war-era film about an attempted military coup in the United States.
Pakistan Reaches Out To Afghan Taliban
A US chopper shot down by the Afghan Taliban - who now control over 80% of Afghan territory
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is reaching out to “all levels” of the Afghan Taliban in a bid to encourage reconciliation in its war-torn neighbour, the foreign ministry said on Saturday.
US President Barack Obama has said a political solution is needed to stabilise Afghanistan and emphasised that success would not be possible without the support of Pakistan.
“We are trying to reach out to them (Taliban) at all levels and all of us would like that our efforts should bring some results, but at this point in time it is very difficult to say,” Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said of Pakistan’s efforts.
The Afghan government is preparing a reintegration plan with the Taliban that targets lower to mid-level Taliban fighters, but has not focused on more senior leaders of the insurgency.
International donors are meeting in London on Jan 28 when Afghan President Hamid Karzai is expected to seek their support for his reintegration plan.
Mr Basit said it was important that there should be reconciliation at all levels and that Pakistan was helping in this regard. He declined to give details.
“Whether or not our efforts will yield results, we will see,” he told Reuters in an interview. “We don’t want to discuss the specifics. There are efforts being made and we are trying to win over those Taliban or forces who are ‘reconcilable’. Let’s see.”
Asked specifically whether Pakistan was targeting top-level leaders, Mr Basit said: “We are trying at all levels but where we succeed is another matter.”
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates visited Pakistan this week and urged it to root out Afghan Taliban based in its north-western border enclaves, from where they have been orchestrating an intensified insurgency in Afghanistan.
UNDER PRESSURE: Pakistan has repeatedly told Washington that it is already fighting a home-grown Taliban and does not have the resources to open up new fronts against Afghan militant groups based in its northwest. Such groups include the Haqqani network which, the US military says, is the biggest threat in Afghanistan.
The United States has intensified drone attacks in Pakistan’s northwest after a deadly attack on US intelligence agents in Afghanistan’s Khost province on Dec 30. Pakistan complains the attacks are an affront to its sovereignty and has asked the United States for drone technology as well as armed drones to do the job itself.
“We do need drones — unmanned vehicles — which are capable also of firing missiles,” the FO spokesman said. “Pakistan is capable of handling these drone attacks militarily, but we would not like to unnecessarily ratchet up problems with the US,” he added. During his visit, Mr Gates offered a dozen unarmed surveillance drones.
Mr Basit said his government was considering the offer, but reiterated that Pakistan wanted armed drones.
Mr Gates also urged Pakistani to expand military operations to North Waziristan, but was told it could take six months to a year before this happened, Mr Basit said. “If we expand our operations then that will require us to pull out from the eastern border which under the circumstances is not possible,” he said, referring to the border with India.
“That is a serious issue for us and we hope that at the end of the day our friends, the Americans, will be cognisant of our security perceptions.”
Mr Basit complained the United States was behind on delivering funds promised to pay for anti-militant efforts.
The United States says Pakistan has denied visas for auditors and other US officials needed to ensure the money is spent properly.
Mr Gates annoyed Pakistan when he said on Wednesday in New Delhi that India might lose its patience with Pakistan after any repeat of a Mumbai-style attack and militants in the region might use this to provoke the two rivals to war.
“Such a statement was very unhelpful and un-diplomatic …These can be exploited by India,” Mr Basit said.—Reuters
MPA apologises for remarks against female members
LAHORE: Almost all female members of the Punjab Assembly (MPAs) forced MPA Dr Ashraf Chohan to tender an unconditional apology to the House for his remarks against female parliamentarians. During question hour on Thursday, the female MPAs from the opposition strongly objected to remarks made by Chohan, in which he said female MPAs were wasting the House’s time and they had no say in the assembly’s proceedings as they had been elected on special seats. Chohan specifically mentioned Amna Ulfat in his statement. In response, the femaleMPAs from the opposition protested against Chohan’s remarks, demanding he apologise to all female parliamentarians, but Chohan refused, saying he did not say anything wrong. The assembly speaker intervened and asked Chohan to apologise. Other female parliamentarians in the House, including those from the treasury, chanted slogans against Chohan. Law Minister Rana Sanaullah also tried to calm down the females MPAs, but the furore continued until Chohan finally apologised. staff report
University of Punjab Students Protest Against Administration
Punjab University students in Lahore blocked the both side of the road along the canal while protesting against the Punjab University administration over increasing incidents of thefts. So far 136 motorcycles have been reportedly stolen from the campus in one year. The blockade of Canal Road from campus side by the protesters played havoc with the traffic, causing a traffic mess on Canal Road, Johar Town, Faisal Town, Shah Di Khoi and Thokar Niaz Baig.
Six students from University of the Punjab suspended
According to a press release on Wednesday, the PU spokesman said the PU Students Affairs officials immediately provided first aid to the injured students on the spot and shifted them to the Jinnah Hospital for further medical treatment. He said Hailey College of Commerce Principal Prof Dr Liaquat Ali chaired an emergent meeting of the senior faculty on Wednesday and unanimously decided to suspend Rehan Khan, Mamoonur Rehman, Umar Farooq, Hafiz Wajid Ali, Zubair Sabir, students of BCom (Hons), and Hafiz Farhat Abbas, a student of MCom, with immediate effect for being involved in the clash.
The suspended students had also been directed to appear before the college disciplinary committee on February 2. The meeting also decided to call the suspended students’ parents and seek written undertakings from them to the effect that if they would be involved in any such illegal activities in future, they would be expelled from the college without any intimation to their parents. He said as far as students belonging to other departments were concerned, the Hailey College administration would make recommendations to the University Disciplinary Committee for appropriate legal action against them.
The spokesman further said that on the basis of a medico-legal report, an FIR had already been registered with the New Muslim Town Police Station. Terming the students’ clash hooliganism, the spokesman said that a handful of students were bent upon disturbing the peaceful environment of the university by indulging in illegal and negative activities. He said that such an attitude towards the oldest and largest seat of learning on the part of certain activists was regrettable.
Referring to the manhandling of a student from Gilgit in Hostel No 16, the spokesman said the administration was still awaiting a formal written complaint from the aggrieved party on the basis of which the University Disciplinary Committee, comprising senior most teachers, would be asked to confirm the culprits involved in the incident for their expulsion from the university without any further delay.
The PU spokesman urged the students to devote their precious time and energies to leaning knowledge instead of wasting them in negative activities, jeopardising their future.
Dr Aafia testifies at US trail
NEW YORK: Dr Aafis Siddiqui has recorded her statement before a US court for the first time on Thursday.
According to sources, Dr Aafia said she was tortured in a secret jail, and her hands were being tightened with bed.
“I could not sleep the whole night due to the presence of FBI agents in the room, who never allowed me to sleep,” she added.
Aafia said she never met with any Pakistani national since her detention.
Speaking to the judge she said, “I consider you a good human being.”
NEW YORK: Dr Aafis Siddiqui has recorded her statement before a US court for the first time on Thursday.
According to sources, Dr Aafia said she was tortured in a secret jail, and her hands were being tightened with bed.
“I could not sleep the whole night due to the presence of FBI agents in the room, who never allowed me to sleep,” she added.
Aafia said she never met with any Pakistani national since her detention.
Speaking to the judge she said, “I consider you a good human being.”
Ufone & Pepsi announced the winner of Grand Prize “Mazda RX 8″
Islamabad – January 28, 2010: Ufone & Pepsi concluded ‘Badal do Qismat’, a joint promotion and finally announced the winner of the Grand Prize of this campaign.
Usman Pathan, a resident of Sukkur was declared winner of the Grand Prize “Mazda RX 8” at an event held at Pepsi Head Office Lahore and the key was handed over at Ufone Head office in Islamabad.
This offer was the first of its kind between one of Pakistan’s leading cellular service provider and leading carbonated soft drink brand in Pakistan received overwhelming response from the market. Consumers from around the country won exciting prizes including Free Talk Time, SMS’s, Cricket Bats, X Box’s, T-shirts and Free Pepsi.
Senior management of Ufone’s & Pepsi Cola International was present at the occasion which included Mr. Akbar Khan, Chief Marketing Officer, Mr. Moazzam Ali Khan, Head of Public Relations & Corporate Social Responsibility & Mr. Khurram Mahboob, Manager Marketing from Ufone. While Mr. Adnan Abbasi, Franchise Manager & Mr. Mukarram Ali Khan, GM Sales Haidri Beverages and Northern Bottlers represented PepsiCola International.
Mr. Akbar Khan Chief Marketing Officer Ufone speaking at the occasion said “The results of this promo have been overwhelming and has shown great belief of our valued customers in us. Ufone has yet again reinforced its promise that “it’s all about U”. Ufone has always strived to give our valued customers the best value for their money and I believe this promo has delivered above all expectations”
Mr. Khurram Koraishy Director Marketing Pepsi said “This was our first promo with Ufone and we are glad that it had very encouraging results. Pepsi International believes that Pakistani youth has both the courage and the desire to change their destiny and that’s why we say “Badal Do Zamana’. We want to provide the youth with the opportunity to bring a positive change in their lives and we look forward to deliver that promise”
About Ufone: Ufone is an Etisalat Group Company with its presence in all the major cities of Pakistan along with a comprehensive coverage across all major towns, villages and tehsil headquarters of the country. The company employs more than 3,850 people and operates with a network of more than 375 franchises and 26 company-owned customer service centers along with a distribution network of 150,000 outlets nationwide.
What Robert Gates Didn’t Say – And US Media Hides – About Blackwater In Pakistan
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates admitted during an interview with a Pakistani TV station that Blackwater [now ‘Xe International’] and DynCorp are operating in Pakistan. Immediately after the statement, Pentagon tried to put a spin on his words. But US meddling inside Pakistan –by posting private US defense contractors under diplomatic cover of the US embassy – is a reality for most Pakistanis. Some of these Americans have been caught disguised as Taliban right in the heart of Islamabad. Some Pakistanis were manhandled by some of these American militiamen on the streets of at least two Pakistani cities in recent months. Since Pakistan is not Iraq or Afghanistan despite all the US direct and indirect misinformation, these US covert operators were arrested on several occasions.
The mainstream US media continues to keep the good American people and the world opinion in the dark about this. But this is probably one of the biggest untold stories in America’s war on terror. This is about United States trying to put boots on the ground inside Pakistan through the help of a pro-US government in Islamabad that shares [or at least key figures in it] the US objective of containing and limiting the ability of Pakistan’s military to influence the country’s foreign policy. This is about Pakistan wanting to keep an independent foreign policy versus Pakistan blindly serving US policy on Afghanistan, India and China.
Mr. Gates tried to put a gloss on this US covert meddling when he said, ‘Well, they’re [Blackwater and DynCorp] operating as individual companies here in Pakistan, in Afghanistan and in Iraq.’
Not true. The truth is that the issue is so serious that, according to Pakistani investigators, US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson is a suspect in a case of bribes amounting to little over US $ 270,000 paid by DynCorp in 2009 to senior officials at the federal Interior Ministry in Pakistan. The money went in exchange for allowing illegal weapons into Pakistan to be used by private US defense contractors without informing the country’s security departments and intelligence agencies. Ms. Patterson personally lobbied Pakistani officials for this concession to DynCorp. She even wrote a letter to Pakistani officials, followed by a letter by her Deputy Head of Mission Mr. Gerald Feierstein, asking Pakistani Interior Ministry officials to issue permits for weapons to be used by DynCorp in the ‘entire territory of Pakistan.’ The US ambassador is directly linked to the probe, which has resulted in the arrest of a key aide to Pakistan’s Minister of State for the Interior. But the government of President Zardari will not dare allow Pakistani investigators to pursue US Ambassador’s role in the scandal.
A key question in the probe is how the US Embassy and DynCorp allowed the cargo of illegal weapons into Pakistan. According to one lead, a huge cache of weapons reached a Pakistani tribal leader on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, who in turn wrote to the Interior Ministry announcing he was ‘gifting’ the weapons to a Pakistani subcontractor of DynCorp.
Incidents like this and others raised alarm bells inside Pakistani security departments and the intelligence community. In effect, key figures in President Zardari’s government were found to have given approval for the entry of a large number of US citizens into Pakistan for ‘official US government business’ without explaining what that is. When Pakistani authorities tried to get to the bottom of how private US defense contractors ended up inside Pakistan in large numbers and what they were exactly doing here, US officials and media launched what appears to be a media trial of Pakistan, accusing the country of ‘harassing’ US diplomats and denying visas to them because of alleged anti-Americanism.
The unwillingness of the Zardari government to confront Washington and Pakistan’s generally weak media outreach skills allowed Washington to pain this as a case of anti-Americanism fueled by war on terror.
‘Conspiracy theories’ is another label that US officials and media have increasingly used recently as a cover to hide serious violations of diplomatic norms and sovereignty involving undercover private US operatives inside Pakistan. This is how the Wall Street Journal tried to delegitimize serious Pakistani concerns raised during Mr. Gates’ visit in a report filed from Islamabad whose opening line read as follows, “U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is overseeing wars with Sunni militants in Iraq and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. In Pakistan, he’s facing a different foe: the pervasive conspiracy theories that fuel widespread anti-American feelings here.”
The truth is that there are no conspiracy theories but real events, reported and documented, that raise questions over US political, diplomtic, and covert meddling inside Pakistan. Here is a list:
1. NUCLEAR ESPIONAGE: In July 2009, four US ‘diplomats’ were arrested inside the maximum security perimeter around Pakistan’s premier nuclear facility at Kahuta. They failed to tell Pakistani investigators what they were doing there and how they managed to slip through the security checkpoints in the area. US Embassy intervened to rescue the four ‘diplomats’ after almost three hours in detention, citing diplomatic immunity. President Zardari’s government refused to let Pakistani security authorities press charges.
2. SUSPICIOUS CONDUCT: On Oct. 6, 2009, Pakistani police arrested two Dutch diplomats roaming the streets of Islamabad without a number plate carrying advanced weapons. Pakistani police were surprised when security personnel from the US Embassy reached the scene to rescue the Dutch. The Americans used their contacts within the Zardari government to get everyone released. Later, Pakistan Foreign Office summoned US and Dutch diplomats for a private meeting over the incident. But the Pakistani government refused to demand a public explanation from US and Dutch diplomats despite recommendations from police and security officials.
3. FACILITATING INDIAN ACTIVITIES: In this high profile case in May 2009, a US diplomat arranged a small meeting between an Indian diplomat and several senior Pakistani federal government officials at a private house. The invited Pakistanis worked in civilian positions, including one with access to Prime Minister’s Office. It appeared that the US diplomat was basically facilitating the Indian to meet senior officials who otherwise would be inaccessible for him. Pakistan Foreign Office took serious exception to the meeting, publicly reprimanded the Pakistani officials who attended the meeting but stopped short of seeking explanation from the US embassy. According to Pakistani investigators, for a US diplomat to indulge in facilitating possible espionage linked to an Indian diplomat was a matter of grave concern. It also fitted with the US policy of exercising tremendous pressure on the pro-US government in Islamabad to give concessions to India at the expense of Pakistani strategic interests.
4. COVERT US MILITIAS IN THE HEART OF PAKISTAN: In September 2009, undercover US agents were found to have recruited a total of 100 former elite Pakistani military commandos to create rapid-intervention teams for unknown purposes. A 100 more were under training at a secret facility camouflaged as a workshop on the outskirts of the Pakistani capital when it was raided by Pakistani police. It turned out that DynCorp was training the men. US Ambassador Anne W. Patterson brought DynCorp to Pakistan by telling Pakistani officials that the private defense contractor would provide security to embassy buildings. But she never explained why DynCorp was secretly raising private militias on Pakistani soil without informing the Pakistani government or military or the intelligence agencies. Some of those who were under training at the time of the raid said that DynCorp focused on recruiting retired officers who had links and contacts within the Pakistani military and could glean information from their sources. [See video and pictures]
5. PUSHY US DIPLOMATS: The US Embassy in Islamabad has made it its business to mount pressure on owners of Pakistani newspapers to curtail or expel columnists and commentators critical of US policy. Of special target are those who expose how US Embassy is meddling in Pakistani affairs and expanding the US footprint inside Pakistan. Last year, Ambassador Patterson sent a letter to one of the largest Pakistani media groups accusing a columnist of endangering American lives and succeeded in pushing her out. The US Embassy is also recruiting opinion makers within the Pakistani media, academia and military in order to promote the US agenda even at the cost of Pakistani interests, dismissing critics as ‘conspiracy theorists’ and accusing them of anti-Americanism. A senior Pakistani journalist Syed Talat Hussain exposed US activities in the following words, “Pro-American lobby in Pakistan is growing in direct proportion to the scaling up of suspicions about the US. The main task of this lobby is to reduce the complexity of the US’s objectives towards Pakistan to romantic levels of trust (…) A motley crew of former diplomats, retired generals, socialites, slick civil society begums, self-styled analysts, businessmen, journalists, and now also lawyers — they are the darlings of the US embassy staff. They are the instruments of positive outreach and public diplomacy that US diplomats are so keen to expand in Pakistan.”
6. HARASSING PAKISTANIS: Private US security contractors, or militiamen, have been involved in at least three incidents registered by the Pakistani police where armed Americans physically assaulted unarmed ordinary Pakistanis in public places. In one case, the nephew of a senior member of President Zardari’s own government was manhandled and locked up in the toilet of a gas station by men described as armed military-looking civilian Americans.
7. RESISTING POLICE CHECKS: In at least five incidents, US ‘diplomats’ disguised as Taliban, complete with beards and Pashto language skills, were stopped at several police checkpoints in Islamabad and Peshawar. In some cases, these American ‘diplomats’ tried to speed through police barriers. In one recent case, this resulted in a brief police chase, where a Pakistani officer dragged the US ‘diplomats’ back to the police picket and forced the Americans to apologize to Pakistani police officers. Again, no charges were pressed because these private US agents carried diplomatic passports.
8. ENGINEEING DOMESTIC POLITICS: As recently as December 2009, US ambassador in Islamabad was found meeting senior Pakistani politicians at private homes of mutual friends in unannounced meetings restricted to 3 to 4 persons. The ambassador asked her guests to publicly support the embattled pro-US President Zardari. US diplomats in Islamabad and officials in Washington have been blatantly interfering in Pakistani politics. In addition to helping form the incumbent coalition government in Islamabad, made up of pro-US parties, US officials have been busy trying to save both Mr. Zardari and his key political adviser and ambassador to Washington Husain Haqqani. US officials in Washington have been briefing sympathetic US journalists about this. In one case, columnist Trudy Rubin had this to say while discussing Pakistan in an article published last month: “Here is the first piece of good news: Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari seems to have weathered a campaign by opponents, including the military, to force him out of office. Zardari has deep flaws, but his ouster would have hampered efforts to fight the jihadis. So would the removal, now averted, of Pakistan’s effective ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani, whom the Pakistani military had unfairly blamed for conditions that Congress imposed on aid to Pakistan.”
9. BRIBES AND ILLEGAL WEAPONS: This case is stunning because of the direct involvement of US Ambassador Anne W. Patterson in lobbying for DynCorp. The company ended up bribing Interior Ministry officials to smuggle banned weapons into Pakistan and then went on to raise private militias and hire retired Pakistani military officers to run rapid deployment teams and possibly even spy on the Pakistani military.
10. DEMONIZATION OF PAKISTAN: Since 2007, US officials and US media has systematically demonized Pakistan worldwide, creating false alarm over Pakistan’s strategic arsenal. US officials and media have also pushed to bracket Pakistan along with Iraq and Afghanistan in order to justify a possible military intervention. When Pakistan resisted US meddling recently, US media again went on rampage, accusing Pakistan of ‘anti-Americanism’ and harassment of US diplomats. Additionally, there has been a marked increase of lectures and studies by US think-tanks inviting unknown separatist individuals and groups to speak and fan ethnic separatism inside Pakistan and theorize on the breakup of the country.
11. ABETTING TERROR INSIDE PAKISTAN: The suspicions about why DynCorp was secretly raising private militias inside the federal Pakistani capital almost turned real when a suspect in the attack on the Pakistani military headquarters in October 2009 was allegedly found to have been recruited by DynCorp. In a second case, another suspected DynCorp recruit was found involved in assassinating a senior Pakistani military officer as he drove to work. In other words, two Pakistani employees of a US defense contractor engaged by the US embassy have been linked to two terrorist attacks on the Pakistani military. Add to this that Pakistan’s military and intelligence are a favorite punching bag for the United States and its allies, like India and Britain, and the picture of what the US is doing in Pakistan becomes even more disturbing.
These points explain how ill-motivated the US complaints about delaying visas and alleged anti-Americanism in Pakistan are. This is what US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Mr. Holbrooke and Mr. Gates are loath to share with the American people and the world public opinion.
© 2007-2009. All rights reserved. AhmedQuraishi.com & PakNationalists
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium
without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
What Robert Gates Didn’t Say – And US Media Hides – About Blackwater In Pakistan
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates admitted during an interview with a Pakistani TV station that Blackwater [now ‘Xe International’] and DynCorp are operating in Pakistan. Immediately after the statement, Pentagon tried to put a spin on his words. But US meddling inside Pakistan –by posting private US defense contractors under diplomatic cover of the US embassy – is a reality for most Pakistanis. Some of these Americans have been caught disguised as Taliban right in the heart of Islamabad. Some Pakistanis were manhandled by some of these American militiamen on the streets of at least two Pakistani cities in recent months. Since Pakistan is not Iraq or Afghanistan despite all the US direct and indirect misinformation, these US covert operators were arrested on several occasions.
The mainstream US media continues to keep the good American people and the world opinion in the dark about this. But this is probably one of the biggest untold stories in America’s war on terror. This is about United States trying to put boots on the ground inside Pakistan through the help of a pro-US government in Islamabad that shares [or at least key figures in it] the US objective of containing and limiting the ability of Pakistan’s military to influence the country’s foreign policy. This is about Pakistan wanting to keep an independent foreign policy versus Pakistan blindly serving US policy on Afghanistan, India and China.
Mr. Gates tried to put a gloss on this US covert meddling when he said, ‘Well, they’re [Blackwater and DynCorp] operating as individual companies here in Pakistan, in Afghanistan and in Iraq.’
Not true. The truth is that the issue is so serious that, according to Pakistani investigators, US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson is a suspect in a case of bribes amounting to little over US $ 270,000 paid by DynCorp in 2009 to senior officials at the federal Interior Ministry in Pakistan. The money went in exchange for allowing illegal weapons into Pakistan to be used by private US defense contractors without informing the country’s security departments and intelligence agencies. Ms. Patterson personally lobbied Pakistani officials for this concession to DynCorp. She even wrote a letter to Pakistani officials, followed by a letter by her Deputy Head of Mission Mr. Gerald Feierstein, asking Pakistani Interior Ministry officials to issue permits for weapons to be used by DynCorp in the ‘entire territory of Pakistan.’ The US ambassador is directly linked to the probe, which has resulted in the arrest of a key aide to Pakistan’s Minister of State for the Interior. But the government of President Zardari will not dare allow Pakistani investigators to pursue US Ambassador’s role in the scandal.
A key question in the probe is how the US Embassy and DynCorp allowed the cargo of illegal weapons into Pakistan. According to one lead, a huge cache of weapons reached a Pakistani tribal leader on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, who in turn wrote to the Interior Ministry announcing he was ‘gifting’ the weapons to a Pakistani subcontractor of DynCorp.
Incidents like this and others raised alarm bells inside Pakistani security departments and the intelligence community. In effect, key figures in President Zardari’s government were found to have given approval for the entry of a large number of US citizens into Pakistan for ‘official US government business’ without explaining what that is. When Pakistani authorities tried to get to the bottom of how private US defense contractors ended up inside Pakistan in large numbers and what they were exactly doing here, US officials and media launched what appears to be a media trial of Pakistan, accusing the country of ‘harassing’ US diplomats and denying visas to them because of alleged anti-Americanism.
The unwillingness of the Zardari government to confront Washington and Pakistan’s generally weak media outreach skills allowed Washington to pain this as a case of anti-Americanism fueled by war on terror.
‘Conspiracy theories’ is another label that US officials and media have increasingly used recently as a cover to hide serious violations of diplomatic norms and sovereignty involving undercover private US operatives inside Pakistan. This is how the Wall Street Journal tried to delegitimize serious Pakistani concerns raised during Mr. Gates’ visit in a report filed from Islamabad whose opening line read as follows, “U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is overseeing wars with Sunni militants in Iraq and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. In Pakistan, he’s facing a different foe: the pervasive conspiracy theories that fuel widespread anti-American feelings here.”
The truth is that there are no conspiracy theories but real events, reported and documented, that raise questions over US political, diplomtic, and covert meddling inside Pakistan. Here is a list:
1. NUCLEAR ESPIONAGE: In July 2009, four US ‘diplomats’ were arrested inside the maximum security perimeter around Pakistan’s premier nuclear facility at Kahuta. They failed to tell Pakistani investigators what they were doing there and how they managed to slip through the security checkpoints in the area. US Embassy intervened to rescue the four ‘diplomats’ after almost three hours in detention, citing diplomatic immunity. President Zardari’s government refused to let Pakistani security authorities press charges.
2. SUSPICIOUS CONDUCT: On Oct. 6, 2009, Pakistani police arrested two Dutch diplomats roaming the streets of Islamabad without a number plate carrying advanced weapons. Pakistani police were surprised when security personnel from the US Embassy reached the scene to rescue the Dutch. The Americans used their contacts within the Zardari government to get everyone released. Later, Pakistan Foreign Office summoned US and Dutch diplomats for a private meeting over the incident. But the Pakistani government refused to demand a public explanation from US and Dutch diplomats despite recommendations from police and security officials.
3. FACILITATING INDIAN ACTIVITIES: In this high profile case in May 2009, a US diplomat arranged a small meeting between an Indian diplomat and several senior Pakistani federal government officials at a private house. The invited Pakistanis worked in civilian positions, including one with access to Prime Minister’s Office. It appeared that the US diplomat was basically facilitating the Indian to meet senior officials who otherwise would be inaccessible for him. Pakistan Foreign Office took serious exception to the meeting, publicly reprimanded the Pakistani officials who attended the meeting but stopped short of seeking explanation from the US embassy. According to Pakistani investigators, for a US diplomat to indulge in facilitating possible espionage linked to an Indian diplomat was a matter of grave concern. It also fitted with the US policy of exercising tremendous pressure on the pro-US government in Islamabad to give concessions to India at the expense of Pakistani strategic interests.
4. COVERT US MILITIAS IN THE HEART OF PAKISTAN: In September 2009, undercover US agents were found to have recruited a total of 100 former elite Pakistani military commandos to create rapid-intervention teams for unknown purposes. A 100 more were under training at a secret facility camouflaged as a workshop on the outskirts of the Pakistani capital when it was raided by Pakistani police. It turned out that DynCorp was training the men. US Ambassador Anne W. Patterson brought DynCorp to Pakistan by telling Pakistani officials that the private defense contractor would provide security to embassy buildings. But she never explained why DynCorp was secretly raising private militias on Pakistani soil without informing the Pakistani government or military or the intelligence agencies. Some of those who were under training at the time of the raid said that DynCorp focused on recruiting retired officers who had links and contacts within the Pakistani military and could glean information from their sources. [See video and pictures]
5. PUSHY US DIPLOMATS: The US Embassy in Islamabad has made it its business to mount pressure on owners of Pakistani newspapers to curtail or expel columnists and commentators critical of US policy. Of special target are those who expose how US Embassy is meddling in Pakistani affairs and expanding the US footprint inside Pakistan. Last year, Ambassador Patterson sent a letter to one of the largest Pakistani media groups accusing a columnist of endangering American lives and succeeded in pushing her out. The US Embassy is also recruiting opinion makers within the Pakistani media, academia and military in order to promote the US agenda even at the cost of Pakistani interests, dismissing critics as ‘conspiracy theorists’ and accusing them of anti-Americanism. A senior Pakistani journalist Syed Talat Hussain exposed US activities in the following words, “Pro-American lobby in Pakistan is growing in direct proportion to the scaling up of suspicions about the US. The main task of this lobby is to reduce the complexity of the US’s objectives towards Pakistan to romantic levels of trust (…) A motley crew of former diplomats, retired generals, socialites, slick civil society begums, self-styled analysts, businessmen, journalists, and now also lawyers — they are the darlings of the US embassy staff. They are the instruments of positive outreach and public diplomacy that US diplomats are so keen to expand in Pakistan.”
6. HARASSING PAKISTANIS: Private US security contractors, or militiamen, have been involved in at least three incidents registered by the Pakistani police where armed Americans physically assaulted unarmed ordinary Pakistanis in public places. In one case, the nephew of a senior member of President Zardari’s own government was manhandled and locked up in the toilet of a gas station by men described as armed military-looking civilian Americans.
7. RESISTING POLICE CHECKS: In at least five incidents, US ‘diplomats’ disguised as Taliban, complete with beards and Pashto language skills, were stopped at several police checkpoints in Islamabad and Peshawar. In some cases, these American ‘diplomats’ tried to speed through police barriers. In one recent case, this resulted in a brief police chase, where a Pakistani officer dragged the US ‘diplomats’ back to the police picket and forced the Americans to apologize to Pakistani police officers. Again, no charges were pressed because these private US agents carried diplomatic passports.
8. ENGINEEING DOMESTIC POLITICS: As recently as December 2009, US ambassador in Islamabad was found meeting senior Pakistani politicians at private homes of mutual friends in unannounced meetings restricted to 3 to 4 persons. The ambassador asked her guests to publicly support the embattled pro-US President Zardari. US diplomats in Islamabad and officials in Washington have been blatantly interfering in Pakistani politics. In addition to helping form the incumbent coalition government in Islamabad, made up of pro-US parties, US officials have been busy trying to save both Mr. Zardari and his key political adviser and ambassador to Washington Husain Haqqani. US officials in Washington have been briefing sympathetic US journalists about this. In one case, columnist Trudy Rubin had this to say while discussing Pakistan in an article published last month: “Here is the first piece of good news: Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari seems to have weathered a campaign by opponents, including the military, to force him out of office. Zardari has deep flaws, but his ouster would have hampered efforts to fight the jihadis. So would the removal, now averted, of Pakistan’s effective ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani, whom the Pakistani military had unfairly blamed for conditions that Congress imposed on aid to Pakistan.”
9. BRIBES AND ILLEGAL WEAPONS: This case is stunning because of the direct involvement of US Ambassador Anne W. Patterson in lobbying for DynCorp. The company ended up bribing Interior Ministry officials to smuggle banned weapons into Pakistan and then went on to raise private militias and hire retired Pakistani military officers to run rapid deployment teams and possibly even spy on the Pakistani military.
10. DEMONIZATION OF PAKISTAN: Since 2007, US officials and US media has systematically demonized Pakistan worldwide, creating false alarm over Pakistan’s strategic arsenal. US officials and media have also pushed to bracket Pakistan along with Iraq and Afghanistan in order to justify a possible military intervention. When Pakistan resisted US meddling recently, US media again went on rampage, accusing Pakistan of ‘anti-Americanism’ and harassment of US diplomats. Additionally, there has been a marked increase of lectures and studies by US think-tanks inviting unknown separatist individuals and groups to speak and fan ethnic separatism inside Pakistan and theorize on the breakup of the country.
11. ABETTING TERROR INSIDE PAKISTAN: The suspicions about why DynCorp was secretly raising private militias inside the federal Pakistani capital almost turned real when a suspect in the attack on the Pakistani military headquarters in October 2009 was allegedly found to have been recruited by DynCorp. In a second case, another suspected DynCorp recruit was found involved in assassinating a senior Pakistani military officer as he drove to work. In other words, two Pakistani employees of a US defense contractor engaged by the US embassy have been linked to two terrorist attacks on the Pakistani military. Add to this that Pakistan’s military and intelligence are a favorite punching bag for the United States and its allies, like India and Britain, and the picture of what the US is doing in Pakistan becomes even more disturbing.
These points explain how ill-motivated the US complaints about delaying visas and alleged anti-Americanism in Pakistan are. This is what US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Mr. Holbrooke and Mr. Gates are loath to share with the American people and the world public opinion.
© 2007-2009. All rights reserved. AhmedQuraishi.com & PakNationalists
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium
without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
Ahmed Quraishi: India’s Covert War In Afghanistan
Ahmed Quraishi got the last word on Aljazeera’s Inside Story to calmly mention some facts about what the ‘other India’ is doing in Afghanistan, in a show where a former director of Indian Military Intelligence and an American think-tank type from Washington spent time demonizing Pakistan. Aljazeera’s anchor Imran Jardah was neutral. He admitted the discussion was ‘lopsided’ because AQ couldnt join in the show earlier because of technical reasons.
Dr. Afia Update: Yet mainstream media continues its misinformation camapign
TIME magazine does a decent job of pointing out that no Pakistani reporters are being allowed in the courtroom, even though she is not charged with terrorism. However, they also continue to misinform the public as shown in the first line of their article:
“Aafia Siddiqui may be a minor light in the constellation of alleged al-Qaeda operatives, but her New York City trial may be a test case for the way justice is meted out to one of the major figures accused of running the terror organization. “
Judge Rules Not to Link Aafia to Qaeda, as She Announces Boycott
A US judge Wednesday barred prosecutors from linking Dr Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani neuroscientist, to al-Qaeda or any other terrorist organization during her trial scheduled to begin January 19.
The ruling came as the jury selection process began in the US. District Court in Manhattan. On Monday, the prosecution had informed the court that it will not contest any ruling which absolves Dr. Siddique, charged with shooting at her US interrogators in Afghanistan, of any terrorist links.
However, Judge Richard Berman ruled Wednesday that any hand written material seized from her possession will be admitted as evidence, but the printed material will not be entertained. The defence lawyers had sought the exclusion of any material founded on her, and to focus on the shooting incident.
A Pakistani on Trial- With no Pakistani Reporters
Aafia Siddiqui may be a minor light in the constellation of alleged al-Qaeda operatives, but her New York City trial may be a test case for the way justice is meted out to one of the major figures accused of running the terror organization. Siddiqui is a U.S.-trained, Pakistani neuroscientist charged with attempted murder for allegedly firing an M-4 automatic rifle at a group of U.S. soldiers and FBI agents in Afghanistan. Her case has been major news in much of the Muslim world – and a crush of journalists from Pakistan have been struggling to gain access to a trial hemmed in by security-conscious New York City officials. How the foreign press is able to follow the court proceedings – and thus perceive the fairness of the trial – will have an impact on upcoming high-profile terrorism trials like that of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other suspected 9/11 plotters, likely to be held in the same courthouse as the Siddiqui case.
“If we were able to file a transcript of the proceedings they’d probably print it,” Iftikhar Ali, a reporter with the Associated Press of Pakistan, said of the Siddiqui trial. “That’s how much interest there is in this case.” But Ali, like many other reporters from overseas, has been hampered in gaining access to the live proceedings. Journalists from Pakistan on assigment in New York have been largely excluded from the courtroom. Because of tight restrictions observed by the presiding Judge Richard Berman, not a single Pakistani reporter had been granted a press credential when opening statements began on Tuesday. They were instead sent to an overflow courtroom to watch the proceedings via video link. Read more here…
Aafia Siddiqui Trial: Two Jurors Excused, Defense Calls for Mistrial
PAKISTAN NEWS
The second week of the trial of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui began with a series of surprising twists and turns.
Two jurors were excused from the case after they informed Judge Richard Berman that they were approached by a public supporter of Siddiqui’s. An eyewitness in the gallery described the man as a Pakistani male wearing white turban. It was reported that he approached two of the jurors to ask them how the case was going. He was arrested and was taken out of the building in handcuffs.
Judge Richard Berman declined the defense attorney’s application to remove enhanced security on the grounds that it prejudices the jury. In his ruling Judge Berman cited both the incident of the individual approaching the jury and members of the defense team bringing in an additional cell phone as reasons for the denial. It is not uncommon to have additional security in high profile cases; he cited the high profile case of Martha Stewart which also drew a large amount of public interest. Read more here
Witnesses’ Accounts Differ at Dr. Aafia’s Trial
DAWN
The trial of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui has taken a bizarre turn when a witness’s testimony came out to be different from the one given by American official Captain Schnieder, reports DawnNews.
Furthermore, an FBI agent testified that they did not find Dr. Aafia’s finger-prints on the rifle.
The US federal court in Manhattan heard Aafia Siddiqui and 5 other witnesses. Dr. Aafia told the court that she is being misrepresented by the prosecutor’s statement regarding the things she has said about America, that only negative thoughts are being portrayed.
