Supreme Court of Pakistan. — File Photo

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday admitted for hearing a petition filed by PML-N leader Khawaja Mohammad Asif challenging transfers and postings as well as shuffling of senior government officials by the caretaker government.

The petition, filed by Asif’s counsel Syed Safdar Hussain, had requested the court to declare the actions taken by the caretaker government as unconstitutional, illegal and void ab initio. The constitutional conventions command and mandate the caretaker set-up only to the extent of holding free and fair elections.

In this respect today, the chief justice directed Attorney General Irfan Qadir to take directions from the government and apprise the court on these.

The caretaker government has been directed to file a response on the matter by June 4.

Moreover, the court suspended the appointments and transfers. However, appointments and transfers of a routine nature remain exempt.

High-level appointments, reshuffle

Asif had provided the court with a list of senior officers who had been transferred, posted out or shuffled. According to that list, National Highway Authority chairman Hamid Ali Khan was replaced by Sajjad Hussain Baloch on May 16, Nepra chairman by retired Justice Ahmad Khan Lashari on the same day, SNGPL’s managing director Arif Hameed by Amin Tufail on May 15, SSGCL’s managing director by Rahat Kamal Siddiqui on March 15 and Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation’s managing director Khalid Khokhar was replaced by Saifullah Khan.

Similarly, National Fertiliser’s chairman Rizwan Mumtaz Ali was removed on May 9, Oil and Gas Development Corporation’s managing director Masood Siddiqui on May 6 and the State Life Corporation’s chairman on May 16. The Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation chairman’s has reportedly been removed.

The chairman of Pakistan Software Export Board has been replaced by Saleem Ahmed Ranjha, who was inducted directly by former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Asif’s petition moreover stated that FIA’s director general appointed a month ago was also reported to be in the process of being replaced, adding that certain employees/officers of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority had reportedly been removed without following the procedure envisaged in the relevant statute.

It also stated that a number of mid-level staff in corporations/bodies had also been shuffled, transferred or removed.

Lebanese Sunni gunmen ride on motorcycles during the funeral of one of their colleagues in Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli, May 20, 2013. — Photo by Reuters

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: At least four people have been killed in clashes in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, a security source told AFP, as fighting raged into a fourth day on Wednesday.

The source also reported that 35 people were wounded in the fighting between Sunni and Alawite residents of the flashpoint town on Tuesday.

The dead included two Sunni residents of the Bab el-Tebbaneh district, a third Sunni from elsewhere in the city, and an Alawite resident of the Jabal Mohsen neighbourhood, the source said.

Local media reported that the overall death toll since the violence erupted on Sunday stood at 10, eight civilians and two Lebanese soldiers.

The army has been deployed in the area since the outbreak but has failed to halt the fighting in the town, where clashes have frequently broken out since the March 2011 beginning of the conflict in neighbouring Syria.

The largely Sunni city is home to a small community of Alawites, an offshoot of Shia Islam to which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad belongs.

Clashes have often pitted residents of the Sunni district of Bab el-Tebbaneh against those from the neighbouring Alawite area of Jabal Mohsen.

The latest round began as the Assad regime launched an assault on the rebel stronghold of Qusayr, near the border with Lebanon.

Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf.— File photo

ISLAMABAD: The anti-terrorist court in Islamabad on Wednesday discarded a bail plea filed by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in the judges’ detention case, DawnNews reported.

Earlier today, ATC judge Kausar Abbas Zaidi had reserved the ruling on Musharraf’s bail application during a hearing of the case.

During the hearing, public prosecutor Amir Nadeem Tabish said clause 780-A pertaining to terrorism had been added to the list of charges against Musharraf, making the case against him even more strong.

In his arguments, Tabish added that judges and their family members had been detained in their homes for months and that the charges against the former army strongman were of a serious nature, who therefore should not be granted bail.

He further said that the emergency imposed by Musharraf in the country on November 3, 2007 was detrimental not only towards the judges but for the public at large.

However, Musharraf’s counsel, Ilyas Siddiqui, argued that there was no evidence against his client and requested the court to grant the bail application.

Tabish moreover told the judge that he had been appointed public prosecutor in the case only until the court’s ruling on Musharraf’s bail plea, adding that he had no authority to present a charge sheet in the case.

On which, the judge expressed his amazement and asked as to how it could be the case that one public prosecutor was appointed for Musharraf’s bail plea and another to present charges against him.

Subsequently, the judge inquired of the investigation officer as to when would the charge sheet against the former military ruler be finalised. Responding to which, the officer said that three institutions had been approached in this respect, however, all had so far failed to submit their responses.

The court reserved its ruling on the bail plea after the parties concluded their arguments and subsequently discarded the former president’s application.

A welcome billboard showing portraits of visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, President Asif Ali Zardari, and caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso in Islamabad on May 21, 2013. — Photo by AFP

ISLAMABAD: China and Pakistan should make cooperation on power generation a priority, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said, as Islamabad seeks to end an energy crisis that triggers power cuts of up to 20 hours a day, bringing the economy to a near standstill.

Li arrived in the Pakistan capital on Wednesday on the second leg of his first official trip since taking office in March after a visit to India.

Tight security included shutting down mobile phone networks across the city.

Pakistan was one of the first countries to switch diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China, in 1950, and they consider each other “all-weather friends”.

In an interview with Pakistan media, Li said there was still “great potential” for the relationship. Bilateral trade last year rose above $12 billion for the first time and both sides are aiming to reach $15 billion in the next two or three years.

“Our two sides should focus on carrying out priority projects in connectivity, energy development and power generation and promoting the building of a China-Pakistan economic corridor,” Li said.

The power shortages have sparked violent protests and crippled key industries, costing hundreds of thousands of jobs in a country already beset by high unemployment, a failing economy, widespread poverty, sectarian bloodshed and a Taliban insurgency.

There are several joint energy and infrastructure projects under way in Pakistan and China has taken over operation of the strategically important Gwadar port.

When complete, the port, which is close to the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping lane, is seen opening up an energy and trade corridor from the Gulf, across Pakistan to western China, and could be used by the Chinese Navy, upsetting India.

Li this week offered India a “handshake across the Himalayas” and said the world’s two most populous nations could become a new engine for the global economy — if they could avoid friction.

China and India disagree about large areas of their 4,000 kilometre border and their troops faced off for three weeks last month on a windswept Himalayan plateau where they fought a brief but bloody war in 1962.

Pakistan and India have fought three wars, two of them over disputed Kashmir.

India has responded cautiously to Li’s overtures, partly because of China’s friendship with Pakistan. For its part, Beijing is concerned about India’s growing relations with the United States.

“I wish to reiterate solemnly China’s continue firm support to Pakistan in its efforts to uphold independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Li said in a possible reference to India and to the United States, which angers many with drone strikes targeting militants in Pakistan.

Rafsanjani, who served as president from 1989 to 1997, was omitted from the list of eight candidates approved by the Guardians Council, a conservative-dominated vetting body, along with Ahmadinejad confidant and ex-chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie.

The approved list of candidates for the June 14 election is dominated by conservatives close to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the ultimate decision-maker in the Islamic republic.

No explanation was given for the disqualifications.

Rafsanjani’s late registration on May 11 had polarised Iran’s complex political system, with marginalised reformists backing him while ultra-conservatives questioned his motives for a political comeback.

A heavyweight until eight years ago when Ahmadinejad beat him in the 2005 presidential election, Rafsanjani has lost much of his political stock in recent years.

In particular, he drew the ire of the ruling establishment in 2009 when he openly questioned the handling of the controversial election which gave Ahmadinejad a second term.

That vote provoked massive street protests and claims of fraud, which were crushed in a heavy-handed crackdown.

Rafsanjani, who will turn 79 in August, currently chairs the Expediency Council, Iran’s highest political arbitration body.
Guardians Council spokesman Abbasali Kadkhodai, speaking to state television and without naming Rafsanjani, said frailty and old age had been factors in the eliminations.

Mashaie, the other main candidate disqualified, was personally endorsed by Ahmadinejad.

His exclusion was not unexpected however, as he is seen as too liberal, considered a danger to the Islamic revolution by regime insiders, and is accused of driving a wedge between Ahmadinejad and Khamenei in recent years.
Mashaie said he would seek to reverse his disqualification.

“I deem my disqualification an injustice. I will seek its resolution through” Khamenei, he told the Fars news agency. “God willing, it will be resolved.”The disqualifications appeared to put lead nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, a figure close to Khameni, in the front seat.

He is rivalled in his quest for Iran’s highest elected office by fellow conservative hopefuls cleared by the Guardians Council, comprised of religious conservatives who are all directly or indirectly appointed by Khamenei.

They include Tehran mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, ex-foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati, ex-commander of the Revolutionary Guards Mohsen Rezai and former parliament speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel.

Two figures seen as moderate conservatives are also on the list of approved candidates: former nuclear negotiator, Hassan Rowhani, and Mohammad Gharazi, a former minister who served under Rafsanjani and under opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who is currently under house arrest.

The reformists will have only one candidate in the election in Mohammad Reza Aref, who served as first vice president under president Mohammad Khatami.

The Guardians Council is tasked with vetting candidates to ensure they meet the constitutional requirement of being faithful to the principles of the Islamic republic.

Some 686 hopefuls, including 30 women, most of them politically unknown, had registered to contest the election.

Ahmadinejad is constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term. His two-term presidency has left the Islamic republic isolated internationally and struggling to cope with harsh economic sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

This image of Imran Khan is from a video grab.

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan has been discharged from Shaukat Khanum Hospital on Wednesday morning, after he was fitted with a specially designed spinal brace on Tuesday, which enabled him to upright for the first time since his fall from a fork lift at an election rally on May 7.

Doctors said that Khan was able to walk unaided for over 300 meters, without any discomfort or pain.

He had a series of X-rays of his spine, which confirmed continued healing and excellent alignment of his backbones. The X-rays were reviewed by a team of radiologists and surgeons, who were very pleased with the results.

The hospital management said that Imran would continue receiving regular physiotherapy and was likely to need to wear the spinal support for some weeks to come.

He will gradually increase physical activity over the next few weeks with a return to his full functional capacity expected in approximately six to eight weeks.

The trading frenzy was evident by the volume, which stood at 444 million shares on Tuesday, representing one-year high. In rupee terms, the volume happened to be at 43 months high.

The foreign bulls have been on the rampage with the aggregate net portfolio inflow of a record $181 million in KSE in just about 15 trading sessions to date in May. However, excepting the net purchases of $0.47 million of shares by ‘banks’, the local individual and institutional investors were all on the ‘sell’ side.

The ‘banks’ sold $12.8m worth equity; mutual funds disposed of $2.76m of stock, ‘other organisations’ offloaded $8.52m and ‘individuals’ were net sellers of stocks valued at $7.96m.

Save for two stocks, all heavy-weight shares on the ‘oil & gas’, sector, the all time favourites of the foreigners continued their steep climb. Cements for their healthy demand were also the overseas’ investors choice picks, while PSO, the biggest oil marketing company continued to hit the ceiling on hopes of resolution of the circular debt crisis that has plagued the company’s financials.

On Tuesday, OGDC added Rs10.53 to its price which closed at Rs231.18; POL was up by Rs2.26 to Rs499.18; Pakistan Petroleum gained Rs3.70 to Rs216.57and Pakistan State Oil ‘hit upper circuit’ adding Rs12.82 to its price which closed at Rs269.31. Since the above stocks hold the highest weightage in the benchmark, they together contributed around 200 points to the index rise.

Equity sales at Arif Habib Limited stated that valuation upgrades along with the expectations that cement prices might increase, fuelled the interest in cement stocks. “The rising tide (of the market) is raising all ships and the move is such that this rise is steady as the market is mostly based on cash unlike in past,” said the dealers.

While much of the market was still bullish in the face of foreigners sustained interest in the market, many market participants recommended caution.

The market capitalisation-based KSE-30 index surged by 321.00 points or 1.99 per cent to close at 16.482.63 points.

Volume jumped by 100 million shares to 444 million shares on Tuesday, from a day ago volume at 344m. Trading value climbed by 51 per cent to Rs16.522 billion, from Rs10.874bn the previous day. Market capitalisation saw addition of Rs82 billion to end at Rs5.153 trillion, from Rs5.071 trillion.

In all, 393 shares came up for trading on Tuesday with 200 ending in the positive territory; 163 in negative and 30 remaining unchanged.

On the 10-volume leaders’ list, Fauji Cement saw trading in huge 64 million shares, up by 70 paisa to Rs11.76. PTCL, dormant for sometime, rose 90 paisa to Rs20.67 on 36 million shares, Lafarge Cement Pakistan saw nominal addition of one paisa to Rs7.98 on 24m shares, Maple Leaf Cement, another retail investors’ favourite gained 38 paisa to Rs21.48 on 18m shares.

Pace (Pak) was up by 14 paisa to Rs4.09 on 15m shares, National Bank of Pakistan gained Rs1.34 to Rs43.84 on 14m shares, KESC was up 29 paisa to Rs6.35 on 14m shares, Telecard Limited rose by 30 paisa to Rs5.39 on 12m shares, Bank of Punjab (right shares) declined by 16 paisa to Rs1.55 on 12m shares and Pakgen Power for the second day hit the ‘upper circuit’ with a gain of Rs1.12 to Rs23.62 on 10m shares.

A flag is placed in the foundation of a flattened home day after a tornado devastated the town Moore, Oklahoma, in the outskirts of Oklahoma City May 21, 2013. — Photo Reuters

MOORE: Emergency workers searched for survivors in the rubble of homes, schools and a hospital in an Oklahoma town hit by a powerful tornado, but officials on Tuesday sharply lowered the number of deaths caused by the storm.

The Oklahoma state medical examiner’s office said 24 bodies had been recovered from the wreckage of Monday’s storm, down from the 91 that were feared dead. The earlier number likely reflected some double-counted deaths, said Amy Elliott, chief administrative officer for the medical examiner.

The 2-mile (3-km) wide tornado tore through Moore outside Oklahoma City on Monday afternoon, trapping victims beneath the rubble. One elementary school took a direct hit and another was destroyed.

Thunderstorms and lightning slowed the rescue effort on Tuesday, but officials lowered the number of bodies recovered.
“We have got good news. The number right now is 24,” Elliot said. “There was a lot of chaos.”

She said additional bodies could yet be recovered.

Firefighters from more than a dozen fire departments worked all night under bright spotlights trying to find survivors at Plaza Towers Elementary School, which took a direct hit.

Rescuers were sent from other states to join the search.

President Barack Obama declared a major disaster area in Oklahoma, ordering federal aid to supplement state and local efforts in Moore after the deadliest U.S. tornado since 161 people were killed in Joplin, Missouri, two years ago.

The White House said Obama would make a statement on the Oklahoma tornado at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT).
“The whole city looks like a debris field,” Glenn Lewis, the mayor of Moore, told NBC.

“It looks like we have lost our hospital. I drove by there a while ago and it’s pretty much destroyed,” Lewis said.

There was an outpouring of grief on Plaza Towers’ Facebook page, with messages from around the country including one pleading simply: “Please find those little children.”

The National Weather Service assigned the twister a preliminary ranking of EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, meaning the second most powerful category of tornado with winds up to 200 mph (320 kph).

SCHOOL TRAGEDY

US Representative Tom Cole, who lives in Moore, said the Plaza Tower school was the most secure and structurally strong building in the area.

“And so people did the right thing, but if you’re in front of an F4 or an F5 there is no good thing to do if you’re above ground. It’s just tragic,” he said on MSNBC TV.

At least 60 of the 240 people injured were children, hospital officials said.

Witnesses said Monday’s tornado appeared more fierce than the giant twister that was among the dozens that tore up the area on May 3, 1999, killing more than 40 people and destroying thousands of homes. That tornado ranked as an EF5 tornado with wind speeds of more than 200 mph.

The 1999 tornado ranks as the third-costliest tornado in U.S. history, having caused more than $1 billion in damage at the time, or more than $1.3 billion in today’s dollars. Only the devastating Joplin and Tuscaloosa tornadoes in 2011 were more costly.

Monday’s tornado in Moore ranks among the most severe in the United States.

Jeff Alger, 34, who works in the Kansas oil fields on a fracking crew, said his wife Sophia took their children out of school when she heard a tornado was coming and then fled Moore and watched it flatten the town from a few miles away.

“They didn’t even have time to grab their shoes,” said Alger, who has five children aged 4 to 11. The storm tore part of the roof off of his home. He was with his wife at Norman Regional Hospital to have glass and other debris removed from his wife’s bare feet.

Moore was devastated with debris everywhere, street signs gone, lights out, houses destroyed and vehicles tossed about as if they were toys.

The dangerous storm system threatened several southern Plains states with more twisters.

SAVED BY CELLPHONE

Speaking outside Norman Regional Hospital Ninia Lay, 48, said she huddled in a closet through two storm alerts and the tornado hit on the third.

“I was hiding in the closet and I heard something like a train coming,” she said under skies still flashing with lightning. The house was flattened and Lay was buried in the rubble for two hours until her husband Kevin, 50, and rescuers dug her out.
“I thank God for my cell phone, I called me husband for help.”

Her 7-year-old daughter Catherine, a first-grader at Plaza Towers Elementary School, took shelter with classmates and teachers in a bathroom when the tornado hit and destroyed the school. She escaped with scrapes and cuts.

At Southmoore High School in Moore, about 15 students were in a field house when the tornado hit. Coaches sent them to an interior locker room and made them put on football helmets, the Oklahoman newspaper said. It said the students survived.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang waves to the audience during an event organised by Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) in New Delhi May 21, 2013. — Photo Reuters

ISLAMABAD, May 21: The Foreign Office has expressed the hope that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s two-day visit to Pakistan starting on Wednesday will help cement strategic ties between the two countries.

Foreign policy experts are attaching great significance to the visit during which agreements on several energy and infrastructure projects will be signed.

On the eve of the visit, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Song Tao has described Pakistan as an “all-weather strategic partner”.

Pakistan is China’s major ally in the region. The two countries have strong political and defence cooperation and want to intensify collaboration on the economic front.

“Pak-China traditional and friendly ties are based on shared principles and mutual interests entailing cooperation in diverse fields. Both countries hold identical views on important world issues and cooperate at international forums,” Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry said on Tuesday.

China intends to explore the untapped market in Pakistan. A senior Chinese trade mission has arrived here a few days ago to identify the items that China may import.

The volume of bilateral trade stands at about $12 billion and the two countries are trying to increase it to $15bn over a few years. More than 100 Chinese companies are working on different projects in Pakistan with an investment of about $2bn.

Important among the agreements the two sides plan to sign during the visit are accords on Gwadar port and development of related infrastructure. Other agreements relate to the fields of economy, science and technology, space and upper atmosphere communication and energy.

This will be the Chinese premier’s first visit to Pakistan since assuming office in March. He will be in Islamabad days ahead of installation of a new government. He will meet Nawaz Sharif, the PML-N leader who will be heading the incoming government.

A senior Pakistani diplomat said the visit would convey a message of goodwill from China to the new government in Islamabad.

Prime Minister Li, who will be leading a high-powered delegation, will have extensive political engagements in Islamabad. Besides meeting President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, he will meet Senate Chairman Nayyar Bokhari, Speaker of National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza and leaders of major political parties. He will also address a special session of the Senate.

The Chinese premier will be conferred upon Nishan-i-Pakistan, the country’s highest award.

Issues related to regional security, particularly Afghanistan and withdrawal of coalition troops from that county, will feature in Prime Minister Li’s talks with Pakistani leaders.

“It is important to note that China relies on Pakistan’s input and perspective on regional issues,” a Pakistani diplomat said.

The Election Commission of Pakistan.—File Photo

ISLAMABAD, May 21: Reiterating its demand for a recount in 25 National Assembly constituencies, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday criticised the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for charging a fee for carrying out verification of thumb impressions of voters.

Speaking at a news conference at the party’s Central Secretariat, senior PTI leader Jahangir Tareen and party’s information secretary Dr Shireen Mazari termed the decision of the ECP and National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to collect the fee from the complainants “unfair and unpleasant”.

Both the PTI leaders held returning officers (ROs) responsible for the alleged rigging and misappropriation in the May 11 general elections.

Mr Tareen, who lost the election to a National Assembly seat (NA-154) of Lodhran, explained to the media personnel how, in his opinion, the election staff manipulated the poll results in several constituencies. He urged the ECP to refurnish results for several constituencies, including NA-154 (Lodhran). According to official results of NA-154, an independent candidate, Muhammad Siddique Khan Baloch, had won the elections with 86,177 votes, followed by 75,955 votes by Jahangir Tareen. The PML-N candidate, Syed Rafiuddin Bukhari, stood third in the race with 45,634 votes.

Mr Tareen said that according to initial results which had been widely published in the national media he was winning the election until the morning of May 12.

However, he alleged the results were later tampered with by the returning officer through “misappropriations and under the table rigging”.

“My application for recount had been kept pending for three days after May 14 while my access to the record had also been denied by the election officials,” he said provided some “documented evidence” to the media.

The PTI leader said out of 220 bags containing ballot papers, the seals of 170 bags were broken while counterfoils of around 26,500 ballot papers were without the signatures and seals of the assistant presiding officers. “Marked electoral rolls from five polling stations were missing while 934 unused ballot papers were also not mentioned in the record,” he said.

The PTI leader was hopeful that he would win the elections despite all evidence of rigging and misappropriations, if a recount was ordered.

Dr Shireen Mazari blasted the ECP for its scheme and subsequently potential cost of thumb impressions’ audit through the Nadra. “Charging Rs10 or Rs15 per vote from the aggrieved candidate who lodges an application for thumb impression audit owing to rigging or misappropriation in the polls is explicitly unfair,” she said.

“It is not only against the principle of fairness in the polls but will make justice very expensive or may be impossible in some cases.”

She asked the ECP to immediately withdraw this decision.