PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) expressed reservations over Kerry-Lugar Bill and urged on the negotiations between the federal government and US on the conditions in the Bill.
According to the statement issued here, the ANP said the Bill should mirror the desires of the people, mutual respect and the sovereignty of both the countries, however, the language used in the bill is objectionable and is tantamount to interference into the internal affairs of Pakistan and stands in conflict with the national sovereignty of Pakistan.
The statement stressed the negotiations on the conditions stipulated in the KL Bill and the continuation of the non-military aid to Pakistan.
According to the ANP, Pakistan and US are allies and both the countries want the elimination of terrorism, rule of law and stability of democracy.
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ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly has approved the corporatisation, demutualisation and integration law of stock exchanges, which would be soon placed
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PESHAWAR: Two round matches of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy have been shifted from Peshawar to Rawalpindi and Islamabad due to suicide explosion here on Friday.
Following the bomb blast in Peshawar, an emergency meeting of the Pakistan Cricket Board?s domestic wing was held at the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore.
This has been decided in the meeting to shift the first two round matches of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy from Peshawar.
Now the match scheduled to be played between Peshawar and Karachi Bears at Peshawar from tomorrow will be held at the KRL Stadium Rawalpindi from October 11 to 14 while the second round match between Peshawar and Quetta will be played from October 16 to 19 at the National Cricket Ground Islamabad.
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PESHAWAR: A Levies personnel was injured in an extremists? attack at FC Cantonment in Khyber Agency?s area of Landi Kotal, Geo News reported Saturday.
The security forces continued their action against the miscreants in the area.
According to the security forces? sources, the miscreants fired various mortars from mountains near Landi Kotal FC Cantonment, one mortar shell fell near the residence of Assistant Political Agency Azam Jan, injuring a Levies personnel.
Another mortar shell fell in the limits of CMH Hospital; however, there is no report regarding any loss of life.
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BEIJING: World number two Rafa Nadal’’s comeback came to a shuddering halt on Saturday when he was crushed 6-1 6-3 by Croatian Marin Cilic in the semi-finals of the $6.6 million China Open.
French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, the highest surving women’’s seed, beat fellow Russian Nadia Petrova 6-1 6-3 in just over an hour to ease into her fourth China Open final, where she will play France’’s Marion Bartoli or Pole Agnieszka Radwanska.
Top seed Nadal had talked this week of getting back to the kind of form he enjoyed before tendonitis of the knees and an abdominal injury disrupted his season.
With his first final since May in his sights, however, the Australian Open champion simply had no answer to the power of the eighth seeded wildcard, who will meet Novak Djokovic on Sunday.
“Cilic is good, is young and has a very good serve but if you are losing 6-1 6-3 there are a lot of things you are doing wrong,” said Nadal. “Mentally I probably wasn”t there.”
Cilic, in his first meeting with the former world number one, led 5-0 after just 15 minutes of the first set and allowed Nadal just two break points in the match, both in the second set.
“He played very fast at the beginning, played very well. It was very difficult for me, he was serving unbelievable, returning very fast and playing winners almost all the time,” said Nadal.
“The worst thing for me is when I had a little bit of a chance to come back into the match in the second set I didn”t play well.”
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LAHORE: The two-day conference of women journalists associated with South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has commenced here in Lahore on Friday, Geo news reported.
According to sources, during the first session of conference, Indian actress Nandita Das said that Pakistani and Indian women working in print and electronic media face the same kind of complications like other countries.
Other speakers said they can find the remedies of their problems through this platform.
Later, following the conclusion of conference, women journalists told media Pakistan and Indian people wish to resolve issues though mutual understanding and the politicians must play their active role to serve this purpose.
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KARACHI: The CNG Association Chairman Ghayas Pracha Saturday threatened the government of countrywide strike over hike in gas prices and plans of gas load shedding.
Talking to Geo News here, he said Petroleum Ministry sent to Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) the proposal regarding raise in gas tariffs at the commencement of winter season and starting load shedding of the gas being provided to CNG stations.
Pracha said if the federal government decides to implement this proposal, then 3000 CNG stations countrywide would go on strike, adding at least 3 million vehicles run on CNG in the country.
He said the government has been suggested to increase the gas prices to Rs87/kg; if the gas tariffs are increased in accordance with the said suggestion, then all gas-run vehicles would return to petrol and this would trouble government in importing petrol, keeping it and supplying it.
Ghayas Pracha warned that CNG stations would be shut down with 90 percent of gas load shedding.
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WASHINGTON: The US Saturday said the negotiations with Pakistan over energy and power would be held next week.
Addressing a press conference, the spokesperson of the US State Department said three-day negotiations with Pakistan over power and energy would be held, adding Pakistan is beset with various energy problems and that Pakistan would prove a good market for investors.
The spokesman said Pakistan is acting well upon the agreements entered with International Monetary Fund (IMF) and it is needed that besides the profits of the investors, people should be given relief.
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ISLAMABAD: A high level meeting of country?s top leadership Saturday reviewed the overall security situation and matters of national interest. They took into account the abortive attack on the GHQ and the implications of Kerry Lugar bill for Pakistan.
The meeting chaired by President Asif Ali Zardari here at Aiwan e Sadr was attended by Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani, Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi and DG ISI Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha.
The meeting discussed various aspects of the Kerry Lugar bill. There was unanimity of views and it was decided that the Government of Pakistan will take up the controversial clauses of the bill with the US government, according to an official source at the PM House.
It was also decided that a final national response to the Kerry Lugar bill will be given at the conclusion of the debate in the Parliament.
The meeting also discussed the prevailing security situation, with a particular reference to the attack on the GHQ and the recent terrorist attacks at Peshawar and Islamabad.
Earlier, Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani separately called on the President and discussed current political situation with the President.
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LAHORE: The security across Punjab province has been put on red alert following militants? attack on army GHQ in Rawalpindi this morning, Geo news reported Friday.
According to sources, monitoring of all the entrances and exits of province has been beefed up while police and other law enforcement agencies have been directed to maintain law and order situation besides, safeguarding life and property of masses.
The installment of CCTV cameras, to beef up visual monitoring in and around sensitive and official buildings, must be completed immediately, Interior Secretary Punjab Nadeem Hassan Asif directed police and law enforcement agencies.
Also, agencies have been dictated to monitor Afghanis whose names were among Afghan Trained Boys (ATB) list, he added.
He issued appealed to people and property dealers to keep police and agencies? officials informed of new tenants.
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