LAHORE

CONCERNED Citizens of Pakistan (CCP) slammed the US intervention into Pakistan?s affairs, terming the visit of the US Secretary of State

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ISLAMABAD: A delegation, comprising members Balochistan assembly, has demanded PM Gilani of dispensation of bulletproof vehicle as part of steeping up security measures for MPAs, Geo news reported on Friday.

According to sources, the Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, on the occasion, said that a comprehensive plan for the development of Balochistan focusing on administrative, constitutional, political and financial reforms to redress the grievances and sense of deprivation of the people would soon be announced.

Talking to a delegation of Balochistan Assembly on Saturday at the PM House, led by Chief Minister Balochistan Nawab Aslam Raeesani, Prime Minister Gilani said the plan would be in addition to the initiatives already undertaken by the government for the progress and prosperity of the province.

The Prime Minister said that the Parliamentary Committee on Balochistan headed by Senator, Mian Raza Rabbani had consulted and incorporated the suggestions of all the stakeholders as well as the proposals of all previous committees on Balochistan in its final reports.

The Prime Minister said the government would provide adequate funds to Balochistan in order to ensure basic necessities of life to the people as well as development of the entire Balochistan province.

Nawab Raeesani informed the Prime Minister about the proceedings of the NFC Award and expressed satisfaction on its progress.

He also presented him a resolution passed by the Balochistan Assembly mentioning the state of security in the province and the need of the public representatives to have constant contact with the people at this critical time.

The resolution demands the provision of bulletproof vehicles to all members of the assembly to ensure their free movement among the masses.

The meeting offered fateha for the departed soul of Shafeeq Ahmed Khan, Balochistan Minister for Education who was recently gunned down in a terrorist act.

The Prime Minister said that security of life and property of the people is government?s top priority and Ministry of Interior has already been given clear directions in this regard.

He directed the Ministry of Finance and Interior to facilitate the import of bullet proof cars for those feeling threatened.

The delegation included Balochistan Ministers Maulana Abdul Wassey, Mir Sadiq All Umrani, Mir Zafarullah Zehri, Mir Muhammad Asim Kurd, Mir Asadullah Baloch, Muhammad Younus Mullazai, Mir Saleem Khosa, Maulana Sarwar and MPA, Mir Zahoor Hussain Khosa.

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ISLAMABAD: Opposition leader in the National Assembly and Central leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan Friday said if the rulers are intent on turning the Parliament House into arena over National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), then horse and hippodrome are both at hand.

Talking to media representatives at Parliament House, he said Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) would put up stiff resistance on the NRO, adding nobody needs to provide any push to dismantle the government, if PML-N withdraws a little, then the government would disintegrate.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said he does not believe in any minus-1 or minus-5 formula.

Denouncing the NRO, he termed it a slur on the Parliament, as heinous crimes like abduction, dacoity and corruption were condoned with a single stroke of the pen under this black and notorious law, adding the government may get it passed; but it would be a disgrace to the House.

He demanded the names of the NRO beneficiaries be presented in the House.

If President Asif Ali Zardari proves him to be a national president and develops a habit of keeping the promises, then he would have a meeting with him, he said.

Lashing out at Maulana Fazlur Rehman, he said Maulana kept on holding halal (Lawful), the haram (Forbidden) of the former President Gen (rtd) Pervez Musharraf by yesterday and now he is busy with proving the haram of President Asif Ali Zardari as halal.

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ISLAMABAD: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton came face-to-face Friday with Pakistani anger over U.S. aerial drone attacks in tribal areas along the Afghan border, a strategy that U.S. officials say has succeeded in killing key terrorist leaders.

In a series of public appearances on the final day of a three-day visit marked by blunt talk, Clinton refused to discuss the subject, which involves highly classified CIA operations. She would say only that “there is a war going on,” and the Obama administration is committed to helping Pakistan defeat the insurgents and terrorists who threaten the stability of a nuclear-armed nation.

Clinton said she could not comment on “any particular tactic or technology” used in the war against extremist groups in the area.

The use of Predator drone aircraft, armed with guided missiles, is credited by U.S. officials with eliminating a growing number of senior terrorist group leaders this year who had used the tribal lands of Pakistan as a haven beyond the reach of U.S. ground forces in Afghanistan.

During an interview broadcast live in Pakistan with several prominent female TV anchors, before a predominantly female audience of several hundred, one member of the audience said the Predator attacks amount to “executions without trial” for those killed.

Another asked Clinton how she would define terrorism.

“Is it the killing of people in drone attacks?” she asked. That woman then asked if Clinton considers drone attacks and bombings like the one that killed more than 100 civilians in the city of Peshawar earlier this week to both be acts of terrorism.

“No, I do not,” Clinton replied.

Earlier, in a give-and-take with about a dozen residents of the tribal region, one man alluded obliquely to the drone attacks, saying he had heard that in the United States, aircraft are not allowed to take off after 11 p.m., to avoid irritating the population.

“That is the sort of peace we want for our people,” he said through an interpreter.

The same man told Clinton that the Obama administration should rely more on wisdom and less on firepower to achieve its aims in Pakistan.

“Your presence in the region is not good for peace,” he said, referring to the U.S. military, “because it gives rise to frustration and irritation among the people of this region.” At another point he told Clinton, “Please forgive me, but I would like to say we”ve been fighting your war.”

A similar point was made by Sana Bucha of Geo TV during the live broadcast interview.

“It is not our war,” she told Clinton. “It is your war.” She drew a burst of applause when she added, “You had one 9/11. We are having daily 9/11s in Pakistan.”

Capturing a feeling that Clinton heard expressed numerous times during her visit, one woman in the audience said, “The whole world thinks we are terrorists.” The woman said she was from the South Waziristan area where the Pakistani army is engaged in pitched battles with Taliban and affiliated extremist elements ? and where U.S. drones have struck with deadly effect many times.

The Pakistani army said Friday its forces had killed 14 militants in 24 hours and were closing in on a prominent insurgent stronghold as its offensive in the remote region continued.

Clinton’’s main message on Friday was that the U.S. wants to be a partner with Pakistan, not just on the military front but also on trade, education, energy and other sectors. She stressed, however, that Pakistan needs to do its part in demonstrating a real commitment to democracy.

Clinton also was asked about her remark on Thursday that she found it hard to believe that Pakistani officials don”t know where leaders of terrorist groups are hiding in Pakistan.

On Friday she took a bit of the edge off that comment, saying, “I don”t know if anyone knows, but we in the United States would very much like to see the end of the al-Qaida leadership, and our best information is that they are somewhere in Pakistan.”

In an interview broadcast Friday on ABC’’s “Good Morning America,” Clinton was asked about the bluntness of her remarks.

“Trust is a two-way street. There is trust deficit,” she said. “It will not be sufficient to achieve the level of security that Pakistanis deserve if we don”t go after those who are still threatening not only Pakistan, but Afghanistan, and the rest of the world. And we wanted to put that on the table. And I think it was important that we did.”

Asked if she thought Pakistan was harboring terrorists, Clinton replied, “I don”t think they are. … But I think it would be a missed opportunity and a lack of recognition of the full extent of the threat, if they did not realize that any safe haven anywhere for terrorists threatens them, threatens us, and has to be addressed.”

Later Clinton was to fly to Abu Dhabi in the Persian Gulf for a meeting Saturday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

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ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday returned two out of the three petitions filed by Justice (retd) Abdul Hameed Dogar, after raising some

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ISLAMABAD: Chief Minister NWFP Ameer HaiderKhan Hoti on Friday called on President Asif Ali Zardari and discussed matters relating to the ongoing war against militants and the issue of settlement of internally displaced persons.

In the meeting held at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, they also discussed the political situation and developmental projects in the province.

President Zardari said that heinous incidents such as bomb blast in a market in Peshawar would never shake the state’’s resolve to pursue the struggle against militants to its logical end.

The President condemned the incident and expressed his condolences for the bereaved families.

He directed to expedite payments to the victims according to the laid down policy.

The President also said that the internally displaced persons were making huge sacrifices for the survival of the country and the government would do everything possible to facilitate and rehabilitate them.

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PARIS: The World Cup Hockey Qualifying Round will begin tomorrow in France where Pakistan will play their first match against Italy.

The first World Cup Hockey Qualifying Round is being started at Lille, a city of France on Saturday and three matches will be played on first day.

The first match will be played between Japan and Russia while Pakistan will face Italy in the second and the third match will be held between France and Poland.

The winners of the tournament will be eligible to participate in the World Cup, to be held next year in India.

Pakistan are being considered favorite team in the qualifying round.

However, Pakistan team coach Shahid Ali Khan said though Pakistan team is better then other teams participating in the tournament but it would take its match seriously against each country.

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ISLAMABAD: Barrister Ahmad Raza Khan Kasuri has said he is prepared to appear on behalf of President Asif Ali Zardari and defend the National Reconcil

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PESHAWAR: The construction of Lowari tunnel project in Chitral has resumed under special security arrangements.

The engineers of Korean company Sambo have arrived on the project site along with other workers.

Extra-ordinary security measures have been taken to ensure the safety of Korean engineers.

Special squads of Chitral police along with Chitral Border Police, FC and Chitral Scouts have been deployed on the site of Lawari Tunnel project.

Presently, Korean engineers have been accommodated in Chitral.

The construction of Lowari tunnel project is due to be completed by 20th September 2010.

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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani Friday approved allocation of Rs.600 million for National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) in addition to Rs.300 million already earmarked for PSDP 2009-10 to ensure timely implementation of projects.

Chairing a meeting to review the working and performance of (NCHD) at the PM House, Gilani said an integrated approach was imperative for meeting government?s objective of achieving Millennium Development Goals in literacy, primary education and healthcare.

The Prime Minister directed the NCHD to utilize expertise in primary education and adult literacy to achieve country?s development agenda. He directed Ministry of Finance to ensure timely provision of funds for the approved projects.

The Prime Minister directed NCHD to prepare a projection plan in consultation with the Ministry of Information Broadcasting to create public awareness and generate funds by involving the private sector.

The Prime Minister said the government was focussing on improving human development indicators in Pakistan and directed the NCHD to expand outreach of the project launched in September to 134 districts of the country.

The Prime Minister reaffirmed his government?s commitment towards ensuring transparency and accountability at all levels and asked the NCHD to take appropriate measures.

The Finance Minister assured that required funds will be made available on priority.

Chairperson Ms. Nafisa Shah said NCHD has been mandated to run programs regarding education, health and volunteerism for community development with focus on universal primary education, adult literacy and primary healthcare.

She said NCHD has expanded its programs since 2002 to 122 districts. Under the Rs 2.3 billion per annum with over 50,000 employees, the program would be implemented in almost every district in the country.

She said a strategy based on public-private partnership was being evolved to increase community participation, capacity and competency building, introduction of best practices and filling gapes for systemic improvement.

Highlighting the achievements of Universal Primary Education Program, Ms. Nafisa Shah said with NCHD?s efforts 8.2 million of school children aged 5-7 years was achieved showing an increase from 54% to 86%, drop out rate reduced from 50% to 20% in 17 districts in phase-I.

She said 146,225 teachers were trained while 3882 government schools re-opened. Under the Adult Literacy Program 120,263 centers were established through which 2.68 million have benefitted, 90% of whom were females.

The meeting was informed that under the approved PC-I for three years, the interventions of primary education and adult literacy will be implemented in all the districts of Malakand.

In addition, relief and rehabilitation activities relating to livelihood and employment as well as efforts for establishing a tolerant and friendly society through education interventions are underway.

The meeting was informed that NCHD has been awarded UNESCO International Literacy Award 2006 in recognition of its efforts in providing education and healthcare facilities at the grassroots level.

The meeting was informed that an integrated primary healthcare model focusing on improving health of primary school students in 916 BHUs in 12 districts was being implemented.

Minister for Finance Shaukat Tareen; Minister for Labour and Manpower Syed Khursheed Ahmad Shah; Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Sardar Assef Ahmad Ali; Secretaries Cabinet, Education and Planning attended the meeting.

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