ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira on Thursday said that the network of terrorist organizations has been smashed in the country adding that we have to join hands to fight collectively against such elements.

Talking to media persons here at the Parliament House, he said that it is not a time to indulge in blame game but is a time to create unity among our rank and file and to fight the mindset which wants to destabilize the country. “The Punjab government should not be blamed for Lahore tragedy. No one is safe from them and the terrorists attack whenever they find any opportunity,” he observed.

The minister said the government operation against the terrorists in Swat, Malakand and tribal areas remained successful and the whole network of terrorist organizations has been broken. The whole nation including security forces, media and the civil society played key role in eradicating the menace of terrorism from Swat and Malakand division, he said.

The security forces remained successful in the operation against the terrorists in Malakand division and it was the results of consensus which was built against such elements, he added. The Minister said that some splinter elements belonging to smashed terrorists groups are acting in desperation but the government would not allow them to play with lives of innocent people.

Replying to a question, Kaira said that it was not made public that how many people were arrested in connection with terrorism on the basis of intelligence. “Wherever we deem necessary, we will take action and we need no dictation from any quarter,” he added.

In response to another question, he said that democracy has been restored after long struggle and the nation would not tolerate any ultra-constitutional change in the system.

The National Assembly session was convened to discuss relief and rehabilitation of flood victims but it has been adjourned for one day owing to the death of Minister for Local Government AbdulRazzaq Thahim and now the matter would be discussed on Friday.

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KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Chief Altaf Hussain Thursday asserted that a public revolution has become fate of Pakistan and now nothing can stop a ?French revolution-like change in the country?.

Addressing via telephone a launching ceremony of book ?Meray Quaid? by MQM?s Deputy Convener Anis Ahmed Qaimkhani here at Khursheed Begum Memorial Hall, Azizabad, Altaf Hussain invited ?notables, armed forces, Establishment and bureaucracy? to come forward and begin lending their support to the people.

Journalists, scholars, members of national and provincial assemblies besides workers and office bearers of MQM attended the ceremony.

?In the prevailing situation of the country, which has also been hit by worst floods, the poor has nothing to eat nor anything to wear, forcing people to sell out their children,? Altaf Hussain noted.

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GENEVA: Growing resentment among Pakistan flood victims on the pace of aid delivery is hampering the relief effort, the international Red Cross warned Thursday, saying it had to halt two distributions recently due to unrest.

“What we are detecting is a very worrying trend of areas where … people are so in need, so resentful of not getting enough aid, that they turn understandably aggressive and this is bad because it doesn”t help in our efforts to reach more of them,” said Jacques de Maio, the head of operations for South Asia for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

He pointed out that in two instances in the past eight days, officials had to stop distribution of relief items “because of unrest.”

“We are worried because if this trend extends, propagates,” it could hinder the aid effort, he noted.

De Maio noted that the trend is particularly worrying because, unlike other disasters such as an earthquake, the floods are generating more and more victims as the high waters sweep into new regions.

“The thing is that due to the sheer magnitude of this and the fact that we are not in for a sprint, we”re here for a marathon, we need to make sure that (such unrest) does not become the rule rather than the exception,” he said.

De Maio also pointed out that certain elements were also not helping by agitating the crowd.

“If you organise a distribution for 30,000 and in the last 48 hours you have an additional 150,000, then you have a problem, particularly if you have people in the crowd, behind the crowd saying that ”anyway they”re useless, anyway they are politicised”,” he said.

“By doing so, the choice is the usual dilemma, are we ready to have our friends, our staff being killed and looted there? Because instead of helping 150,000 people we can only help 30,000?”

“Our angle is that we want first to help this 30,000 and see how we can extend what we do,” said de Maio.

The unprecedented floods have engulfed an area the size of England, affecting more than 18 million people, including eight million who are dependent on aid handouts to survive.

The scale of the disaster is so large that a month after the deluge, many are complaining of going without food or water for days.

The ICRC, which has already reached hundreds of thousands of flood victims, expects to reach around 1.4 million people within the next six weeks.

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ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira on Thursday said that the network of terrorist organizations has been smashed in the country adding that we have to join hands to fight collectively against such elements.

Talking to media persons here at the Parliament House, he said that it is not a time to indulge in blame game but is a time to create unity among our rank and file and to fight the mindset which wants to destabilize the country. “The Punjab government should not be blamed for Lahore tragedy. No one is safe from them and the terrorists attack whenever they find any opportunity,” he observed.

The minister said the government operation against the terrorists in Swat, Malakand and tribal areas remained successful and the whole network of terrorist organizations has been broken. The whole nation including security forces, media and the civil society played key role in eradicating the menace of terrorism from Swat and Malakand division, he said.

The security forces remained successful in the operation against the terrorists in Malakand division and it was the results of consensus which was built against such elements, he added. The Minister said that some splinter elements belonging to smashed terrorists groups are acting in desperation but the government would not allow them to play with lives of innocent people.

Replying to a question, Kaira said that it was not made public that how many people were arrested in connection with terrorism on the basis of intelligence. “Wherever we deem necessary, we will take action and we need no dictation from any quarter,” he added.

In response to another question, he said that democracy has been restored after long struggle and the nation would not tolerate any ultra-constitutional change in the system.

The National Assembly session was convened to discuss relief and rehabilitation of flood victims but it has been adjourned for one day owing to the death of Minister for Local Government AbdulRazzaq Thahim and now the matter would be discussed on Friday.

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RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani along with Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, United States flew over flood affected areas of Southern Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan Thursday.

They stopped over at Multan, where they were briefed about the progress of relief operation conducted by Pakistan Army.

COAS thanked United States for the support given to Pakistan to cope up with the natural calamity.

Kayani appreciated the sustained efforts being made to provide rescue and relief support to the affected people and directed the formations to also focus on the rehabilitation.

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KARACHI: The killers of MQM MPA Raza Haider have been identified by two witnesses in a local court here, Geo News reported Thursday.

CID police produced Mohammed Waseem alias Barodi, Abdullah alias Taimoor and Iklaq in court of Judicial Magistrate Central and West for identification parade.

The two witnesses identified the alleged men who have been accused of sectarian killings as well as their involvement in the murder of the MPA Raza Haider, along with the killings of Dr Junaid Haidri and Khadim Hussain, among others.

A police party led by SSP Operations Mohammed Fayaz Khan and SSP Chaudhry Aslam arrested Mohammed Waseem alias Barodi, and Abdullah alias Taimoor, during an encounter in Orangi Town.

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LAHORE: Son-in-law and daughter of Lahore High Court Justice Munir Ahmed have been injured in a firing incident in Gulberg area of Lahore, Geo News reported Thursday.

Both the injured have been shifted to the nearby hospital.

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WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund will give Pakistan $450 million in emergency flood aid and disburse funds during September, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Thursday.

Severe flooding in Pakistan has destroyed cropland and livestock and displaced millions of people, causing damage the government has estimated at $43 billion, or almost one quarter of the South Asian nation’’s 2009 GDP.

“The IMF … will be the first agency likely to disperse very rapidly money which is absolutely needed,” he told reporters after a week of discussions with Pakistani officials.

“The most important thing is to keep the Pakistani economy on track.”

Talks with a delegation led by Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on the terms of an $11 billion IMF loan program left him satisfied with the country’’s commitment to reforms, the IMF chief said.

Under the 2008 IMF loan program, Islamabad pledged to implement tax and energy sector reforms and give full autonomy to the State Bank of Pakistan.

“What is important is what was decided by the government to do to improve the economic situation, especially in the tax sector but in other fields also,” said Strauss-Kahn.

“What I heard from the authorities that they really want to move on with the program,” he said.

Shaikh said Islamabad remained committed to loan terms, including fiscal authority and tax reforms.

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WASHINGTON: The World Bank on Thursday raised flood aid to Pakistan to one billion dollars while the IMF approved 450 million dollars in emergency financing to help the nation cope with its worst-ever humanitarian disaster.

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army is devotedly working in rescue and relief operations in flood affected areas across the country.

Pakistan Army soldiers during last 24 hours rescued and shifted 3,200 marooned people to the Relief Camps in Sukkur, Shahdadkot, Qamber and Shikarpur besides providing cooked food to 29,500 people, treating over 4000 people through 21 static and mobile medical units in Sindh, said a press release issued here.

Army Aviation air dropped 6,000 kilograms dry rations, 46,000 water bottles, 25 tons of dry rations and 764 family packets (35 kgs each) have been distributed among the marooned people in Sindh.

Veterinary treatment has been provided to 24,000 cattles.

Army has provided 1700 tents to various Army Relief Camps in Sindh to accommodate the stranded people.

Army Field Hospitals and mobile medical teams have provided medical treatment and medicines to more than 35,000 affected people of Balochistan.

Army and FC Balochistan have distributed 45 tons of rations in relief camps of Dera Murad Jamali, Quetta, Jhal Magsi and Dhadarnital, while 35 Relief camps have been established in collaboration with Civil Administration where the affected people were provided food, shelter and medical treatment.

Army is also providing cooked food to over 20,000 affected people of Dera Murad Jamali.

Army has dropped dry ration packs through helicopters in areas of Osta Mohammad and Gandakha.

Army has dispatched three C-130 carrying tents, dry ration packs and relief goods to Quetta besides establishing a relief base at Gandakha to streamline relief activities in Balochistan.

In Southern Punjab, Army is managing Relief Camps, where more than 10,000 family packs of ration are being distributed daily.

Pakistan Army Medical Corps alongwith 14 Turkish, Australian Medical Camps are providing medical treatments to the patients.

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