Hasb-e-Haal - Aftab Iqbal - 19th September 2009

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Pakistan seeks terrorism charges against Americans

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani police will ask a court to charge five Americans detained in the country this month with planning terrorist attacks and jail them for life, a police official said on Thursday. The young Americans, from Virginia, are accused of contacting militants groups over the Internet in a bid to wage holy war. Pakistani officials have said the Taliban had planned to use them to carry out attacks inside U.S. ally Pakistan."A joint investigation team has concluded its probe and we'll present them before a court on January 4 to seek life imprisonment sentences under anti-terrorist laws," said Usman Anwar, police chief in Sargodha, where the men were arrested. "We'll prove in the court that their aim was just to spread terrorism under the garb of jihad and for that, they were in touch with Taliban and other Arab militants in tribal areas." Pakistan's Pashtun tribal lands bordering Afghanistan are known sanctuaries for al Qaeda and Taliban militants who fled the U.S.-led assault on Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks on United States. Washington is pushing Pakistan to root out militants who cross the border to attack U.S.- and NATO-led forces in Afghanistan.

Emails showed that the Americans had plans to travel to a Pakistani nuclear power plant, according to police.

The case has illustrated how easy it is for anyone to pursue dreams of joining militant jihad through cyber channels, a worrying reality for Pakistan, already struggling on the ground to contain a Taliban insurgency.

The men -- two are of Pakistani ancestry, one of Egyptian, one of Yemeni and one of Eritrean -- were arrested in Sargodha, home to one of Pakistan's biggest airbases, 190 km (120 miles) southeast of Pakistani capital Islamabad.

Some analysts say the case of the Americans reflects a new strategy by militants to try to avoid tighter security measures by forming networks on the Internet.

They were found with maps and had intended to travel through northwest Pakistan to an al Qaeda and Taliban militant stronghold, officials said.

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Pakistan take firm grip on second Test

Imran Farhat and Salman Butt put on a 109-run partnership for the first wicket as Pakistan ended the second day of the second Test against Australia at 331 for 9, a first-innings lead of 204 runs, at the SCG on Monday. Australia were bowled out for 127 on Sunday.

Farhat, who was dropped by Marcus North to a regulation slip chance off Siddle on 11, went on to raise his 13th half-century before skying an attempted sweep off Nathan Hauritz shortly after the lunch break.

Butt also fell in the second session, edging a full-length delivery from deserving Johnson.

However, Faisal Iqbal and Mohammad Yousuf ensured there were no further setbacks with an unbroken 46-run third-wicket partnership heading into tea. Iqbal fell soon after the break to an athletic catch from Watson at backward point off the bowling of Peter Siddle, but Yousuf and Umar Akmal helped the tourists with some lusting hitting. That prompted a flurry of runs and dismissals that saw Bollinger and Watson pick up five wickets between them.

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Pakistan’s MCB Bank Says RBS Deal Lapses Over Share Dispute

By Farhan Sharif

Jan. 4 (Bloomberg) -- MCB Bank Ltd., Pakistan's biggest by market value, said its deal to acquire Royal Bank of Scotland Plc's local unit lapsed because of a dispute over depositing shares as security.

"We disagreed on the requirement that we deposit the sponsor's shares because the regulator didn't inform us about this requirement at the start of this deal," Ali Munir, chief financial officer of MCB Bank said in a telephone interview from Lahore today. MCB does not plan to participate if RBS shares are offered for bidding again, he said.

MCB Bank had agreed in August to acquire a 99.4 percent stake in RBS Pakistan for about $87 million to increase branches and its expertise in financial transactions.

MCB Bank's shares, which rose 92 percent last year, fell 1.5 percent to 216.50 rupees at 12:07 p.m. on the Karachi Stock Exchange. RBS Pakistan fell 5.6 percent to 17 rupees.

Syed Wasimuddin, chief spokesman for the State Bank of Pakistan, the central bank, refused to comment on why the transaction lapsed.

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Wake Up Lahore - Revive idealogy of Pakistan Q&A Session

Mr Zaid Hamid answers questions of students from various Universities of Pakistan in Wake Up Lahore event.

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Wake Up Lahore - Revive idealogy of Pakistan

Mr Zaid Hamid delivers a lecture in an event organized by Fashion Designer Maria B. and Students from various Universities of Pakistan.

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Pakistan issues postage stamp to mark 60th anniversary of new China

 ISLAMABAD, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Pakistani government issued acommemorative postage stamp of five rupees here on Thursday to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

    Pakistani Federal Minister for Postal Services Nawabzada Mir Israr Ullah Khan Zehri and Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan unveiled the stamp issued by the Pakistan Post at its headquarters in Islamabad.

    Zehri said that Pak-China friendship spans over half a century and is imbued by a high degree of trust and commonality of interests.

    "The all-weather friendship between China and Pakistan has withstood the test of time and has prospered notwithstanding changes in the international, regional and domestic environment," he said, adding "the four visits of President Asif Ali Zardari to China in less than a year is a testament to our growing multifaceted cooperation."

    Luo Zhaohui, Chinese ambassador to Pakistan, said that Sino-Pakistan relations are time-tested and multi-dimensional. He said that the Chinese people and the government always remember what Pakistan had done for them when most western countries were trying to isolate China.

    The Chinese ambassador said that Pakistan was the first Muslim country to establish diplomatic relations with China and took the bold step of being the first non-socialist country sign an Air Services Agreement with China, which is greatly appreciated by the Chinese people and the government.

    Luo said that he was confident that the Sino-Pakistan friendship, which is "higher than the Himalayas, deeper than the Arabian sea and sweeter than honey," would be further enhanced through the two countries' cooperation in all the fields.

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