Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (46448)	6/11/2004 3:22:41 AM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

Karachi corps commander survives attack dailytimes.com.pk * Six soldiers, three policemen, one bystander dead * Musharraf and Jamali express outrage over incident By Hasan Mansoor and Intikhab Ali KARACHI: Seven Pakistan Army soldiers, three policemen and a bystander were killed when unidentified people ambushed the Karachi corps commander’s motorcade near Clifton Bridge, military and police officials said on Thursday. “At least six soldiers were killed in the ambush. Some policemen and a pedestrian were also killed,” Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan told Daily Times. City police chief Tariq Jamil confirmed the death of three policemen and a pedestrian in the attack. Two of the policemen were identified as Sub-Inspector Hasan Asghar and Head Constable Mohammad Nazeer. An attempt to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf, reported in April 2002, failed when an explosive-laden car en route President Musharraf’s motorcade did not explode. Officials said Corps Commander Lt Gen Ahsan Saleem Hayat left his Bath Island residence for Corps House at about 8:40am and unidentified people ambushed the convoy when it neared Clifton Bridge at about 8:45am. Witnesses said seven to eight gunmen in a 16-seater Toyota Hiace van ambushed the motorcade with automatic weapons. “The firing was very intense and lasted for at least 10 minutes,” a witness said. “I was in my restaurant near the bridge when I heard gunshots,” Mohammad Yousaf, a cook at a local restaurant, told Daily Times. He said he saw three policemen manning a police post near the bridge return fire. “I saw a policeman being shot and falling to the ground,” Yousaf said, adding, “Two other policemen were also shot. He said the gunmen escaped after the shooting ended. About 15 minutes later, someone threw a grenade next to the bridge that exploded and injured several people. Later, a bomb disposal squad reached the scene, discovered a bomb attached to one of Clifton Bridge’s pylons and defused it. “The bomb weighed five kilogrammes and would have caused extensive damage had it gone off,” a bomb expert said. Some investigators said the plan to attack the corps commander was similar to the plot to assassinate President Musharraf last December in Rawalpindi. “It was a well-planned attack. Conspirators used bombs and attackers to eliminate a senior army officer. Perhaps the general’s incidental delay in his routine affected their plan,” a senior official said. Some say military personnel might have facilitated the attack, as they did in the attack on President Musharraf six months ago. Police found the bullet-ridden Toyota van in the Defence View locality and a bloodstained AK-47 in the vehicle. They also discovered bloodstains inside the vehicle. Officials said the vehicle was snatched from Gulistan-e-Jauhar an hour before the attack. “We believe one or more attackers were injured in the exchange of fire,” a senior police official said. “It is obvious that the attack was on the Karachi corps commander and those who don’t want Pakistan to prosper are behind it,” Maj Gen Sultan said. “It’s too early to identify the culprits. We are investigating,” he added. Asked whether the ambush was connected to the attack on President Musharraf, he said, “Let’s wait for the investigation.” Clifton Bridge, about 500 metres from the US consulate building, was closed to traffic after the attack. Many military, paramilitary and police vehicles had cordoned off the bridge and all roads leading towards the US consulate building. Roads leading to the Pakistan American Cultural Centre, where a blast had killed a policeman and injured 32 others on May 26, were also blocked. The grenade blast at the bridge that connects the city to the commercial Clifton neighbourhood forced shopkeepers to shut their shops. The attackers shot at the corps commander’s motorcade from the van’s windows, witnesses said, adding that the convoy was stated to consist of six vehicles including a police mobile that was leading the others. They said the attackers and the corps commander’s bodyguards exchanged fire that killed four people including the three policemen and a sweeper. The corps commander’s driver took evasive action and kept on driving the vehicle to escape the ambush, witnesses added. The attackers managed to escape too, they said. According to reports, the bodies of the seven soldiers were taken to PNS Shifa where nobody was being allowed in. The victims were identified as Mohammad Shahid, Tariq Naveed, Mohammad Baig, Gulzar Mansoor, Mohabbat Khan, Mohammad Arif and Afzal Shakir. Five others, identified as Karim Bux, Amjad Ali, Abida Hussain, Saleem Memon and Mohammad Afzal sustained bullet injuries. Online adds: President Musharraf and Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali on Thursday condemned the incident and asked the provincial government and Interior Ministry to immediately apprehend the culprits involved. The president was informed about the incident at President House. He expressed grief and sorrow over the death of 11 people. Meanwhile, Mr Jamali called the incident an act of terrorism, saying the people involved in such incidents were not linked to Islam or Pakistan and were humanity’s enemies. +

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (46448)	6/11/2004 1:42:45 PM
From: malibuca	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

Is Bush a Reagan lite? As Bush tries to claim the Reagan mantle, one is reminded of Lloyd Bentsen’s statement to Dan Quayle who compared his experience with that of John Kennedy. To paraphrase Bentsen’s remarks, I am waiting for a Republican to say to Bush: "Mr President, I served with Ronald Reagan. I knew Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan was a friend of mine. Mr President, you're no Ronald Reagan."

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (46448)	6/14/2004 4:47:40 AM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Respond to of 50167

Carrying the message where it matters most, dailytimes.com.pk Freedom of nations and sports —Iqbal Latif The English took cricket to its colonies for entertainment and to instil the gentlemanly values of fair play while handing out a sound thrashing to the natives. These days the former colonies are beating England regularly Afghanistan is to play in the ACC Trophy, and Iraq has recently qualified for the upcoming Olympics in Athens. This is all good news. But while Afghanistan and Iraq are turning into nations where sport is seeing a boom, the global media is still bent on reporting downbeat stories from there. Can we, for a change, concentrate on the few encouraging signs of recovery coming out of these war-torn nations? The world of cricket is a world of fair play and honour. In the days of the British Empire, the English took cricket to its colonies for entertainment and as a means of instilling the gentlemanly values of fair play while handing out a sound thrashing to the natives. These days the roles have been reversed and the former colonies such as Australia, the West Indies and India are beating England regularly. Afghanistan — a country that was never a colony but has been ruled by medieval clerics and is marred by land mines and limbless youth — is the new addition to the world of cricket as a result of the post 9/11 doctrine of proactive engagement with constructive forces. But we should not forget how brutal the Taliban were to their own people, turning the Kabul football stadium into a killing ground by carrying out executions and hanging people from the goalposts. We should also not forget the royal treatment meted out by the Taliban to Pakistani footballers for the ‘crime’ of wearing shorts. The arbitrary punishment was based on indictment that the Pakistani team incited the ‘carnal desires’ of Kandahar’s ‘ashna prone’ maliks. What a change a couple of years can make! From a policy of castigation for playing sports, Afghanistan is now thinking of actually playing first class cricket in a few years! Many countries dissipate under pressure of war and yet here we have two examples of a new phenomenon of reconstruction. Sports and Olympic medals in the old days of communism were signs of success for the closed communist economies. Nadia Comaneci of Romania was heralded as one such success of the doomed system. Today, by that standard, the leftists and liberals should admit that the recent success of Afghanistan and Iraq in re-establishing their sports teams is a sign of great advancement. In a few months from now, Iraq will be a proud member of the sports world. The Iraqi football team has already qualified for the Olympics. They were the only Arab team to qualify, beating Saudi Arabia 3-1. If the rejuvenation of sports is a sign of nations re-entering the world scene and building hope for the future, Iraq is a good example. It is a far cry from the days of the draconian regime of Saddam Hussein and his sons. “It was a qualifying match in Jordan, and at full time Iraq were drawing three-all against the United Arab Emirates. Arab League rules called for a penalty shoot-out. Abbas Rahim Zair walked up to the penalty spot with a prayer on his lips and his heart in his boots. Any player knows the pain of missing a penalty, but for a member of the national team, it carried the certainty of ritual humiliation, imprisonment, and torture. Only three Iraqis dared to take penalties, and Zair was one of them. Many of the footballers refused to even touch the ball, but then we realised that if no one accepted we would all be punished,” the midfielder said. He missed. Two days after the team returned to Baghdad, Zair was summoned to the headquarters of the country’s Olympic committee, the lair of Uday Hussein, Saddam eldest son and chairman of the Iraqi football federation. He was blindfolded, and taken away to a prison camp for three weeks. He shrugged: “End of story”. The sporting life, as described to the Guardian by four past and present Iraqi players, was one where motivational lectures from Uday included threats to cut off players’ legs and throw them to ravenous dogs. Missing practice sessions, even to attend to a sick child or funeral, meant prison. A loss or a draw meant flogging with electric cable, or a bath in raw sewage. And always at the back of the players’ minds was the knowledge that Uday was watching. Although the torture of footballers was common knowledge in sporting circles, it evaded international scrutiny. The players described elaborate preparations to dupe Fifa investigators visiting Iraq, with officials hiding those players still carrying scars from recent beatings. Maybe these signs of hope and success are not important enough for the world to take notice. Maybe destruction and hopelessness sell far better and garner the best price. Sensationalism has its commercial benefits. But the smaller stories coming from the reconstruction of these nations may surprise many people. Iqbal Latif is an international businessman