ISLAMABAD: At least 46 bodies of the Islamabad plane crash victims have been identified and handed over to their families while many charred bodies are still kept at PIMS Hospital for DNA testing to obtain matches for proper identification.

Federal Interior Minister Abdul Rehman Malik said that the DNA tests would be conducted today.

Meanwhile, Chief Commissioner Islamabad said it will take one week at least to complete DNA tests.

"Most of the dead bodies are in pieces, only body parts, some of them badly burnt... these can only be identified through DNA," Mahmood Jamal, chief of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) told reporters.

Officials said rescue workers had collected body parts and pieces of charred flesh into bags.

"Some 300 body bags, 40 blankets and 10 bundles of rope have been air dropped at the crash site," said the national disaster management authority.

LONDON: The founder of WikiLeaks on Thursday defended the whistleblower site’s decision to release tens of thousands of classified US military files, amid fears the move has put Afghan informants at risk.

The site at first claimed the documents were vetted to ensure names of informants were not released, but reports since suggest details of Afghans said to have provided intelligence to the US can be uncovered with ease.

The Pentagon has warned that the disclosure has put the lives of informants at risk and threatens to undermine intelligence work in war-torn Afghanistan.

But WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, told Britain’s Times newspaper in an interview that it was “extremely important” that the files were in the public domain.

And he risked further angering the United States, publicly accusing the White House of failing to respond to his requests for help before the release of the files to minimise the risk of informants being identified.

“No one has been harmed, but should anyone come to harm of course that would be a matter of deep regret — our goal is justice to innocents, not to harm to them,” said Assange.

“That said, if we were forced into a position of publishing all of the archives or none of the archives we would publish all of the archives because it’s extremely important to the history of the war.”

Any document that “clearly jeopardised innocent people” could be added to a bank of 15,000 documents already held back from publication, said Assange.

“If we made a mistake we will review our procedures and react,” he said.

The more than 90,000 classified military files span a period from 2004 to 2009 as the US and Nato war effort in Afghanistan ran into a rising Taliban insurgency.

They contain a string of damaging claims, including allegations that Pakistani spies met directly with the Taliban and that the deaths of innocent civilians at the hands of international forces have been covered up.

Assange also lashed out at the US Thursday, saying he asked the White House last week for help to “minimise the chances of innocent informers being named” but received no response.

“We understand the importance of protecting our confidential sources. The United States appears to have given every UN soldier and contractor access to the names of many of its confidential sources without proper protection.”

The website founder said earlier this week that the documents were checked for named informants and that many had been held back from publication.

But The Times reported Wednesday that after just two hours of combing through the documents it was able to find the names of dozens of Afghans said to have provided detailed intelligence to US forces.

A Pentagon spokesman said the disclosure of documents could be put at risk the lives of anyone who is identified.

“Anyone whose name appears in those documents is potentially at risk,” said Colonel David Lapan.

“It could compromise their position, it could be a threat on their life, and it could have an impact on their future conduct,” he said, referring to fears the massive leak could dry up intelligence sources. —AFP

WASHINGTON: An Al-Qaeda group on Wednesday claimed responsibility for this week's deadly car bomb attack on Al-Arabiya television's offices in Baghdad that killed four people, US monitors said.

“The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), the Al-Qaeda-front in Iraq, claimed responsibility for the July 26th suicide bombing that struck the offices of Al-Arabiya Television in Baghdad,” the SITE monitoring group said, citing a statement seen on jihadist web forums.

“The ISI boasted that despite the enemy allegedly having advance knowledge of the operation, a suicide bomber managed to carry out the attack anyway, inflicting heavy damage on the offices and surrounding buildings,” SITE said.

The group further “warned that they will not hesitate to target any media organization that insists on being a tool in the 'war on Allah and His Messenger,'” SITE said.

The suicide car bomber struck at around 9:30 am local time on Monday in front of the station's bureau in the city center, leaving a massive crater and sending a plume of smoke into the air that could be seen from several kilometers away.

The blast, which killed four people, came a month after the Saudi-funded channel was warned of insurgent threats. —AFP

HOUSTON: BP Plc may permanently shut the well that caused the worst off-shore oil spill in US history as early as Monday, the company said as speculation grew over assets it might sell to cover mounting costs.

Incoming BP chief executive, Bob Dudley, said on Wednesday the company would stay involved with the cleanup process in the Gulf of Mexico long after the leaking well was plugged and expressed optimism the damaged environment would recover.

“It is possible that as early as Monday or Tuesday this well might be killed,” Dudley said on National Public Radio.

“There’s no precision, there’s nothing guaranteed. I’m hopeful and I do believe we’ve seen the end of oil flowing into the Gulf,” he added.

A so-called “static kill” operation that involves pumping drilling mud and cement into the well from the top will be attempted early next week, but a relief well to intercept the ruptured one is seen as the ultimate solution for the leak, which has been temporarily sealed for almost two weeks.

The relief well should be completed by mid-August.

The US government remains cautiously optimistic. The top official overseeing the spill response said on Wednesday he was confident a relief well preceded by the static kill would plug the leak for good.

Retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen would not go so far as saying the next steps are foolproof, but he said at a briefing in New Orleans, “We are optimistic that we will get this thing done.”

One hundred days after a rig explosion killed 11 workers and opened up an oil-spewing gash on the sea floor, criminal and civil investigations were examining whether BP and other companies involved misled both regulators and investors.

“The investigation is ongoing ... there will be a criminal inquiry as well as civil investigation and it involves more than simply BP,” US Attorney General Eric Holder said in Cairo.

BP has said the US Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission have launched a probe into market trading connected to the spill.

The Washington Post said a “BP Squad” made up of several government agencies was conducting a criminal probe although it could be more than a year before any charges are filed.

BP also faces a number of private lawsuits and claims for compensation from the spill that damaged fishing areas and tourist sites. The company expects to spend $60 million in advance payments in August, and has already handed out $256 million to those who have lost money because of the spill.

Massive Clean-Up

Although the flow of oil has stopped, there is still a massive clean-up operation that experts say will last for months. The major oil slicks appear to have dispersed and experts are analyzing the extent of pollution in the sea.

“We’re feeling very cautiously optimistic with the well capped and the fact that we’re not seeing much oil on the water,” Coast Guard Captain Steven Poulin said.

“I can tell you there is a lot of blue water out there and just very limited sheening, and very limited patches, I should stress, of emulsified oil. We’re not seeing a lot of oil out there that’s skimmable at all,” he said.

An area of nearly 60,000 square miles of Gulf of Mexico waters is closed to fishing and more than 600 miles of coastline in four US states is affected by oil, according to the latest US government reports.

An environmental advocacy group said on Wednesday it could be years before some Gulf beaches recover fully from the oil spill and are declared free of toxic pollutants.

Because of the spill, there have been nearly 10 times as many beach closing and public health advisories posted this year than there were last year, the Washington-based Natural Resources Defense Council said in a report.

“We’re not going to rest until we ensure that we’ve cleaned up all the oil, restored the damage that’s happened to the Gulf, and make sure that the people of that region are whole again,” White House spokesman Bill Burton said.

While several US agencies investigate the spill, Congress is targeting BP through proposed energy legislation. Lawmakers could lift a cap on total liabilities and impose new safety rules. A bill in the House of Representatives would go one step further by banning BP from getting new offshore oil exploration leases for up to seven years.

Dudley said the proposed bill appeared to be “tailored for BP” and warned that banning one of the country’s largest employers in the Gulf could have unintended consequences at a time of high unemployment, standing now at 9.5 per cent.

Democrats were trying to schedule debate on the Senate version, but Republicans and some moderate Democrats voiced opposition, raising doubts about whether there would be enough votes for passage before an Aug. 6 recess.

US Senator Bill Nelson also called for a congressional probe into BP’s plan to take a $10 billion tax deduction to help cover more than $30 billion in spill costs. —Reuters

WASHINGTON: Elements within the Taliban appear willing to disavow Al Qaeda, says US National Security Adviser James Jones as the United States seeks an “acceptable end state” in Afghanistan.

US officials also have indicated that the White House would accept a patchwork process in Afghanistan if it brings peace to the war-ravaged country.

The proposed process is expected to bring together elements of the Taliban and the Afghan government in a new arrangement for peace.

Those Taliban groups who sever their links to Al Qaeda and renounce violence will be allowed to form tribal police forces in the areas under their control.

Pakistan is expected to play a crucial role in brokering such a deal, although its favourite Taliban group – the Haqqani network – may be kept out of this arrangement.

In an interview to a Washington Post columnist after the publication of the Afghan war logs, Gen Jones noted that some Taliban might be willing to meet one US condition for talks, which is to disavow Al Qaeda. “The Taliban generally as a group has never signed on to the global Jihad business and doesn’t seem to have ambitions beyond its region,” he said.

Mr Jones praised the Pakistani military for stepping up its operations in the border region over the past 18 months, but he stressed: “There’s much more to do and not a lot of time to do it.”

The US media noted that the disclosure of the Afghan war logs by a whistleblowers site called Wikileaks came at a time when the Washington mood about Afghanistan was already darkening.

“Even hawkish officials have become increasingly concerned that success – even a minimal ‘C-plus’ version – may not be possible within a realistic time-frame,” the Post noted.

The leaked US military documents have created a new dilemma for the Obama administration by highlighting ISI’s alleged links to the Taliban.

Diplomatic observers in Washington say that now is when the Obama administration needs the Pakistani intelligence agency to broker “a patchwork deal” with some Taliban groups. But the leaks made it difficult for the US administration to hold such negotiations with the ISI, at least publicly.

The leaks also have made it difficult for Washington to balance its relations with India and Pakistan.

Apparently, the Indians want the US to thwart Pakistan’s efforts to expand its influence in Afghanistan but the Americans realise that the Pakistanis can only be pushed so far.

US scholars, while commenting on the Wikileaks papers, acknowledged that for Pakistan, Afghanistan was an area of fundamental strategic interest.

“It is irrational to expect the Pakistanis to halt collaboration with the force that they expect to be a major part of the government of Afghanistan when the United States leaves,” said George Friedman, founder of strategic think tank Stratfor.

“The Pakistanis never expected the United States to maintain a presence in Afghanistan permanently … they don’t expect the Taliban to be defeated … and are not interested in chaos in Afghanistan,” he noted. “It follows that they will maintain close relations with and support for the Taliban.”

LONDON: Pakistan's envoy to Britain Thursday accused Prime Minister David Cameron of “damaging the prospects of regional peace” after the premier warned Islamabad against promoting the export of terror.

Cameron made the comments Wednesday on a trip to India. “One would have hoped that the British prime minister would have considered Pakistan's enormous role in the war on terror and the sacrifices it has made since 9/11,” wrote Wajid Shamsul Hasan in Britain's Guardian newspaper.

“He seems to be more reliant on information based on intelligence leaks, despite it lacking credibility or corroborating proof,” added Hasan, who is Pakistan's high commissioner (ambassador) in Britain.

“A bilateral visit aimed at attracting business could have been conducted without damaging the prospects of regional peace.”

Cameron made the remarks on a trade-focused trip to India, days after the leak of secret US military documents that detailed links between Pakistan's intelligence services and Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.

India has long accused Pakistan of harbouring and abetting extremist groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba which New Delhi blames for attacks like the murderous 2008 assault by militant gunmen on Mumbai.

The British premier told reporters in Indian IT hub Bangalore: “We cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country (Pakistan) is allowed to look both ways and is able, in any way, to promote the export of terror, whether to India or whether to Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world.”—AFP

ISLAMABAD: Six members of a ‘Youth Parliament’ were among the victims of Wednesday’s air crash in Islamabad.

They were coming here to attend the final session of the ‘Youth Parliament’, a project of the Pakistan Institute for Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat).

The six are ‘Youth Prime Minister’ Hasan Javed, ‘Information Minister’ Syeda Rabab Zehra Naqvi, ‘Minister for Culture and Sports’ Prem Chand, ‘Shadow Youth Minister for Information’ Bilal Jamaee, ‘Member of Youth Parliament’s Standing Committee on Information’ Owais bin Laiq and ‘Member of Youth Parliament’s Standing Committee on Information Syed Arsalan Ahmad. All six belonged to Sindh.

The Pildat management and team, its board of directors, board of advisers and Youth Parliament’s Steering Committee expressed their shock and sorrow at the tragic death of the members of the Youth Parliament.

At a meeting, members of the ‘Youth Parliament’ adopted a resolution, expressing shock and sorrow at the loss of lives in the crash.

The meeting was also attended by chairman of Youth Parliament Steering Committee, Senator S.M. Zafar, and member Wazir Jogezai.

Hassan Javed belonged to Hyderabad and worked for the Royal Bank of Scotland in Karachi, as the Team Head for Client Relationships for the Royal Preferred Banking (RPB) Department.

 

He did his MSc in Investment and Finance with Distinction from the University of London. During his stay there, he participated in the University of London Squash League. He won gold medals at the Hyderabad BISE Inter-school Squash Tournament in 1998 and 1999.

Syeda Rabab Zehra Naqvi from Karachi was doing BSc in Economics and Finance as an external student of the London School of Economics (LSE).

During her school years, she took part in activities of student councils and held various leadership positions. Ms Naqvi interned at banks, media firms and NGOs, and had plans to follow a career in politics after completing her studies.

Prem Chand, who hailed from Sanghar, was studying for a Masters in Social Work at the University of Sindh.

Mr Bilal Jamaee was a second year Mass Communication student at the University of Karachi and was general secretary of ‘Bazm-i-Adab’. He took part in a number of debating competitions and wrote a number of stories for children’s magazines.

Mr Owais bin Laiq from Karachi had joined the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) for a bachelor’s degree. He was the manager of the Media and Publication Society at IBA.

He had won various contests including the National Samaa TV Documentary Competition. Syed Arsalan Ahmed from Karachi was pursuing a degree in Textile Engineering.

KARACHI: Fighting back tears amid a scramble to get adequate information about the passengers on board the ill-fated Airblue airbus, relatives and friends thronged the ticket counters of the three local airlines in an attempt to fly to Islamabad as it slowly emerged that the Margalla air crash had left no survivors.

People ran desperately from one counter to another as the Airblue, PIA and Shaheen Air announced plans to fly a relative or friend of each victim to Islamabad. However, no senior officer of Airblue was present at the airport.

Aviation sources said that 130 relatives of the victims were flown out to the capital by a special Airblue flight, 23 by Shaheen Air and 10 by PIA. Over 100 passengers killed in the Margalla air crash on Wednesday are believed to be from Karachi.

The victims’ relatives faced a great deal of hardship at the airport as they had to wait till late in the evening to get complimentary tickets for the journey.

 

“We have been waiting to get tickets since morning, but no one is guiding us,” said Imran Ali Sehrani, a cousin of Abdul Ghani Khan Sehrani, the district president of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) in Kandhkot.

He said he wanted to reach Islamabad as early as possible so that he could identify his victim cousin. “It seems the administration is intentionally delaying our departure for one reason or another,” he complained.

Sehrani said he and other family members were willing to fly to Islamabad at their own expense. “We just want to reach Islamabad before they pack the body into a coffin,” he said.

Said Khan Safi, whose maternal uncle, Saeed Azam, and three other relatives were on board the plane, said the family members of the victim had flown to Islamabad to attend the funeral of a relative there. “My uncle was the father of a son and six daughters. The airline people are telling us that only my uncle’s son could go to Islamabad,” he said, and wondered how a bereaved son could handle the situation over there.

The Margalla air crash victims included an army officer, Captain Unser Abbas of 1 AK Regiment. The victim’s uncle, Mohammed Salman Khan, told Dawn that Unser had gone to Islamabad to join a training course. The 26-year-old army officer of 115 PMA long course was the eldest among his three siblings.

His uncle said he had got a ticket for Islamabad by Airblue at around 6.30pm though he had reached the airport at 10am.

The victims included a newlywed couple, residents of Iqbal Town, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, who had flown to Islamabad for their honeymoon. The bride’s father, Iftikhar, was flown to Islamabad by a Shaheen Air flight.

A young man, whose wedding was scheduled after three days in Islamabad, his brother and two paternal cousins were also on board the ill-fated plane. They were residents of Baldia Town. Their relatives told Dawn that the airline was offering ticket only to the family.

The Civil Aviation Authority set up a counter at the Jinnah Terminal to provide information about the passengers on board. However, they had no information and only the list of the passengers.

ISLAMABAD: The federal government asked the provinces on Wednesday to immediately begin the process of expenditure management and resource mobilisation and resolve within two weeks all issues relating to introduction of the reformed GST with the federal finance ministry in order to meet international obligations.

The call was given at a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and attended by the chief ministers and finance ministers of the four provinces and the centre’s team led by Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh.

 

According to an official statement, the prime minister set up a special committee headed by Dr Hafeez Sheikh and comprising finance secretaries of the provinces and experts to finalise the collection of reformed GST within two weeks.

A senior finance ministry official said the chief ministers were cautioned that the country could face severe economic problems unless they met federal government’s expectations set in the budget and assumed their responsibilities envisaged in the 18th Amendment and 7th NFC award.

The focus of a finance ministry’s presentation given to the prime minister three weeks ago was that the provinces should contain their expenditures during the current fiscal year and show flexibility on the issue of reformed GST to enable the federation to meet its commitments made to the IMF and other international bilateral and multilateral lenders, the official said.

The provinces have been told that they would have to offer a budgetary surplus of Rs166 billion as envisaged in the federal budget prepared in consultation with them. Otherwise, the budget deficit target would not be achieved.

It was against this background that the prime minister advised the provinces to follow austerity measures.

 

The measures include freezing of all expenditures, except salaries, to give preference to projects and schemes on which 70 per cent work has been completed and following stringent financial discipline in allocation and disbursement of funds envisaged in the NFC accord.

The crux of the finance ministry’s presentation was that the new NFC had created a big problem and robbed the provinces of incentives for additional revenue mobilisation.

 

“When they get additional resources from the centre without any effort, they need not take unpopular decisions in their own constituencies to raise new taxes,” a federal government official said, adding that the provinces had not fulfilled commitments made under the NFC award to impose taxes on real estate and agriculture.

The provinces have also been reminded that transfer of additional resources to them under the NFC award is linked to the transfer of responsibilities under the 18th Amendment.

 

Therefore, they would have to foot the bill for federal public sector development programmes at the provincial level or even at the district level.

The official statement said the meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere and “the provinces agreed, in principle, to resolve all outstanding issues in a spirit of cooperation and consensus”.

The finance minister informed the meeting that in the wake of the prevailing economic situation decisions would have to be taken in consultation with the provinces because they had become major players in the national economic management after the passage of 18th Amendment and the NFC award.

MUZAFFARABAD: Outgoing Azad Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider was accorded a rousing welcome by his supporters and sympathisers as he returned to the state capital on Wednesday, a day after PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif decided in his presence to launch and organise his party in AJK.

Braving heavy downpour, the welcoming crowd chanted slogans in support of Mr Sharif and Mr Haider who was accompanied by five legislators of now divided Muslim Conference (MC) parliamentary party.

Mr Haider said Mr Sharif had launched PML-N in AJK to protect the rights of this region and its people.

KARACHI: At least four young girls and a woman died and many others suffered serious injuries when a four-storey residential building in Frontier Colony collapsed on Wednesday apparently because rains had eroded the weak structure, rescue officials and witnesses said.

However, the death toll might increase as they believed there were many more people still trapped under the rubble while the rescue operation continued after sunset.

The witnesses residing in the congested Madina Basti located near Frontier Mor of Baldia Town’s UC-6 said the four-storey structure, built along the Orangi nullah, shook for a few seconds before falling to the ground with a bang at about 11.45am.

The area people said that it was basically a two-storey house of Mohammad Yousuf Khan, who got the top two floors constructed just a few months back before renting the space out. They added that three families had acquired the top floors on rent and were residing there.

While it is believed that three injured, including a teenage girl and a woman, were recovered and shifted to nearby hospitals before the arrival of rescue officials, the identities and exact number of victims remained unknown to the police and rescue officials.

By sunset, 116 workers of the city government’s urban search and rescue team, equipped with machinery, were able to retrieve five bodies.

 

They also spotted four other people — believed to be alive — under the rubble but remained unable to move the machinery to the affected area in the congested alleyway till our going to press.

“A total of five bodies have been retrieved so far,” said Masood Alam, the EDO of the city government’s municipal services, while speaking to Dawn. “All of them are either of women or children.”

“We can see four people under the rubble and are making every effort to reach them despite the bad weather and non-cooperation of area people.”

While the rescue workers had the machinery required in such operations, accessibility to the affected part in the congested area had emerged as a serious challenge, he said. “Yet we have continued our operation without any break after making arrangements for lights,” he said.

In reply to a question, he said that an exact deadline to wrap up the task could not be given at this point.Speaking to Dawn, the volunteers of charity organisations confirmed to have shifted five bodies to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

“The deceased victims include 40-year-old Nasreen and her 15-year-old daughter, Sadaf,” said an official at the Edhi Foundation. He added that five-year-old Sawera, seven-year-old Azra and an unidentified girl under 10 years also died.

An official at the hospital said that most victims sustained head injuries while a few were also hit in the chest and upper torso.

An area resident, Shiraz Khan, said: “People saw building shaking for [a few] seconds before falling to the ground. They struggled to rescue those under the debris but couldn’t do so manually. We heard people and relatives of the victims saying that there were more than 25 people inside the building when it collapsed.”

‘Flaws in design’
The city government officials concerned and police investigators found serious flaws in the building design and also doubted the quality of the material used in its construction.

“There are some serious and obvious faults in the structure,” the EDO municipal services said.

“The pillars which were used as the foundation to support the structure can’t be declared fit,” he said, adding that he had observed some samples of the construction material. The rains must have eroded the vulnerable construction design and material, he said.

The police also came up with the same findings hours after the collapse. The incident seemed a case of criminal negligence, they said, adding that legal formalities were being pursued.

“In fact, Mohammad Yousuf, who owned the structure, also resided in the same building, and unfortunately one of the girls died in the incident was his daughter,” said Raheem Khan, the SHO of the Pirabad police station.

He added that other family members of the building owner also sustained injuries.

He further said that efforts were under way to find the person who designed the building. “We have collected some samples of the construction material and other stuff from the scene to determine the cause of the collapse and started a search for the designer of the structure.”

PESHAWAR: Flash floods and torrential rains wreaked havoc in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and tribal areas on Wednesday.

At least 50 people were killed and a large number of houses and bridges were destroyed. Several schools, roads and mosques in northern parts of the province were washed away.

Shangla, Dera Ismail Khan, Swat, Tank and North Waziristan Agency were the worst affected areas. Large areas were cut off in different parts of the province.

Gas supply from Gurguri oil and gas field in Karak district to Punjab and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was suspended after hill torrents damaged the main transmission line near Yaqobi Kalla, an official of the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Company said.

Hundreds of houses in low-lying areas were partially damaged. An official of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) in Peshawar said that relief goods had been sent to some areas.

He said that 124 houses were completely or partially damaged in southern districts.
The PDMA issued warnings to the administration of all 24 districts in the province to prepare themselves for any emergency.

Officials said that 21 people were killed in rain-related incidents in Shangla district where heavy floods and landsliding damaged dozens of houses. Among the victims were nine members of one family, including women and children.

They died when their house in Daire union council collapsed. Two deaths were reported from Yakh Tangi and four monkey trainers drowned in Banda area.

Flash floods also played havoc in North Waziristan, killing nine people and injuring several others. Houses collapsed and power supply in many areas of was suspended.

Officials said that two people were killed in Tank and two deaths were reported from Karak.

Police said that five children were killed and four others injured when a makeshift shelter collapsed in Badbar area of Peshawar. Rainwater submerged low-lying areas of the provincial capital which got 55 millimetres of showers in 24 hours.

Three people were killed in Khyber Agency and a school building collapsed due to soil erosion. The Swat River is in high flood. Officials reported three deaths in Mingora.

Twenty houses and a primary school were swept away in Bahrain area of Swat. Widespread rainfall also caused devastation in Mansehra and Battagram districts where seven people, three of them women, were killed.

Three people died in Mardan and Charsadda in rain-related incidents. Heavy rains inundated over 200 houses and buildings in Bannu district. Authorities sent three ambulances and medicines to the affected areas.

LADDAH: Three security personnel were killed and 10 others suffered injuries when militants attacked a convoy in the Pash Ziarat area of South Waziristan here on Tuesday evening, intelligence sources said on Wednesday.

The convoy was going from Shawal in South Waziristan to Razmak in North Waziristan when it came under attack near the Pash Ziarat area.

 

The security forces countered the attack and exchanged fire with the militants for about two hours. At least 10 militants were killed during the clash.

Sources said that the security forces in the Razmak camp resorted to heavy mortar fire to target the militants in the area.

However, the information about the clash and the killing of security personnel and militants could not be verified from officials of the Inter Services Public Relations in Islamabad. Several attempts made by this correspondent to contact the ISPR officials remained futile.

According to locals, an official of the bomb disposal squad was injured when an explosive device he was trying to defuse went off in the Speen Jamat locality near Pash Ziarat.

RAWALPINDI: The process of by-elections has been challenged in the Lahore High Court on the grounds that Election Commission of Pakistan is “unconstitutional”.

Justice Saghir Ahmed Qadri of Rawalpindi bench of the LHC will take up on Thursday a petition filed by Syed Nusrat Ali Shah who has questioned the role of the commission and the chief election commissioner (CEC) in holding by-elections.

The CEC, election commission’s secretary and returning officer for NA-68 (Sargodha-V) are respondents.

The petitioner through his lawyer Manzoor Hussain Malik said he wanted to contest the by-election in Sargodha to be held on August 5, but was reluctant to do so because the current commission was not constitutional and all its actions could subsequently be held unconstitutional.

Mr Shah said that under the amended Constitution, the CEC should be a retired judge of the Supreme Court and his selection should be made by a 12-member parliamentary committee from a list of three members to be proposed by the prime minister and the opposition leader.

“The incumbent chief election commissioner has not been appointed in accordance with the amendment,” he argued.
The petitioner, a former MNA from Sargodha, said that under the amended Article 218, the commission was to comprise four retired high court judges and every member should be selected in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 213.

Previously, the chief justice of a high court used to nominate a sitting judge as member of the commission and currently two judges were its members.

Under the amended Article 219, the petitioner said, all duties and functions of the CEC had been delegated to the ECP and elections for the Senate, national and provincial assemblies and local bodies could only be conducted by the ECP, and not the chief election commissioner.

“All elections conducted and being conducted by the current commission are unconstitutional and have no legal effect,” the petitioner argued.

The Sargodha seat fell vacant after Syed Javaid Hussain Shah of the PML-N had to resign over the fake degree issue.

ISLAMABAD: Wednesday brought a picture perfect day to hilly Islamabad. But the low clouds hanging over the green Margalla hills hid in their midst a catastrophic accident.
 
Airblue Flight 202, which took off from Karachi at ten minutes to eight in the morning, had before the end of the next two hours crashed into the Margalla hills, killing all 152 people on board, including passengers and crew.

In the biggest ever air tragedy to take place within Pakistan in the aviation history of the country, it was also an incident that shook Islamabad; the last time the federal capital had experienced such a high death toll was during the Oct 8, 2005, earthquake when the collapse of an apartment building claimed 74 lives.

By 11 o’clock the news had spread around the city and the country. In Islamabad, the mood remained eerie and the turnout on the streets and roads thin.

Hospitals were the focus of attention all day long where hapless relatives camped out, distraught, hoping for news of their loved ones. Unfortunately, incorrect information by media outlets and the government about survivors merely added to their pain.

Low visibility due to the clouds and continuous rain was seen to have contributed to the crash and the weather hampered the rescue mission already made difficult due to the location of the crash.

As it hit the side of the Margalla hills, it slid down and landed in a relatively isolated area which was inaccessible by vehicles, even those being used by rescue teams.

But it was the poorly coordinated rescue operation at the Margalla Hills which highlighted yet again the state’s complete inability to respond to any crisis -- be it man-made or natural.

Soon after the disaster, among the first people to arrive there were residents of Saidpur and Pirsohawa villages; personnel of the Capital Development Authority’s rescue 1122, including its fire-fighters which are deployed at the hilltops due to fear of outbreak of fire; the Rangers deployed at the foothills; and the police from nearby areas. They reached near the spot by 10.30 am, says DIG Bani Yamin.

From then onwards, say some rescue workers, it took them another half hour to reach the plane wreckage as not even dirt tracks lead to the site.

The rain and the slippery hillside further hindered their journey. On arrival at the spot they found the burning wreckage of the plane and remains of the passengers scattered everywhere. “Limbs could be seen all around,” said a police official.

Similarly, Mohammad Jamal, a CDA gardener, said: “I saw mutilated bodies and human flesh scattered in the area which is nearly impossible to access.”

These men started retrieving the body parts scattered all around and those trapped among the wreckage.

Most of these people, however, were not equipped to carry out a rescue operation nor were they trained for it. They did not have ropes and pickets or any gear to help them reach the mountainside during rain which had made the terrain slippery.

“At one stage, we even formed a human chain to move forward,” says a policeman who was part of the earlier group of about 60 men who are reported to have reached the spot. Many of the rescue workers themselves were injured in their bid to reach the site or to do any work there.

An eyewitness, who was present at the hills for a few hours, attests to this. “The people who got there were assessing the situation and then asking those still to arrive to bring pickets or ropes,” he told Dawn. He added that the lack of coordination was obvious from the fact that ordinary villagers used their personal cloth or chadors to collect body parts later in the day when the bad weather stopped the air rescue operation.

The CDA also testified to this; the authority acknowledged that its staff faced difficulties in the rescue work due to lack of command; bad weather, difficult accessibility in the hilly terrain and lack of training to deal with such a situation in the forest areas. Chairman Imtiaz Inayat Elahi also said that the CDA staff were trained for emergency situations in urban areas but not in the forest.

In addition, he acknowledged the lack of leadership. “When such an incident happens, we always lack command because no department knows on whose directives they have to work,” said the CDA chairman, though he claimed that the rescue operation was a well-coordinated effort of different departments such as the army, air force, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and civil society that made it possible to recover some 90 per cent bodies,” he said.

Further credence to this argument is lent by the fact that the NDMA did not coordinate the effort either but only provided air support.

“The civil administration is leading the search and rescue operations. We are also playing our part and have some of the best pilots flying in to recover the dead. The rains made our job extremely difficult but we had Col Khalid Amir Rana and Lt-Col Safdar Tiwana carrying out the operation; these pilots flew the rescue flight on Nangaparbat,” said NDMA Chairman Lt-Gen Naveed Ahmed.

However, which department led this operation and coordinated the various departments’ efforts is still undetermined.

In the views of many present at the site, the arrival of the military by around 11.30am only added to the confusion. “They immediately threw a security cordon around the area and would not let any one through, not even the volunteers and the rescue workers,” says an eyewitness.

However, observers have pointed out that this was a routine practice as aircraft crashes entailed thorough investigations which meant that the explosion site would be examined; various pieces of the aircraft would be collected and checked and the Black Box secured. All this requires that the sight be secured.

The arrival of the military also meant that the air rescue effort had begun. Three helicopters were used to first spray some water over the fire in the wreckage. They then airdropped tools such as axes, spades and water cans to help the rescue workers.

Later the remains of the passengers were collected and airlifted by the helicopters to 6 Aviation Squadron’s heliport from where they were transported to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.

The air operation was halted once during the afternoon due to a fresh spell of rain but during that time the villagers and Rescue 1122 personnel heroically brought back the dead on foot through the hilly terrain that by the account of one journalist was so difficult to traverse that “you need both your hands to hold on to shrubs or the mountainside to make any progress; if you are carrying something heavy, I do not know how you would move”. Over a dozen sacks were brought back in this manner.

Till the filing of the reports, the authorities, including the police and the CDA, claimed that 90 to 95 per cent of the rescue operation i.e. the collection of the passengers’ bodies, was done before it turned dark. The rest of the bodies, they said, were buried under the plane wreckage which was why the operation would continue on Thursday.

The passengers included some prominent people such as members of a ‘youth parliament’, a female football player, Misha Dawood, and the son of a UNHCR official.

Two Americans among dead
Two American citizens were on board a Pakistani passenger plane that crashed into hills above Islamabad on Wednesday, a spokesman for the US embassy said.

“I can confirm there were two American citizens on the plane and we are working with Pakistani authorities as we normally do in cases such as this,” spokesman Richard Snelsire told AFP.

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet postponed discussion on its agenda on Wednesday and declared a day of mourning on Thursday for the loss of lives in the Islamabad plane crash.

A meeting of the cabinet presided over by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani offered condolences to the grief stricken families of passengers and crew.

The cabinet also offered Fateha for the son of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain who was recently killed by terrorists.

It expressed sympathies for the families affected by floods in Balochistan and other areas and offered Fateha for those who had lost their lives.

UNITED NATIONS: UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday sent his condolences to Pakistan's prime minister over the deadly crash of a Pakistani airliner with 152 people on board.

“The Secretary General is deeply saddened by the tragic air crash today near Islamabad in which many people lost their lives,” a UN statement said.

It added that Ban wrote to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to express the sincere sympathy of the world body.—AFP

KARACHI: Zafar Saleem, a former national athlete, was among those who died in the Airblue plane crash near Islamabad on Wednesday.

He was 44 and is survived by his wife and four daughters, family sources told Dawn.

A graduate from NED University, the Karachi-based athlete represented Sindh besides participating in the Inter-board and Inter-university competitions in pole vault.

Mr Saleem had been serving as director-general in Workers’ Welfare Board, Sindh, for over a decade and was going to Islamabad in connection with some official work.

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama offered his “deepest condolences” on Wednesday to families and friends of the 152 people killed in a plane crash near Islamabad, which included two Americans.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those touched by this horrible accident,” Obama said in a statement.

“The American people stand with the people of Pakistan in this moment of tragedy.”

The passenger jet crashed earlier Wednesday into densely wooded hills outside Islamabad, killing everyone on board in the worst crash involving a Pakistani airliner in 18 years. -AFP

NOTTINGHAM: <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Pakistan captain Salman Butt has backed the seam bowling trio of Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul to carry on from where they left off against Australia when they face England.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

 

Pakistan go into the first of a four-Test series against England starting at Trent Bridge here on Thursday on the back of a three-wicket second Test ‘home’ win against Australia at Headingley, where Ricky Ponting’s men were dismissed for just 88 in the first innings.

 

England batsman Paul Collingwood has suggested Pakistan were flattered by the overcast conditions in Leeds, where opening batsman Butt was captaining his country for the first time after Shahid Afridi quit Test cricket following a 150-run first Test loss to Australia at Lord’s the week before.

 

However, Butt — speaking to reporters at Trent Bridge here on Wednesday — said the pace trio’s high profile was a reflection of how well they had all been performing.

 

“They bring a lot of confidence to us as a team because whatever totals you do, you are always confident you can defend it.”

 

Butt added that with 18-year-old Aamer — who took seven wickets at Headingley — being a left-arm quick, the trio had complementary abilities.

 

“Mohammad Aamer has most skills that a fast bowler needs. He has pace on his side, swing and the mental side of Mohammad Aamer is very good. He is mature for his age.

 

“Mohammad Asif is, I think, one of the best seam bowlers in the world — very accurate lines and lengths and Umar Gul, I think, with the old ball, with the reverse swing, is one of the most lethal guys in the world.

 

“So I think I am a lucky person to have all these three up my sleeve.”

 

The Pakistan-Australia series was played in England because no international cricket has taken place in Pakistan since an armed attack on Sri Lanka’s team bus in Lahore in March last year.

 

“We are very thankful for this ‘homely’ atmosphere, though this is not home, the support we got and we hope it carries on,” Butt said.

 

Pakistan’s batting, in the absence of Mohammad Yousuf and Younus Khan, both omitted following the fall-out from a 3-0 series loss in Australia earlier this year, has looked fallible.

 

Butt though was happy to persevere with Test novices Azhar Ali and Umar Amin despite calls for at least one of the former captains to be recalled.

 

“They’ve played in difficult batting conditions and against one of the world’s best bowling attacks.

 

“Nobody comes out of home having played 40 or 50 odd games.

 

“So you have to give them the chance, give them the time and back them through those times to become people like Mohammad Yousuf, Younus Khan or Inzamam-ul-Haq.

 

“They also became stars when they performed in the middle, not before.”

 

Afridi’s exit was a reminder of the volatile nature of Pakistan cricket.

 

Pakistan’s last Test series in England, in 2006, ended with the team forfeiting The Oval finale after they refused to take the field following a decision by the umpires to penalise them for ball-tampering.

 

Butt though insisted the past was of no concern.

 

“We need to focus on the game at hand and the games to come. What we cannot control, we should not be thinking about it.”At the age of 25, Butt — the sixth man to lead Pakistan in Tests in seven years — is a relatively young captain of his country.

 

“In a way, it has been like that — you always give it to the senior people,” said Butt.

 

“But if anybody is better equipped, to lead a team — it is the right of the nation to have that person in charge, rather than a person who is old.”

 

Butt was pragmatic about his own captaincy prospects. “If I keep on doing well, I will stick to it. If I don’t do well, obviously nobody would like me to carry on.” -AFP