IRAN
1. The Petroleum Minister Dr Asim Hussain has confirmed that the Pak-Iran gas pipeline project will be completed by next year and has called for tenders worth $1.2 billion. (Nawa-i-Waqt)
UNITED STATES
1. Shahid Javed Burki, a former Pakistani Finance Minister and Vice-President of the World Bank says China is a better and more suited ally for Pakistan than America. (Awami Awaz, 27 July)
2. Daily Intekhab editorial on crisis in US economy says if America cannot tackle its own financial crisis then it might not be able to support Pakistan’s financial needs for long. (Daily Intekhab Edit)
AFGHANISTAN
1. The Afghan Interior Ministry, in cooperation with Toyota, has begun a pilot project to rehabilitate 3,040 extremists who were trained in Afghanistan and 200 extremists who were released from Afghan jails. They will be put through a 6 month technical training course from August 1. (Nawa-i-Waqt)
INDIA
1. Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar seemed nervous when Indian FM S.M. Krishna shook her hands a little longer than expected during their media appearance in Delhi. (Jasarat)
2. Hurriyat leaders, in their meeting with Hina Rabbani Khar, rejected Musharraf’s Kashmir Formula. (Jang)
3. The 1971 refugees have protested that Indo-Pak FM dialogue did not include talks about opening the Kargil-Skardu and Chaplu-Ladakh roads which is a matter of life and death for them. (Baad-e-Shimal)
4. Daily Dharti editorial on Indo-Pak FM meeting says it seemed as though both sides gave importance to their own interests rather than Kashmir. (Daily Dharti Edit)
5. Nawa-i-Waqt’s editorial says the Indian FM’s statements that talks on Kashmir will continue is an open admittance to the fact that Kashmir is a disputed territory; Hina Rabbani Khar needs to be commended for making the FM of India to admit to this point. (Nawa-i-Waqt Edit)
6. Khabrain editorially urged the international community to oppose the Indian nuclear pact with South Korea and boycott India. It writes that Muslim countries are told to refrain from pursuing a nuclear program whereas India is given a free hand in the region. (Khabrain Edit)
DEFENCE
1. PML-Q Chief Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain says the Abbottabad commission should be put under the charge of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He adds that there should be no political intervention in the affairs of army. (Urdupoint, 27 July, Awami Awaz)
2. Pakistan’s national security agencies have told the government to improve its policies towards the judiciary. Otherwise judges and lawyers will hold dharnas and protest and this can lead to a crisis, a TV report says. (Awami Awaz)
TERRORISM- EXTREMISM
1. Farooq Silaria, a Pakistani journalist staying in UK, has accused Pakistani channels of being in cahoots with the government and said that religious programs are adding to militancy in Pakistan. (Awami Awaz)
2. Azhar Masood (Saadi) says he is happy with the construction of ‘Quran Mahel’ in Daska and congratulates its founders. Saadi writes that preaching of Jihad in the mosques was banned earlier by rich trustees of the mosques but now many mosques have come into existence where preaching Jihad and quoting references from the Quran are allowed. Saadi writes that ‘they’ are currently working on the construction of 40 mosques where they can hold prayers, education for adults and teachings about the verses of the Quran related to Jihad and adds that these mosques will cater to Jihadists who return from the front line. (Al Qalam Weekly, 29 July to 14 August)
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
1. PML-N leadership is determined to launch a campaign to “Remove the Government” after Eid-ul-Fitar and in this connection Nawaz Sharif and other PML-N leaders have initiated a public contact movement during their Iftar parties. The plan is to turn the judiciary against the government and this is part of the ‘deal’ between the PML-N and MQM. (Khabrain)
2. Punjab Cm Shahbaz Sharif has alleged that Zardari’s is involved in corruption cases amounting to Rs.75 billion – in the Hajj case and rental power projects. (Nawa-i-Waqt)
3. Columnist Arif Bahar writes in Jasarat that PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has made sure that the government has survived so far because he knows that there is a chance of a return of the army if the government is toppled. The government has also stayed in power because the US wants to promote the agenda of its war on terror in Pakistan. (Jasarat)
4. Irfan Siddiqui is off the view that the government’s confrontation with the judiciary is a careful plan laid out by Zardari to ensure that the army, not the PML-N or any other party, comes to power once the government is pushed out. (Jang)
5. Hamid Mir writes that politicians are sacrificing their commitment to the law for their own petty interests and have abused the very meaning of democracy. (Jang)
6. Editorials on the clash between the judiciary and the government have advised both sides to maintain decorum. On its part the government should heed the orders of the court on the Hajj scandal. (Daily Pak Edit, Nawa-i-Waqt Edit)
WATER & ENERGY
1. Ummat’s editorial has welcome the government bail out package of Rs.65 billion for the Karachi Electricity System. ‘It is perhaps best that Tabish Gohar, chief of the KESC, did not attend the meeting with the labour union as he was responsible for most of the problem’. (Ummat Edit)
2. Khabrain editorial has asked the government to take better care of the agricultural sector by providing it fertilizer, water, and electricity. The farmers should get medical facilities. (Khabrain Edit)
BALOCHISTAN
1. Jameel Bugti, son of Akbar Bugti has accused the PML-Q and MQM of murdering his father. He said all these parties supported Musharraf when the military ruler conducted army operations in Balochistan. (Awami Awaz)
KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWAH (NWFP/FATA)
1. Ausaf’s editorial says: A few days back a Pakistani army official said the US had given them the wrong information about South Waziristan and now perhaps the US is giving them incorrect information about North Waziristan as well. America wants to target the Haqqani Network but the Haqqani Network is not an enemy of Pakistan. (Ausaf Edit, 27 July)
PUNJAB
1. Increasing popularity of Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman, Imran Khan in Punjab could prove to be a threat to the PML-N in the next senate election and that is the reason why the PML-N has increased its pressure on the PPP government; to cause a stir and secure their hold over the Punjab vote bank. (Nawa-i-Waqt)
2. Naseem Shahid in his Daily Pak column writes that most newspapers in the country are not covering the unrest in South Punjab. ‘People of South Punjab feel deprived since they see that the benefits of their resources are being enjoyed by Lahore and the surrounding areas Mohammed Ali Durrani and Nawab Salahuddin are therefore demanding the restoration of the Bahawalpur province, while Seraiki nationalists are demanding a separate province of Saraikistan. Local papers are reports that agitators have burnt the effigies of Imran Khan (PTI) and Syed Munawar Hasan (JI) for not supporting their separatist movements on linguistic bases. Shahid writes that. (Daily Pak)
SINDH
1. Sindh Interior Minister Manzoor Wasan said that it has been decided to seek the services of 2,000 more policemen from other provinces in order to bring the situation in Karachi under control. The Sindh police IG said that forces are being called from Sukkur and Hyderabad for duty in Karachi. The IG also said that he had not received the list of offenders from the ‘African country’ that Rehman Malik had spoken about and added that terrorist elements have political backing. (Awami Awaz, Ibrat)
2. Jasarat editorial is sceptical that peace rallies in Karachi will do anything to tone up the law and order situation. (Jasarat Edit)
POK NEWS
1. A press release issued from the office of GB Metals, Minerals and Gems has alleged that a member of Mohsin industries said that that they will turn GB into Balochistan and has demanded the expulsion of this representative immediately. (Baad-e-Shimal)
2. President of the Chamber of Commerce said that the government should immediately pack off security forces from Gilgit and abolish all security check posts. He said that GB is wasting crores of rupees annually in the name of law and order. (Baad-e-Shimal)
3. A third division, consisting of Diamer and Astore, will be created in the next 45 days. (Baad-e-Shimal)
4. Irregularities and corruption have been reported in the Civil Supply Department of the Yaseen area in Gilgit Baltistan. (Ausaf, 27 July)
5. The CM of Gilgit Baltistan has in a letter to the Prime Minister voiced his unhappiness over the transfer of IG of police Gilgit Baltistan, Asgar Hussain, to the FIA. Any such transfers and decisions in the future should not be done without the consultation of the Governor and CM. (Urdu Point, 27 July)
