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Musharraf to unveil his plan next month:
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By Amir Wasim in Dawn, Aug 9
ISLAMABAD, Aug 8: Former president Pervez Musharraf will make a formal announcement about his plan to enter politics next month, according to the chief coordinator of the retired general’s All Pakistan Muslim League.
Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain, a federal minister in the Musharraf-led government, said at a news conference on Sunday that APML planned to organise a convention next month which the former president would address by telephone to announce his decision to join politics.
He said Mr Musharraf, who is living in self-exile in London, had announced a donation of 10 million rupees which would be distributed among flood victims in cash. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/musharraf-to-unveil-plan-next-month-980
2. Babar Awan bailed out PPP, 'N': by Maqbool Malik in the Nation, Aug 9
ISLAMABAD – Federal Minister for Law and Justice Dr Babar Awan has been successful in forestalling serious threat to the PPP and PML-N Governments on account of the MPs’ fake degrees.
The top leadership of the two major political players had managed to continue smooth sailing of their respective Governments through an agreed mechanism that helped them survive the looming danger of running short of magic number required to form the government.
“Had Babar Awan not bailed out, fragile Governments led by the PPP and the PML-N at Centre, Balochistan and Punjab would have collapsed”, well-placed sources informed TheNation on Sunday.
The sources believed that Balochistan Government was in real danger, followed by the Governments in Punjab as well as the Centre.
The sources were of the view that Babar Awan had allegedly influenced the Election Commission of Pakistan pressing it not to declare the fake degree holder MPs disqualified altogether. The sources insisted that the ECP had been asked to immediately conduct bye-elections on the seats that would fall vacant due to the fake degree issue. The sources further said that ECP had been seeking restructuring in the wake of 18th Constitutional Amendment and it was to be done through the Law Ministry, therefore, Babar Awan played key role in pushing the ECP to conduct bye-polls in order to forestall any threat to the Governments.
The sources were of the opinion that this could not have been made possible without the connivance of the top PPP and PML-N leadership.
According to the sources, there are at least 47 MPs, whose degrees were declared fake by the HEC. The PPP topped the list with 12 MPs followed by the PML-N and PML-Q with 11 each. The list also includes the names of five legislators from Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, two from the Awami National Party, one each from the Balochistan National Party and PML (Functional) and four independent candidates. No legislator from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement is on the list. http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online//Politics/09-Aug-2010/Babar-Awan-bailed-out-PPP-N
3. Abid exposes Assef’s poor track record
By Ahmad Noorani in The News, Aug 9
ISLAMABAD: Federal minister for education and the biggest supporter of fake degrees and fake MPs, Sardar Assef Ahmad Ali, who is a member of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Education (NASCE) for more than two and an half years has attended the committee meeting only once.
Record shows during all this period he came only for voting against any action to be taken against the PCO Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar for getting his daughter Farah Hameed Dogar’s FSc marks increased illegally.
According to details, Musharraf had appointed Abdul Hameed Dogar as chief justice on recommendation of the then PPP leadership on the dark night of November 3, 2007. Dogar once was a junior advocate in the law chamber of present Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and was considered close to the PPP leadership.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=30616
4. Top official reveals how Zardari’s medical records were faked
By Ahmad Noorani in the News, Aug 9
ISLAMABAD: The Director General Health, from 1996 to 1999, when Asif Ali Zardari was under arrest, has revealed in detail how a prestigious Karachi hospital was pressurized to forge reports that Zardari had prostrate cancer so that he could be flown out of Pakistan in the name of treatment abroad.
Dr Ghayur Ayub, talking to this correspondent from London, confirmed the contents of an account he had written, which gave specific details of how this forgery was done and when it was caught by him, as DG health, the Karachi hospital took a stand and refused to oblige Zardari.
The article by Dr Ayub, which first appeared on his own blog, reveals how the then Ehtesab Bureau Chief Senator Saifur Rehman used his influence and how he called the chief of the Karachi hospital in Paris, who rushed to Islamabad to handle the issue.
The candid admissions by the then top Health Ministry official raises millions of questions about the other medical reports and health conditions of Asif Ali Zardari who stayed in New York for several years claiming that doctors had advised him not to travel by air because he had a stent in his heart.
Curiously he was not stopped or did not feel any problem flying within the US during this time. http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=30619
5.‘I am proud of what I did’, says man who threw shoes at Zardari
LONDON: A protester who threw his shoes at the Pakistan president as he gave a speech in Birmingham on Saturday night said he was proud of his actions, reported the Daily Mail on Sunday.
Sardar Mohammed Shamim Khan, 57, said Asif Ali Zardari’s speech had incensed him so much that he spontaneously decided to unlace his size 10 leather shoes and hurl them at the bewildered Pakistani leader. Police quickly led father-of-four Mr Shamim away before cautioning and later releasing him.
An unrepentant Mr Khan, from Coventry, West Midlands, Saturday night said: “I could feel the anger brewing up inside me as Zardari talked about the floods in Pakistan. “I thought we have a crisis back at home and all he can do is take a trip around Europe while his own people are suffering.”
Mr Khan managed to sneak into the invite-only political rally organised by the UK branch of Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party. Khan, who sat about 20 metres away from the president, said: “I thought his speech was insulting to my people who are dying because of Zardari’s government.
“He is a disgrace and I had to let my feelings be known in a way he would remember.” Mr Khan said he shouted: “Allah is the only one who can give and take lives” as he threw the shoes which failed to hit the president.
One shoe narrowly missed him while the other was deflected away by a security guard. The drama was captured on Pakistani TV channel PTV which was live streaming the event. But the shoe-throwing incident was edited out and party officials tried to downplay the incident. http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=30610
6. Jiyalas burn The News, Jang copies as Geo blocked in few areas
KARACHI: Transmission of Geo TV was blocked in some parts of the country and copies of The News and the daily Jang burnt in a few areas of Karachi and Sindh on Sunday as the media group gave coverage to the hurling of shoes at President Asif Ali Zardari during his party address in Birmingham.
Many offices of cable operators in Karachi were set ablaze by angry activists of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). Newspaper vendors were robbed of copies of The News and the daily Jang upon the direction of PPP leaders, besides, PPP workers were accompanied by police officials in hurling threats at cable operators and hawkers, sources told the media.
Most copies of The News and the daily Jang were burnt to ashes after snatching them from hawkers at gunpoint in parts of Karachi. Some PPP leaders and government officials have issued threats and warnings to cable operators across the country against the continuation of Geo News’ transmission, pressurising them to shut it down, but most of the cable operators refused to do so, sources said.
However, a private company named World Call and another one, KMPC, blocked Geo News signals at 2am early on Sunday morning. People were of the view that Geo/Jang Group is being penalised over the revealing of facts and speaking the truth. They said the ruling elite was angry over reporting of news regarding controversial visit of president Zardari in face of worst floods in country. http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=30602
7. Foreign aid mostly given to UN agencies: By Baqir Sajjad Syed in Dawn, Aug 9
ISLAMABAD, Aug 8: The international response to the worst flooding in Pakistan’s history has highlighted world community’s lack of confidence in the government’s ability to carry out speedy and effective relief and rehabilitation work.
As of Saturday, the contributions and commitments made by different countries totalled $29.7 million, of which only $2.5 million was in bilateral assistance. Most of the donors prefer to provide aid through UN agencies and humanitarian organisations, indicating a lack of trust in the government.
Another $59.6 million is also planned to be channelled through such organisations.
Talking to Dawn, an official coordinating the international assistance conceded that donors had reservations over the capacity and efficiency of the government’s disaster management system. Besides, he said, the donors had their own preferences regarding fund disbursement.. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/foreign-aid-mostly-given-to-un-agencies-980
8. Angry mob attacks minister’s convoy: By Malik Tahseen Raza in Dawn, Aug 9
MUZAFFARGARH: An angry mob attacked the convoy of Federal Minister of State for Economic Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar in Mahmood Kot and Head Kalu where she had gone on Sunday to have an idea of devastations caused by floods.
Near the Mahmood Kot canal, one policeman trying to protect Ms Khar from the mob was injured.
Enraged people said their town had been under water for one week but she ignored them. Had she visited the area a week ago, they said, she could have asked the administration to plug the breach in the canal and save hundreds of houses, markets and schools which had collapsed. A number of women also took part in the protest and attack on the minister.
Later talking to Dawn at the Budh Railway station, Khar claimed that the government was aware of the suffering of the flood-affected people, adding that it had activated Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) to immediately carry out relief work in Muzaffargarh.
This was Ms Khar’s first interaction with the people after becoming the minister for the second time. She did not visit her constituency even during elections. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/19-angry-mob-attacks-ministers-convoy-980-hh-10
9. Lack of trust, PM’s appeal gets lukewarm response
By Ansar Abbasi in the News, Aug 9
ISLAMABAD: Faced with diminishing credibility, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s appeal last week for flood relief donations is getting a lukewarm response, both locally and internationally, it is learnt.
A credible Finance Ministry source told The News that the National Bank of Pakistan has not yet started receiving many donations from ordinary people, businessmen and from overseas Pakistanis.
The source said that the NBP, which has been designated by the government to receive donations both within Pakistan and outside, does not show an encouraging response, especially when compared with the response of the people after the 2005 earthquake. www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=30608
10. Pakistani floods: A man-made not a natural disaster
Wije Dias in World Socialist Web Site (wsws.org) The tragedy unfolding in Pakistan as a result of the country’s worst floods in 80 years is a devastating indictment not only of the present Pakistani government, but of its international allies—the US in particular—and the profit system as a whole. While the torrential rains have been caused by natural forces, the human disaster has been compounded by decades of government neglect and the lack of planning and infrastructure.
National Disaster Management Authority head Nadim Ahmed has put the number of people affected so far at 12 million, with 650,000 homes destroyed over some 132,000 square kilometres. The official death toll is 1,500 and rising. Hundreds of thousands of people are still stranded without shelter or supplies of food and clean water.
The disaster in Pakistan is the product of years of neglect. Successive governments have failed to develop proper flood warning systems and flood control measures. Infrastructure has not been planned to deal with natural disasters, whether the current flooding or the devastating 2005 earthquake in Kashmir.
Responsibility for the flood catastrophe should certainly be sheeted home to the Pakistani government and political establishment.
The latest disaster is another tragic demonstration of the incompatibility of the profit system with the elementary needs of ordinary working people. www.wsws.org/articles/2010/aug2010/pers-a07.shtml
11. US assesses own plans after Pakistan floods
WASHINGTON: As floodwaters rise in Pakistan, so does US concern over the impact of the disaster on an already fragile economy and how Washington’s robust development plan may be slowed down to deal with the crisis.
Another source of unease, say officials and experts, is that the Pakistani military’s attention is being diverted from its fight against militants in the border areas with Afghanistan where US troops are fighting the Taliban.
US officials, while refusing to discuss this publicly, are also assessing damage caused by the weak response from Pakistan’s civilian government to the floods and mounting hostility toward President Asif Ali Zardari, who stuck to a European trip. “Where we have seen a challenge, is in the civilian political leadership and getting it to step up to the plate,” said a US official, who declined to be named as his comments were critical of Zardari.
US officials repeatedly implored Zardari to return home, telling him this was his “Katrina,” a reference to the devastating 2005 hurricane in New Orleans which affected the political fortunes of former US President George W Bush.
Militants fill in: “A big problem is that while the Zardari government and the international community struggle to get their act together the militants are already on the ground providing relief,” said Pakistan expert Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution, a Washington think-tank.
The biggest supplier of relief among those groups, he said, was Jamat-ud-Dawa, a group with links to Lashkar-e-Tayyaba which is blamed for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai. It has “thousands” of relief workers going into villages and towns with cash and assistance, said Riedel. USAID’s Shah sought to play down the impact of militants filling the gap left by government in tackling the floods, saying a suicide attack in Peshawar last week showed the “true colors” of those groups. “That contrast could not be more stark between legitimate government mobilising the international community to respond to people’s needs,” said Shah. www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\09\story_9-8-2010_pg1_7
ISLAMABAD, Aug 8: Former president Pervez Musharraf will make a formal announcement about his plan to enter politics next month, according to the chief coordinator of the retired general’s All Pakistan Muslim League.
Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain, a federal minister in the Musharraf-led government, said at a news conference on Sunday that APML planned to organise a convention next month which the former president would address by telephone to announce his decision to join politics.
He said Mr Musharraf, who is living in self-exile in London, had announced a donation of 10 million rupees which would be distributed among flood victims in cash. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/musharraf-to-unveil-plan-next-month-980
2. Babar Awan bailed out PPP, 'N': by Maqbool Malik in the Nation, Aug 9
ISLAMABAD – Federal Minister for Law and Justice Dr Babar Awan has been successful in forestalling serious threat to the PPP and PML-N Governments on account of the MPs’ fake degrees.
The top leadership of the two major political players had managed to continue smooth sailing of their respective Governments through an agreed mechanism that helped them survive the looming danger of running short of magic number required to form the government.
“Had Babar Awan not bailed out, fragile Governments led by the PPP and the PML-N at Centre, Balochistan and Punjab would have collapsed”, well-placed sources informed TheNation on Sunday.
The sources believed that Balochistan Government was in real danger, followed by the Governments in Punjab as well as the Centre.
The sources were of the view that Babar Awan had allegedly influenced the Election Commission of Pakistan pressing it not to declare the fake degree holder MPs disqualified altogether. The sources insisted that the ECP had been asked to immediately conduct bye-elections on the seats that would fall vacant due to the fake degree issue. The sources further said that ECP had been seeking restructuring in the wake of 18th Constitutional Amendment and it was to be done through the Law Ministry, therefore, Babar Awan played key role in pushing the ECP to conduct bye-polls in order to forestall any threat to the Governments.
The sources were of the opinion that this could not have been made possible without the connivance of the top PPP and PML-N leadership.
According to the sources, there are at least 47 MPs, whose degrees were declared fake by the HEC. The PPP topped the list with 12 MPs followed by the PML-N and PML-Q with 11 each. The list also includes the names of five legislators from Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, two from the Awami National Party, one each from the Balochistan National Party and PML (Functional) and four independent candidates. No legislator from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement is on the list. http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online//Politics/09-Aug-2010/Babar-Awan-bailed-out-PPP-N
3. Abid exposes Assef’s poor track record
By Ahmad Noorani in The News, Aug 9
ISLAMABAD: Federal minister for education and the biggest supporter of fake degrees and fake MPs, Sardar Assef Ahmad Ali, who is a member of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Education (NASCE) for more than two and an half years has attended the committee meeting only once.
Record shows during all this period he came only for voting against any action to be taken against the PCO Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar for getting his daughter Farah Hameed Dogar’s FSc marks increased illegally.
According to details, Musharraf had appointed Abdul Hameed Dogar as chief justice on recommendation of the then PPP leadership on the dark night of November 3, 2007. Dogar once was a junior advocate in the law chamber of present Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and was considered close to the PPP leadership.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=30616
4. Top official reveals how Zardari’s medical records were faked
By Ahmad Noorani in the News, Aug 9
ISLAMABAD: The Director General Health, from 1996 to 1999, when Asif Ali Zardari was under arrest, has revealed in detail how a prestigious Karachi hospital was pressurized to forge reports that Zardari had prostrate cancer so that he could be flown out of Pakistan in the name of treatment abroad.
Dr Ghayur Ayub, talking to this correspondent from London, confirmed the contents of an account he had written, which gave specific details of how this forgery was done and when it was caught by him, as DG health, the Karachi hospital took a stand and refused to oblige Zardari.
The article by Dr Ayub, which first appeared on his own blog, reveals how the then Ehtesab Bureau Chief Senator Saifur Rehman used his influence and how he called the chief of the Karachi hospital in Paris, who rushed to Islamabad to handle the issue.
The candid admissions by the then top Health Ministry official raises millions of questions about the other medical reports and health conditions of Asif Ali Zardari who stayed in New York for several years claiming that doctors had advised him not to travel by air because he had a stent in his heart.
Curiously he was not stopped or did not feel any problem flying within the US during this time. http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=30619
5.‘I am proud of what I did’, says man who threw shoes at Zardari
LONDON: A protester who threw his shoes at the Pakistan president as he gave a speech in Birmingham on Saturday night said he was proud of his actions, reported the Daily Mail on Sunday.
Sardar Mohammed Shamim Khan, 57, said Asif Ali Zardari’s speech had incensed him so much that he spontaneously decided to unlace his size 10 leather shoes and hurl them at the bewildered Pakistani leader. Police quickly led father-of-four Mr Shamim away before cautioning and later releasing him.
An unrepentant Mr Khan, from Coventry, West Midlands, Saturday night said: “I could feel the anger brewing up inside me as Zardari talked about the floods in Pakistan. “I thought we have a crisis back at home and all he can do is take a trip around Europe while his own people are suffering.”
Mr Khan managed to sneak into the invite-only political rally organised by the UK branch of Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party. Khan, who sat about 20 metres away from the president, said: “I thought his speech was insulting to my people who are dying because of Zardari’s government.
“He is a disgrace and I had to let my feelings be known in a way he would remember.” Mr Khan said he shouted: “Allah is the only one who can give and take lives” as he threw the shoes which failed to hit the president.
One shoe narrowly missed him while the other was deflected away by a security guard. The drama was captured on Pakistani TV channel PTV which was live streaming the event. But the shoe-throwing incident was edited out and party officials tried to downplay the incident. http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=30610
6. Jiyalas burn The News, Jang copies as Geo blocked in few areas
KARACHI: Transmission of Geo TV was blocked in some parts of the country and copies of The News and the daily Jang burnt in a few areas of Karachi and Sindh on Sunday as the media group gave coverage to the hurling of shoes at President Asif Ali Zardari during his party address in Birmingham.
Many offices of cable operators in Karachi were set ablaze by angry activists of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). Newspaper vendors were robbed of copies of The News and the daily Jang upon the direction of PPP leaders, besides, PPP workers were accompanied by police officials in hurling threats at cable operators and hawkers, sources told the media.
Most copies of The News and the daily Jang were burnt to ashes after snatching them from hawkers at gunpoint in parts of Karachi. Some PPP leaders and government officials have issued threats and warnings to cable operators across the country against the continuation of Geo News’ transmission, pressurising them to shut it down, but most of the cable operators refused to do so, sources said.
However, a private company named World Call and another one, KMPC, blocked Geo News signals at 2am early on Sunday morning. People were of the view that Geo/Jang Group is being penalised over the revealing of facts and speaking the truth. They said the ruling elite was angry over reporting of news regarding controversial visit of president Zardari in face of worst floods in country. http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=30602
7. Foreign aid mostly given to UN agencies: By Baqir Sajjad Syed in Dawn, Aug 9
ISLAMABAD, Aug 8: The international response to the worst flooding in Pakistan’s history has highlighted world community’s lack of confidence in the government’s ability to carry out speedy and effective relief and rehabilitation work.
As of Saturday, the contributions and commitments made by different countries totalled $29.7 million, of which only $2.5 million was in bilateral assistance. Most of the donors prefer to provide aid through UN agencies and humanitarian organisations, indicating a lack of trust in the government.
Another $59.6 million is also planned to be channelled through such organisations.
Talking to Dawn, an official coordinating the international assistance conceded that donors had reservations over the capacity and efficiency of the government’s disaster management system. Besides, he said, the donors had their own preferences regarding fund disbursement.. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/foreign-aid-mostly-given-to-un-agencies-980
8. Angry mob attacks minister’s convoy: By Malik Tahseen Raza in Dawn, Aug 9
MUZAFFARGARH: An angry mob attacked the convoy of Federal Minister of State for Economic Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar in Mahmood Kot and Head Kalu where she had gone on Sunday to have an idea of devastations caused by floods.
Near the Mahmood Kot canal, one policeman trying to protect Ms Khar from the mob was injured.
Enraged people said their town had been under water for one week but she ignored them. Had she visited the area a week ago, they said, she could have asked the administration to plug the breach in the canal and save hundreds of houses, markets and schools which had collapsed. A number of women also took part in the protest and attack on the minister.
Later talking to Dawn at the Budh Railway station, Khar claimed that the government was aware of the suffering of the flood-affected people, adding that it had activated Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) to immediately carry out relief work in Muzaffargarh.
This was Ms Khar’s first interaction with the people after becoming the minister for the second time. She did not visit her constituency even during elections. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/19-angry-mob-attacks-ministers-convoy-980-hh-10
9. Lack of trust, PM’s appeal gets lukewarm response
By Ansar Abbasi in the News, Aug 9
ISLAMABAD: Faced with diminishing credibility, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s appeal last week for flood relief donations is getting a lukewarm response, both locally and internationally, it is learnt.
A credible Finance Ministry source told The News that the National Bank of Pakistan has not yet started receiving many donations from ordinary people, businessmen and from overseas Pakistanis.
The source said that the NBP, which has been designated by the government to receive donations both within Pakistan and outside, does not show an encouraging response, especially when compared with the response of the people after the 2005 earthquake. www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=30608
10. Pakistani floods: A man-made not a natural disaster
Wije Dias in World Socialist Web Site (wsws.org) The tragedy unfolding in Pakistan as a result of the country’s worst floods in 80 years is a devastating indictment not only of the present Pakistani government, but of its international allies—the US in particular—and the profit system as a whole. While the torrential rains have been caused by natural forces, the human disaster has been compounded by decades of government neglect and the lack of planning and infrastructure.
National Disaster Management Authority head Nadim Ahmed has put the number of people affected so far at 12 million, with 650,000 homes destroyed over some 132,000 square kilometres. The official death toll is 1,500 and rising. Hundreds of thousands of people are still stranded without shelter or supplies of food and clean water.
The disaster in Pakistan is the product of years of neglect. Successive governments have failed to develop proper flood warning systems and flood control measures. Infrastructure has not been planned to deal with natural disasters, whether the current flooding or the devastating 2005 earthquake in Kashmir.
Responsibility for the flood catastrophe should certainly be sheeted home to the Pakistani government and political establishment.
The latest disaster is another tragic demonstration of the incompatibility of the profit system with the elementary needs of ordinary working people. www.wsws.org/articles/2010/aug2010/pers-a07.shtml
11. US assesses own plans after Pakistan floods
WASHINGTON: As floodwaters rise in Pakistan, so does US concern over the impact of the disaster on an already fragile economy and how Washington’s robust development plan may be slowed down to deal with the crisis.
Another source of unease, say officials and experts, is that the Pakistani military’s attention is being diverted from its fight against militants in the border areas with Afghanistan where US troops are fighting the Taliban.
US officials, while refusing to discuss this publicly, are also assessing damage caused by the weak response from Pakistan’s civilian government to the floods and mounting hostility toward President Asif Ali Zardari, who stuck to a European trip. “Where we have seen a challenge, is in the civilian political leadership and getting it to step up to the plate,” said a US official, who declined to be named as his comments were critical of Zardari.
US officials repeatedly implored Zardari to return home, telling him this was his “Katrina,” a reference to the devastating 2005 hurricane in New Orleans which affected the political fortunes of former US President George W Bush.
Militants fill in: “A big problem is that while the Zardari government and the international community struggle to get their act together the militants are already on the ground providing relief,” said Pakistan expert Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution, a Washington think-tank.
The biggest supplier of relief among those groups, he said, was Jamat-ud-Dawa, a group with links to Lashkar-e-Tayyaba which is blamed for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai. It has “thousands” of relief workers going into villages and towns with cash and assistance, said Riedel. USAID’s Shah sought to play down the impact of militants filling the gap left by government in tackling the floods, saying a suicide attack in Peshawar last week showed the “true colors” of those groups. “That contrast could not be more stark between legitimate government mobilising the international community to respond to people’s needs,” said Shah. www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\09\story_9-8-2010_pg1_7
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