2. Daily Pak, Ummat, and Khabrain have editorially commented on Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai criticism of Durand Line, and call to Taliban to attack Pakistan. Karzai should know that very soon the Allied Forces would leave Afghanistan and then he will not have any ground to continue. He should understand that Pakistan has no interest in spreading anarchy in Afghanistan as it has its own troubles to settle. The enemies of Afghanistan are in Afghanistan; as such Karzai should talk sense.  (Daily Pak, Ummat, Khabrain Edit)

INDIA-CHINA
1. In his column, Muhammad Mussaddiq writes that India calls Kashmir its integral part in the same way it considers Deep Singh Valley of Ladakh but the Rapid Action Peoples’ Liberation Army of China mutilated India’s claim in a few hours of time by intruding up to 19 km inside Ladakh.  He writes that China has claimed 90,000 km of area of Arunachal Pradesh and currently China has control over only 38,000 Km.  Interestingly, even America did not pass any remark over China’s action to support Dr. Manmohan Singh. Currently China is selling products worth USD 75 billion to India which is expected to increase to USD 100 billion on the forthcoming visit of the Chinese Premier but indirectly China has given a very good message to Pakistan on how to win Kashmir from India. (Nawa-i-Waqt)

INDIA
1. According to political analyst Khalid Farooqui, none of the 3 major parties including PPP, PML-N and PTI has included India or Kashmir in their election manifesto; this indicates that under the new government, there would be a change in Pakistan’s foreign policy as far as India is concerned. MQM and other Pakhtoon parties also talk of Taliban and terrorists causing trouble to Pakistan but do not mention India. Farooqui said that even Fazlur Rahman, despite being the chairman of the Kashmir Committee, has avoided talking of Kashmir and India. Farooqui commented that if the present parties have changed their attitude towards India for political purposes, it appears they have gained political maturity. (Jang)

2. Columnist Muzzafar Ijaz says Sarabjit Singh’s death may have been part of a plan by Pakistani government agencies in retaliation for Afzal Guru’s hanging. (Jasarat)

3. Reacting to the attack on Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah, AJK Law Minister Azhar Hussein Geelani said that India was responsible for the safety and security of the Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails. He alleged that Sanaullah was attacked as part of a planned conspiracy.   Geelani further criticized India for declaring a national holiday and giving guard of honour to Sarabjit Singh. He said that India’s ugly face has been revealed to the world and if Indian terrorism was not controlled, peace in would be under threat. He said that if the protectors of peace did not react against the ill intentions of India, humanity would not trust them anymore.   (Bang-e-Sahar)

4. Ailing Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah’s son and relatives would be visiting India to see him in the hospital. Another report says that Haq Nawaz, a Pakistani prisoner in Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore was found dead under suspicious conditions. (Khabrain)

5. Several editorials have condemned the brutal attack on Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah in Jammu’s Kot Bhalwal Jail. India should have increased the security of the Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails after Sarabjit Singh’s case but India made no such move. Though India has permitted the Pakistani High Commissioner in India to visit Sanaullah, the Pakistan government should straight away demand to get Sanaullah back to Pakistan. It is the responsibility of Pakistan to give an effective reply to India’s wrong propaganda.  (Nawa-i-Waqt,, Daily Pak,  Jang)

TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
1. A new terror group, expert in bomb making, has surfaced. Intelligence agencies claim that the group has been set up in Karachi. It is called the Tehrik-e-Taliban Mansoor Group. It is being run by a militant called Wazir Haqqani. Militants in this group are from Karachi but they are trained in Afghanistan and intelligence agencies claim that this group is well versed in bomb making, especially rickshaws full of explosives. (Awami Awaz, 5 May)

2. LeJ was behind blasts outside election offices of MQM in Karachi. TTP is patronizing LeJ which has a strong network in the places where blasts have taken place. An investigation was also continuing about members of MQM having links with LeJ. The investigators have found concrete evidence of the involvement of LeJ’s strong group i.e. Ataul Rahman urf Naim Bukhari group. DIG (West) has claimed that arrested activists of LeJ have confessed their involvement in many other blasts in Karachi. An SSP of CID police has revealed that 5 groups of LeJ are active in Karachi and they have joined TTP. A  sectarian divide is also evident in MQM and some of its members are supporting defunct Sipah-e-Muhammad in reaction to which other MQM activist supporting LeJ. (Ummat)

3. Extremists attacked Nowshehra-Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway Police near Babaji Kale area. A motorway police patrol van was attacked by unknown extremists. A Patrolling Officer and Assistant Patrolling Officer along with ten other cadres were injured in the attack. (Jinnah)

4. Four persons were arrested for attack on PTI at Mardan. The PTI activists were returning after a party meeting when they were attacked with hand grenades. (Kawish)

5. Attacks on election candidates, their offices, workers and meetings continued in Balochistan. In Sabi, FC officials prevented an attack on an election rally. During the operation, seven terrorists were killed in a gunfight that ensued after FC officials surrounded the terrorists. One FC cadre was also killed in the face off. In another attack in Sabi, on the election rally of candidates Dostin Domki and Sarfaraz Domki, one person was injured. After these bomb attacks, election activity slowed down considerably in the city and surrounding areas. In Miranshah, a bomb exploded outside the home of PTI candidate Engineer Qayyum, in which five persons were injured. In Kharan, in an explosion outside the office of PML (N), 15 persons were injured. In Macch area in Quetta, a bomb exploded near an election office, injuring three persons. In Takht Bhai area of KP, hand bombs were hurled at a PTI corner meeting, where candidate Ali Mohammad Khan Advocate, Iftikhar Mashwani and Engineer Aadil Nawaz were addressing the meeting, in which five persons were injured. (Jinnah)

6. Maulana Muhammad Mansoor Ahmed writes in his article that so far ‘Al Murabitun’ have published three important special – ‘Knowledge and Jihad’, ‘Jihad and life of Prophet Muhammad’ and ‘Jihad and Tasawuf’. A new special issue will be on the ‘Imamaul Hind Hazarat Shah Ismail Shahid’, who according to Mansoor, had obtained martyrdom at Balakot. Its purpose  is to encourage more people to join the caravan of ‘Al Murabitun’. (Al Qalam Weekly, 3-9 May)

7. Ziaullah Ahsan writes in his article that Islam was a complete system of life and within this system two important aspects were ‘dawat and jihad’ and states that the purpose of dawat (invitation) is to invite people towards Islam and deliver them the message of the Prophet Muhammad. About the second aspect, jihad, he says the Prophet himself had taken part in 27 battles and had sent 65 teams of his companions for battles which is called ‘Sarrya’ in Arabic. Ashan writes that after the death of the Prophet, his companions and followers adopted jihad and established the supremacy of Islam. (Al Murabitun, 13 May)

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
1. JUI (F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman said that he did not issue any Fatwa against Imran Khan but only called him a Jewish agent. He added that a person who failed to apply Islam to his own body was talking about imposing Islam in the country. Maulana said the disaster of dictatorship was on one side but even the democracy failed to give anything to this country. (Baad-e-Shimal)

2. JUI (F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman warns that if efforts are made to stop the march of JUI then decisions about the future will not be made by political and constitutional forces but by non-state forces. (Jasarat, Ausaf, Jinnah)

3. Qadiyanis in Pakistan have decided to boycott the coming elections in protest against different voters list for Mirzas and Qadiyanis. (Khabrain)

4. ECP has indicated that mobile services could be suspended on the Election Day. The Chief Election Commissioner has also said that 15 crore ballot papers have been printed and the remaining will be printed by May 7th. (Kawish)

5. Columnist Hamid Mir says Taliban’s attacks on election candidates have in a way given a boost to political parties. PPP, ANP and MQM are not deterred from election campaign and they are determined to contest elections. They feel that their opponents are not PML-N or PTI or JI, but Taliban and that by participating in elections, they have to defeat Taliban. Mir says that till the start of Taliban attacks, these parties were facing public criticism on their past performance; post the attacks, they have gained public sympathy. Mir writes that he has observed that in Sindh, until a few weeks ago, PPP was facing opposition from its own party members, but Taliban’s attacks have united party members, and PPP has become stronger once again in Sindh. Likewise in KP, ANP was facing opposition, but after Taliban attacks, ANP appears as an oppressed party and hence, now it will be difficult to defeat Ghulam Ahmed Bilour in Peshawar against Imran Khan. In Balochistan, the situation is a little different. Here the attacks are on PML-N, JI and BNP, but reasons for these attacks are different. Mir writes that in Punjab and KP, Imran Khan has emerged as a powerful leader. Members quitting PPP do not join PML-N; they join PTI. According to Mir, Fazlur Rahman’s criticism has made Imran Khan more popular, and hence, Imran Khan may succeed in getting more votes than expected by his opponents. Mir concludes that the parties which have so far evaded Taliban attacks should not consider themselves safe; Taliban will surprise them after the elections. Mir says that in fact, Taliban attacks have helped PPP and ANP. (Jang)

6. Nawa-i-Waqt expresses concern over continuing terrorism in the run up to elections and says that it  is quite disturbing that the interim government is not bold enough in calling the Army in to control the situation. Edit says that such discrepancies would not only sabotage the democratic process but were a threat to the national safety as well. (Nawa-i-Waqt Edit)

ECONOMY-WATER- ENERGY
1. New gas reserves have been found in Dadu and initial production was 33 MMCFD. Due to efforts by Italian firm ENI, Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration and Pakistan’s PPL new Gas reserves were found in Gir Thar Block of Dadu district. (Daily Pak)

2. Water level in the Sidpara Dam has reduced to a dangerous level and there is a big threat of acute shortage of water and electricity in Skardu. (Baad-e-Shimal)

3. As per an NGO, ‘Environmental Index Performance’, Pakistan is the country which wastes maximum water and if glacier melting continues, Pakistan will face severe food crisis and will be destroyed through natural disasters. (Roznama Duniya)

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWAH (NWFP/FATA)
1. ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan has given a clean chit to MQM in the killing of Pashtuns in Karachi. Speaking on a private TV, he said that a third force was behind the killings of Pashtuns in Karachi which has now emerged in the shape of Taliban. (Ummat)

2. KP state spokesperson of Awami National Party, Malik Gulam Mustafa has declared that certain forces are trying to create a fear psychosis amongst ANP workers, but his group will neither boycott the elections nor be cowed down due to such terrorist acts. (Jinnah)

3. Police have recovered 90000 fake ballet papers from Chakdara areas of Lower Dir and 3 accused have been arrested including a driver. (Jasarat, Ausaf, Jinnah)

PUNJAB
1. More than 1300 people from the Mujahid squad will be deployed at 3359 polling stations of Lahore. This is being done to strengthen security plan for elections. People are also being urged not to misbehave with Police and co-operate with Police for security related issues. (Kawish)

SINDH
1. Police raided a place in Karachi and arrested a terrorist belonging to MQM. The police has recovered a TT pistol from the accused Saeed Noor and claimed that Noor was a member of MQM’s MOC. (Ummat)

2. Working on the directives of the ECP, the Sindh government has changed SSP Police at Thatta. (Kawish)

3. Clashes between MQM and MQM (Haqeequi) have reduced Landi to a battleground, leaving 2 dead. (Awami Awaz, 5 May)

4. Jang editorial expressed concern over increasing attacks on politicians in the poll fray and their offices in Karachi. (Jang Edit)

BALOCHISTAN
1. Except for handful of disgruntled Baloch militants, all national and communal parties have nominated their candidates in Balochistan; this indicates a normal voter turnout in Balochistan. (Jang)

POK/ G-B NEWS
1. A protest was organized by the Gilgit-Baltistan United Council and other organizations stating that the people of GB were also Pakistanis and should be given the basic rights. They said GB should be given the status of a constitutional province, and should have representation in the National Assembly and Senate. (Baad-e-Shimal)

2. Bang-e-Sahar has come out with another stinging attack on the chief minister Mehdi Shah accusing him of indulging in corrupt practices. Edit says looting by the Mehdi Shah government has brought a bad name to the PPP which is already in great disarray internally.  If either PML –N or PTI make it to Parliament, as it appears likely, PPP would be nowhere. (Bang-e-Sahar Edit)

3. Baad-e-Shimal has asked the government to ensure supply of clean drinking water to people in Gilgit saying that many people have fallen sick after drinking contaminated water in the town area. It also said the government should stop charging for medicines to the poor in the hospitals fees since influential people are reported to be getting free treatment and medicines by the backdoor. (Baad-e-Shimal Edit)