AFGHANISTAN
1. While speaking to Jinnah, Jamiat Ahle Hadis Pakistan Gen. Secy. Ibtesam Elahi Zahir said that holding talks with Taliban would be good for Pakistan. He said that the existing national situation may unite religious parties. (Jinnah)

INDIA
1.  JI Secretary General Liyaqat Baloch said trade with India was equal to the murder of national trade, sovereignty, national security and economy. He also opined that betrayal of Kashmiris was equivalent to treason against Pakistan. He said (Jasarat)

UNITED STATES
1. Speaking to News-5, the newly–appointed PTI vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that he compared the existing govt. with Musharraf govt. and in the Musharraf regime, no one had courage to ask questions. He said that he had been told, that the Raymond Davis issue would be dealt with by the Interior Minister Rehman Malik, even though it had to be dealt with the Foreign Ministry. (Khabrain)

2.JI Secretary General Liyaqat Baloch said that a befitting response to American aggression has been inevitable; he demanded that all secret agreements with the US should be terminated and that Pakistan should stop playing the role of a frontline ally for the Americans. He said that religious and political leaders will address people on December 18th at Minar-e-Pakistan and that this gathering is being organized by the Pakistan Defence Council. He urged the people to be united for the defence of sovereignty and nuclear installations. .  (Jasarat)

3. In his column, Nazir Naji says that in the past 55 years, the US had turned Pakistani politicians into puppets of the establishment; they were so weak now that they could not survive if freed. He writes that after 1958, the US became successful in trapping Army Generals and bureaucrats to dance to its tunes; since then, Pakistani politicians have been toys in their hands. With the changing situation, US has adopted a new strategy to incite religious and sectarian sentiments among the Muslim community and prepare them to stand against each other. After Egypt, Bahrain, and Syria, now the US would try the same trick in Pakistan which had already been prone to such differences. Naji advises Maulana Fazlur Rahman to keep aside all sectarian differences and make allies, in order to unite the entire Pakistani community to fight against the enemies of the nation. Naji ends by saying that only the religious fraternity could bring people of Pakistan together and save it from disintegration. (Jang)

4. In his column, Abdul Hafiz Amirpuri writes that the attack on Pakistani check-posts by NATO forces was an indication of extremely dangerous ambitions of the ISAF against Pakistan. He says that the Pakistanis already are aware of the fact that American presence in the region may spell into problems for Pakistan, hence, the people’s anger over this incident was justified and natural. American officials tried to convey that the attack was not deliberate but circumstantial evidence contradicts this. He writes that the Western media tries to give an impression that Taliban and other militants were present at this site, which is completely false, baseless and misguiding. Analysts are of the view that the Americans are actually targeting Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. He says that this time, the civilian and military leadership should give a befitting response to American aggression. (Al Qalam Weekly, 9 December to 15 December)

5. JuD chief Prof. Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, member of Islamic Ideological Council Allama Zubair Ahmed Zaheer, JI leader Liyaqat Baloch, and Qari Zawar Bahadur in a joint statement lauded the government for getting the Shamsi airbase vacated as well as the orders issued for shooting down US drones, and violation of Pakistani air space. They said that lakhs of participants will attend the Dafa-e-Pakistan Conference to be held on December 18th. (Daily Pak)

6. Daily Intekhab’s editorial is critical of the advocacy of many Pakistani envoys that NATO supplies should be resumed and that the relations with the US should be refurbished. The edit charges that these envoys do not care for poor Pakistanis but only wanted to please their foreign masters. The US was failing and these people would also get ruined in the bargain, but Pakistanis would remain independent, even without foreign support. (Daily Intekhab Edit)

7. Jasarat edit on the Envoys Conference says that no clear decisions were made at the conference. It is of the opinion that through this conference, the government and the establishment wanted to provide a reason for their decision. It writes that efforts are on to restart ties with the US and relations may be based on taxing NATO supplies as well as diesel. Edit says that the establishment may ask the US to apologize. (Jasarat Edit)

8. Edits in Ummat and Jang on the envoys conference say that the government needed to stop thinking about monetary problems in case America stops its aid and should concentrate on improving its relations with regional countries and end any war-like situations with internal elements. Edit says that the US should not be allowed to give India an upper hand in Afghanistan, for which Pakistan should start building a good rapport with the Afghans to rectify past mistakes. It further says that any other American bases inside Pakistan should be closed down and America should be made to understand Pakistan’s importance for the safe passage of the Americans from Afghanistan. It says that getting rid of Americans was not difficult, but the government should remain firm on its decision as the entire Pakistani community was ready to back the government. (Ummat Edit, Jang Edit)

9. Nawa-i-Waqt edit on US Senate agreeing to stop USD 70 crore aid to Pakistan says that as a matter of self-respect, Pakistan should have rejected US aid before they had a chance to stop it. It says that Pakistan should take back other bases including the Jacobabad airbase and other facilities given to the US. It says that it has been proved that the trade passage given to India to send goods to Afghanistan had been used to send supplies for NATO; hence, the transit trade agreement should be suspended.  (Nawa-i-Waqt Edit)

DEFENCE
1.The government and the opposition party PML-N were in favour of handing over the Shamsi airbase to UAE, but the military leadership stopped them, says a report in Ummat, which adds that for the past 9 years, the US has been enjoying NATO supplies, drone attacks and Pakistani air space without any written agreement, but now the defence and foreign policies were being changed. (Nawa-i-Waqt)

2. Chairman of Joint Chief of Staff Committee, Gen. Khalid Shamim Wynn in his meeting with PM Gilani said that armed forces were fully prepared for national defence. They discussed the security situation in view of the Mohmand Agency attack. Gen Wynn also had a meeting with the Chinese ambassador Liu Jian in which they stressed upon mutual cooperation in the defence sector. (Baad-e-Shimal, Jinnah)

3. Ausaf EDIT on Shamsi air base says: ISI has confirmed that the US had vacated Shamsi airbase; it is also said that an order has been issued that if any American drones violate Pakistani air space, they will be shot down. …Shamsi airbase had been given on lease to UAE, prior to handing it over to American control. …Leasing out Shamsi airbase and the Gwadar Port were decisions against national pride and had affected Pakistan badly. People want to know what else had been leased out to foreign nations. (Ausaf Edit, 13 December)

TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
1. Punjab Governor Sardar Latif Khosa said that the Army chief and the President of the country never present themselves before courts and they will never do so even in the future. He said that Pervez Elahi was not behind Benazir Bhutto’s killing. He said that Bilawal Bhutto had been given a briefing about the killers of Benazir Bhutto. He said that Benazir was killed more than 3 years ago in Punjab. He said that Nawaz Sharif should now brief everyone about the progress in the Shahbaz Taseer kidnapping case. (Kawish)

2. Karachi CID Civil Lines Police arrested 2 militants belonging to the Punjabi Taliban Group and seized heavy artillery from them. (Jang)

3. Mufti Munibur Rahman chairman of Ruaiyat-e-Hilal Committee, Maulana Amjad Khan secretary information JUI-F, Qadri Zawar Bahadur secretary general of JUI-S and other religious leaders and Ulema have said that the electronic media had flooded Pakistan with obscenity which was an attack on the Islamic culture. They said that world powers were promoting nudity and obscenity in Pakistani families and demanded regulations against it. (Ausaf, 13 December)

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
1. President Zardari went to Dubai in accordance with a plan. Zardari failed in trying to take former American ambassador Hussain Haqqani and his wife along with him at the Chakala air base. Security forces stopped Haqqani, to which Zardari expressed his strong displeasure. (Jasarat)

2. President Zardari will go on a three-month leave before December 27th, sources said. (Daily Pak)

3. Editorial in Jinnah says Hussain Haqqani had been appointed on significant posts under every regime. It says that Haqqani had issued visas to US nationals without any information. Edit writes that he played an important role in the Kerry Lugar; observers say that he was behind the tough conditions in the bill. Edit says that likewise, the Memogate scandal may be a planned conspiracy to create a rift between the democratic govt. and military leadership. Edit stresses for taking stern action against Hussain Haqqani if he had been involved in the Memogate scandal. (Jinnah edit)

4. Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that Benazir Bhutto’s killers as well as the conspirators have been arrested. He said that Pakistan knows where Balochistan gets weapons from. He said that Afghanistan should take steps to check the inflow of terrorists into Pakistan. (Ibrat)

5. Federal Minister for Information Dr. Firdous Awan said that the recent political tensions were aimed at checking PPP’s victory in Senate elections. (Ibrat)

6. PPP senior leaders Dr. Safdar Abbasi and Nahid Khan have advised Bilawal Bhutto to stay away from his father’s policies and to move ahead with the political will of PPP founder Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. (Jang)

7. PML-Zia Chief Aijazul Haq has claimed that PTI Chief Imran Khan had a secret meeting with former Pakistan President Gen. (Retd) Musharraf in the US, and that they discussed the current political scenario and the US-Pak relations. The person responsible for the said meeting between Imran Khan and Musharraf was the same who had been sent to President Zardari in Dubai.  He claimed that he had some more information but disclosing that would be against national interests. Haq said that apart from health problems, the main reason for Zardari’s stay in Dubai was to obtain a guarantee from the US that he would not be summoned over the NRO or the Memogate scandal. He added that he had advised PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif to normalize his relations with the establishment considering the current change in the political scenario. He also said that MQM and PML-Q would soon part ways and PML-Q members would soon join PTI. He said that if Musharraf joins PTI, the entire old team would be together again. He stated that the Army had no plans to snatch power from the democratic government but at the same time, they did not want anything against national interests; hence, preparations were underway to remove the current government constitutionally. (Ummat)

8. PTI Chief Imran Khan said those with clean backgrounds would be promoted within the party and people who were doing good work would get tickets; those involved in corruption would be barred. (Ummat, Jang)

9. Sindh Interior Minister Manzoor Wasan said that the Sindh government will not come in the way of PTI’s meeting in Karachi on December 25th. He said that if PTI wanted, it could hold the meeting at Nishtar Park or any other place and that every possible security arrangement would be made. He said that if Khan wanted to hold the meeting near Qaid-e-Azam’s tomb, permission would be granted by the federal government. (Ibrat)

10. Sources have said that older leaders of PTI have expressed their concern over the establishment people joining their party. (Jang)

11. Although new people were joining Imran Khan’s PTI, this was proving to be uncomfortable for the older PTI members. PTI youth Leader Naved Khan expressed his dissatisfaction over giving key positions to new entrants and ignoring those who had nurtured the party. He criticized party chief Imran Khan and said that it was Imran Khan’s habit to discard old cronies and make new friends. Naved Khan said that Imran Khan had appointed Shah Mehmood Qureshi as the Senior Vice Chairman, Mian Azhar was made the chief of the core committee and he would also take decisions about tickets for elections. Naved said that Umar Cheema, who had been the founder member of PTI and its Information Secy for the past 15 years, was replaced by former PPP leader Shafaqat Mehmood. Imran Khan was planning to shift his party headquarters from Islamabad to Lahore and that Shafaqat Mehmood was selected to improve the secular image of the party.  Naved Khan said that PTI activists had decided to stop the entry of corrupt people into PTI using force as they had understood that their leader Imran Khan had left all his principles. He said that PTI had gone far away from its basic ideology and with the kind of people joining PTI, bringing about a change in the country was impossible (Ummat)

12. Zardari’s sudden departure has added to the uncertainties facing Pakistan. US was giving preference to the civilian government, thinking that the civilian set up can be more useful compared to the Army in checking terrorism in Afghanistan. The Kerry Lugar Bill was first of its kind that made aid to Pakistan subject to the civilian govt’s consent. Though some sources attribute this to Hussain Haqqani’s efforts, it was possible due to the overall policies of the US. The Pakistan Army believes that the civilian government can exploit the situation to its advantage, as was evident from the Memogate scandal. Such a situation will not be acceptable to the Pak Army and hence, it has started its search for a suitable alternate political party that can take the place of the current government. (Awami Awaz, 13 December)

ECONOMY-WATER- ENERGY
1. Federal Bureau of Revenue Chairman Salman Siddique is likely to be appointed as the Secretary to the President in place of Asif Hayyat, who has health problems. (Baad-e-Shimal)

2. PIA has grounded 15 planes. (Ummat)

PUNJAB
1. A petition was registered in the LHC to sack Punjab Governor Latif Khosa. The petitioner was of the view that since Khosa belonged to south Punjab, he was spending government funds for south Punjab. (Jinnah)

2. Punjab government has issued orders to top police officers to call back 8000 security personnel from security duties to VVIPs and politicians. (Daily Pak)

3. British delegation of educational experts who had assessed the steps taken to improve education standards in Punjab, have expressed satisfaction over the reforms programme, in its meeting with the Punjab CM. (Nawa-i-Waqt)

SINDH
1. PPP and MQM would sit again on Wednesday to finalize the new municipality system in Karachi, say sources. (Ummat)

2. Badin district administration has asked the Provincial Election Commission for a 15-day period to conduct elections on the vacant seat of former Sindh Interior Minister Dr. Zulfiqar Mirza. (Ummat)

3. Karachi Municipality workers staged a protest rally as they did not get their salaries. (Ummat)

4. A Hindu businessman, Ravi Kumar, 23, was killed for non-payment of ransom after being kidnapped 50 days ago from Quetta. He was also the general secretary of the minority wing of PPP. Reacting to the incident, Hindus in Quetta alleged that the government had failed to ensure protection to Hindus and under the circumstances, they are compelled to migrate. (Kawish)

5. Despite all disputes, Pakistan is still receiving the third largest monetary aid from the US, after Afghanistan and Israel. (Daily Dharti)

BALOCHISTAN
1. Commission set up for locating missing persons has rejected the list of 949 missing persons sent by the Balochistan CM. (Nawa-i-Waqt)
Armed militants kidnapped 6 employees of an NGO in the Pishin area of Balochistan. Local sources said that the kidnappers looked like Taliban. (Kawish)

2. Federal government has called an important meeting on December 19th to address Balochistan’s problems. President Zardari, PM Gilani, Balochistan Governor Dr. Abdul Qadir Magsi, CM Nawab Aslam Raeesani, COAS Gen. Kayani, Commander Southern Command Lt. Gen. Alam Khatak, IG FC Maj. Gen. Ubaidullah Khan, IG Police Rao Amin Hashim, Chiefs of secret departments in Balochistan and other high officials from concerned departments would attend the meeting. The current law and order situation in the province would be discussed at this meeting including the issue of terrorism. Many nationalist parties have been pleading for normalizing the situation but some powers sitting outside and working at the behest of enemies did not want to see peace in Balochistan. (Daily Intekhab)

3. Balochistan FC IG Maj Gen Ubaidullah said that the problem of the majority in Balochistan was unemployment; he said that some autocrats living a lavish life abroad were exploiting such people for vested interests by misleading them against the state. He added that Balochistan was a political problem and that an armed operation was not a solution. He asked those unhappy with the state to come down and work amicably to resolve their differences. Ubaidullah also clarified that FC was not conducting any operation in Balochistan. (Daily Intekhab)

4. According to sources, the Balochistan Reko Diq Project Board had decided to restart the project immediately and install the refinery in Chaghi. (Jang)

POK NEWS
1.JKPP would organize a signature movement in Rawalkot on December 15th to challenge the federal government’s decision to give India the MFN status. (Daily Dharti)

G-B NEWS
1. G-B CM Syed Mehdi Shah met AJK PM and informed him about the difficulties being faced by students as there was no medical college in G-B. The AJK PM announced 10 more seats to be reserved for G-B students in AJK medical colleges. They also discussed the expansion and restoration of AJK-Astore highway. (Baad-e-Shimal)

2. International Human Rights Observer (Gilgit-Baltistan) issued a press release condemning the use of force to disperse people protesting against load-shedding in Ashkuman. The press release also demanded immediate release of all the detained protestors. (Ausaf, 13 December)

3. Baad-e-Shimal laments the slow progress in execution of development projects 70% of the development budget is reserved for general construction, but due to some contractors’ corruption, others were holding up work as they were not getting their dues paid. Use of substandard construction material has become rampant. (Baad-e-Shimal Edit)

4. Baad-e-Shimal editorial is unhappy that  the survey on flood losses in G-B has left out deserving people with political and religious parties ensuring that their cronies get the compensation. (Baad-e-Shimal Edit)