• US said the ISI has made no formal request for a relationship with CIA and that nothing had been discussed about drone attacks. (Ummat, Jang)   
•  
• A US official said that there is no possibility of any written agreement between Pak-US on drone attacks. He said that if US has information on Al-Qaeda presence in Pakistan and Pakistan refuses to cooperate, the US will carry out unilateral strikes against Al-Qaeda. (Baad-e-Shimal, Nawa-i-Waqt, Khabrain, Daily Pak, Jinnah, Ummat, Jang)
• 
  
• According to US nuclear experts, despite political instability in Pakistan, its number of nuclear weapons would reach 200 within 10 years. (Jinnah)
• 
  
• Writing in Awami Awaz, Karamat Ali Gori says that the Abbottabad incident was the last nail in the coffin of the Pak-US trust deficit. He refers to disputes over the Shamsi Air Base situated in Balochistan and says that despite being told by Pakistan to vacate the air base, the US has no plans to do so. ‘US’s arrogant refusal to vacate Shamsi has only added to the virulent anti-American sentiment in Pakistan. There appears to be a lack of coordination between Islamabad’s elected houses on key issues including the war on terror’. He cites the example of Firdaus Awan claiming she had no idea that the Defence Minister had asked the US to vacate the Shamsi Air Base, alleging that it could have been the Minister’s personal opinion. Gori mentions the sequence of events with back-and-forth statements from the US and Pakistan. He terms these statements made by the military officials of both countries as taking positions against each other. The US recently made it clear that it will not back down from unilateral strikes in case it finds evidence of Al-Qaeda’s presence in Pakistan. Hence, the operation in Kurram Agency seems like Pakistan Army’s attempt to save the Pak-US relation before it gets too late. (Awami Awaz, 7 July)
• 
  

AFGHANISTAN

• Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir has conveyed to EU emissaries that Pakistan is ready to accept any role suggested by the international community for lasting peace in Afghanistan. At a meeting attended by 17 EU representatives in Islamabad, he also voiced Pakistan’s concerns over the post -US pullout situation in Afghanistan. (Jang)
• 
  

INDIA

1. India has released excess water in Pakistani rivers, due to which the water-level has increased at Sulemanki Head, sources said. This has resulted in submergence of hundreds of acres of land. (Jang)
2. Nawa-i-Waqt editorial says: “Whenever India wants, it can cut Pakistan’s waters by building dams and whenever it wants, it releases excess water, resulting in floods in Pakistan. So the Pakistan government must to go ahead with the construction of the Kalabagh Dam to counter India’s conspiracies. (Nawa-i-Waqt Edit)
3. Al-Qalam Weekly’s editorial on floods: Last year’s flood devastation in Pakistan was partly a result of mishandling of the rivers’ courses. But main culprits were Indian dams. India releases water whenever it wants and that submerges thousands of villages. It is said India can release 2 lakh cusecs of water without prior notice from Ravi, Sutlej, Jhelum and Chenab rivers. This means thousands of villages in Punjab are in danger of submergence. The government has failed to take appropriate steps to check the problem. (Al-Qalam Weekly Edit, 7 July-12 July)
4. Writing in Al-Qalam Weekly, Abdul Hafiz Amirpuri says: Despite claims made both by PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and former President Musharraf, the Kashmir dispute has not been resolved. The Indian leadership has never discussed the Kashmir issue in the negotiations with Pakistan. India accuses Pakistan of sending Mujahideen into Kashmir and to Mumbai in order to sidestep the Kashmir issue. India is trying to convince the US that Pakistan is behind terrorism in India and that Kashmiris actually want to stay with India. (Al-Qalam Weekly, 7 July-12 July)

PAK ARMY -ISI

• JI Chief Syed Munawar Hassan has alleged that the businessman Masood Janjua, who had disappeared some years back, was in the custody of agencies. He demanded Janjua’s release. (Jasarat)
• 
  
• China has provided drones to Pakistan for surveillance purposes, According to a report in the Washington Post. Pakistan intends to buy drones capable of carrying nuclear warheads from China. (Jasarat, Jang, Jinnah)
• 
  
• Four lakh people have moved out of Kurram Agency due to the Army operation against Taliban. Army was being pressurized to start an operation in North Waziristan and that due to a request from tribes in the Kurram Agency; the Army started the operation there. Pakistan wanted to weaken Taliban to a degree where they would never raise their heads again. The Army was also working on a policy of dividing the Taliban and separation of the Fazal Saeed Haqqani group is an example of this. The Army did not want the Taliban to re-group in Afghanistan and operate from there. If the Taliban are suppressed, it would also mean a reduction of sectarian violence in Pakistan. (Ummat)
• 
  
• Pakistani forces did not cut support to militant groups as they wanted to use them against their neighbours and US forces in Afghanistan, says the New York Times The report says LeT, Harkatul Mujahideen and Hizbul Mujahideen are run by religious leaders while the military provides them training and security. It alleges that Pakistan military and the establishment wanted to use these militant groups in Kashmir against India and to remove US and NATO forces from Afghanistan. (Khabrain)
• 
  
• Nawa-i-Waqt’s editorial advises the government to pull out of America’s war on terror. ‘Stop the military operation in tribal areas and shift the army deployments to the Eastern border (with India)’. The daily suggests that Pakistan should enhance its defence capability through cooperation with China. (Nawa-i-Waqt Edit)
• 
  
• Jinnah’s editorial has commended COAS Kayani’s statements made in Swat that the Army was answerable to the National Assembly and the people of Pakistan. “This means that the present Zardari government had no threat from the military. It is a pity that despite this kind of cooperation, (from the military) the government could not achieve anything. (Jinnah Edit)
• 
  
• Editorials in Ummat and Jang dispute PM Gilani’s and COAS Kayani’s claims made while speaking at Swat that the Pak army is efficient. “If the government and the Army were so efficient, why did they not end the violence in Karachi as this was also a form of terrorism? It seems as if Gilani required permission from outside to take an action against terrorism inside Pakistan. US was ready for talks with radical elements but when Pakistan tries to do the same, its efforts are sabotaged by the allied forces. (Ummat Edit, Jang Edit)
• 
  
• Nawa-i-Waqt editorial says the rulers of Pakistan should understand by now that this war against terrorism is US’s war and that only Pakistan has emerged as a loser in it. ‘Despite the fact that the US made Pakistan its frontline ally in this war, it is supporting India’s elevation to the level of super power in the region by providing it with state-of-the-art weapons and nuclear technology. And Pakistan’s enemy is creating trouble in FATA and in Karachi; if a war is triggered, it is sure to be a nuclear war. If PM Gilani realizes that drone attacks were against the nation’s sovereignty, what was stopping him to call a stop to these drone attacks? (Nawa-i-Waqt Edit)

TERRORISM & EXTREMISM

1. 40 terrorists have been killed so far in the ongoing operation in Kurram Agency. According to the report, Sector Commander Brigadier Basharat has said that in central Kurram, Indian rifles, rockets and Identity cards have been recovered during search operations. (Jasarat)
2. US has finally accepted the death of Ilyas Kashmiri in a drone attack last month. (Ummat, Jang)
3. There have been reports of 30 terrorists having entered Punjab by taking advantage of the Mianwali Fair. (Daily Pak)

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS

WATER

• In Kawish, Qurban Baloch writes on delays in completion of dams in Pakistan, opposition to the Bhasha dam in Gilgit-Baltistan and AJK, and why Pakistan failed on stopping India’s Kishanganga project. He points out that key projects like the Bhasha Dam are in doldrums despite consensus amongst the Council of Common Interests and the cabinet and pacts with global financial agencies. Issues like rights of dam-affected people and the concerns raised by AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan about the dam also remain unresolved. Baloch says that former chairman of the Indus Water Commission Jamaat Ali Shah was being blamed for Pakistan’s failure to stop India’s work on the Kishenganga project. Senate’s standing committee headed by Lashkar Raeesani has decided to summon Jamaat Ali Shah, and in case the charges are proved, action would be taken against him. Imtiyaz Qazi, the federal Secretary of Water and Electricity Ministry and Indus Water Commissioner Sheraz Memon appeared before the committee and explained why the commission could not take any ‘measures against the Indian project. According to Baloch, Memon said that India has made progress in digging the 23.5 km tunnel; Pakistan will contend during the next meeting of the Court of Arbitration at Hague that the design of the Indian project would affect Pakistan’s water supply. About the Bhasha Dam, Memon told the Parliamentarians that the issue was getting more complicated with the AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan governments asking how their regions would benefit from this project; Memon in his submissions also stated that the former chief of the Indus Water Commission had not taken any steps to get India to stop Kishenganga project that was started nearly 15 years ago. He claimed that 21% of Pakistan’s water will be blocked once the Kishenganga Project was completed. (Kawish, 7 July)

ECONOMY

• In a TV interview, the minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Dr. Asim Hussain said that the construction of the Pak-Iran gas pipeline will be completed by 2014. (Baad-e-Shimal)
• 
  
• Ahmed Jamal Nizami writes in Urdupoint that the current Federal budget was prepared by the IMF and that the petroleum prices were hiked as per pre-determined schedule. ‘In the past 11 months, Pakistan suffered a loss of 6 billion in its trade with India; yet, it had agreed to establish a new trade route at Wagah. (Urdupoint)

BALOCHISTAN

1. Balochistan Chief Secretary Ahmed Bux said that federal government has been contacted for issuing a ‘Red Warrant’ against former President Musharraf in the Nawab Akbar Bugti killing case. Musharraf is accused of the killing. (Jasarat)

PUNJAB

1. Addressing PML-N leaders in London, Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif alleged that certain international powers wanted to convert Pakistan into a colony. (Khabrain)

• President Zardari met former Sindh Governor Ishratul Ebad at the Dubai Airport and asked him to reconsider his resignation, a Gulf paper reported. Zardari wanted him to take charge as the Sindh Governor again. (Ummat, Jang)
• 
  
• Out of 27 ministers in the PPP led coalition government, only 5 ministers attended office yesterday (July 7). (Ibrat)
• 
  
• Sindh IG Wajid Ali Khan Durrani said that time should be given for establishing peace in Karachi which is known for volatility.  ‘Eagle Force’ would be deployed in 45 sensitive areas. He also said that businessmen could carry licensed weapons. He said 11 terrorists were arrested in the city in the past two days. According to the IG, in the last six months, 84 target killers were arrested in Karachi city. (Jasarat)
• 
  
• Karachi traders have announced that they would keep the market closed today and stage a sit-in as a protest against the government’s failure to check violence in the commercial capital of the country. Transporters will observe a strike today against the ongoing unrest and the mourning call by MQM. (Jasarat, Ummat, Jang)
• 
  
• 1994-like conditions were returning to Karachi; PPP still seems hesitant to act against the militants of Karachi. Sindh does not have an Interior Minister; it is possible that the Zulfiqar Mirza may be brought back as interior minister. MQM’s rally seems like a big challenge for the Sindh government. People from one party appear to dominate all departments of Karachi city government. Orders from the Sindh CM and the Sindh Police IG have not succeeded in stopping militants from entering the city. (Special report in Ibrat)

POK NEWS

1. JI chief Syed Munawar Hassan blamed the government’s inefficiency for weakening Kashmir case. (Daily Pak)
2. Flood-affected people of the Khari Basin (Gilgit-Baltistan) have not received Watan Cards yet. (Ausaf, 7 July)
3. Forged documents were used during police recruitment in Gilgit-Baltistan (Ausaf, 7 July)
4. Sources have said that MQM wants to postpone elections on two AJK seats in Karachi. PPP sources have indicated that they were ready to compromise two seats for MQM and to carry out elections under the Army’s vigilance. (Ummat)