Lahore: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has sentenced PML-N leader and a close relative of PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif, Sohail Zia Butt, three years in prison, said sources on Friday.

National Accountability Bureau NAB sentences Sohail Zia three years prison term

During case hearing, Sohail Zia Butt said that how he would appear in court when he didn’t get any notice.

The court refused to hear any of Butt’s argument and maintained the sentence given to him in the year 2000, i.e after which he was also declared proclaimed offender for not appearing before the court then.

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested Suhail on Thursday (Sep 1) over charges of defaulting on a Rs70 million loan from National Corporate. Suhail Butt was on way to his office after attending a funeral in the Model Town area when he was picked up by a special team of NAB near Kalma Chowk in Garden Town. He was shifted to the Chamba House.

- Staff Reporter

London: The International Cricket Council said Thursday it has charged Pakistan’s Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif with various offences under its anti-corruption code.

Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Aamir and Mohammad Asif were barred from taking part in all cricket matches with immediate effect: ICC

The players “have been officially notified of the offences they are alleged to have committed and have been provisionally suspended pending a decision on those charges”, the ICC said in a statement on its website.

“In accordance with the provisions of the code, this means they are immediately barred from participating in all cricket and related activities until the case has been concluded.”

The trio have protested their innocence and the ICC said they have the right to contest their suspension, and have two weeks to request a hearing before anti-corruption tribunal where they can defend themselves.

However, ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said: “We will not tolerate corruption in cricket – simple as that.

“We must be decisive with such matters and if proven, these offences carry serious penalties up to a life ban.

“The ICC will do everything possible to keep such conduct out of the game and we will stop at nothing to protect the sport’s integrity. While we believe the problem is not widespread, we must always be vigilant.”

- News Agencies

London: Pakistan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Wajid Shamsul Hasan has said the three Pakistani cricketers at the centre of alleged betting scam will defend their innocence as they considered themselves innocents.

Pakistani players to defend their innocence: Pakistan High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan

Speaking to the media outside the Pakistan Mission in Central London on Tuesday following his meeting with Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Aamer, he said the players will stay in the UK until all the investigations were completed.

Reading out a statement on behalf of the players he said: “The players are extremely disturbed at what has happened in the past one week specially with regard to their alleged involvement in the scam.

They mentioned they are entirely innocent of the whole episode and will defend their innocence as such. They further maintained that on account of mental torture which has deeply affected them they are not in the right frame of mind to play in the remaining matches, therefore, they have informed PCB not to consider them for the rest of the tour.”

Responding to questions, the High Commissioner said the investigation is on and they have to wait for the results before coming to any conclusion.

He said the players have voluntarily offered to step aside from the team for the rest of the tour due to the disturbed frame of their mind. “They want to clear their name first and then play again for their country.”

Answering another question, he said no team from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrived to probe into the issue and nor such team will be arriving in the UK.

He also denied that the passport of the three players have been confiscated saying that their travel documents are very much with the team management.

Asked whether any Indian bookmakers are involved in the issue, the High Commissioner said he was not in the habit of insinuating or involving any one.

He said Muhammad Aamer has become the youngest player to take 50 Test wickets in just 14 Tests but this story has erased due to these allegations and the player instead of being praised, is now being vilified which has certainly put him under lot of mental pressure and torture.

The High Commissioner hoped that the players will stand vindicated while mentioning the case between Imran Khan and Ian Botham and said Imran won the case in the London High Court.

Hasan said as Pakistani nationals, it is the responsibility of Pakistani mission to help the players in all possible manners. He said at the meeting PCB legal advisor was also present.

- APP

Sydney: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard won the support of a key independent MP on Thursday, leaving her just two seats from regaining power and within reach of ending a crippling political crisis.

Key independent backs Australian PM Julia Gilard to form government

Former Iraq war whistle-blower Andrew Wilkie said Gillard’s centre-left Labor party was best placed to deliver “stable” and “competent” government after the August 21 election returned the first hung parliament in 70 years.

“I have judged that it is the Australian Labor Party that best meets my criteria that the next government must be stable, must be competent and must be ethical,” Wilkie told journalists in Canberra.

Wilkie’s vote gives Gillard 74 seats in the 150-member lower house, just shy of an absolute majority of 76. However, Tony Abbott’s opposition coalition remains in the hunt with 73 seats and three independents still undecided.

Wilkie urged the three remaining “kingmakers” to make their move soon, after nearly two weeks of political paralysis following the cliffhanger poll.

“I hope that this sends a signal to the other three independents and they move as soon as they can to make their decisions, and to decide to support a party or parties in a way that will bring stability to the parliament,” he said.

The final three independents — rural MPs Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, and maverick Queenslander Bob Katter — have pledged to begin formal negotiations on Friday.

Momentum is now firmly behind Gillard, Australia’s first woman prime minister, after she confirmed the support of parliament’s lone Greens MP on Wednesday.

Gillard also received a boost when the opposition was accused of a policy blow-out of up to 10 billion US dollars, prompting the remaining independents to question Abbott’s trustworthiness.

Australian politics has been on a rollercoaster ride since June, when Gillard staged a shock party revolt against elected prime minister Kevin Rudd to become the country’s first woman leader.

But a series of policy stumbles and poor campaigning ended in the closest election in decade, with voters failing to decisively back either major party.

The outspoken Wilkie famously blew the whistle on the lack of evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in 2003 while working as a government intelligence analyst, sparking a political storm.

- News Agencies

Lahore: The death toll from three suicide bombings in Lahore rose to 31 on Thursday as six people succumbed to their injuries, a rescue official said.

Volunteers carry an injured man to an ambulance following explosions in Lahore

Three suicide bombers targeted a Shia mourning procession near Karbala Gamay Shah, made up of thousands of people on Wednesday at the moment of the breaking of the fast in the holy month of Ramazan.

The first blast of a cracker occurred in front of the gate of Lower Mall police station, opposite Karbala Gamay Shah building, at 6:55 pm. It caused panic among the mourners, who started running towards the Bhatti Gate.

Meanwhile, the second blast took place in Ghaznavi Street, Urdu Bazaar’s parking area, at around 7 pm when a suicide bomber blew himself up while he was being frisked by a constable. Two persons, along with the constable, lost their lives in the blast. Other policemen standing there fled the spot.

The third blast occurred at the Bhatti Chowk when another suicide bomber blew himself up about 13 minutes after the second blast. As a result, dozens of people received injuries.

“Thirty-one people have died and a total of 281 were injured,” Fahim Jehanzeb, a spokesman for Lahore’s rescue agency told, adding that he feared more would die from their injuries.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (operations) Rao Sardar Ali Khan told that the two bombers had exploded themselves after having been stopped at barriers by policemen. At least seven policemen were injured.

The DIG said police had found two skulls and limbs believed to be of the suicide bombers and sent them for forensic examination.

He said police were uncertain about the nature of the third blast which also could have been a suicide explosion.

He said police had anticipated that such attacks could take place and maximum security measures had been taken for the procession.

People started raising slogans against police after the second blast.

As soon as the third blast took place, they divided into groups, pelted police with stones and set government and private vehicles on fire.

A large number of policemen, who were also divided into groups to counter the protesters, first acted in a defensive manner. But after the mob let off a volley of stones on the Lower Mall police station and set some motorcycles and vehicles on fire, they hit back.

Riot police fired in the air to disperse the mob.

The protesters damaged both gates and lights of the city division police building.

Police managed to disperse the mob at about 8.30pm.

PM Gilani, President Zardari, CM Shahbaz Sharif promised to bring the culprits to book and provide all help to the injured at government hospitals.

- Staff Reporter

London: Pakistan test captain Salman Butt and pace bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif will meet their country’s High Commissioner later on Thursday to discuss corruption allegations levelled against the team.

Pakistan trio meet High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan over corruption claims

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt will also attend the meeting which follows British newspaper allegations Amir and Asif were bribed to bowl deliberate no-balls in the fourth test against England at Lord’s which finished on Sunday.

Shahid Afridi will lead the one-day side in a warmup match against Somerset at Taunton on Thursday.

The 50-over match precedes a seven-game, one-day series against England which starts with a Twenty20
match in Cardiff on Sunday.

The PCB is to hold an internal investigation into the allegations while the Lahore High Court has summoned Ijaz Butt, the federal sports minister and seven players to hear a petition calling for the players to be charged with treason.

British police and customs officials are also investigating the allegations.

- News Agencies

Washington: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Wednesday publicly demanded a freeze on all Israeli settlement activity at the launch of landmark US-mediated peace talks at the White House.

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas demands a freeze on all settlement activity

“We also reiterate our commitment to carry out our obligations and we call on Israelis to carry out their obligations including a freeze on all settlement activities,” Abbas said at the White House.

He said the demand was not a “precondition” to direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks which open here on Thursday, but a goal to implement an “agreed obligation.”

Abbas also called for an end to all Israeli closures and blockades, preventing freedom of movement for Palestinians.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office said there had been no change to Israeli policy, which would allow a current partial freeze on West Bank settlement building to expire at the end of this month.

- News Agencies

Sialkot: Justice (retd) Kazim Malik who investigated the case of two brothers lynched by a mob in Sialkot on Aug 15 has said in his report that the boys were not robbers or hardened criminals and not a single case of mobile phone snatching or robbery was ever reported against them.

Sialkot Lynching: Judicial report reveals slain brothers were not robbers

The sealed report was opened on Wednesday before a Supreme Court bench.

The bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday had taken suo motu notice of the incident.

Dozens of people clubbed to death Hafiz Mohammad Mughees Sajjad, 18, and Mohammad Muneeb Sajjad, 15, in the presence of eight policemen and also allegedly of former district police chief Waqar Chauhan. The bodies were hung upside down at a chowk.

“I am not in a position to certify that both the brothers possessed angelic character. They might have committed some wrongs during their lifetime, intentionally, unintentionally, innocently or even foolishly, without realising the enormity of their wrongs. But in the given circumstances it can be safely said that they were not robbers, dacoits, hardened criminals, particularly when not a single case of mobile snatching or any other crime had ever been registered or reported against them during their lifetime.”

Justice (retd) Malik said that police personnel present at the spot under the command of the former Sialkot SHO had allowed, rather facilitated, the assailants to attack the two brothers like a pack of hounds.

“Dignity and life of citizens is their fundamental and inviolable right which has been guaranteed under the Constitution” and which could not be taken away or suspended by any government agency, the report said, recommending further investigations by police.

It said the assailants, with active support of the policemen receiving remuneration from the government exchequer for protecting life and honour of citizens, had not only committed the crime of murder and terrorism but also disgraced the victims’ bodies.

The retired judge said the inept and detrimental conduct of the criminal justice system needed reforms, “otherwise the unholy tendency to exercise official authority over and above the law in a self-styled manner may erode the system”.

He said it appeared that a perverted sense of authority had driven the SHO to misusing his official position.

The DPO and SHO facilitated the killings of the two unfortunate brothers hoping that the case might prove a feather in their caps and the incident might be regarded as a crime dealt with successfully and worthy of a place in the category of good police work in their performance sheet, he said.

“It was an ordinary incident in the eyes of local police. The SHO did not reach the spot promptly. The DPO kept sitting in his residence till the two brothers breathed their last. The Gujranwala regional police officer (RPO) reached Sialkot about five to six days after the incident. All these circumstances clearly indicate that it was not an unusual or alarming incident in their assessment. This mindset of the police requires a serious thought,” the report said.

It said that Shahjehan Bukhari, the first investigation officer, and Dr Mohammad Farooq, the post-mortem examiner, were liable to face legal consequences for having destroyed and suppressed medical evidence about the murders.

Only 18 injuries on the body of Mughees and 12 on Muneeb were recorded when both the deceased had sustained countless injuries all over their bodies as a result of brutal violence, it said. Their faces had been disfigured but the initial report was written in a manner as if both had suffered a few injuries.

The judge suggested that the bodies be exhumed and re-examined by a board of senior doctors well versed in medical jurisprudence and enjoying a good reputation, failing which ocular account furnished by witnesses would remain uncorroborated.

The court handed over a copy of the report to Punjab Advocate General Khwaja Haris and asked the home secretary for publication in newspapers. However, it said the report should not cause prejudice to the ongoing investigations.

Another report submitted by a joint investigation team headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Ahmed Sukhaira said 17 civilians and 10 police personnel, including the former DPO, had been arrested because prima facie they appeared to be involved in the incident. Four police personnel are absconding.

The bench asked the new DPO, Bilal Siddiq, to arrest the absconding men and report to the court on Thursday.

It said police should continue the investigation under the Anti-Terrorism Act, present the charge-sheet before the relevant court in accordance with the law and also submit a report to the Supreme Court registrar.

It asked the trial court to ensure expeditious disposal of the case in accordance with the judgment of the 1994 Sheikh Liaquat Hussain case.

The court expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of the newly appointed Superintendent of Police (Investigation) of Sialkot, Nasir Qureshi, who did not satisfactorily answer its questions. “This merely indicates carelessness, knowing well the importance of the case that has brought a bad name both to the police as well as the civil society,” the court said and ordered the advocate general to consider handing over the investigation to others.

- Staff Reporter

Washington: The World Bank raised its emergency funding to Pakistan to one billion dollars on Wednesday to help the nation cope with the massive economic impact of catastrophic monsoon flooding.

World Bank raises Pakistan flood support to $ one billion

The hike, an additional 100 million dollars on top of an existing 900 million dollar loan, was announced by World Bank chief Robert Zoellick as he met Pakistan Finance Minister Hafeez Shaikh in Washington.

Zoellick’s statement said the money, which will come from the International Development Association, the World Bank’s arm for low-income countries, was for “immediate recovery needs and longer-term reconstruction.”

“We need to respond strongly to the crisis at hand, but we need to do it without losing sight of important economic reforms,” he said. “This disaster underscores Pakistan’s fiscal vulnerability and dependence on foreign aid.”

Zoellick and Shaikh discussed plans for institutional and governance reforms in Pakistan in the wake of a disaster which has crippled the south Asian nation’s economy, the statement said.

The World Bank pledged to help Pakistan set up systems for tracking aid flows, and monitoring and evaluating the whole process to tackle waste and corruption.

Torrential monsoon rains have triggered massive floods that have moved steadily from north to south over the past month, engulfing a fifth of the volatile country and affecting 17 million of Pakistan’s 167 million people.

The floods have left 1,645 people dead and 2,479 injured, according to the latest count, but officials warn that millions are at risk from food shortages and disease.

Pakistan’s government — widely painted as corrupt and bogged down in red tape and infighting — has been derided in domestic media over its response to the floods and has been the focus of angry isolated protests.

Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani warned Wednesday that the country faced inflation of up to 20 percent and slower growth because the devastating floods had wiped out crops.

- News Agencies

Karachi: Divisional Comissioner Tahir Hussain has directed officials of law enforcing agencies to ensure foolproof security for processions and Majalis on the martyrdom day of Hazrat Ali (RA) on Wednesday.

Foolproof security on Youm-e-Shahdat Hazrat Ali

He issued these directions while chairing a meeting of Divisional Intelligence Committee here on Tuesday.

He asked them to keep close liaison with organizers of processions to ensure security arrangements on the routes and other relevant places.

The commissioner also asked them to make security plan for Ramazan 27, Jumat-ul-Wada, Eid night and for Eid-ul-Fitr.

He also asked them to keep close contact with intelligence agencies and finalize security arrangements keeping in view their information.

He directed officials to ensure monitoring of deployed staff and especially check sensitive places including government buildings, public and private banks, sensitive installations, public places and markets.

He directed them to check the working of CCTV cameras and ensure their functioning round the clock.

- APP