Deputy secretary of National Assembly kidnapped in Multan

MULTAN: Unknown men kidnapped Malik Moazzam Kalru, the deputy secretary of the National Assembly, from Multan on Saturday. Malik was on holiday in Multan and was going to his farmhouse from his residence near Basti Malook. He was near his farmhouse when his vehicle was stopped by four persons who were veiled and armed. According to eyewitness statements, he was beaten with guns till he gave in to the kidnappers. The kidnappers escaped towards the district of Muzaffargarh. Following the kidnapping, the Muzaffargrah police cordoned off the area surrounding the city. The initial investigation of the police suggests there is no family enmity that would lead to the abduction.

The grapple in Uttar Pradesh

The writer is a consulting editor with The Statesman and writes for several newspapers in India An interesting campaign is on in Amethi between the Congress party scion Rahul Gandhi and the Aam Admi Party’s (AAP) rather controversial leader Kumar Vishwas. The latter’s rather belligerent campaign is causing some worry in the Congress camp, with whispers being heard from the corridors of power of the alternative Rae Bareli seat for its leader. Both Lok Sabha seats are being looked after by Priyanka Gandhi, who has ruled out a larger role for herself in the party and the government, despite considerable clamour from Congress members. Vishwas is bringing new aggression to a parliamentary seat that was never seriously contested by any of the opposition parties, in what was seen as a tacit understanding to allow this space to the Nehru-Gandhi family in Uttar Pradesh (UP). This is being challenged seriously for the first time, leading the spotlights to hover around the scrawny figure of Vishwas as he uses his command on words to attack the Congress and project his party and himself as the member of the Indian parliament from the Amethi constituency of UP in the offing. All said and done, Vishwas does not inspire confidence amongst even the AAP supporters outside Amethi. There are several videos of him denouncing Muslims and their festivals, speaking out against women and praising the controversial BJP leader Narendra Modi while the latter sat in the crowd and basked in the adulation. Quizzed by a news channel, he insisted that the comments were made by him long before the AAP came into existence in his role as a ‘stand-up comedian’ at a kavi sammelan (the Hindi equivalent of a mushaira or poetry recitation). He appeared defiant and apologised in sarcastic tones when compelled to do so by the anchor. There is little in Vishwas to endear him to the thinking electorate and hence, it remains to be seen whether he can cut through the Congress barricades in Amethi and actually win over voters. Currently, he seems to be doing well in that he has a party going in the constituency, which has opened offices and is already in the midst of a volatile campaign. But whether this will work in his favour or not remains to be seen. The rural electorate is wise and does not take kindly to personalised and bordering-on-the-vulgar campaigns. Rahul Gandhi, on the other hand, is seen by all as a charming, nice man but clearly unable to cross the line to becoming a man of decisions and actions. There is a certain disillusionment with the Congress party all across the country and this could affect his prospects as well, given a tough and credible opposition in his home constituency. And this disillusionment has a proportional impact on the Congress party’s own disillusionment with its Prince. Amethi has become a pampered constituency but despite this, the development has been uneven. Constituents continue to live in pockets of abject poverty. There is dissension within the Congress ranks here, as everywhere really, with local leaders unable to function together as a united, cohesive team. The Nehru-Gandhi family has also become extra-possessive about this terrain, looking at Amethi and Rae Bareli as its own preserve. The party leaders from UP and even the centre are kept out of these two parliamentary constituencies with only family and very close friends looking after the management. Not a single leader is asked to campaign and the Congress as a party is kept out altogether. As one said, this will be an interesting campaign. The AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal defeated former Congress chief minister Sheila Dikshit in her home constituency, having pitted himself against her at a time when even the voter had not detected an ‘Aam Aadmi wave’. Now it remains to be seen who the AAP will field against Narendra Modi from Gujarat, where it is already making more waves than the Congress party, which seems to be set for decimation. Published in The Express Tribune, January 25th, 2014.

British expat leaves job after Singapore 'poor people' remark

SINGAPORE: A Singapore-based British wealth adviser who set off a firestorm by publicly insulting Singaporeans who have to rely on public transport has “parted ways” with his former employer, the firm said Saturday. Porsche-driving Anton Casey, 39, who is married to a former Singapore beauty queen, has gone to Australia but has not said what his future plans are following the controversy. He holds permanent residency in Singapore, which he calls his adopted home, and claims to have received death threats after he referred to public transport users as “poor people” in a social network post. Casey’s employer Crossinvest (Asia) Pte Ltd said in a statement: “Those comments go against our core corporate and family values that are based on trust, mutual understanding and are respectful of diversity.” “Accordingly, Crossinvest Asia and Mr Casey have parted ways with immediate effect,” it added in a Facebook post early Saturday. In a statement to the Straits Times newspaper on Friday, Casey, a Singapore permanent resident, said he had left for Australia “due to threats made towards my family”, asking for forgiveness. The Briton and his family, now in Perth, faced stinging verbal abuse from Internet users after Facebook posts insulting commuters in the wealthy city-state went viral. One of the posts showed a picture of a boy, apparently his five-year-old son, sitting inside a metro train with a caption above the photo saying: “Daddy, where is your car & who are all these poor people?” Many took to social media on Saturday to welcome Casey’s departure from the boutique wealth management firm. Singapore — with a modern public transport system — is one of the world’s wealthiest societies, with a per-capita gross domestic product of Sg$65,048 ($50,890) in 2012

Official perks: Purchase of vehicles challenged in court

LAHORE: A petition was filed in the Lahore High Court on Friday against the purchase of 80 new vehicles by the government for secretaries and chairmen of parliamentary committees. Advocate AK Dogar said the government was planning to purchase 80 new cars for secretaries and chairmen of standing committees of the provincial assembly from the public exchequer. “The people do not have basic necessities and our rulers are spending the taxpayer’s money on luxuries,” he said. He said it would be a waste of public money. He requested the court to stop the government from purchasing the vehicles. Complaints cell The Lahore High Court Complaints Cell on Friday directed the Gujranwala district and sessions judge to investigate reports that a baby had been thrown into a drain by an addict and submit a report about the steps taken by the police in this regard. The directions were issued following reports that Saima, wife of a labourer Irfan of Jinnah Colony, was on her way home when an unidentified addict stopped her on Industrial Road and demanded some money. Saima had Rs10 on her which she offered to him. The report said the addict snatched her two-month-old daughter and threw her into a nearby drain. The report said some passers-by heard Saima’s screams and fished the baby out of the drain. The baby was taken to a hospital where doctors pronounced her dead on arrival. The report said Sabzi Mandi police had registered a case against an unidentified man . Published in The Express Tribune, January 25th, 2014.

Musharraf's health: Two hospitals in US contacted regarding his angiography

KARACHI: Two hospitals in the United States of America were contacted regarding the former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s angiography, Express News reported on Saturday. The former military ruler’s medical report was also sent to both hospitals. Musharraf faces treason charges under Article 6 for suspending, subverting and abrogating the Constitution, imposing an emergency in the country in November 2007 and detaining judges of the superior courts. The 70-year-old had fallen ill and was taken to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi on January 2 as he was being transported under heavy guard to the court and is continuing his treatment there. Musharraf has been at AFIC for over three weeks now. It was reported on January 24 that Musharraf is unwilling to undergo angiography in Pakistan and wishes to go abroad for treatment as the cardiac support system in the country is not up to standard. The report, which Express News had obtained, had stated that the former president should get an angiography as soon as possible. It had added that Musharraf’s health is such that a heart attack could be “life-threatening”. On January 16, Musharraf’s US-based doctor, Dr Arjumand Hashmi – after reviewing the former president’s medical reports – had recommended that the former military ruler should be immediately sent abroad for treatment. Another hurdle Earlier today, advocate-on-record Zafar Abbas Naqvi sent a legal notice to Musharraf for not paying his legal fees. Naqvi has registered four cases in the Supreme Court on Musharraf’s behalf, all of them related to the November, 2007 emergency. He said that he was paid only Rs47,000, adding that he sent a legal notice to the former military ruler but no progress was made. “I can also take the cases back if I am not paid,” he warned.

French army kills 11 militants in Mali anti-terror operation

BAMAKO: A French counter-terrorism offensive in rebel-infested northern Mali ended on Friday with 11 militants killed and a French soldier wounded, military sources inside the operation told. The action came as Paris steps up its campaign against armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda holed up in Mali´s vast desert, following the former French colony´s recent return to democratic government after a coup which plunged the country into chaos. "The French military operation in the Timbuktu region is completed. Eleven terrorists were killed. A French soldier was wounded but his life is not in danger," said an official from France´s Operation Serval military mission in its former colony. A foreign source told on Thursday troops were targeting the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), the Signatories in Blood -- an armed unit founded by fugitive jihadist commander Mokhtar Belmokhtar -- and fighters loyal to slain warlord Abdelhamid Abou Zeid. A Malian military source confirmed the information, saying "the French have done a good job, because the jihadists, notably from Libya, are reorganising to occupy the region and dig in permanently". The sources said military equipment and phones belonging to Islamist militants were seized by French troops. The French operation took place a few hundred kilometres (miles) north of the desert caravan town of Timbuktu, according to a Malian security source. Two explosions were reported late Friday in Kidal, some 300 miles northeast of Timbuktu, an African military source and a local official said.

Security got worse due to Taliban coming from Pak: Governor Salangi

CHARIKAR: A scandal over civilian deaths in a recent US airstrike is a stark reminder of how the Afghan war is raging just a short drive from Kabul, with a NATO-Afghan offensive failing to recapture districts under Taliban control. The operation earlier this month to flush out the insurgents in Parwan province -- near the capital´s northern outskirts -- left 12 civilians dead including women and children, according to the Afghan government. Two days after the airstrike the Taliban launched a suicide attack on a restaurant in Kabul killing 21 people, including 13 foreigners, in a massacre that drew worldwide condemnation and underlined the increasing threat to the capital itself. A Taliban spokesman said the attack was to avenge the airstrike. The political fallout from the anti-Taliban operation in Siagerd district has focused attention on how close the war is to Kabul as NATO´s combat mission winds down this year -- forcing Afghanistan to rely on its army and police to thwart the insurgency. The provincial governor told AFP that strongholds of Al-Qaeda-linked Taliban militants survived the intense 24-hour ground and air attack, and that it was too dangerous to hold April´s presidential election in some areas. "There have been military operations last year and again this month, but there has not been an operation to decisively rout the Taliban," governor Basir Salangi said at his fortified headquarters an hour´s drive north of Kabul. "There are two districts where militants go to seek safety," he said. "The security has got worse in the last three years due to the Taliban coming from Pakistan. "In an attempt to clear out the insurgents, a joint military operation involving US special forces was launched at dawn on January 15. The NATO mission admits several civilians were killed, while an investigation team sent by Afghan President Hamid Karzai reported that 12 civilians died, including women and children. The deaths escalated tensions between Afghanistan and the United States, with Karzai already at loggerheads with Washington over a security agreement to allow some US troops to remain in the country after this year. Karzai has regularly demanded that the US halt airstrikes and has used the Parwan deaths to again demand an end to all US military action in residential areas before he considers signing the bilateral security agreement. NATO officials say insurgents from Siagerd district have "freedom of movement" in the province and are responsible for repeated attacks on nearby Bagram airbase, the largest military base for US troops in Afghanistan. "The operation´s main goal was to destroy a Taliban centre," said Salangi, 50, who was an anti-Taliban militia commander before rising to become governor. "Security forces captured some hills, and insurgents went into villages, so there was fighting around houses. "Two senior rebels were killed, including the Taliban´s deputy shadow governor, plus four other Taliban. "When Afghan and US troops were caught in an ambush and fierce firefight, one US soldier was shot dead before the US airstrike was called in. NATO´s International Security Assistance Force said defensive air support was needed to suppress enemy fire. The insurgents in the province also regularly menace the main road from Kabul to Bamiyan, a route that until 2010 was a safe and scenic trip for Kabulis visiting the site of the destroyed "Bamiyan Buddhas". The next big target for the militants could be the April 5 presidential election, which is a key test of Afghan stability after 13 years of US-led intervention and billions of dollars of aid. "There is no chance of us opening 18 polling booths (in Taliban-held territory). That has been decided already," said Salangi. "Now it is winter, but we want future military operations in these districts. "In the meantime, he keeps his AK-47 assault rifle close at hand by his desk. When his office was stormed by seven suicide attackers in 2011, he used the gun to shoot dead one man outside the window after most of his guards had been killed. "I shot him in the mouth," Salangi recalled. "I am never afraid when I have my gun in my hand."

China's Xinjiang violence kills 12 persons: authorities

BEIJING: Six people died in explosions and another six were shot dead by police in China´s Xinjiang, authorities said Saturday, in the latest wave of violence to hit the restive region. The violence in Xinhe in Aksu prefecture in China´s far west appears to be linked to triple explosions that rocked the same area on Friday evening, which authorities said resulted in three deaths. It is unclear if the three deaths reported Friday are included in the latest tally of 12 fatalities. "As police were dealing with violent incidents a mob threw explosives," with six people killed by police, five arrested and another six killed as they "committed the offence", the Tianshan news portal, which is run by the local government, said Saturday. Xinhe is an area located at China´s extreme west, on its border with Kyrgyzstan and populated predominantly by members of the country´s Uighur minority. Tianshan reported late Friday that triple explosions killed three people and wounded two others in the same area of the largely Muslim region. One person was killed after two blasts in a hairdressing salon and market, while two others died inside a car which "self exploded" when surrounded by police, Tianshan said. The vast western region has for years been hit by sporadic unrest by predominantly Muslim Uighurs, which rights groups say is driven by cultural oppression, intrusive security measures and immigration by Han Chinese. In recent months it has seen more regular violent incidents, usually involving men armed with knives and explosives, according to official media. Beijing attributes the unrest to religious extremists and separatism. The most serious recent violent incident took place in the Turpan area of Xinjiang, leaving at least 35 people dead in June.

Endangered Philippine eagle killed by falling branch

MANILA: A rare Philippine eagle, whose species is on the brink of extinction, was killed inside a conservation group´s breeding centre when a branch fell on its cage, the centre said Saturday. The 15-year-old male bird, named ´Arakan´, was one of about 250 adult Philippine eagles remaining according to the Swiss-based International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which lists the species as "critically endangered". Days of non-stop rain caused the huge branch of a tree to fall on Arakan´s cage at the Philippine Eagle Foundation´s centre in the southern island of Mindanao, crushing the raptor on January 18, the foundation said. Numerous large trees are planted inside the centre because the conservation group is "trying to simulate the natural environment of the eagles," said the foundation´s communications officer Beauxy Auxtero. The eagle, also known as the ´Monkey-eating Eagle´, is one of the largest birds of prey in the world and is the most critically endangered of all the world´s raptors, the IUCN says on its website. Famed for its elongated nape feathers that form into a shaggy crest, the Philippine eagle is found only on four of the Philippines´ largest islands but mostly on Mindanao and grows to a metre (3.3 feet) with a two-metre wingspan. The Philippine Eagle Foundation rescues stricken birds in the wild including Arakan who was turned over to the foundation in 1999. It also has a captive breeding programme. The eagle, which is the country´s national bird, is protected by law but authorities say the biggest threat is the loss of its habitat as humans encroach on the country´s dwindling forest ranges. Efforts to release rehabilitated birds into the wild have had mixed success. In October last year, a juvenile male eagle was found apparently shot to death just two months after it was freed by the foundation. (AFP)

Protesters, police in standoff in Kiev after sporadic clashes

KIEV: Protesters and Ukrainian police were on Saturday still locked in a tense standoff in Kiev after a night of sporadic clashes that erupted despite a truce and offer of concessions by President Viktor Yanukovych. The epicentre of the two month-long crisis - Ukraine´s worst since 1991 - was relatively calm early Saturday but hundreds of protesters were still at the scene with the security forces on the other side of their lines. The opposition and authorities also accused each other of provoking further unrest after a body of a policeman was found in southern Kiev and a court jailed over a dozen protesters for two months. Overnight, demonstrators had hurled Molotov cocktails at police who responded with stun grenades and rubber bullets. The exchanges on Grushevsky Street in Kiev lacked the ferocious intensity of those earlier in the week but will raise concerns about the sustainability of the truce brokered by opposition leader and world champion Vitali Klitschko in place since early Thursday. The clashes had killed five activists earlier in the week, according to protesters. The authorities have confirmed two shooting deaths but insisted police were not involved. Protesters set fire to the barricade of tyres at their frontline and kept it going throughout the night while banging on a makeshift war drum of metal sheets as the noxious smoke made them almost invisible to the police. Toward the morning however they allowed the fires to die down and used them mainly to warm themselves amid temperatures of minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit).The interior ministry meanwhile said a body of a police officer was found in southern Kiev, though without linking it to the protesters or clashes which have mostly engulfed the city centre. The ministry further accused the opposition camp´s security of "attacking three police officers" near the Independence Square protest hub, injuring one of them with a knife and holding the other two captive. The opposition denied responsibility for the attack or the killing Saturday and asked the police "not to provoke the situation by spreading false and dangerous news."

6.1-magnitude quake strikes off Indonesia´s Java: USGS

JAKARTA: A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia´s main island of Java on Saturday, the US Geological Survey reported, but local officials said there was no risk of a tsunami. The quake struck at 12:14 pm (0514 GMT), 39 kilometres (24 miles) south-southeast of the coastal town of Adipala in Central Java province at a depth of 83 kilometres, the USGS said. "There´s no potential for a tsunami and we haven´t received any reports of damage or casualties so far," meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency technical chief Suharjono, who goes by one name, told AFP. Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity. A 6.1-magnitude quake that struck Aceh province on Sumatra island in July 2013 killed at least 35 people and left thousands homeless.

Qaeda-inspired group claims deadly Cairo bombings

CAIRO: An Al-Qaeda inspired group in Egypt claimed responsibility on Saturday for four bombings targeting police in Cairo that killed six people the day before. Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, or Partisans of Jerusalem, also called in its statement for Muslims to stay away from police buildings.

Afghan-US deal falters as Karzai demands Taliban talks

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday signalled that a deal to allow US troops to stay in Afghanistan was close to collapse as the NATO combat mission withdraws after a decade of fighting the Taliban. The Afghan president says he will not sign a security pact with the US unless Washington and Pakistan launch a peace process with Taliban insurgents. Late last year, Karzai made a surprise decision not to promptly sign the bilateral security agreement (BSA) with the US, despite a "loya jirga" national assembly voting for him to do so. Washington has become increasingly frustrated by Karzai´s manoeuvreing over the deal, stressing that negotiations were completed in November and that it is ready to sign the mutually agreed text. "Afghanistan will absolutely not accept or sign anything under pressure," Karzai told reporters in Kabul. "If they want to leave, then they go and we will continue our lives... Our main condition is the practical start of peace process. "The US had earlier pushed for the BSA to be signed by the end of October so that the NATO military coalition could schedule the withdrawal of its troops by the end of this year. But the deadline has slipped as Karzai refused to sign and even suggested that his successor could make the final decision after presidential elections due on April 5. Karzai on Saturday repeated that before he signs the BSA, the US must foster a genuine peace process with the Taliban militants and also stop military operations. "The start of a peace process would mean that no foreigners can benefit from the continuation of war," Karzai said. About 58,000 NATO-led combat troops still in Afghanistan are due to leave by the end of 2014.Washington is proposing about 10,000 US soldiers are deployed from 2015 to train and assist Afghan security forces in their battle against the Taliban militants. A Taliban office in Qatar that opened last June was meant to lead to peace talks, but instead it enraged Karzai after it was styled as an embassy for a government-in-exile. Afghan officials dismiss the possibility that the US may enact the "zero option" of a complete troop pull-out as it did in Iraq, which is currently suffering a surge in bloody sectarian violence.

Egypt police fire tear gas at Cairo protesters

CAIRO: Egyptian police fired tear gas at anti-government protesters in Cairo on Saturday, as the country marked the anniversary of a 2011 uprising that overthrew veteran president Hosni Mubarak. Police dispersed the protesters soon after they gathered outside a Cairo mosque, an AFP correspondent reported. They included both supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and activists who accuse the military of hijacking the government. (AFP)