ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif won over several leaders from the ruling PPP in Baluchistan on Tuesday. By inching close to Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s JUI, which has a good record of bagging seats in Baluchistan, the PML-N’s position has improved. Seat adjustments between both parties are on the cards in Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The JUI has a considerable say in both provinces. Tuesday’s show provided an opportunity to hear Baloch stalwart Lashkri Raisani vowing to work within the federation though he said it was the last chance.
Forum focus on journalists’ safety
ISLAMABAD: Over 90 journalists have lost their lives in Pakistan since 2000. In one week, from February 25 to March 2 this year, three were murdered. And all six witnesses of the murder of Karachi-based reporter Wali Khan Babar have been killed. What is more terrifying is the impunity with which journalists are being targeted and the lack of protection. To discuss ways to combat this impunity, media professionals from Pakistan sat together with their international counterparts at the International Conference on Promoting Safety of Journalists and the UN Action Plan on Impunity yesterday. The two-day conference is organised by Intermedia, in collaboration with Unesco and other global media support groups. In addition to raising awareness among journalists about measures to reduce threats, the conference aims to highlight the UN Action Plan against Impunity. The plan being piloted in five countries, including Pakistan, was unveiled yesterday.
Five killed in Karachi violence
Islamabad: Five people, including two Rangers men, were killed yesterday. Sources said the bodies of the Rangers bearing torture marks were found from Mewa Shah Colony area of Pak Colony. They were abducted from Lyari on Wednesday. Unknown gunmen ambushed a passenger bus in Baldia Town area and killed one man, while two died when assailants opened firing in Pak Colony and Gulistan-e-Jauhar. Meanwhile, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) called off its indefinite strike in Karachi. The MQM, which controls most of Pakistan’s largest city, announced the strike three days after a car bomb killed 50 people and wounded 140 in the Shia neighbourhood Abbas Town. But it called it off after a few hours. “People from all walks of life, especially traders, told us that it would affect their businesses and the national economy,” MQM leader Raza Haroon said.
Oregon ‘terror’ man
granted bond
PORTLAND, Ore.: A federal judge on Wednesday granted bond to an Oregon man charged with conspiracy to provide material support to one of three Islamist militants who carried out a 2009 suicide bombing in Pakistan. Reaz Khan, a 48-year-old wastewater treatment plant operator for the city of Portland, was arrested on Tuesday on an indictment charging him with providing advice and funds to a suicide bomber who participated in an attack in Lahore in May 2009 that killed 30 people and injured 300. Khan pleaded not guilty. District Judge Michael Mosman granted his release on $25,000 bond, citing his job, family, ties to the community and lack of a criminal record.
Agencies
