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MMA leaders should join human shield in Iraq: Altaf
MQM activists arrested; arms, looted cash, valuables recovered
3 killed in police encounters; 16 vehicles taken
Two more PWs examined in US Consulate-General bombing case
DSP Rojhan, passenger killed in tribal attack
Major detained for suspected al-Qaeda ties
Taliban claim recent Afghan attacks: report
Use of oil as weapon not feasible: Saudi envoy
MMA leaders should join human shield in Iraq: Altaf
KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement has again advised
the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal leaders not to mislead the people in the name of
million march and go to Iraq to join human shield for Jihad if they have any
sympathy with the people of that country.
A spokesman for the Muttahida Qaumi Movement while
rejecting the statement of the MMA spokesman stated on Monday that leaders of
the religious parties snatched the books from the students of Madaris, gave
them Kalashnikove and sent them to Afghanistan and Kashmir for Jihad.
He pointed out that these MMA leaders sent their children
to Europe and America for study but the children of poor people were used for
Jihad just to protect their own interests.
He further said that these leaders had been following the
American line in Afghanistan for 11 years but now they had changed their
stand just to serve their personal interests. Rejecting the advice of the MMA,
the spokesman said that Altaf Hussain sacrificed his brother and nephew for
the party and mission. He added that party workers and followers knew very
well that when would Altaf Hussain come back. He said that the religious
parties would not have come into power in city local bodies if Muttahida had
not boycotted the elections.
MQM activists arrested; arms, looted cash, valuables recovered
KARACHI: Landhi police nabbed two activists of Mohajir
Qaumi Movement and recovered illegal arms and ammunition from their
possession.
According to details, a police party headed by SHO Landhi
Anwar Jaffery raided a hideout near Hira Pakwan Centre in Landhi area and
nabbed two MQM activists Sohail alias Mota and Shahid alias Tazi. Police
claimed to have recovered three AK-47 assault rifles, one 7-mm rifle and
hundreds of live rounds from their possession.
Police said, so far, some 58 activists of the MQM had been
arrested during the ongoing operation in the "No-Go Areas" and
seized a large quantity of arms and ammunition. Police said the arrested
activists were involved in number of criminal activities.
A spokesman for the Sindh Police said that the involvement
of MQM in other substantial and high profile cases of the city is being
investigated.Meanwhile, the police claimed to have resolved the robbery case,
which occurred on February 5 in the house of renowned singer of the
sub-continent Mehdi Hasan.
The investigation branch of the city police arrested three
accused Waseem Ishrat alias Commando, Asghar Hussain and Javed Shafi and
recovered looted cash, jewellery, watches, mobile phones and other valuables.
Police said the accused belonged to Mohajir Qaumi Movement and were wanted in
several many cases pertaining to murder and dacoities.
It may be recalled here that five unknown robbers on
February 5 entered the house of Mehdi Hasan in Samanabad area, took the
inmates at gunpoint and looted more than Rs1.5 million, mobile phones and
other valuables.
3 killed in police encounters; 16 vehicles taken
KARACHI: Three armed bandits were shot dead and one
injured in two different police encounters, , a bakery worker committed
suicide, while a labourer was killed while unloading goods from a truck,
police said on Monday.
According to police, three robbers, armed with TT pistols,
barged into the residence of Nadeem Akhtar in Sector-11 of Mominabad. After
looting Rs7000 and other valuables they were fleeing somebody rang up the
Police Helpline "15" and informed about the incident.
A nearby deputed police mobile team took prompt action and
tried to stop them. The bandits opened fire on the police party, who also
replied as a result of which two of the robbers, later identified as Syed
Yousaf Raza and Farman received multiple bullet injuries and died on the spot
while their accomplice Farzad Ali was injured. A police constable, Bakhat
Rawan was also rinjured.
The bodies and injured were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed
Hospital.A suspect was shot dead in another police encounter while his
accomplice escaped in the jurisdiction of Defence Police Station.
Police sources told that two cops were patrolling on a
motorbike near Ali's Apartment in Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Phase 1.
They spotted two persons roaming suspiciously in the area and signalled them
to stop upon which one of the suspects opened fire on the cops. The cops
returned the fire as a result one of the suspects was injured, while his
accomplice managed to escape unhurt. The injured suspect was taken to the
JPMC where he succumbed to his injuries. He was identified as Jameel (25).
Police recovered one TT pistol.
BODY RECOVERED: Floating body of Zaheer Ahmed (35) was
recovered in the sea near Gulshan-e-Sikanadarabad in the limits of Jackson
police.
According to the police that the deceased ended his life
after jumping into the sea. The body was shifted to Civil Hospital by Edhi
volunteers where MLO said that the body was at least one-day-old.
ROBBERIES: Three incidents of robberies were reported in
the city. Armed bandits broke into the house of Bilaluddin in the Supermarket
police station limits and took away cash and jewellery. Bandits looted cash,
ornaments, prize bonds and camera from the house of Talib Hussain in the
Mominabad Police limits, while armed robbers stole cash, jewellery and mobile
phones from the house of Haseeb Alam in the Darkshan police limits.
VEHICLES: Carjackers took away 16 vehicles including four
cars and 12 motorcycles from different part of the metropolis during the last
24 hours. The police claimed the recovery of nine vehicles.
Two more PWs examined in US Consulate-General bombing case
KARACHI: Two more witnesses deposed on Monday before the
Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC-I) headed by Syed Aley Maqbool Rizvi, in the US
Consulate-General suicide bombing case.
Special Public Prosecutor Habib Ahmed conducted the
examination-in-chief of Prosecution Witnesses (PWs) Shah Mohammed, a taxi
driver and Ramzan, a labour contractor. Shah Mohammed (PW), in his
deposition, stated that he was driving towards Saddar and while crossing the
old Clifton bridge saw a Suzuki van from which some persons alighted and
hugged each other.
He deposed that he drove past the said Suzuki and was
ahead of it when he heard a big explosion behind. The PW deposed that luckily
he received only some scratches. The second PW, Ramzan, submitted that he was
working as a labour contractor and was passing through the area on a
motorcycle. He, while identifying the accused accused present before the
court said that the accused were the same persons he saw alighting from the
Suzuki pick-up involved in the incident.
Khawaja Naveed Ahmed, Advocate, assisted by Farooq Hayat,
counsel for Muhammad Ashraf and counsel for the other accused, including
Abdul Waheed Katpar, cross-examined the PWs. The other accused were
identified as Muhammad Imran, Muhammad Haneef and Sharib, Amir, Naib-Amir,
and an activist of the Harakat-ul-Mujahideen Al-Alami.
The court later put off trial till March 8 when
Investigating Officers are likely to depose as PWs in the case. Thirteen
people, including women and children, were killed when a Suzuki vehicle,
laden with explosives, dashed against concrete barricades of the US
Consulate-General at Karachi in July 2002.
Meanwhile, an appellate bench of the SHC, comprising
Justice Muhammad Roshan
Essani and Justice Muhammad Mujeebullah Siddiqui on Monday reserved orders in
an appeal filed by accused Javed, Imran, Rauf, and Siraj. The accused were
sentenced to life terms by an ATC on charge of kidnapping, sexual assault,
and murder of baby Ayesha in the jurisdiction of PS Azizabad in December
1999.
DSP Rojhan, passenger killed in tribal attack
MULTAN: Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Rojhan,
district Rajanpur, Naveed Ikram and a bus passenger were killed when
tribesmen allegedly belonging to the Bugti clan attacked two police mobiles
and a passenger bus with rockets and Kalashnikovs on the Indus Highway, some
350 kilometres off here on Sunday night.
Sources at the office of DPO Rajanpur told APP by
telephone on Monday that DSP Rojhan Naveed Ikram and other policemen of the
Elite Force were patrolling on the Indus Highway at 8.00 pm Sunday night,
when came under attack by some 30 to 40 armed men. As a result, the DSP and
five constables were injured.
In the meantime, a Karachi-bound passenger bus, Ghazi
Coach, having registration number JA-5975, reached there, which was also
fired upon by the armed men. Resultantly, one passenger Muhammad Jamshed
Khalid of Allama Iqbal Town Lahore died on the spot, while six others were
injured.
DSP Naveed Ikram, resident of Chishtian, district
Bahawalnagar, later breathed his last, while being taken to the Nishtar
Hospital Multan, due to excessive bleeding. The injured policemen were
identified as Sajjad Hussain, Muhammad Hashim, Muhammad Suleman, Muhammad
Azam and Muhammad Hassan. Sajjad, Hashim and Azam were shifted to the Nishtar
Hospital in a precarious condition.
The bus passengers who were injured in the attack included
Mumtaz Ahmed Sial of Fazilpur, Muhammad Ishaq and Saeed Ahmed Langah of Mana
Ahmedani, Amanullah Pathan of Toba Tek Singh, Intizar Ahmed Qureshi of Jampur
and Muhammad Iqbal of Dastgir Colony Karachi. They were admitted to the
District Headquarters Hospital Rajanpur.
The funeral prayer of the deceased DSP was offered at the
Police Lines Rajanpur and was attended by DIG DG Khan Asif Nawaz Warraich,
DCO Rajanpur Samiullah Abid, DPO Rajanpur Mian Akhtar Hayat and other high
officials. Later, the body of the DSP was despatched to his hometown.
A case has been registered with Rojhan Police against
unidentified dacoits. The marauders also drove away DSP's official vehicle
along with his wireless set, one light machine gun, two G-3 rifles, two SMG
rifles and 500 live cartridges, magazines and bullets.
Major detained for suspected al-Qaeda ties
KOHAT: The authorities have detained an army officer on
suspicion of ties with Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, the alleged mastermind of the
September 11 attacks arrested at the weekend, military officials said on
Monday.
Major Adil Quddus -- a relative of Ahmed Quddus arrested
with Kuwait-born Khalid Sheikh and another al-Qaeda suspect on Saturday --
was detained at the weekend in Kohat in the North West Frontier Province.
Military officials said Adil was Ahmed Quddus' uncle, but
his sister told reporters they were brothers. The military officials said the
major, from an army signals regiment, was detained to investigate his
dealings with Quddus and Khalid Sheikh and was being interrogated by
intelligence agents.
His sister Qudsia Khanum said Adil had not been allowed to
leave Kohat, but had not been arrested. Khalid's arrest has been described by
Pakistan and the United States as the biggest catch so far in the war on
terror launched in 2001 after the attacks on New York and Washington.
Pakistani officials say they expect more arrests.
Taliban claim recent Afghan attacks: report
PESHAWAR: The Taliban have claimed responsibility for a
series of recent attacks across Afghanistan and warned Afghans not to help
the United States, the AIP said on Monday.
A two-page faxed statement said at least 50 recent attacks
across Afghanistan as the handiwork of the Taliban. Most of the attacks had
targeted the US or other Western interests.
"Over 1,600 clerics say Jihad against infidels is
incumbent on every Muslim," the statement said. "Anyone who opposes
this Jihad is also an infidel." The statement, in Pashto , warned
Afghans to stop assisting the Americans.
The same agency had earliersaid it had received an
unsigned message from Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar, urging Afghans to
wage Jihad against the US and the Kabul government and threating with death
those who collaborated. Southern Afghanistan has seen a series of attacks in
recent months blamed on Taliban and Hekmatyar's fighters.
Use of oil as weapon not feasible: Saudi envoy
RAWALPINDI, March 3: The Muslim countries should not use oil as a weapon in case of US attack on Iraq, said the ambassador of Saudi Arabia, adding "it is not feasible."
Ali S. Awadhasseri, the Saudi ambassador, was answering questions at a Meet the Press programme at the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Press Club here Monday.
He said: "It is not feasible for us to use oil as a weapon. We need to be stronger economically at this time when Muslim Ummah is passing through a critical phase of history. We are faced with a very difficult situation in the Middle East."
To a question about Saudi Arabia's position on Iraq, he said "our foreign minister has been to every country making all possible efforts to avoid a US attack on Iraq."