KARACHI: The Sindh government has directed the police and law enforcement agencies to use zoom lenses, installed aboard police helicopters, and other modern technology to keep an eye on anti-social and criminal elements on the occasion of strike called by the religious groups for Friday. The directive was issued on Thursday at a high-level meeting held at the Governor's House, chaired by Sindh governor Muhammadmian Soomro.

The high-level meeting, attended by the chief secretary, home secretary, IGP, DCO Karachi, DIG Karachi and DIG Traffic and secretary transport, decided to take strict security measures to provide protection to the citizens, transporters, traders, and industries. It was decided that the paramilitary forces and contingents of police deployed in the city and other places in the interior of the province should take strict action against the miscreants if they tried to take the law into their own hands.

Sources said the provincial administration directed the law enforcement agencies to arrest the activists whether they belonged to any group and party and book them under the Anti-Terrorist Act if they tried to damage property and disturb civic life. Intelligence agencies were also directed to improve their network and adopt modern methods to collect the information about anti-social elements, protesters and miscreants.

The Sindh Governor, Home Secretary, and Police authorities separately held meetings with transporters, traders, and leaders of religious groups and tried to motivate them not to get involved in any anti-social activities. The administration informed the representatives of the transporters, traders and leaders of religious parties leaders that it was decided that nobody would be allowed to disturb the life of the people or adopt uncivilized attitude to force others to accept their point of view.

Sources said the administration asked the leaders of religious parties to adopt a law-abiding and civilised method for protest as the administration provided the space for this purpose where anybody could go and register their protest.

The administration asked the leaders of the religious groups that the strike was not the solution to the problems of the people. They were also asked that the economic situation of the country would also be affected due to strikes and government would not allow anybody to upset the economy of the country.

The governor and home secretary also assured traders, shopkeepers and transporters that all measures were taken for protection of their businesses and life and asked them to ply transport on the roads and open shops on Friday. According to officials, the traders, transporters and business community assured the Governor and Home Secretary that they would keep their businesses open and ply their vehicles on Friday.

The representatives of transporters and traders said that they had respect of religious parties leaders but a strike was not in the interests of the country. They were of the view that did not survive. They said that the national unity was the need of the hour and they supported the government stand on this point. The minister of Labour, industries, and local government Dewan Yousuf informed the traders that the government had to withdraw the time restriction on closure of shops and stopped the shops and labour inspectors to function and visit of the shops and industries.

KARAHCI: Following the directive of Nazim Keamari Town Zulfiqar Younus, the SSP (defunct) district West has asked the SHO concerned to ensure that picnickers are not harassed by the police in future.

There are growing complaints that police unnecessarily stop people going to Hawksbay and adjacent picnic spots harass them on different pretexts, as asking the couples to show their marriage certificates.

Taking serious notice of the complaints the Nazim talked to the SSP West Tariq Khokhar at an open Kutchehri and asked him to refrain the police personnel from such practices. The SSP assured him of full co-operation and directed the officials concerned not to harrass the picnic goers, a spokesman said.

JACOBABAD: The JUI-F activists, during a protest demonstration on Thursday, staged a sit-in on the national highway in Kandhkot and stoned the Karachi-Peshawar Khushal Khan Khatak Express, causing damages to the train and injuring the engine driver.

The demonstration was held to press the administration to register a murder case against the officials involved in the October 14 incident in Jacobabad as well as against the US-led attacks on Afghanistan.

The JUI-F activists, under their leadership Syed Ahmed Shah, took out a protest rally from Maderssah-e-Darul-Fiseeh. While chanting anti-US slogans, the protesters passed through various roads and streets. They stopped at the national highway and staged a sit-in there for four hours.

SSP Jacobabad Syed Akhter Ali Shah reached the spot and tried to end the blockade but in vain. During the highway blockade, when some of the JUI workers saw the Peshawar-bound Khushal Khan Khatak coming, they slept on the track and starting pelting stones on the train. This caused cracks in train's window panes and injuries to engine driver Rafqat Hussain Rajput. Later, heavy contingents of police also reached there in order to control the situation.

During the blockade, JUI leaders Syed Ahmed Shah, Dr AG Ansari, Hafiz Mir Muhammad Banglani and others spoke to the protesters and strongly condemned the government policies in the current scenario. They criticised the US for killing innocent Afghan people, including women and children, and demanded immediate end to the US attacks.

Later, District Naib-Nazim Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani reached the spot and held talks with JUI-F leaders. On his assurance that a murder case would be registered against the officials involved in the October 14 incident in Jacobabad, the JUI-F activists dispersed. However, despite all the disturbance in Kandhkot, the city business went about normally.

PESHAWAR: More than 1,500 Pakistani tribesmen and a convoy of 25 trucks with food and supplies crossed into Afghanistan on Thursday to help the Taliban, despite Pakistani efforts to seal the border, officials said. Officials in Bajaur agency said the men and supplies crossed at two points to join the Jihad, or holy war, against US and opposition forces. Religious leaders said there were thousands more waiting to cross as soon as the Taliban gave the order. "There are thousands ready to go for Jihad but they are waiting for the request from the Taliban," said Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM) leader Maulana Mohammad Alam. Thursday's crossing brings to 6,000 the number of militants who have left Pakistan to join the Taliban in recent weeks, according to religious parties in NWFP. Officials, who refused to be named, said TNSM leader Mohammad Ismail led the "lashkar," into Afghanistan, while another tribal commander, Ahsan-ul-Haq, was at the head of the convoy of trucks. The Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD: Afghan tribal leader, Hamid Karzai on Thursday said he was safe in southern Afghanistan after frustrating an attack by Arab forces. In an exclusive interview to BBC television, Hamid said he and his companions walked for three days to reach a safe place after coming under attack by Arab forces. "We came under attack by Arab forces. There were no Taliban forces. Most of them were Arabs," he said. "We were lucky that the villagers informed us. They ran for one hour to reach our base and informed us that you are being attacked," he said. He said, "I am in Afghanistan and safe. We walked for three days from village to village after the attack. We reached a safe position after three days with the help of villagers and nomads." The Afghan leader said we do not need military help to defeat the Taliban. We need humanitarian and military help to defeat the Arabs and their foreign supporters in Afghanistan. He said, "we want these foreign terrorists to get out of my country. I want this country to belong to Afghans." Hamid Karzai is attempting to build support among tribal and religious leaders in south of the country to get what he calls foreign forces out of Afghanistan.

ISLAMABAD: US bombing in northern Afghanistan on Thursday killed 85 fighters of a Pakistan-based militant group Harkat Jihad-i-Islami, allied with the ruling Taliban, a spokesman for the group said.

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Lt Gen (retired) Moinuddin Haider said on Thursday that former army chief General Mirza Aslam Beg and former ISI chief General Hameed Gul should be held accountable for creating Islami Jhamoori Ittehad (IJI) in 1988 against the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) without the knowledge and consent of the then army high command (GHQ).

The minister said (regarding distribution of Rs 400 million among politicians/religious parties) the two men had acted in their personal capacities without getting any permission from the GHQ.

So, Moinuddin was of the view that both the gentlemen be held accountable for their such illegal actions. He gave this statement while replying to questions during an hour-long live Radio programme aired by Islamabad station in the evening.

The interior minister said the former ISI chief had misused his authority and created a political alliance of religious parties to defeat the PPP in 1988 in general elections and "it was all wrong and he must be questioned and be held accountable for his personal acts".

The minister was interviewed by a group of journalists comprising Faraz Hashmi (Dawn), Tahir Khalil (Jang), Tariq Warsi (Nawai-e-Waqat), Tariq Choudhry (Business Recorder) and Rauf Klasra (The News).

The minister severely criticised the former ISI chief and his blatant statements pouring in the national press since 1988 about his controversial role in creation of an alliance against a political party. The minister said he always stated that his (Hameed Gul's) statements did not correspond to his assignment as a chief of sensitive intelligence agency.

To a question stressing that the army should also share the responsibility of strengthening the religious groups and use them as a tool against the political parties and destabilise the politically elected governments in the country since 1985, the minister said he served in the army for 37 years and attended many high-level meetings during this period, but he was unaware of such decisions that involved creation of religious parties alliance or distribution of money among the politicians.

He said he also served for seven years in the GHQ but never heard a single word about such decisions that were taken by these generals in their personal capacities. The minister also admitted his government's failure in stopping the huge funding to the religious groups and parties being made by some Muslim states.

Speaking on other issue, he said that Pakistan had taken up the cases of its fugitives with the Western countries and had handed over a list of its accused to them for their immediate extradition.

The minister defended his government's decision to take strict action against the religious parties activists during demonstrations saying it was enough as they had now started to take the law into their own hands by burning the banks, public properties, post offices, railway stations, public vehicles etc.

He said now they were also using Afghan refugees against the military government and that was not a desirable act on their part.

He said the government had already allowed demonstration and rallies at fixed places in the provincial capitals like Nishtar Park (Karachi), Liaquat Bagh (Rawalpindi), Minare Pakistan (Lahore) and Ayub Stadium Quetta. But, he said the religious parties were not ready to go there as they always resort to burning tyres on roads and disrupt the normal life.

He claimed that 90 percent of the public was supporting government policy on Afghanistan as government had left with no option but to accept what the Americans were demanding from the government after Spetember11 attacks. He said had we not accepted America's demand at that night when President Bush called General Musharraf on phone, Pakistan could also be targeted along-with Afghanistan. He said we acted wisely in the given circumstances and saved our land from devastation.

Similarly, he said government would not allow any Pakistani to enter into Afghanistan and fight alongside the Taliban as it was useless act to fight with the American jets with outdated weapons.

He said Pakistan is continuously trying to convince the US and its allies to stop bombing in Ramazan as it will create problems all over the Muslim world. He said the government was trying to bring the law and order situation under control as it was for the first time that 124,000 illegal weapons were recovered from the people during the deweaponisation drive.

He said "we want to make Pakistan a modern and a moderate state where the narrow minded religious people deprived of the logic and reasons had no right to dictate their own brand of Islam to any body.

He said we must try to avoid the serious clash of religions and civilization and should try to get out of this dangerous situation that could destroy every body just for the sake of some individuals like Osama and Mulla Omar who are wrongly championing the cause of the Muslims.

On the issue of detention of Jamaate-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad, the minister said he was arrested by the provincial government under the MPO and would be treated under the given law. He said the provincial governments would determine whether his case be tried in special court or in the ordinary court. He did not agree to a questioner that Qazi was arrested after he refused to meet him in Islamabad and used some strict language during his phonic conversation last week.

Although, he said Qazi was not ready to visit his Darbar (as Qazi had told the minister) but, the minister said personally he was ready to visit the Mansoora-the Darbar of Jamaat for the sake of national interest.

The minister put the fact that average 100 bomb blasts were occurring in Pakistan annually and the government was trying to control the law and order situation. He said the foreign hand was involved in these acts of terrorism.