DAWN / NEWS International, Karachi 22 October 1998 Thursday 1 Rajab 1419 ST activist killed, boy hurt in firing KARACHI: An activist of Sunni Tehrik (ST) was gunned down and a young boy received bullet wound in firing incidents on Wednesday. Akram, 30, a worker of Sunni Tehrik received bullet wounds when unidentified people opened fire while he was sitting outside his residence in Sector 4/F, Mominabad. He was taken by the area people to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where he expired during treatment. Muhammad Yusuf aged 10 was injured by stray bullet while playing outside his residence in Korangi police limits. Injured cop dies: A constable who was injured in an encounter with bandits and admitted to the JPMC died on Wednesday. Constable Manzoor (24), posted at Ferozabad police station, received bullet wounds in an encounter with a gang of bandits on October 1 at Sharea Faisal in PECHS. He was admitted in the JPMC where he died. Police said they arrested two of the bandits while their accomplices managed to escape. ---------------------------------- Hakim Said's murder: 12more held KARACHI: While the police continue to arrest suspects in connection with the assassination of Hakim Muhammad Said, the investigators are still groping in the dark and could not determine the direction of the investigation so far. The District South police on Wednesday arrested 12 people in two different raids raising the number of suspects so far detained to 60. The police mobile vans, cordoned off two different localities within Railway Colony and at I.I Chundrigar Road at around 3:00 am and conducted house to house search. Twelve, 12, youth were picked up, blind-folded and shifted to an unknown place. They were identified as Shukat, Salahuddin, Sharif alias Ganga, Zulfaqar, Ifrahim and Shameem, while the names of others were not disclosed by the police. All of them belong to one particular group. However, the investigators have failed to extract any substantial information from them. ---------------------------------- 'Major' decision regarding Sindh on cards KARACHI: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is believed to have taken some major decisions to restore peace in the city and an operation against the outlaws is very much on the cards. According to the sources, the government has evolved a strategy to deal with the possible political fallout of the steps to curb terrorism. "The plan to restore peace will definitely be implemented," sources said. Sources said that the prime minister had extended his stay in Karachi, primarily to monitor the situation himself. Nawaz would discuss the situation with his cabinet and then decisions regarding the restoration of peace in Sindh would be announced. According to sources, governor's rule, more powers for the Rangers and suspension of the provincial assembly were the options discussed in the meetings. The prime minister was informed about the public resentment over Hakim Said's assassination and the local PML leaders feared that his murder had badly damaged the party's position. They requested Nawaz to put the political expediencies aside and take stern action against the terrorists. Sources said the prime minister summoned the Interior Minister Ch. Shujat and also discussed the Sindh situation with Governor Moninuddin Haider on telephone. The governor is arriving back on Thursday (today). ---------------------------------- PM dines at KFC's Clifton outlet KARACHI: After spending exhausting days in the city, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday evening went to the Kentucky Fried Chicken's outlet in Clifton to have dinner along with his team. Accompanied by Chief Minister Liaquat Jatoi, acting Governor Nawab Mirza, federal ministers Mushahid Hussain, Shaikh Rashid, Ghaus Ali Shah, Halim Siddiqi, Mushahidullah and government functionaries, the premier arrived at the KFC at about 8:30 pm and stayed there till 9:15 pm during which the premier and his team tested entire menu including Zinger Burger Filet Burger, main recipe chicken, strawberry ice-cream and so on amounting to Rs 15,463. SDM Samiuddin Siddiqi made partial payment of Rs 10,000 as he was not carrying enough money at that time, Manager of the KFC outlet Ayaz Malik, said. ---------------------------------- PM-Muttahida meeting not held KARACHI: A meeting of Muttahida Qaumi Movement with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif scheduled for Wednesday could not be held due to pressing engagements of the prime minister in the city. Muttahida Senator Aftab Ahmad Sheikh confirmed that the meeting could not be held. ---------------------------------- Nawaz opens Lilly bridge, Sharea Faisal overpass Inaugurating the 1,700-foot long double track six-lane Fatima Jinnah Bridge, constructed at a revised cost of Rs189.56 million, the prime minister said the event symbolized his determination to restore normality and usher in a new era of peace and prosperity in the battered city. Work on the project had begun in May 1994 at an estimated cost of Rs97.62m and it was scheduled to be completed by December 1997. But due to delay its revised cost has jumped to Rs156.762m. The cost was further enhanced to Rs189.56m. Work on the bridge was executed by Pakistan Railways on behalf of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC). Fifty per cent of the project's cost has been met by the KMC and the remaining 50 per cent through the annual development plan (ADP) of the Sindh government. The dual carriageway overhead bridge, having three lanes on each side, built on Lilly Road railway crossing, will facilitate smooth flow of traffic as well as safe crossing to pedestrians as it has walkways of 6.5 feet. Addressing the people who had gathered at Fatima Jinnah Bridge, the prime minister vowed to take the country out of the present difficulties. He said the purpose of his current visit to the city was to identify specific problems and take firm action for their resolution. In a city where killings had become an everyday affair and unemployment was rampant, the prime minister said, law and order and unemployment were the main problems which needed to be addressed firmly. He said Karachi was the backbone of the country's economy and his government would ensure that its traditional hustle and bustle returned soon. He thanked the people for voting for his PML and assured that his government would reciprocate the confidence reposed in him by initiating more projects and restoring peace and tranquillity. In this context, he recalled the recent 30 per cent reduction in additional surcharge collected on electricity which became effective from on (Wednesday). In the context of providing more income-generating facilities, prime minister Nawaz Sharif referred to the self- employment scheme. Earlier speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Water and Power Haleem Siddiqui highlighted the development schemes initiated by the prime minister. After Fatima Jinnah bridge, the prime minister inaugurated the "Grade- Separation Overpass" at Sharea Faisal linking Rashid Minhas Road, constructed at a cost of Rs40m. The 1,710-foot long overpass is 24 feet wide with a two-lane carriageway. Its financing has been done from KMC resources. The Sharea Faisal and Rashid Minhas intersection had become very important due to a significant increase in vehicular traffic which also causes traffic jams. It had, therefore, become necessary to construct a bridge turning right from Sharea Faisal to Rashid Minhas Road for safe and uninterrupted traffic flow. After the inauguration, the Prime Minister drove through the bridge. The flyover starts from Sharea Faisal near Drigh Road Station and ends at Rashid Minhas Road near COD. The 1,710-foot long bridge will provide the facility of turning right from Sharea Faisal to Rashid Minhas Road without interrupting the flow of traffic on the busy Sharea Faisal as it has two 24-foot wide carriageway. Work on the project had started in May 1996 and it was scheduled to be completed in January this year. However, it got delayed for unspecified reasons. Although the prime minister enjoyed a ride over the newly-constructed ramp on Rashid Minhas Road, on which it plunged from Sharea Faisal, it was in horrible shape and there was no evidence of any plan to widen the road, though there is enough space. In the present condition the battered road from COD up to the drive-in cinema intersection is hazardous for traffic. Acting Governor of Sindh, Nawab Mirza, Chief Minister Liaquat Ali Jatoi, federal ministers Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Syed Ghous Ali Shah, Choudhry Nisar Ali, Minister of State Halim Siddiqui, provincial ministers and MPAs were also present on the occasion. ---------------------------------- Magsi vows to resist metropolitan police formation HYDERABAD: Chairman, Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party (STPP), Dr Qadir Magsi has termed the proposal of metropolitan police for Karachi as a first attempt towards the creation of a separate province with the name of "Jinnahpur or Mohajiristan". At the initial stage, the government is contemplating to separate Karachi's administrative control from the rest of Sindh to declare it as a separate province at a later stage, Magsi told a news conference at the party's headquarters on Wednesday. He strongly opposed the proposal and observed that the idea of giving control of metropolitan police to the governor was negation of democracy. He said in essence the idea is an attempt to harm the country's solidarity and integrity but the STPP would resist any move by the government in this direction. He said that Karachi had become the hub of different mafias and "multi-dimensional" forces, which were operating there for the vested interests. Reiterating his five-point formula for the improvement in Sindh, Magsi said that a paramilitary force should immediately be set up and only "indigenous people" of Sindh be recruited so that they could play a positive role in curbing terrorism and lawlessness in rural as well as urban areas of the province. Criticising Rangers' performance in Sindh, the STPP chief blamed the force for running drug business in Sindh and demanded its immediate withdrawal. He said the Rangers in the past five years had failed in controlling the law and order situation. Magsi said Sindh gives Rs 400 billion annually to the federal government in the shape of various taxes but in return it gets only Rs 24 to Rs 30 billion, and the major part of this amount is spent on maintaining law and order. Magsi said that terrorists should be taken to task irrespective of their political affiliations. Practical steps should be taken for the expulsion of the illegal immigrants from Sindh, he said. The government should stop influx of people in Sindh from other provinces, and job opportunities should be provided to the people of Sindh on priority basis, he said. He said that the recently-formed Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement (PONM) had demanded sovereignty for Sindh and absolute power for its people. The STPP chief further said that the Sindh Anti-Kalabagh Dam Front had been merged into the PONM for a collective campaign against the dam. Magsi said that the approval of Shariat Bill by the National Assembly was part of a deliberate attempt to divert the attention of the people from their genuine problems. ---------------------------------- American Center in Islamabad resumes operation ISLAMABAD: The American Center here has resumed operation after it was closed in August shortly before the US missile strikes in Afghanistan, visitors said Wednesday. The center was closed two days before US navy warships launched cruise missile attack on alleged terrorist bases inside Afghanistan on August 20. The US embassy had also evacuated around 200 staff, including diplomats and their families from Pakistan, before the missile attack. It was not known whether any of them have returned here. ----------------------------------