DAWN / NEWS International, Karachi 29 April 1998 Wednesday 02 Muharram 1419 Jatoi refutes any secret deal with Muttahida in London KARACHI: Sindh chief minister Liaqaut Jatoi has said that the PML(N) did not cut any secret deal with the Muttehida Quami Movement (MQM) as being referred by some quarters as ' London Agreement'. Making a policy statement on the floor the Sindh Assembly on Tuesday. Jatoi said that the MQM was his coalition partner. " If there is any problem we can see each other," he added. Jatoi said that the people had given mandate to the PML(N) and MQM for solving their problems. " And the MQM was showing very positive approach in solving the problems." He said that the government was trying its best to do something about people problems. But no problem could be solved unless the political process was allowed to continue, he added. He said: " Political process must continue as it was the only way to provide some relief to the people." ---------------------------------- One killed, two corpses found; five injured in firing KARACHI: A man was slaughtered while two corpses were recovered by police on Tuesday. Sources in Baloch Colony police said they were informed about a bag lying near Bungalow: 70/5, Block: 6, PECH Society near KMC Ground in Mehmoodabad and rushed to the spot. Opening the bag they found a bullet-riddled and tortured corpse of a youth and shifted it to the JPMC. Sources at the hospital said the deceased was fired at from a close range and was also tortured brutally. The deceased was later identified as Muhammad Saleem, a denter and painter of Liaquat Asrhraf Colony. A case was registered on the compliant of Saleem's brother Muhammad Naeem. Korangi police, on information taht a corpse was lying in 35-E area in their precincts, rushed to the spot and found corpse of a youth. They shifted it to the JPMC. Later police identified the deceased as Tariq Mehboob, 23, an employee of Pakistan Steel Mills. The TPX police were informed about a corpse lying near the offices of MM Ispahani Co Ltd in Gali No: 4, West Wharf. Police rushed to the spot and found a slaughtered corpse. They shifted it to Civil Hospital. Police identified the deceased as Muhammad Akram, 35. Five people were injured in firing incidents in city. Muhammad Ishaq was injured when he received bullets in Gulbahar police limits. He was taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. Syed Jamil Husain was fired at in Orangi Town police limits and was rushed to Abbasi Shaheed. Habibullah received bullet wounds in Korangi police precincts and was taken to JPMC. Muhammad Shaukat and Mukhtar Ahmad were injured in firing in Nazimabad police limits and were taken to Abbasi Shaheed. ---------------------------------- Nawab Mirza exempted from court attendance HYDERABAD, April 28: The first additional sessions judge here on Monday allowed the exemption application of Speaker Sindh Assembly Nawab Mirza in Mir Gardens case. Represented by lawyer Aslam Pervaiz, Mirza had submitted the application that he was speaker of the provincial assembly and was busy in the House and thus he was unable to attend the hearing of the case. However, he will be represented by his counsel in the court. He prayed the court that his absence from the court may be condoned. The court allowed the application and fixed the hearing for May 19. Zafar Rajput, MPA, also submitted an application praying for condoning his absence as he too was busy in the assembly session. Earlier, the court had issued non-bailable warrants against Mirza for his constant absence from the court on the date of hearing. The Mir Gardens case related to the forcible possession of a piece of land from the Khidmat-i-Khalq Committee in 1994 by the administration and police. The sudden action had sparked violence in the city that claimed three lives. ---------------------------------- Two dozen bonded labourers escape from landlord's captivity MIRPURKHAS: Over two dozen bonded labourers, including women and children, succeeded in escaping from the captivity of a landlord of Samaro village and gathered at a railway plot here. On receiving this information, the commissioner Mirpurkhas directed the SDM Samaro to record the statements of the peasant families. According to reports, peasants of three families escaped from the lands of a landlord, Chaudhry Allauddin, new Samaro after a close relative of Allauddin attempted to sexually assault a woman in her tent. As the woman made hue and cry, the other women peasants came to her rescue and gave a thrashing to the landlord. When The News contacted the peasants staying at the railways plot, they said that they were compelled to runaway from the lands as the Samaro police had refused to help them. "They refused to register a case ... the police threatened us not to go against the landlord," they said. The families, under immense fear, continued their journey on foot and crossed an area of about 20 miles late on Monday night. They reached Bachao Bund village, where they managed to get on a bus for Mirpurkhas. SDM Samaro Muhammad Siddique has been appointed as the enquiry officer by the commissioner Mirpurkhas. The SDM will record the statements of the peasants on Wednesday, and would submit his report within three days to the commissioner. ---------------------------------- SUKKUR: Illegal detainee freed in police raid on CIA centre SUKKUR, April 28: A resident of Quetta was released on the orders of the SP Jacobabad following a raid by the local Khidmat Committee on CIA Centre on Tuesday. The committee had received a complaint that the in-charge of CIA office in Jacobabad, Karim Bukhsh Khoso, had been holding Abdul Rahim Magsi hostage for the last four days. The CIA Centre was raided accordingly and the victim was found languishing in one of the lock ups there. Ayaz Lahoti, the chairman of the Khidmat Committee, asked the CIA in-charge to release Mr Magsi but he refused to do so. However, he failed to produce documents relating to the detention of the victim. Mr Lahoti then contacted the SP, Deen Mohammad Baloch and apprised him of the situation. Mr Baloch intervened and ordered the CIA man to set Mr Magsi free. The victim's car was also recovered from the CIA Centre and restored to him. Meanwhile, the Khidmat Committee has asked the SP to initiate a departmental inquiry against the CIA man. ---------------------------------- MULTAN: Chained child recovered from sweet shop MULTAN: A nine-year-old child Tanveer Ahmad was recovered from a sweet shop at Basti Bararaan on Monday with his feet in fetters. The Labour Inspector Muhammad Aslam Bhutta during his inspection of shops on Monday noticed that a child was coming out of a sweet shop (Iqra Sweets) while his feet were chained. The child when asked by the Labour Inspector started weeping and later told that the owner of the shop did not even provide him salary and beats him severely. The boy said that the accused had kept him in fetters for last seven days following his attempts to flee. According to the FIR registered, the child was kidnapped by Saleem and Nadeem, the owners of the shop. The Gulgasht Police Station have registered a case against the accused and have arrested one of the accused Saleem. ---------------------------------- Police drub Taleban attacking RAWA procession PESHAWAR: Police resorted to tear-gas shelling and baton charge Tuesday to disperse Afghan Taleban who attacked a procession of Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) and caused injuries to several women. The Peshawar police, which accompanied the procession right from Shaheen Town to the Defence Colony, swung into action soon after the Taleban attacked the processionists and chased and beat them up. The police also arrested 13 of them. The RAWA procession comprising some 250 women and girl students of the local Afghan schools was attacked near Tambwano Chowk on Jamrud Road by a group of over a dozen stick-wielding Taleban. At least 10 women received injuries, three of whom were rushed to hospital for first-aid. The women showed extreme courage by raising highly charged slogans against the "fundamentalists" and retaliated with sticks and stones in self-defence rather than running for shelter. They were joined by some of the men, both Afghans and Pakistanis, accompanying the procession. "We wanted to convey to the 'fundamentalists' that women can fight for their rights," remarked an emotional RAWA leader, Nasima Bareen. The attackers were overpowered by police in no time. ---------------------------------- Afghan rivals continue search for 'real Ulema' ISLAMABAD: The warring Afghan factions continued their search for the real Ulema on Tuesday as well. After the fifth session on the third day of the talks, the Afghan rivals narrowed their search to two proposals. One is that of the Taleban who insist that only a man with a degree from a Muslim seminary is an 'alim'. The opposition Northern Alliance has presented the other definition which includes educationists, politicians and judges among the scholars. The Taleban spokesman Maulavi Wakil Ahmad Motawakil has already rejected this definition saying that "only religious scholars can be called Ulema and no other person qualifies for the commission." In January the Taleban proposed forming a commission of Ulema with the power to evolve a formula for ending 19 years of war. The opposition accepted the proposal and sent a list of 45 nominees for the commission. The Taleban rejected the list saying not all on it were religious scholars. The Taleban trust the Ulema, even if they come from the other side of the fence. All Taleban leaders have studied at seminaries in Pakistan or Afghanistan. They know the system and believe that people with similar background would be better placed to understand their brand of Islam. They are also afraid that if they accept the Taleban's definition of an 'alim', they will not have enough scholars to nominate for the Ulema commission. The Hezb-i-Wahdat has a more genuine fear. It is a Shia party and the Taleban have never shown much respect for the Shia Ulema. So the Wahdat does not know whether the Taleban would accept their scholars as Ulema or not. Thus behind this apparently religious dispute over the definition of an 'alim' is the old power tussle that has already caused so much bloodshed in Afghanistan. The problem is simple: both the groups want as much share in power as they can and are not willing to accommodate the other. Meanwhile, Supreme Taleban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar has replaced Afghanistan's solar calendar with the Islamic lunar calendar from April 28. ---------------------------------- Taleban boycott Iran embassy's reception ISLAMABAD: Members of the Taleban negotiation team on Tuesday turned down Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh's invitation for a dinner hosted in honour of the Afghan negotiation teams. However, all members of the opposition Northern Alliance attended the reception held at the Iranian embassy. Mehdi Akhoundzadeh said he had invited Taleban but they said they would consult leadership in Kanhdhar. The reception was attended by Dr Ghariat Baheer, Hizb-I-Islami Hitmatyar group, Pir Saeed Gillani, chief National Islamic Front of Afghanistan, Iftikhar Murshid, James Ngobi, acting head of UN Special Mission to Afghanistan and Ibrahim Saleh Bakr, Assistant Secretary General of OIC. ----------------------------------