Quetta 16 Including Fc Personnel Twin Blasts, QUETTA: Twin suicide blasts in Civil Lines area of Quetta near commissioner office killed sixteen people including three FC personnel while over 30 got injured on Wednesday, Geo News reported.

According to police sources, one of the attackers rammed a car carrying explosives into an FC vehicle standing outside DIG FC house while the other entered the house and started firing who later blew himself up.

Both the blasts killed three FC personnel and 13 locals while more than 30 persons got hurt.

A rickshaw at the incident site also caught fire while the nearby buildings were damaged as a result of blast.

Rescue teams reached the spot to shift dead bodies and injured people to the civil hospital, Quetta while bomb disposal squad and fire extinguishing teams also reached the spot.

It is important to note that Civil Lines is a red zone area due to the presence of governor house, chief minister and DIG FC house while treasury office is also located in the same area. (GEO)

SHO, Who Freed Held Accused, LAHORE: The Station House Officer (SHO), who had released the six accused of robbery and theft caught red handed by his subordinates taking heavy bribe, has also fled away, Geo News reported.

Police said that Wahdat Colony SHO, Hamid had released the six accused of robbery and theft caught red handed by his subordinates taking heavy bribe. But the matter coming into the notice of the higher officials, the SHO after arrest was locked up. However, when the media team reached the police station, it was revealed that the SHO had already fled away.

A case has been registered against the four police guards for negligence and facilitating in his fleeing away. (GEO)

Electricity Shortfall In Pakistan, LAHORE: Electricity shortfall continues in Pakistan and currently stands at 2,514 MW, Geo News reported Wednesday. According to PEPCO, electricity generation is 13,493 while demand is 16,007.

Despite the shortfall KESC is being provided 730 MW. Hydel is generating 5,865 MW, thermal 1,548, IPPs 5,951 and RPPs are generating 129 MW. (GEO)

Nato Containers En-route Pakistan: Wikileaks, KARACHI: U.S. Ambassador in Pakistan N. Patterson in a cable dated November 17, 2008 sent to Washington denied that the U.S.-Nato military containers en-route Pakistan to Afghanistan ever carried arms or ammunitions, according to WikiLeaks.

It was reported in the Pakistani media that at times containers were hijacked and arms stolen were being sold across the country, which the cable clarified that arms, ammunitions and sensitive equipments were never carried to Afghanistan by road en-route Pakistan and media reports in this regards are nothing but figment of imagination. (GEO)

Consensus In Taking Against Al-Qaeda, RAWALPINDI: Military spokesman, Major General Athar Abbas said there was consensus between the army and CIA in taking action against Al-Qaeda and their supporters, Geo News reported Wednesday.

He added that in the past, successful operation against terrorists had been conducted with the help of the CIA.

According to the military spokesman, the army was following Al-Qaeda operative Younis al-Mauritani since last October and he was captured in collaboration with the CIA this week. (GEO)

Justice Javed Tipped As NAB Chief, ISLAMABAD: The law ministry has sent a summary to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani about the appointment of recently-retired Supreme Court judge Justice Javed Iqbal as National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman.

Sources privy to the development told Dawn on Monday that the government had earlier decided to appoint a retired judge of the apex court, Sardar Raza Khan, as NAB chief, but changed its mind after the retirement of Justice Iqbal.

“We are considering three names and Justice Iqbal is one of them,” Law Minister Moula Bakhsh Chandio said, adding that he would be the `best` choice.

The sources said the law ministry had sent a summary to the prime minister a month ago about the appointment of Justice Raza and this had been confirmed by adviser to the law minister Farooq Awan. But the prime minister did not approve it and directed the law ministry to include the name of Justice Iqbal in the summary.

Answering a question about the constitutional requirement of consulting with Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on the proposed name, Mr Chandio said: “We will seek the opposition`s consent on the name of justice Iqbal.” But, he added, the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N was reluctant to sit with the government on the issue.

Asked if he had discussed the issue with Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the law minister said he had met the chief justice after a meeting of the Supreme Judicial Council but had not discussed with him the NAB chief`s appointment. (DAWN)

Drone Kills Four Militants In Pakistan, MIRANSHAH: A US drone strike in a Pakistani tribal area considered home to the most dangerous enemy of American troops in eastern Afghanistan killed at least four militants on Tuesday, officials said.

The unmanned aircraft fired two missiles, hitting a compound and a vehicle parked outside it in Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan tribal district, a senior security official told AFP.

“At least four militants were killed,” the official said, adding that two others were also wounded. Another security official and an intelligence official confirmed the attack and casualties.

Washington has called Pakistan’s semi-autonomous northwest tribal region the global headquarters of Al Qaeda, where Taliban and other al Qaeda-linked networks have rear bases in the 10-year war in Afghanistan.

The identity of the militants was not immediately clear, officials said.

The missiles struck in the main town close to a girls school before dawn as people were starting their Ramadan fast, an AFP reporter, close to the destroyed compound, said.

Militants immediately cordoned off the compound and were busy removing debris, he said.

Although the United States does not publicly confirm drone attacks, its military and the CIA in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy the unmanned Predator aircraft in the region.

North Waziristan is the headquarters of the Haqqani leadership and the main militant bastion in the semi-autonomous tribal belt.

The Haqqani network is considered the deadliest enemy of US troops in eastern Afghanistan. It was founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani and is run by his son, Sirajuddin, both designated “global terrorists” by Washington.

The group has been blamed for some of the worst anti-US attacks in Afghanistan, including a suicide attack at a US base in the eastern province of Khost in 2009 that killed seven CIA operatives.

Around two dozen drone strikes have been reported in Pakistan since elite US forces killed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in a suburban home near Pakistan’s main military academy in Abbottabad, close to the capital, on May 2.

The raid humiliated Pakistan and prompted allegations of incompetence and complicity in sheltering bin Laden.

Pakistan is seen as a key ally for the United States in its fight against militancy, but relations have soured since the bin Laden raid, which both countries say was carried out without Islamabad being warned.

Drone attacks are unpopular among many Pakistanis, who oppose the alliance with Washington and who are sensitive to perceived violations of sovereignty.

US officials have accused Pakistani intelligence of playing a double game with extremists, including the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network, in order to exert influence in Afghanistan and offset the might of arch-rival India.

Washington’s pressure on Islamabad to launch a decisive military campaign in North Waziristan, as Pakistan has conducted elsewhere in the tribal belt, has so far fallen on deaf ears. (DAWN)

Furnace Oil Stocks Of Wapda, ISLAMABAD: With furnace oil stocks plummeting to a critical level, the government is finding it difficult to meet the power needs because the Pakistan State Oil is not in a position to import enough quantity of oil because of cash constraints.

A senior government official told Dawn on Monday that Wapda`s furnace oil stocks have dropped to a level to meet just two days of power generation requirement that accounts for about 6-8 per cent of its mandatory reserves for a 21-day coverage.

He said the government was facing problems in importing at least 750,000 tons of furnace oil necessary to meet the power generation requirement for a month. On an average, he said, the power sector required 1,000,000 tons of furnace oil a month, of which about 250,000 tons was produced locally.

“This month we do not see importing even 750,000 tons of furnace oil,” said the official, adding that the special committee on electricity loadshedding was holding regular meetings to resolve the issue of circular debt, but was still not very clear about the future course of action.

Power sector`s daily requirement is about 35,000 tons, but the PSO was supplying a maximum of 22,000 tons a day because of financial constraints.

He said one thing had become clear during the committee`s meetings that unless Wapda`s arrears were recovered fully, it would not be possible to melt down the inter-circular debt. Wapda`s total arrears against public sector consumers stood at Rs200 billion until last week and that was the real problem, the official said.

The irony of the situation is that most of the committee members were inclined to increase electricity tariff for common consumers to meet Wapda`s financial problems, instead of recovering arrears from public sector consumers despite repeated decisions by the inter-provincial committees and economic coordination committee of the cabinet to disconnect electricity supply to such consumers.

The receivables of PSO against Wapda stood at Rs150 billion as of August 10, making it impossible to retire foreign letters of credit to suppliers and domestic refineries. As a result, the PSO has to pay over Rs80 billion to local refineries which had also slowed down off-take, leading to lower capacity utilisation.

In the process, refineries and marketing companies owe over Rs80 billion to oil producers led by the Oil and Gas Development Company, which is finding it hard to meet its development targets.

In addition to non-payments to the PSO, the official said Wapda`s payables to gas utilities had surged to Rs100 billion.

It was, the official said, sad to note that the ministries of water and power, petroleum and finance were trying to increase gas and electricity rates to meet their cash flow requirements without realising that their tariffs were not low.

The main problems are receivables and system losses which should be addressed. (DAWN)

Pakistan American Abducted

FBI May Join Police In Hunt, LAHORE: As police investigation teams remained clueless about the kidnapping of US national Warren Weinstein on the third consecutive day, two government officials met a US diplomat here on Monday to discuss the possibility of a joint investigation with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Police sources told Dawn that Punjab Home Secretary Shahid Khan and city police chief Malik Ahmad Raza Tahir visited Carmela Conroy, the principal officer of the US Consulate in Lahore, and sought information about Mr Weinstein`s family and his company`s activities.

The city police chief updated the US diplomat about efforts to trace the victim and briefed her over different aspects of the investigation.

The officials conveyed to the US diplomat that Mr Weinstein kept himself in a low profile and did not even utilise security guards while travelling on the recommendation of other company staff.

They said the J. E. Austin Associates, the sponsor of Mr Weinstein, violated a circular of the Punjab home department about his registration with police.

Sources said Ms Conroy urged the delegation to give the consulate`s security officials access to the investigation.

Mr Weinstein`s driver, Mohammad Israr of Swabi, and one of the three security guards, who were already detained for questioning, were the only ones who knew the code of the card swapped to open the door of the victim`s room. (DAWN)