PM Sharif’s convoy stopped to let Army chief pass

ISLAMABAD: As Pakistan witnessed a historic democratic transition, many in the county have started to believe that the days of military supremacy are over. But not on the roads, at least not yet.

As Nawaz Sharif, along with his family, left for the Presidency to take oath as prime minister for a record third time on Wednesday, he struck reality on the streets of Islamabad.

The question is: who is the real power wielder in Pakistan? The prime minister or the Army chief? Theoretically, the army chief is answerable to a grade-22 civil bureaucrat. Practically, he is mightier than any elected or non-elected individual in the country.

One such demonstration of this reality was witnessed Wednesday soon after Mian Nawaz Sharif’s election as Prime Minister of Pakistan.

After securing more than two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, the premier reached Punjab House to freshen up.

The prime minister was supposed to reach the Presidency before 4:00 pm to take oath from President Asif Ali Zardari.

At the oath-taking ceremony, services chiefs, political leaders, diplomats and senior civil and military officials had been invited.

PML-N sources and eyewitnesses said first to come out of Punjab House was the SUV carrying first lady Kulsoom Nawaz and her daughter Mariam Safdar. Just behind them were the vehicles of Hamza Shahbaz and Hassan Nawaz.

The convoy of the prime minister was standing at close distance from the cars of his family members. As soon as they reached the outer barrier of Punjab House adjacent to Margallah Road, an alter commando blew the whistle with full force ordering the driver to stop the vehicle.

Consequently, the prime minister’s convoy had to stop as well. The pause remained for two to three minutes.

The commando was there to make sure nothing should obstruct the route of the Army chief’s convoy, only allowing vehicles from Punjab House to pass after the entire convoy of the army chief drove away.

Arsalan-Iftikhar case: NAB dissolves JIT after SC’s concerns

ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday dissolved the Joint Investigation Committee (JIT) which was investigating Arsalan-Iftikhar case after the Supreme Court had stopped it from conducting inquiry for two days, DawnNews reported.

A two member bench of the Supreme Court comprising of Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Khilji Arif heard the review case of alleged corruption of Arsalan Iftikhar, son of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

The Prosecutor General NAB K.K. Agha of the NAB informed the apex court that the accountability bureau will formulate a new team comprising of NAB’s officials.

In reference to yesterday’s court order of stopping the JIT to continue its investigation of the Arsalan –Iftikhar case after one of the members of the team Faisal Memon was accused of being partial, Agha said that “NAB has decided to formulate a new team comprising of its own officials.” Adding that, “the bureau does not doubt the credibility of Memon, but it is for the greater good that we form a new investigation team.”

On the petition of Malik Riaz’s attorney Zahid Bukhari, the apex court directed the investigation teams and other sub ordinate courts, who are dealing with other cases of Riaz and his family, to perform their duties without getting under pressure of the proceedings of Arsalan-iftikhar case.

The apex court subsequently adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period of time.

Courtesy: DAWN.COM

http://dawn.com/2012/08/02/arsalan-iftikhar-case-nab-dissolves-jit-after-scs-concerns/

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More details » BBC urdu

http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/2012/08/120802_arsalan_nab_supreme_court_uk.shtml

Pakistan: 106 Trains stopped servicing

106 Trains stopped servicing due to Pakistan Railway’s inability to pay for diesel. Five hundred engines out of service due to inability to repair. Fifty out of service because of failure to change air filters. …

Read more » BBC urdu

A sad day for the freedom of press in Pakistan – By the intimidation and threats of MQM, the talk show Bolta Pakistan suddenly stopped, and then the senior journalist and anchor person, Nusrat Javed, was fired from Aaj News Tv.

Nusrat Javed, one of the senior most journalists and host of Bolta Pakistan at AAJ TV has been reportedly fired from AAJ TV and his program was taken off air after 10 minutes of airing.

Nusrat said that MQM threatened the owners or management of AAJ TV that if they want to guarantee safety of 600 employees, then Nusrat should be fired.

More details → PKPOLITICS

Courtesy: → Aaj News Tv (Bota Pakistan with Nusrat Javed & Mushtaq Minhas)

via → ZemTv → YouTube