DINA for the Issue of February 10, 2012

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D A W N I n t e r n e t N e w s A l e r t
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February 10, 2012 Friday Rabi-ul-Awwal 17, 1433
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The DAWN Internet News Alert (DINA) is a free daily news-service
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(c) Pakistan Herald Publications (Pvt.) Ltd., Pakistan - 2012

The link at the end of each extract can be used to access the
complete story on DAWN - the Internet Edition.


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Write letter to save PM, Aitzaz told
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By Nasir Iqbal
ISLAMABAD, Feb 9: Both sides stuck to their guns during the hearing of an intra-court appeal in the prime minister's contempt case on Thursday.

The Supreme Court made it clear that short of an assurance to implement the NRO judgment Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani could not escape contempt charge, while his counsel Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan said it should not be like a "trade", he had no authority to make such a declaration and he wanted to contest the case on merit...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/10/gilani-appeal-hearing-in-sc-write-letter-to-save-pm-aitzaz-told.html


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'PPP stance unchanged'
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By Khawar Ghumman
ISLAMABAD: If one goes by the mood that prevailed during the PPP's core committee meeting on Wednesday night, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will never write a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen money laundering cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

Sources privy to the proceedings told Dawn that the entire leadership of the party was in unison that no letter would be written to the Swiss government. Instead, they said, the government would fight its case in the Supreme Court...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/10/ppp-stance-unchanged.html


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US govt distances itself from Balochistan hearing
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By Anwar Iqbal
WASHINGTON, Feb 9: The US State Department has distanced itself from a congressional hearing on Balochistan and opposed the idea of independent Balochistan, adding that the problems of the province should be resolved through peaceful and political means.

At news briefing in Washington, the department's spokesperson Victoria Nuland said the US administration had not changed its policy and continued to see Balochistan as part of the Pakistani state...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/10/us-govt-distances-itself-from-balochistan-hearing.html


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Bill deferred for record sixth time
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By Raja Asghar
ISLAMABAD, Feb 9: After a record sixth deferment of its constitution amendment bill on Thursday, the government said it would take opposition demands to the cabinet within two days, ensuring the National Assembly will remain hostage to a discord between the two sides into the next week.

A day after both sides reported headway in their talks, the Constitution (Twentieth Amendment) Bill, whose original draft seeks only to validate 28 challenged by-elections to seats of parliament and provincial assemblies — but which the opposition says should include stronger guarantees for free elections in the future — was on the house agenda for the sixth sitting, only to be put off again on what Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi called a request from the minister in charge...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/10/bill-deferred-for-record-sixth-time.html


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Top militant dies in drone attack
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MIRAMSHAH, Feb 9: An important commander and four other militants were killed in a US drone attack in Miramshah on Thursday, a senior security official said.

Badar Mansoor, who led his own group of militants, had affiliation with the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan – an umbrella organisation representing several shades of Pakistani militants – and Al Qaeda, the official told Dawn in Peshawar...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/10/top-militant-dies-in-drone-attack.html


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Commission defends its decision to hold by-elections
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By Iftikhar A. Khan
ISLAMABAD, Feb 9: An exchange of legal jargon between the Election Commission and the Supreme Court (SC) over the status of by-elections held after the 18th Amendment and prior to the appointment of four EC members continued on Thursday with the commission justifying the holding of the by-polls.

The commission issued a detailed statement citing various laws to substantiate its argument that the holding of by-elections by the chief election commissioner (CEC) was not unconstitutional...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/10/commission-defends-its-decision-to-hold-by-elections.html


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Memo commission blames officials for lack of progress
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By Malik Asad
ISLAMABAD, Feb 9: The commission investigating the memo case admitted on Thursday that it had achieved nothing so far because of hurdles created by bureaucracy.

The commission, comprising Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Sindh High Court Chief Justice Musheer Alam and Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman, said the "foreign office is hampering the proceedings of the commission" because it did not forward the reply of the Canadian High Commission to the commission secretariat about its refusal to ask the Canada-based Research in Motion to provide the record of the Blackberry sets of former ambassador Husain Haqqani and Pakistani American businessman Mansoor Ijaz...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/10/memo-commission-blames-officials-for-lack-of-progress.html


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Obama reviews efforts to renew Pakistan ties
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By Our Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Feb 9: US President Barack Obama has reviewed efforts to improve ties with Pakistan with his national security team, the White House said on Thursday as media reports indicated that both countries were trying vigorously to reduce tensions that have bedevilled their relations for more than a year now.

At Wednesday's meeting, President Obama "received an update on our engagement with the Pakistani government on a range of issues of mutual interest, including efforts to strengthen cooperation along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border," the White House said...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/10/obama-reviews-efforts-to-renew-pakistan-ties.html


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Energy summit soon, says PM
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By Syed Irfan Raza
ISLAMABAD, Feb 9: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Thursday the government would soon hold the energy summit in Lahore to evolve a consensus on ways of overcoming the energy crisis.

"I have talked to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and he has agreed to cooperate in holding the summit in Lahore," Mr Gilani said while talking to reporters after the ground-breaking ceremony of a project of the Pakistan Housing Authority in Kurri...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/10/energy-summit-soon-says-pm.html


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Election on Oct 18, says Wassan
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By Our Reporter
KARACHI, Feb 9: Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Hussain Wassan said on Thursday that the general election would be held on Oct 18.

In reply to a question at a press conference, where former general secretary of the PPP's Sindh chapter, Nafees Siddiqui, announced his return to the party, Mr Wassan said the election for national and provincial assemblies would be held on the same day...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/10/election-on-oct-18-says-wassan.html


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Foreign Office satisfied with US stance on Balochistan hearing
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By Baqir Sajjad Syed
ISLAMABAD, Feb 9: The Foreign Office looked satisfied on Thursday with the US State Department's clarification on the Congressional hearing on Balochistan even as legislators protested on the issue in the Senate.

"The US State Department understands our position," Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said at a weekly media briefing while replying to questions about the US House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations' atypical discussions on Balochistan that could put Pakistan in a tight spot...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/10/foreign-office-satisfied-with-us-stance-on-balochistan-hearing.html


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US lawmakers raise issue of 'Baloch self-determination'
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By Our Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Feb 9: Guilt and shame were the two dominant feelings that overwhelmed many Pakistanis at a US congressional hearing on Wednesday as witnesses detailed human rights abuses in Balochistan.

Some were also troubled — while some felt elated — as all five US lawmakers who attended this unusual hearing of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations stressed the Baloch right to self-determination...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/10/us-lawmakers-raise-issue-of-baloch-self-determination.html


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Karachi Stocks Down 51.89 Points:
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KARACHI, Feb 09: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 12211.36, down 51.89 points.
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Forex Update:
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KARACHI, Feb 09: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at 91 to the US Dollar in the open market.
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