DINA for the Issue of March 2, 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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March 02, 2012 Friday Rabi-us-Sani 8, 1433
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The DAWN Internet News Alert (DINA) is a free daily news-service
from Pakistan's largest English language newspaper, the Daily
DAWN.

We encourage comments & suggestions. We can be reached at:

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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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Country's interests to be safeguarded: PM: Govt to go ahead with Iran pipeline: Khar
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By Baqir Sajjad Syed
ISLAMABAD, March 1: The national leadership vowed on Thursday to press ahead with the Iran gas pipeline project, sending a defiant message to the US which is pressurising Pakistan to abandon it.

"We are a sovereign country and we will do whatever is in the interest of Pakistan," Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said during a TV show 'Prime Minister Online'...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/02/countrys-interests-to-be-safeguarded-pm-govt-to-go-ahead-with-iran-pipeline-khar.html


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Clinton's statement wasn't a threat: State Department
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By Anwar Iqbal
WASHINGTON: The US State Department indulged in a damage-control exercise on Thursday, urging Pakistanis not to see Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's statement on a proposed gas pipeline from Iran as a threat.

Secretary Clinton told a congressional hearing on Wednesday that the project was "inexplicable" and could invoke US sanctions that would further 'undermine' Pakistan's 'already shaky' economy...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/02/clintons-statement-wasnt-a-threat-state-department.html


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Coup was imminent, Ijaz tells commission
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By Malik Asad
ISLAMABAD, March 1: Mansoor Ijaz, the central character in the memo case, revealed on Thursday that he had helped former ambassador Husain Haqqani by delivering the purported secret memorandum to the then US military chief because he had information about the possibility of a military coup in Pakistan.

During the cross-examination before the judicial commission investigating the case, the Pakistani-American businessman said he had been briefed by at least four intelligence networks of different countries after the killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad on May 2, last year...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/02/coup-was-imminent-ijaz-tells-commission.html


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American NGOs assail CIA over fake polio drive
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By Imran Ali Teepu
ISLAMABAD, March 1: An alliance of about 200 US-based NGOs, many of them working in humanitarian operations in Pakistan, has expressed deep concern over a vaccination campaign carried out in Abbottabad last year by the Central Intelligence Agency and expressed fear that the action may jeopardise the lives of aid workers in the country.

The president of the InterAction alliance, in a letter written to CIA Director Gen David Petraeus, registered serious objections to the vaccination campaign launched to collect intelligence about Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/02/american-ngos-assail-cia-over-fake-polio-drive.html


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Agency people not superior to other citizens: SC
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By Nasir Iqbal
ISLAMABAD, March 1: The Supreme Court told intelligence agencies in plain words on Thursday that patriotism was not their monopoly and they were not superior to ordinary Pakistanis.

"We are also patriotic like you," Justice Khilji Arif Hussain said while pointing to Advocate Raja Muhammad Irshad, the counsel for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI). He stressed the need for changing their approach that ordinary people were inferior Pakistanis and intelligence personnel were superior...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/02/agency-people-not-superior-to-other-citizens-sc.html


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5-hour-long briefing by air chief to Abbottabad commission
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By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, March 1: Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman gave a briefing on Thursday to the Abbottabad Commission investigating the May 2 operation by US commandoes that killed
Al Qaeda leader Osama
bin Laden.

"The air chief gave us a detailed briefing which lasted five hours," commission chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal said. He said the air chief, who appeared before the commission for the first time, came at 10am and remained with the commission's members till 3pm. The head of the commission would not say what information the air chief had shared with the commission, but said: "Everything will come before everybody in a couple of days."..

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/02/5-hour-long-briefing-by-air-chief-to-abbottabad-commission.html


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Brig Khan plotted to seize power, says major
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KARACHI, March 1: Brig Ali Khan, who is facing a court martial for treason and mutiny, has been charged with masterminding a conspiracy to bomb the Army's General Headquarters (GHQ) during a meeting of formation commanders, the BBC's Urdu service said on Thursday.

The British Broadcasting Corporation quoted Major Sohail Akbar, a witness for the prosecution, as saying that the brigadier had persuaded a pilot of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) to use his F-16 for bombing the GHQ...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/02/brig-khan-plotted-to-seize-power-says-major.html


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Afghans kill two Nato troops in Kandahar
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KABUL, March 1: Two Nato soldiers were killed by Afghan colleagues on Thursday, the latest in a series of such attacks after the burning of the copies of Holy Quran at a US base sparked widespread violent protests.

The soldiers were identified as Americans by an Afghan official, who said they were killed at a military outpost in the province of Kandahar...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/02/afghans-kill-two-nato-troops-in-kandahar.html


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Verdict in Babar Awan contempt case reserved
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By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, March 1: The Supreme Court reserved on Thursday its decision on a contempt case against former law minister Babar Awan for his media jibe at the judiciary.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and Justice Athar Saeed had taken up the contempt charges against Mr Awan for his utterances on Dec 1 last year soon after the apex court had ordered an investigation into the memo case by a one-man commission headed by Tariq Khosa, a former director general of the Federal Investigation Agency...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/02/verdict-in-babar-awan-contempt-case-reserved.html


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FC personnel kill three attackers
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By Saleem Shahid
QUETTA, March 1: A convoy of the Frontier Corps came under attack in Pir Suri area of Dera Bugti on Thursday.

The FC personnel fired back and in the ensuing clash three attackers were killed. Two FC men were injured and they were taken to Quetta by helicopter..

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/02/fc-personnel-kill-three-attackers.html


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India hails Pakistan decision on trade ties
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NEW DELHI, March 1: India on Thursday welcomed Pakistan's decision to phase out major restrictions on Indian imports by the end of this year, a move to normalise trade ties between the neighbours.

Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna thanked Pakistan for deciding to gradually scrap the 'negative list' that prevents the export of hundreds of items from India...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/02/india-hails-pakistan-decision-on-trade-ties.html


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Balochistan wants FIA to probe Bugti assassination case
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By Mohammad Asghar
ISLAMABAD, March 1: Balochistan is reported to have asked the federal government to transfer the investigation of Nawab Akbar Bugti's murder to the Federal Investigation Agency.

According to sources, the request has been made by the Balochistan chief minister on the basis of statements of former interior minister Aftab Sherpao and former Balochistan governor Awais Ahmed Ghani recorded by the crimes branch reportedly claiming that the operation leading to the killing of Mr Bugti and others was carried out by federal forces on the instructions of the federal government...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/02/balochistan-wants-fia-to-probe-bugti-assassination-case.html


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Karachi Stocks Up 121.94 Points:
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KARACHI, Feb 29: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 12861.16, up 121.94 points.
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Forex Update:
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KARACHI, Feb 29: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at 91.1 to the US Dollar in the open market.
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