US, Pakistan ties fully repaired: Khar

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar speaks during an interview with Reuters at the foreign ministry in Islamabad November 28, 2012. -Reuters Photo

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United States have restored full military and intelligence ties after relations hit a low point last year, and Islamabad will take further steps to support a nascent Afghan peace process, Pakistan’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Full cooperation between Islamabad and Washington is critical to US efforts to stabilise Afghanistan before most Nato combat troops withdraw by 2014.

“There was a fairly difficult patch and I think we’ve moved away from that into a positive trajectory,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told Reuters in an interview, referring to Pakistani-US relations.

“We are coming closer to developing what could be common positions. We wish to see a responsible transition in Afghanistan.”

Relations between the uneasy allies were severely strained by a series of incidents in 2011. The crisis in ties began when a CIA contractor shot dead two men he suspected of trying to rob him in the city of Lahore.

Months later, US special forces killed Osama bin Laden in a raid and kept the Pakistan military in the dark, humiliating the country’s most powerful institution.

Then a Nato air raid mistakenly killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on the Afghan border in November that year.

In response, Pakistan expelled US military trainers and CIA agents and placed limits on the numbers of visas given to US diplomatic personnel.

Pakistan, which relies heavily on American aid, also closed supply routes for trucks carrying supplies to US-led Nato forces in Afghanistan.

Now, Khar said, relations were fully repaired, including military and intelligence contacts.

“We are having very useful, deep conversations with the US,” she said, as the two countries try to find common ground on Afghanistan ahead of the scheduled 2014 pullout.

“UNRELIABLE PARTNER”

Both the United States and Afghanistan have long regarded Pakistan as an unreliable partner in the drive to bring stability to Afghanistan, accusing Pakistan’s intelligence agency of backing Afghan insurgent groups. Pakistan denies that.

Pakistan recently released mid-level Afghan Taliban prisoners to help facilitate peace talks between the militant group and the Kabul government, the clearest sign it was committed to advancing Afghan reconciliation.

Khar said Islamabad was willing to take further steps but would not say whether that would include releasing senior Afghan Taliban figures, like the former second in command, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

“I think it is important that we have intensive engagement on what needs to be done,” she said.

Afghan officials think Baradar may be one of the few commanders with the stature to bring elements of the Taliban into peace talks after more than a decade of war.

During a recent visit to Pakistan by members of the Afghan High Peace Council, Pakistan agreed to release some prisoners, although not Baradar, and to provide safe passage for those wishing to enter talks, Khar said.

Pakistan would also encourage Afghan insurgents to enter into direct talks with President Hamid Karzai’s government. So far, there have been only contacts.

“For us in Pakistan today, the most important capital in the world is Kabul,” said Khar, because instability there could spill over into Pakistan, and fuel its own Taliban insurgency.

She said the Afghan and Pakistan governments were discussing ways to strengthen military cooperation.

Currently, relations are strained. Afghanistan still suspects elements in Pakistan of supporting the Taliban, despite denials from Islamabad.

The Pakistan military, pursing Pakistani insurgents, has also shelled villages across the border in Afghanistan, prompting protests.

CLOSER TIES WITH INDIA

In addition to improving ties with Afghanistan, Khar said Pakistan also wanted to pursue closer ties with arch-rival India.

The United States has long believed that Pakistan would focus more closely on helping it pacify Afghanistan if relations with India improved.

The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought three wars since their independence from British rule in 1947 and are at loggerheads over the status of the disputed territory of Kashmir.

“The Pakistani leadership has shown a great willingness to move forward, sometimes at the cost of losing some political capital, because sometimes improving ties with India might not be the most popular thing to do,” said Khar.

Many Pakistani politicians blame India for Pakistan’s insurgencies or spiralling crime rate, saying their wealthier, more populous neighbour wants to weaken Pakistan.

India, in turn, blames Pakistan for sending militants to infiltrate Kashmir over several decades and suspects Pakistan of shielding those behind a 2008 attack on Mumbai that left 166 people dead.

India executed the only surviving perpetrator in their custody, a young Pakistani man, last week.

Nawaz pledges to put country on road to progress

PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif addresses a public gathering in Swat on Wednesday. – Photo by PPI

MINGORA: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif has said that he wanted to serve the country and the nation with zeal, if voted to power again in the upcoming general election.

Addressing a public meeting after laying foundation stone of Punjab government funded Kidney hospital at Manglawar area of Swat, the PML-N chief said the project would cost Rs 1 billion and will be completed in one year time.

He said had his governments were given full ten years in power, it could have changed destiny of the nation and the country towards betterment.

“We have taken it as challenge to steer Pakistan out of crises if an opportunity was given to the PML-N to rule the country, he maintained.

Sharif also announced to construct a motorway from Mardan to Swat and spreading a road network from Karachi to Khyber. He hoped the kidney centre would one day become a full-fledged university also.

Apparently criticising Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, he said, “Pakistan’s problems wouldn’t be miraculously resolved in 90 days as claimed by few politicians.”

Politicians contending the upcoming general elections should come up with realistic solutions to solve people’s problems, said Sharif and termed the promises made by politicians as mere “election gimmicks.”

The PML-N leader said that only his party possesses a team which is fully equipped mentally to practically deal with issues faced by the country.

He said the politicians should now forget about ruling over people and said that it was about time that they started serving them, adding that the PML-N had always considered politics as means of serving people.

The public meeting was also addressed by Senior Vice President PML-N Amir Muqam and Chairman Punjab Trust Hospital and the party leader Ishaq Dar.

Central General Secretary PML-N Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, former KP chief minister Sardar Mahtab Ahmed Khan Abbasi, Senator Pervez Rashid and Saranjam Khan were also present on the occasion.

US, Pakistan begin talks to review economic ties

– File Photo

WASHINGTON: A high-level Pakistani delegation arrived here  on Wednesday for talks aimed at reviewing economic ties between the two countries.

The delegation, headed by Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, started their meetings with US officials hours after their arrival. Their first meeting was with Elizabeth Littlefield, who heads the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. It was followed by a meeting with Deputy US Trade Representative Ambassador Demetrios Marantis.

Pakistani officials say the two meetings reflect their desire to go beyond financial assistance in seeking to improve their economic ties with the United States.

Both officials the delegation met on Wednesday can help improve trade and investments between the two countries.

The visit is part of the US-Pakistan strategic dialogue, which remained suspended for more than a year as relations between the two countries nose-dived.

Diplomatic observers point out that the revival also reflects a serious desire in both countries to rebuild their ties on ground realities,
reducing expectations and listening to each other’s grievances.

Pakistan is also believed to have assured the United States that it no longer sees Afghanistan in terms of “strategic depth” in a possible conflict against India.

This change in approach has helped greatly in improving its relations with the US after more than a year of continued tensions.

But there’s another factor that also helped improve bilateral ties, the US decision to withdraw most of its troops from Afghanistan by 2014,
which, according to diplomatic sources, further increases Pakistan’s role in stabilising Afghanistan.

On the question of what to expect from each other, Pakistan is believed to have told the Americans that it’s willing to cooperate in stopping cross-border attacks in Afghanistan.

But in return, the United States should reconsider its drone attacks inside Fata, as they create more enemies than they kill. They also cause a lot of civilian deaths.

New tax on CNG planned

—File Photo

ISLAMABAD: The government is considering to impose a new tax on compressed natural gas to reduce the price difference between CNG and petrol in order to phase out the use of the gas in private transport.

“The government has planned to phase out CNG stations gradually as they are causing heavy loss to the national economy by wasting this valuable commodity (natural gas), instead of its use for industrialisation and investment and domestic use,” Prime Minister’s Adviser on Petroleum Dr Asim Hussain told the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Petroleum on Wednesday.

The country does not have sufficient or surplus gas reserves to allow it to be burnt in private and luxury vehicles.

He said the government wanted to set equitable prices for all fuels and allow only a reasonable profit to owners of CNG stations.

He said the CNG should only be used by public transport and private vehicles should be discouraged from burning the cheaper fuel.

To achieve this goal, he indicated imposition of a new tax but did not give details.

The committee headed by Muhammad Tariq Khattak asked the petroleum ministry to come up with a solution by Dec 5 and play the role of a mediator between the CNG station owners and the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) in fixing a reasonable price to mitigate people’s difficulties.

It expressed concern over closure of CNG stations and the disagreement over the pricing mechanism.

Dr Asim said Ogra had failed to play the role of a regulator. The government increased the wellhead gas price to $6 which boosted exploration work and 40 rigs were operating in the country. He said 30,000 barrels of oil from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would start flowing into the national system by March next year.

He said the department of explosives that granted no-objection certificate to CNG and petrol stations was under the industries ministry where officials received bribes to issue laboratory certificates. The petroleum ministry, he said, had initiated a legislation to bring the department under its control.

The parliamentarians expressed concern over recent explosions in CNG-fitted vehicles and wondered what role the department of explosives and the Hydrocarbon Development Institute played in allowing substandard cylinders.

The members said that while Ogra and the station owners were taking extreme positions, the consumers were forced to spend a major part of their day in long queues to get CNG.

Some members called for a national debate to determine if there was sufficient gas available for vehicles or it should be used only for value-added sectors so that a clear roadmap could be followed and confusion and people’s difficulties removed.

MNA Rana Afzaal Hussain said the CNG Association had become a cartel and minted millions of rupees at the cost of people. He wondered why 100 per cent profit was promised in the agreement the government had reached with the CNG sector in 2008.

Court seeks replies from sitting, ex-IB chiefs

The Supreme Court of Pakistan.—AFP Photo

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court sought replies on Wednesday from the incumbent and former directors general of the Intelligence Bureau on withdrawal of huge amounts of money from IB’s accounts by the PPP governments to buy loyalty of politicians in Punjab and other provinces in 1988-1990 and 2008-09.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed had taken notice of a report which appeared in an English daily on March 14, alleging that Rs270 million had been withdrawn by the PPP government to dislodge the Punjab government in 2008-09.

Asad Kharral, a reporter of the newspaper appeared before the court and alleged that the plot could not succeed because of PML-Q’s insistence to install its chief minister in Punjab.

He also claimed that in addition to Rs270m, Rs360m had been withdrawn by the PPP government in 1988-1990 to remove the governments in the then NWFP and other provinces.

While deciding the Asghar Khan case the apex court had ordered to de-link the case of doling out Rs270m in 2008-09 from the accounts of the IB to topple the Punjab government and issued notices to the publishers, printers and reporter of the English daily which had carried the news item.

The court ordered that notices be issued to IB chief Akhtar Hussain Gorchani to submit parawise comments on the allegations levelled in the news report and directed former IB bosses Masood Sharif Khattak and Tariq Lodhi to consider filing their replies on the assertions.

The news item was headlined “Govt withdrew millions from Intelligence Bureau’s accounts”.

The reporter also read out his reports which were published on March 14-15, revealing that the PPP government had also used IB’s secret fund for political purposes in different periods.

He said that former DG of IB Dr Shoaib Suddle confirmed that the money had been withdrawn from IB’s secret fund, adding that when he brought the matter to the notice of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani he kept quiet for political reasons.

Attorney General Irfan Qadir said that the alleged money had been withdrawn in two different periods and, therefore, two separate replies should be sought.

The court rejected PML-N lawyer Ashraf Gujjar’s request to fix his petition about the misuse of fund by the PPP government against its opponents in the past, along with this case.

The SC registrar was asked to send a copy of this order to incumbent DG of IB.

The hearing was adjourned for two weeks.

Heavy ransom paid for doctor’s release

Dr Saeed Ahmed Khan was abducted on October 16 by unidentified armed men from Quetta’s Sariab Road.— Photo by INP

QUETTA: A renowned eye specialist, kidnapped 43 days ago, has been freed after payment of a heavy ransom.

Dr Saeed Khan, medical superintendent of the LRBT Memorial Hospital, Quetta, said the kidnappers had dropped him on Sariab Road late on Tuesday night.

His release raised hopes that a strike by hospital doctors across the province would come to an end, but subsequent developments dampened the optimism. The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) announced that the strike would continue till the government accepted their demands.

Dr Khan was kidnapped from Sariab Road on Oct 16 when he was going home from the hospital. Gunmen intercepted his vehicle, forced him to board their vehicle and drove him away.

Talking to reporters at his residence in Shehbaz Town, he confirmed that ransom had been paid to get him freed.

He said he had been kept blindfolded (in a room) probably in a mountainous area. Dr Khan’s family is reported to have paid Rs8 million in ransom to the kidnappers. Initially, the kidnappers had demanded Rs50 million, sources said.

Dr Khan expressed sorrow over the closure of the LRBT hospital since his kidnapping and said on an average 30 patients underwent surgery there every day. Besides, several others were examined free of cost.

He said he would continue to serve poor people of Balochistan.

He thanked the PMA and doctors for their protests against his kidnapping, but said emergency and other wards in government hospitals should remain open even during a protest because their closure caused severe hardships to poor patients.

He regretted that doctors protesting against targeted killing and kidnapping of their colleagues were being dealt with harshly by the government.

“Nowhere in the world doctors face the menace of targeted killing and kidnapping for ransom as in Balochistan. But, the government is taking severe measures to quell their protest,” he said.

Meanwhile, the PMA decided at a meeting held after Dr Khan’s release to continue the strike at government hospitals in protest against suspension of over 73 doctors, including six professors, and notices issued to them to evacuate their government residences for demonstrating in the red zone.

“We have decided to continue our strike. However, talks are under way with the government through a third party on the withdrawal of the suspension orders and an FIR registered against the protesting doctors,” Dr Sultan Tareen, the president of the Balochistan chapter of the PMA, said.

He called upon the government to provide protection to doctors.

Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani visited Dr Khan at his residence and remained with him for some time.

He said kidnapping for ransom was a violation of traditions, customs and values of the province and vowed to bring the culprits to book.

However, the chief minister termed the doctors’ strike illegal and asked whether Dr Khan had been released because of their strike.

“The doctors had the right to protest against the kidnapping but they should not have closed the emergency and other wards.”

He said that protesting doctors had ignored patients’ suffering.

He appreciated the role of the LRBT hospital for serving poor patients.

Provincial ministers Mir Asim Kurd, Sardar Aslam Bizenjo, Ali Madad Jatak, Mir Zahoor Buledi, Mir Shahnawaz Marri and Zamarak Piralizai were present on this occasion.

In a related development, a local court has stopped the authorities from evacuating the residences of the 73 doctors. Sources in the PMA told Dawn that the court had issued a stay order in this regard.

Hazara man shot dead

A man comforts a mourner, following the killing of Shias, at a hospital. — Photo by AFP

QUETTA: A man belonging to the Hazara Shia community was shot dead here on Wednesday, police sources said.

The man, whose name could not be ascertained, was standing on Circular Road when gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire at him and escaped. He received multiple injuries and died.

Police took the body to Sandeman Provincial Hospital and handed it over to his relatives after post-mortem.

13 drown as vehicle falls into canal

– File Photo by AP.

SHIKARPUR: Thirteen people, among them two children, drowned on Wednesday evening when a passenger vehicle fell into the Khirthar Canal after its tie rod broke.

According to Shikarpur Deputy Commissioner Azhar Hussain Shah, six bodies had been retrieved and 15 passengers rescued from the canal.

Sources said the vehicle was going to Golo Daro from Garhi Yasin.

The injured were taken to hospitals in Garhi Yasin, Shikarpur and Larkana.

Some of the dead were identified as Seengar Khatoon, Kandhar Khatoon, Umedan Jaffery, Sachul Khatoon, six-year-old Rashid and five-year-old Wajid Ali.

Dr Shakil on hunger strike in jail

Shakil Afridi talks with people outside a building at an unknown location in Pakistan. — Photo by Reuters/File

PESHAWAR, Nov 28: Dr Shakil Afridi, who allegedly helped the American CIA in tracking down Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad, has gone on hunger strike demanding provision of different facilities to him inside the Peshawar Central Prison, according to sources.

The prison authorities were tight-lipped on the issue and declined to meet mediapersons. However, an official, who did not want to be named, confirmed that Dr Shakil went on hunger strike on Monday. He had not been taking any food, he added.

It has been learnt that the jail authorities have withdrawn certain facilities from Dr Shakil, who has been in solitary confinement, owing to security reasons, after publishing of his controversial interview by Fox News in Sept. Since then the authorities placed a ban on his meeting with his family members as well as his counsel.

The official said that Dr Shakil had now been confined to a room situated inside a small compound in the prison and the facility of a walk was also withdrawn from him. The authorities searched his room regularly so that he could not keep any objectionable item including cellular phone with him, he added.

An on duty official of the prison, when contacted, expressed ignorance about hunger strike by Dr Shakil.

Advocate Samiullah Afridi, counsel of Dr Shakil, told Dawn that he himself had heard about hunger strike started by his client.

He said that he had gone to prison to meet the officials to confirm the news. However, he added, the officials declined to meet him.

Dr Afridi, a former agency surgeon, was picked up allegedly by an intelligence agency in May last year on suspicion of helping the American CIA to trace Osama bin Laden by carrying out a fake vaccination campaign in Abbottabad. However, he was not convicted on that charge.He was shifted to Peshawar Central Prison on May 23, 2012, after his conviction by the assistant political agent of Bara tehsil in Khyber Agency, who sentenced him to 33 years of imprisonment on different counts including conspiracy to wage war against Pakistan and having links with a defunct organisation Lashkar-i-Islam.

His appeal has been pending before the court of commissioner Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR).

Saudi diplomat shot dead in Yemen, al Qaeda blamed

People inspect the site of a shooting attack on a Saudi diplomat in Sanaa November 28, 2012. Unidentified gunmen shot dead Saudi diplomat Khaled al-Enizi and his Yemeni bodyguard in Yemen’s capital Sanaa on Wednesday in the attack a local security source said appeared to be the work of al Qaeda. — Photo by Reuters

SANAA: Gunmen shot dead a Saudi diplomat and his Yemeni bodyguard in Yemen’s capital Sanaa on Wednesday in an attack a local security source said appeared to be the work of al Qaeda.

The killing, the latest attack on security officials and politicians in the US-allied state, underscores the challenges facing Yemen since an uprising that began last year toppled President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Attackers in a four-wheel drive vehicle opened fire on a car carrying Whaled al-Enizi, an aide to the Saudi military attache, near his house in a neighbourhood of Sanaa, a Yemeni security official said. The diplomat and his Yemeni guard died instantly.

No one has claimed responsibility but the security official said authorities were “assuming that al Qaeda was behind it”.

“If this is the case, it would be the first time al Qaeda has used a car to carry out an assassination,” he said. The official said previously militants have used motorbikes, often without licence plates.

AQAP, regarded as al Qaeda’s strongest regional wing, has mounted operations in Saudi Arabia and tried to launch attacks against the United States.

Restoring stability in Yemen is an international priority because of its strategic position adjoining not only oil exporter Saudi Arabia but also major shipping lanes.

President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi took over as head of state in a Gulf-brokered power-transfer deal in February, and later Yemen’s army drove Islamist fighters out of southern strongholds in a military operation backed by the United States.

Washington has also stepped up drone strikes on suspected militants.

A Saudi official at the Foreign Ministry in Riyadh confirmed the Enizi’s killing, the state news agency SPA said.

The Saudis are a major donor to their poor neighbour and hosted the signing of the deal for Hadi to take power.

Hadi, in a call to Saudi Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, described the attackers as “terrorists” and vowed to bring them to justice, the state news agency Saba said.

In October, masked gunmen shot dead a Yemeni man who worked in the security office of the US Embassy in Sanaa, weeks after Abdulilah Al-Ashwal, a senior intelligence official, was killed in a drive-by shooting in the capital.

Militants linked to al Qaeda are still holding the deputy consul at the Saudi mission in the southern city of Aden, whom they seized in March. They have demanded a ransom and the release of women prisoners held in the kingdom.

Wal-Mart, Disney clothes found in Bangladesh fire

A general view of machines within a burnt out garment manufacturing building in Dhaka, in the aftermath of a fire which killed more than a hundred garment workers.—AFP Photo

DHAKA: A hooded Mickey Mouse sweatshirt from Disney. Children’s shorts with Wal-Mart’s Faded Glory label. Clothes with hip-hop star Sean Combs’ ENYCE tag.    

The garment factory in Bangladesh where 112 people were killed in a fire over the weekend was used by a host of major US and European retailers, an Associated Press reporter discovered Wednesday from clothes and account books left amid the blackened tables and melted sewing machines at Tazreen Fashions Ltd.

Wal-Mart had been aware of safety problems at the factory and said it had decided well before the blaze to stop doing business with it. But it said a supplier had continued to use Tazreen without authorization.

Sears, likewise, said its merchandise was being produced there without its approval through a vendor, which has since been fired. The Walt Disney Co. said its records indicate that none of its licensees have been permitted to make Disney-brand products at the factory for at least a year.

Combs’ Sean Jean Enterprises did not return calls for comment. The tragedy at the beginning of the holiday season is putting a spotlight on dangerous workplace conditions around the world, with no clear answers to how consumers should react or who is ultimately responsible, given the way many major retailers rely on a long and complex chain of manufacturers and middlemen to keep their shelves stocked.

Labor activists have long contended that retailers in the West bear a responsibility to make sure the overseas factories that manufacture their products are safe. They seized on the blaze, the deadliest in Bangladesh’s nearly 35-year history of exporting clothing, to argue that retailers must insist on more stringent fire standards.

Charles Kernaghan, director of the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, said nothing will change unless clothing companies protect workers as vigorously as they do their brands.

”The labels are legally protected,” he said. ”But there are no similar laws to protect rights of the worker.”

Bangladesh’s fast-growing garment industry, second only to China’s in exports, has long provided jobs and revenue for the desperately poor country, while turning out the low-priced products shoppers in the US and other countries have come to enjoy.

But the industry has a ghastly safety record; more than 300 workers have died in garment factory fires in Bangladesh since 2006.

A Disney brand sweater lays among the equipment charred in the fire that killed over a hundred people Saturday at the Tazreen Fashions Ltd. factory, on the outskirts of Dhaha, Bangladesh.—AP Photo

On Wednesday, police arrested three factory officials suspected of locking in the workers who died in Saturday’s blaze on the outskirts of Dhaka. Police Chief Habibur Rahman said the three will be questioned. He said the factory owner was not among those arrested.

About 1,400 people worked at the factory, about 70 percent of them women. Survivors said exit doors were locked, and a fire official said the death toll would have been much lower if the eight-story building had had an emergency exit.

The fire broke out on the ground floor, where a factory worker named Nasima said stacks of yarn and clothes blocked part of the stairway. Nasima, who uses only one name, and other workers said that when they tried to flee, managers told them to go back to their work stations.

Thick smoke filled the stairway, and when the lights went out the workers were left in total darkness. Another worker, Mohammad Rajib, said some people used their cellphones to light their way.

”Everyone was screaming for help,” Nasima said. ”Total chaos, panic and screaming. Everyone was trying to escape and come out. I was pulling the shirt of a man. I fainted and when I woke up I found myself lying on the road outside the factory. I don’t know how I survived.”

Rajib said the factory conducted a fire drill just three days before the tragedy.

Workers expressed support for the factory owner, Delwar Hossain. Rajib said he is ”a gentle man” who heeded workers when they protested for more pay and against rough treatment by some managers.

”He took action and fired some of them,” he said. ”He did not sack any worker. He told us: ‘You are my people. If you survive, I will survive.”’

Most the fire’s devastation took place on the second and third floors. Sewing and embroidery machines and tables burned to ashes and ceiling fans melted.

Nightgowns, children’s shorts, pants, jackets and sweatshirts were strewn about, piled up in some places, boxed in others. Cartons of kids’ hooded sweaters, off-white with red and black print, were marked ”Disney Pixar.”

Among the Disney garments was a gray sweatshirt emblazoned with the image of Lightning McQueen, the star of Pixar’s ”Cars” movies.

A pair of blue ENYCE shorts was still on a sewing machine. There were also sweaters from the French company Teddy Smith and the Scottish company Edinburgh Woollen Mill.

At least four register books listed such buyers as Wal-Mart, Disney and Sears.    Josh Green, chief executive of New York-based Panjiva, which tracks shipments for factories outside the US, said some companies are more conscientious than others in selecting factories. Some companies pick a supplier and do little or no investigation, he said, while others analyze factories’ past infractions and pay monthly visits.

Still, it’s hard to keep track when suppliers subcontract out work, he said.

Moreover, “you have relentless pressure that consumers put on retailers and that retailers put on their suppliers to deliver lower and lower prices,” Green said. “And that pressure is a key reason why you see factories cutting corners.”

TV reports said about 3,000 garment workers held protests Wednesday over the fire, blocking roads and throwing stones in the third straight day of demonstrations. Police used batons to disperse the protesters.

According to local television, most factories in the area closed because of the protests.

Australia’s Ponting calls time on test career

Australian Test cricketer Ricky Ponting announces his retirement during a press conference on the eve of the third cricket Test between South Africa and Australia in Perth on November 29, 2012. Ponting on November 29 called time on his Test career, announcing this week’s clash against South Africa in Perth will be his last. — Photo by AFP

PERTH: Australia’s Ricky Ponting announced his retirement from international cricket on Thursday, telling a stunned news conference he would be calling time on his glittering 17-year career after this week’s third test against South Africa.

The former Australia captain has scored 13,366 runs in 167 tests – the second highest haul in the long history of the game – and stands behind only the great Don Bradman in the ranks of Australian batsmen.

“A few hours ago I let the boys know of my decision to make this test my last,” Ponting, who turns 38 next month, told reporters in the weights room under the stands at the WACA.

“It’s a decision I thought long and hard about. It was based on my output and my results in this series so far. It hasn’t been what I expect of myself and certainly not the level required of a batsman in the Australia team.

“I’ve said all along that I would continue to play as long as I could continue to make a contribution to wins, and I think over the last couple of weeks my performance has not been good enough to do that.”

Ponting, who retired from one-day cricket in February, has scored nought, four and 16 in his three innings so far in the series against South Africa.

Ever the competitor, Ponting said the time to look back over his career would come after the Perth test, where victory for Australia would see them leapfrog South Africa to return to the top of the test rankings.

“It’s a great opportunity. We’re going into what I consider to be almost a Grand Final,” he said.

“As I said to the boys this morning, I’m hungrier than ever and I want this win probably more than any other game I’ve played.

“If we get back to the top of the tree, to the top of the world, there’s no better time for me to bow out.”

Ponting made his test debut against Sri Lanka at the WACA a week shy of 17 years ago, making 96 in his one innings as Australia won by an innings and 36 runs.

An ashen-faced Australia captain Michael Clarke said it had been a surprise to the team when his predecessor and mentor announced his impending retirement.

“That’ll be enough for me today,” he said after a long pause as he struggled unsuccessfully to contain his emotions.

Balochistan govt failure to recover specialist: Doctors vow to continue strike

Only one patient remains in the OPD of Civil Hospital as many patients shifted to private hospitals due to doctor’s strike.Three doctors, who were accompanied by police, opened the locks of the casualty department in the civil hospital on Monday evening and announced they would start treating patients.  — Photo by INP

QUETTA: The Balochistan chapter of the Pakistan Medical Association announced on Monday it would continue to boycott emergency services in government hospitals across the province despite police having opened the locked Casualty Department of the Civil Hospital.

Doctors in Balochistan have been on strike for several weeks in protest against non-recovery of specialist Dr Saeed Khan, who was kidnapped in Quetta on Oct 16.

Dr Sultan Tareen, president of the PMA’s Balochistan chapter, told newsmen that the government could open the casualty departments with the help of police but could not achieve the desired goal in the absence of senior doctors who were also on strike.

Three doctors, who were accompanied by police, opened the locks of the casualty department in the civil hospital on Monday evening and announced they would start treating patients.

Dr Tareen, who was earlier granted interim bail before arrest by Quetta sessions judge, presided over a meeting of the PMA’s general body in
the civil hospital.

The association said that suspension, arrests, harassment or banning entry of suspended doctors in government hospitals would not force them to give up their lawful struggle for the recovery of the kidnapped doctor.

The meeting condemned harassment of doctors by the government and asked it to speed up efforts to recover Dr Saeed, instead of using state machinery and law-enforcement agencies for browbeating and threatening doctors.

The PMA unanimously decided that doctors would not resume work in emergency departments of government hospitals till the provincial government withdrew cases against them and take back suspension orders of doctors.

The meeting also decided to continue to boycott emergency services, outpatient departments (OPDs) and Operation Theatres (OT) in all government hospitals and private clinics across the province.

CNG stations closed as talks fail

— File Photo

ISLAMABAD: Amid a deadlock on the issue of CNG prices, owners of CNG stations announced on Monday closure of their outlets, saying they could no more bear losses and subsist on loans.

At a meeting chaired by Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) chairman Saeed Ahmed Khan and attended by representatives of the ministries of petroleum and finance, a delegation of the association of owners of CNG stations presented a three-point pricing formula, seeking reduction in taxes and withdrawal of cross-subsidy being paid by the CNG sector.

The representatives of the ministries did not accept the demand for tax reduction and said federal budget had been prepared on the basis of revenue expected to come from the CNG sector.

The talks were marred by a surprising walkout by the Ogra chairman who said the CNG sector was trying to create confusion over pricing and supporting the petroleum ministry’s move to bring the regulator under its control instead of allowing it to independently perform its duty. However, he rejoined the meeting after some time.

In its formula, the association demanded withdrawal of Rs6 per kg cross- subsidy imposed on CNG sector, requiring it to sell natural gas to other sectors, like domestic consumers and fertiliser companies, at lower rates. It also demanded gas infrastructure development cess (GIDC) should be paid by all consumer sectors at a uniform rate and claimed that the CNG sector was paying the cess at a higher rate than other sectors.

It demanded electricity cost of Rs12.78 per kg in CNG pricing, production cost of Rs13.12 per kg and profit margin of Rs6.38 to Rs9.94 per kg.

The delegation of the association said application of the formula would limit CNG prices between Rs46.26 and Rs72.04 per kg.

The delegation was told that its views on the cost of gas would be looked into during public hearings for revenue requirements of gas utilities and its demand for lower taxes would be taken up separately with the government.

However, the representatives of Ogra and the ministries refused to commit on tax reduction.

The talks were held against the backdrop of a directive issued by the Supreme Court to the government and the CNG sector to amicably settle the dispute (over CNG prices) before it could take a decision.

Talking to reporters, the association’s leader Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha said the owners had closed CNG stations as a last resort because they were unable to bear more losses. He said after the recent steps taken by the government running a CNG station was no more a viable business. The owners had been forced to take loans to pay utility bills and salaries of employees, he said.

He urged the government to introduce uniform rates of gas and taxes for all the sectors to provide a level playing field, instead of providing relief to influential sectors at the cost of CNG consumers.

He claimed that the Ogra chief had agreed in the talks that the CNG sector had been overtaxed and promised to take up the issue with the government.

He said the only rational way to provide relief to common people was reduction in gas cess and surcharge.

He said the association had not asked anyone to close his CNG station but it had become unviable for the owners to run their business and, therefore, they were closing down their outlets.