Related post: Shamsul Anwar’s fraudulent story has a few lessons for us

Ansar Abbasi, as critical readers of Pakistani media and politics know, is a loyalist of (a certain sub-section of) a spy agency. Ansar Abbasi is notorious for his love affair with the Taliban and his hatred for democratic and political liberal members of the Pakistani society.

Also, this is common knowledge that certain journalists in the Jang Group (including Jang, The News and Geo TV) are currently on the payroll of the anti-democracy establishment.

Ansar Abbasi is leading an anti-democracy team in the Jang Group; other members include Dr Shahid Masood, Shaheen Sehbai, Hamid Mir, Muhammad Ahmed Noorani, Tariq Butt, Saleh Zaafir etc. (A subsequent addition is Najam Sethi as political advisor to Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman.)

One of the relatively unknown members of Abbasi’s anti-democracy cell is Shakeel Anjum. In view of the consistent and humiliating failure of Dr Shahid Masood’s propaganda, Abbasi, who is also an office bearer of the Pakistani Taliban Union of Journalists and is an affiliate of the Hizbut-Tahrir, has now decided to use Shakeel Anjum, his latest ammunition in the establishment’s war on democracy in Pakistan.

In journalist circles in Islamabad, Shakeel Anjum is known as a below average journalist by all standards not least because of the consistently speculative nature and poor quality of reports he  files in The News.

However, two years ago, Shakeel Anjum was promised a boost in his career by writing a book on Benazir Bhutto’s murder based on certain conpsiracy theories and misrepresentations. Ansar Abbasi assured Shakeel Anjum that the content of the book was to be provided by three sources:

– Hizbut-Tahrir,
– Pakistani Taliban Union of Journalists, and
– Rogue element (pro-Taliban elements) in the spy agency

The outcome of this hard work by Ansar Abbasi’s disinformation cell is the recent publication of a book titled “Who assassinated Benazir Bhutto”.

The book is an unrefined mixture of various haphazard conspiracy theories conceived and hatched with the aim of maligning the current leadership of the Pakistan People’s Party, and also to protect and hide the real killers of Benazir Bhutto.

Shakeel Anjum Archive

Here is a specimen of various reports filed by Shakeel Anjum in The News which demonstrates the biased and lopsided nature of his stories:

In the following report, Shakeel Anjum apparently shares an very detailed write up investigating the events following the tragic death of Beanzir Bhutto. Without naming the perpetrator, he points the finger at President Asif Zardari and Interior Minister Rehman Malik, summarizing quite simply: “There is enough proof which points towards those who had played a key role in the whole plot that culminated in her assassination. But nobody can dare make any demand to unveil the elements because all these players are holding powerful positions.” Here is the full article.

One year on, Benazir’s murder is still a mystery, but not so much

Saturday, December 27, 2008

By Shakeel Anjum

ISLAMABAD: The chances of charismatic former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination remaining unresolved, like other high-profile murder cases in the country’s chequered history, may appear to be high but the investigators probing the case seem to have untangled the mystery and the progress being made may still take them to some conclusive outcome.

People privy to the proceedings and progress in the investigations confided to The News that unravelling of the mystery shrouding the shocking crime could lead to startling revelations, if ever made public, with serious political implications.

“Some of the leads that we have obtained from the entangled evidence, both physical as well as circumstantial, guide us to certain personalities but any disclosures at this stage might cause extremely serious repercussions,” one member of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) told The News.

“There is no doubt that we are in possession of highly sensitive information that our investigations have led us to and we have reason to believe that any premature exposure of this information would open up a Pandora’s Box that would be difficult to handle. We don’t want to take a bite that we may find difficult to chew at the end.

“So, we have to be patient for a while before making any conclusive assertions.

However, I would say that there have been stages in the course of the investigation, where we felt it was almost impossible to proceed any further,” the source told The News on condition of anonymity.

Certain points have already been widely discussed in the public, and one of these is the ‘elimination’ of two very important persons whose statements would have been extremely useful for the investigators.

One is the death of Ms Nahid Bhutto, a cousin of the late Benazir Bhutto, in a road accident near Hyderabad on her way

to Karachi from Naudero, less than a week after the tragic assassination of the then-PPP chairperson.

Insiders claim while cousin Nahid Bhutto was busy talking to somebody in Australia over telephone from the Naudero house in Larkana after the burial of Benazir Bhutto, she is believed to have touched upon something sensitive, overheard by somebody present there but without her knowledge.

As soon as she realised the presence of the other person, Ms Nahid quickly wrapped up her conversation, saying she would discuss the matter on her arrival in Karachi the next day. She never arrived as intended.

She was killed in a road accident near Hyderabad while going to Karachi! Who was the person present in the room from where Ms Nahid was making the phone call is an important question for the investigators. Sources claimed the suspects were too powerful to be made part of the investigations. So, there is a stumbling block being confronted by the investigators, at this point at least.

A second hurdle to the probe is the assassination of Khalid Shehanshah, the personal bodyguard of Ms Bhutto and a key eyewitness to the tragedy. Circles close to Ms Bhutto insist Khalid Shehanshah, who had deep connections with the underworld, was ‘specially deputed’ as personal bodyguard of Ms Bhutto when she decided to return to the country from her prolonged self-exile on Oct 18, 2007.

He stayed close to Bhutto wherever she went after her return and was always in the back of the vehicle that Ms Bhutto rode during her election campaign. It will be instructive to recall that his behaviour on the stage the day Ms Bhutto delivered her last speech at Liaquat Bagh had been questioned but the issue was tactfully hushed up.

The investigators believe that he was in the know of important facts concerning the assassination of the 54-year-old leader. His murder was part of a larger scheme to silence anybody who could become a source of vital information that would help resolve the mystery shrouding the assassination.

Another very interesting aspect that surfaced during the investigations by The News was the late-night meeting of the head of an intelligence agency with Ms Bhutto. Reliable sources said the gentleman came to meet Ms Bhutto at around 1:30 am on the night of Dec 26 (early hours of Dec 27) and went straight into the meeting, also attended by Rehman Malik, then security adviser to the former premier.

One source privy to the discussions claimed the spy chief categorically told Ms Bhutto not to go to Liaquat Bagh to address the rally. He said credible information had been received that there would be an assassination attempt on her life during the public meeting.

“Benazir was caught in two minds for some moments but Rehman Malik forcefully refused to take that advice. He (Rehman Malik) told the gentleman: Benazir cannot sit in confinement. She is a leader and she has to address tomorrow’s rally because that is very important,” the source said. And then the intelligence boss left.

When asked whether the then-ISI chief, Lt-Gen Nadeem Taj, met Benazir on the eve of the tragedy (in fact in the wee hours of Dec 27 at around 1:30 am) and told her about the threat to her life and advised her not to attend the rally, Adviser on Interior Rehman Malik, who was operating as the chief security adviser of Benazir as she was travelling all over the country in connection with her party’s election campaign, told The News that the meeting did take place. “Yes. The meeting did take place. I was part of the meeting. The discussion remained confined to political matters. The issue of any life threat to Benazir or concerns about her security during the next morning’s public rally (in Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi) did not figure in the meeting,” Rehman Malik asserted.

After the rally was over and Bhutto boarded her vehicle, she asked Makhdoom Amin Fahim, who always sat on the right-hand side of the PPP chairperson, to exchange seats with her political secretary Naheed Khan. Amin Fahim obliged without uttering a word.

Immediately, after taking her seat in the vehicle, a Toyota Land Cruiser jeep provided by a very influential property developer of the country, Ms Bhutto asked Naheed Khan to contact Nawaz Sharif, as she came to know about an attack on his rally on the Islamabad Highway. Some people were reportedly killed in the assault. While Naheed Khan was dialling Sharif’s number on her cell phone, a crowd came in front of the vehicle and prevented it from moving any further.

By the time Naheed Khan had almost dialled Sharif’s number and was waiting for the call to be connected on her Blackberry cell phone, Ms Bhutto placed her palm on the telephone and told her to call him later. Then she emerged from the sunroof of the jeep to wave to the cheering crowd.

She had hardly started waving when the assassin fired at her at least three times. Evidently, two bullets hit her on the side of her head, slightly above temple. As she slumped back inside the vehicle and as soon as she hit the seat, a suicide bomber blew himself up. Collapsing inside the vehicle, she fell in the lap of Ms Naheed Khan, away from Makhdoom Amin Fahim, who was sitting on her left.

Sources informed The News that Dr Safdar Abbasi, sitting on the backseat of the vehicle, immediately checked Bhutto’s pulse, as she lay motionless in the lap of Naheed Khan. He was horrified because there was no sign of life. He knew she had died instantly, before falling in the lap of Naheed Khan. However, to prevent panic, he told Naheed Khan to press the wound hard to prevent loss of blood. The fellow knew fully well his leader had already been dead.

Another intriguing factor was the early departure of the vehicle used by Rehman Malik, Senator Babar Awan and Farhatullah Babar along with a couple of bodyguards. In the past, this vehicle had always tailed Benazir’s car, never leaving enough space that might allow another vehicle to come between them. But on that particular day, they abandoned Benazir and dashed towards Islamabad. Even when they were informed of the blast (suicide attack), Rehman Malik told the driver to keep driving towards F-8, informing the other occupants that Benazir was OK and that she was following in her vehicle.

It was only after reaching the Zardari House in F-8 that Babar Awan and Farhatullah Babar came to know of the real situation and returned to the central hospital. But Rehman Malik stayed back at the Zardari House.

When asked why he did not go straight to the Rawalpindi General Hospital and instead rushed towards the Zardari House in Islamabad, Rehman Malik claimed that he did go to the hospital first.

“When I reached the hospital, I saw people crying. I saw Naheed Khan in the arms of another lady, crying her heart out. I could not take any more and returned to Islamabad,” Rehman Malik said.

Surprisingly enough, when the numbing tragedy happened, there was no other vehicle either in front of Benazir’s jeep or behind it! The vehicle that was supposed to follow Benazir’s jeep had already abandoned her. There was no police escort in front of Benazir’s vehicle to clear the way, something that enabled the people to come in front of the vehicle, forcing the driver to stop.

The driver of Benazir’s vehicle — though panic-stricken — kept his senses under control and continued to drive the badly-damaged vehicle. However, after about a kilometre’s drive, near the entrance to the Committee Chowk underpass, they found Sherry Rehman’s vehicle parked on the kerb, with only the driver behind the wheel, waiting for other occupants. They quickly shifted the injured, or by then dead, Benazir in that vehicle to the General Hospital.

Meanwhile, three VVIP women of the party were seen madly running towards the Rawalpindi Press Club, carrying their sandals in hands in a bid to escape from the scene. One of them later turned up at the General Hospital, looking shocked and dazed and mourning the death of her leader.

Another intriguing aspect was that the Rawalpindi police neither held any meeting to review the law and order situation nor made necessary security arrangements for the important event, which took place soon after a bomb exploded outside the venue of a public meeting addressed by Ms Bhutto in Peshawar. The police also had information regarding threats to the life of the PPP leader.

Even more interesting was the fact that nobody has so far bothered to ask the senior superintendent of police (operations) as to why he was in a hurry mopping up the assassination scene, or who ordered the action while the site should have been cordoned off to facilitate the investigators looking for clues — a routine exercise after any murder, more so after such an enormous and historic killing.

All said and done, last year’s slaying of the two-time prime minister remains an unsolved mystery. Although, her party leaders and security officials have been harping on their seriousness about resolving the whodunit, a UN probe into her killing is yet to be initiated. With the scene of murder hosed down in no time, one wonders what a United Nations team would accomplish after all these months of efforts to unmask the assailants.

Along with Makhdoom Amin Fahim and Naheed Khan, Khalid Shehanshah was also present in the vehicle of Benazir Bhutto, assassinated right in front of Liaquat Bagh. In charge of her security, Shehanshah was one of the closest aides to Benazir Bhutto. After her murder, he was tasked with the security of Bilawal House. He also fell to the bullets of unidentified assailants on his way home from Bilawal House.

What exactly he knew and why he was eliminated are the questions agitating the minds of people. Some are trying to divert attention from his killing by saying he had connections with the underworld dons, who might have orchestrated his murder. But how could the dons accomplish such a folly when Shehanshah was the security officer of the country’s most powerful person?

Background interviews with knowledgeable quarters and investigation by The News reveal various mind-boggling things that followed soon after a jubilant Benazir came out of Liaquat Bagh at the conclusion of what was widely billed as a successful election rally. She was palpably overjoyed, glowing in the success of the rally. All the way to her ‘bomb-proof vehicle’, she wore a broad smile while waving to the cheering and slogan-chanting supporters.

She embarked the vehicle and for some reason after asking Naheed Khan and Makhdoom Amin Fahim to exchange seats, sat in the middle. Khalid Shehanshah and Nasir took the rear seat while Safdar Abbasi sat opposite to them.

For unknown reasons, the vehicle took a U-turn on the College Road to head back towards the Murree Road instead of plying the route chosen for her return to Islamabad. According to the security plan already finalised, Benazir’s convoy was scheduled to return from the other way — first heading to Raja Bazaar and then taking the alternative route.

When asked why Benazir’s vehicle turned right instead of turning left, towards Gawalmandi, in accordance with the actual security plan, Rehman Malik said it was not in his knowledge why Benazir’s vehicle turned right instead of following the original security plan.

Rehman Malik said his vehicle was ahead of Benazir’s vehicle and further ahead was a police escort van.

Who changed the route and why the vehicle was returned to the Murree Road against the security plan remains a big question mark.

It remains unclear who were the people blocking the way of her vehicle. Equally perplexing is the question: where were the security people supposed to keep the passage of Benazir’s entourage clear for safe and speedy exit from the venue?

Then she handed over the portable microphone, asked Safdar Abbasi to shout ‘Jeay Bhutto’ and joined in raising the slogans while waving to the crowd. And that was precisely when the gunman pulled the trigger. Three shots were fired at her. One reportedly hit her in the temple and she slumped back on the seat, believed to be dead before she fell. She was in the middle of crying ‘Jeay Bhutto’ when hit by the bullet, a popular slogan that would be registered as her last words.

The gunshots were followed by a huge explosion, allegedly a suicide attack. Later, inquiries led many people and investigators to believe the bomb was exploded only to cover up the fact that she was killed by gunshots. According to sources, little attention was paid in the inquiries to ensuring serious effort at identifying the person who pulled out the gun and shot thrice at Benazir from such close range. How he managed to take such a precise aim while there was a huge crowd around the vehicle and one could hardly hold one’s ground, with people pushing and jostling in a mad rush, is mind-boggling.

There was hardly any query asked whether the assassin was also killed or he managed to escape.

No one knows who ordered the mopping up of the scene. Who were the police high-ups who issued the orders to wash up the crime scene but were never included in the investigations?

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT), constituted by the government to probe the incident, hurriedly came out with the conclusion that Benazir had died after her head hit the protruding lever of the roof that broke her skull. The JIT spent all its energies on proving this particular point, which was also announced by the director-general of the National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) Brig (retd) Javed Iqbal Cheema at a press conference.

But another government agency investigating the assassination later insisted the earlier ‘conclusion’ was not correct as it proved the wound in Benazir’s head was almost 5mm deep and two centimetres in width — deep enough to crack open her brain membrane, as a result of which, part of her brain oozed out of the wound.

“All this evidence leads us to believe that she was hit slightly above her temple by a bullet, which ricocheted but did the fatal damage to her skull. The skull on the left side was crushed by the impact of the bullet and the depression was deep enough to damage the protective membrane of the brain. It is a proven fact that such damage needs an impact of at least 50 Newton force. A knock by the protruding sunroof lever could not cause that sort of damage to her skull. So, we have reason to conclude that it was one of the three bullets fired by the assassin that hit Benazir and killed her instantly,” a source privy to the investigations told The News.

However, the elements that wanted to hide the facts, instead of paying attention to the report of the country’s own investigation agency, called in the Scotland Yard police which could find nothing new and had to vet the earlier report submitted by the JIT. Surprisingly, nobody raised the basic questions as to who ordered cleaning of the crime scene.

By the same token, nobody asked why the original route plan was changed at the eleventh hour and the vehicle carrying Benazir was diverted towards the Murree Road. Also unasked is the query why there was no official security vehicle in front of and behind the jeep carrying her after the rally was over.

Now that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is in power, it is intriguing why the government has not made any effort to reinvestigate the case. The government did promise that a UN probe into Benazir’s death would be initiated, but there has since been complete silence on the part of the PPP government, baffling many.

This scribe contacted a number of individuals engaged at different levels of investigations into the case, and some of whom are still quietly working on it. They said the case could be resolved “only if there is a sincere will to resolve it and if there is a resolve to catch the culprits behind the most unfortunate assassination in the country’s history,” one of them remarked.

“There is enough proof which points towards those who had played a key role in the whole plot that culminated in her assassination. But nobody can dare make any demand to unveil the elements because all these players are holding powerful positions,” they confided.

“There is ample evidence available that could lead the investigators to the mastermind behind the plot. The evidence is scattered in bits and pieces but not hidden. What is required is only to collect these scattered pieces of the puzzle and put them together and that would easily complete the picture, exposing all those involved in this conspiracy, not only against a person, but against the nation,” they said.

“However, we have to bear in mind that the forces who want to keep the facts under wraps would never allow any such move. The assassination of one of the major players involved in the whole conspiracy in Karachi some time back has effectively sent out a strong warning to others and none would be willing to reveal the facts. At least, not for the time being,” they continued.

Today, it is exactly one year that the ‘Daughter of the East’ and the most popular leader of the country was assassinated. Today, the party of the late Benazir is in power. And yet, her assassination remains a mystery! The time to unravel the mystery will, however, come sooner than later and then we will know who killed the only hope the country had.

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Propaganda against PPP’s media cell, and hallucination of victimization of Ansar Abbasi’s disinformation cell

Team formed to disparage newsmen
Saturday, January 17, 2009

By Shakeel Anjum

ISLAMABAD: The government has constituted a four-member team, headed by the deputy chief of a spying agency, to launch a vilification campaign against journalists on its hit list and dissenting voices within the ruling PPP.

Sources in the Interior Ministry confided to The News on Friday the cell, entrusted with the task of mudslinging, had been provided a huge fund worth Rs500 million—the missing amount of the Intelligence Bureau.

Led by Deputy Chief of Intelligence Bureau (IB) Riaz Shaikh, the team’s members include Dr Qayyum Soomro; DIG (Security), Islamabad, Inayatullah Farooq; and a lady parliamentarian.

Although Soomro and Sheikh denied the formation of such a body, Farooq could not be reached for comments despite hectic efforts by this correspondent. But independent sources confirmed the committee was already functioning as per the mandate given to it by a leading light of the present government.

The team has reportedly been entrusted with slandering the journalists filing stories that caused the rulers embarrassment. In a smart move, the sources alleged “friendly and saleable journalists” were being used to target those refusing to fall in line with the government’s dictates.

Ansar Abbasi (Editor Investigation of The News) and Rauf Klasra (Special Correspondent of The News) are the immediate targets of the committee, which has also been asked to go after PPP leader Naheed Khan, Senator Safdar Abbasi and some prominent workers demanding an impartial investigation of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.

The sources revealed the team, involved in a recent smear drive against Ansar Abbasi, would soon resort to an “all-out crackdown” on defiant newsmen. “It may start methodically in the near future,” they added.

Dr Qayyum Soomro, when contacted for comments, spurned the report as totally baseless and insisted no team had been constituted to bring anyone into disrepute. He alleged his political opponents were spreading such news to further their vested interests and such things always occurred in political regimes.

“There is no team constituted led by IB Deputy Chief Riaz Shaikh,” Dr Soomro reiterated, repudiating the claim that 500 million rupees had been given to the cell for launching the defamation campaign.

Deputy Director Intelligence Bureau Riaz Sheikh said he was completely unaware of any team formed to disparage media professionals or politicians. Instead, he believed a drive had been initiated to malign him. “Please, ask those who have informed you of this,” he remarked, saying he had nothing to do with the so-called team.

DIG (Security) Inayatullah Farooq could not be contacted despite repeated attempts by this newspaper.

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A mouth piece of terrorists of Islamabad’s Lal Masjid; a Taliban apologist

Aunty Shamim’s women spill the beans

By Shakeel Anjum

ISLAMABAD: Aunty Shamim, who is said to have many closely guarded secrets which have the potential of rocking the high and mighty of the country, was allegedly running a brothel.

It was learnt on authority that the woman uprooted recently by the Jamia Hafsa students used to lure young women searching for job to support their families. The agents of Aunty Shamim were on the look-out for young women who were hard-pressed by circumstances and wanted some job to feed their families. They were lured into this business with the promise of a job.

The modus ope***** of the aunty is said to have been very discreet and safe. She was conscious of the fact that it would not be possible for a young woman to be away from house at odd hours, let alone for a night. She had fixed her business hours to coincide with the normal office hours.

This unusual sex business was open to all and sundry in G-6/1 Sector from 9am to 2pm sharp. Sunday used to be a closed day while due deference was paid to Friday as business was closed by noon. She allegedly enjoyed full protection of the Aabpara police as she greased the right palms. In return the police provided her protection.

She was known as a well-connected woman, as she was never touched by any law-enforcement agency despite several complaints lodged by the neighbours and others.

Background interviews reveal that the exploited women had to pay 70 per cent of the earnings to the aunty and could retain only 30 per cent as their “fee”.

The working hours were not displayed at the main entrance of the “centre”. These were, however, known to the regular visitors, including the uniformed policemen.

“I searched for a job for more than seven months after the death of my husband, who worked as a supervisor in a private firm. I failed to get a suitable job, as wherever I went I was overtly or covertly asked for sexual favours,” a young widow, ‘N’, told this correspondent in an interview.

“In the beginning, I fell into the hands of a dirty old man,” the widow in her late twenties said. “The old man had employed me as a personal secretary in his office in Blue Area but later exploited me sexually.”

Later, she was somehow introduced to Aunty Shamim, who received her affectionately and behaved like a “mother”. She was thus forced by circumstances to accept her offer. She agreed to sell her body to earn money as starvation loomed over her family. She had to feed her children as well as old parents. She told her in-laws and parents that she was working with a semi-governmental organisation.

“The aunty got 70 per cent of the total earned money because she paid as much as 35 per cent to the area police,” she alleged.

“It is a dirty but very lucrative job,” she said and maintained, “In this trade in Islamabad one can make millions within a few months.”

Dozens of women were involved in this trade, she said, adding that most of them were educated and had told their families that they were employed in some private organisations. “The women spent five hours in the brothel during the ‘office timings’ and left an hour before the office hours,” she revealed.

“The police provided complete protection to the business and the business centre,” ‘T’, who used to be second-in-command of Aunty Shamim alleged.

“The police used to inform us well before time if there was to be any raid. In fact, the area police were running the sex trade,” she said and asserted, “No one could dare take on us because of the police shelter.”

Besides the young widow ‘N’, three other women, on Saturday met this correspondent in The News Bureau Office and claimed that they had been associated with Aunty Shamim and wanted to “expose” her.

Aunty Shamim was said to be so highly connected that she was never touched by any law-enforcement agency despite several complaints lodged by the neighbours and others. However, recently after she was kidnapped by the Jamia Hafsa students and made to announce that she would stop this business, Aunty Shamim left for some unknown destination.

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A mouthpiece of the Taliban terrorist of Lal Masjid, Mullah Abdur Rashid Ghazi:

Lal Masjid clerics free Chinese

Sunday, June 24, 2007
Ghazi invites envoy, wife to Lal Masjid

Shakeel Anjum

ISLAMABAD: The Lal Masjid administration released seven Chinese nationals – six women and one man – and two Pakistani “customers”, after 17-hour detention, following talks with senior police and administration officials, on Saturday.

Male and female students of Jamia Faridia, Jamia Hafsa and Beaconhouse School System, in a joint operation, kidnapped the Chinese women and Pakistani men shortly after midnight Friday from a Chinese massage centre, working at House No 17, Street 4, F-8/3, alleging that they were running a brothel. However, the hostages said they were running a massage centre and beauty parlour.

The release came only after Deputy Commissioner Chaudhry Muhammad Ali and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Zafar Iqbal, who held talks with the Lal Masjid administration, beseeched it for five hours and even touched the knees of some leading clerics while begging for the freedom of the abductees.

At a news conference at Jamia Faridia, Abdur Rashid Ghazi, Naib Khateeb of Lal Masjid, announced the release of the abductees and threatened that similar action would be taken if any American was found involved in such activities in Pakistan.

The Capital Police, however, registered a case against Maulana Abdul Aziz (Khateeb), Ghazi and others under Sections 365, 354, 452, 148, 149 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code and 7 Anti-Terrorism Act.

Muhammad Ali and Zafar Iqbal were sent to soften the administrators of Lal Masjid at 12.15 p.m. after a meeting with the interior secretary, the chief commissioner and the inspector general of the police. They left Lal Masjid at 5.25 p.m.

Riding in three vehicles, the students of Jamia Faridia and Jamia Hafsa as well as the students of Beaconhouse System of Schools raided the massage centre located in the posh Islamabad sector. They overpowered three Pakistani males and guards posted there after thrashing them.

They, later, entered the building and ordered those present there to accompany them. On refusal, the students thrashed them and forcibly took them to the Jamia Hafsa compound. They accused the abducted people of rendering un-Islamic and unlawful services.

The administration quietly let two “big shots”, Pakistani customers, go and released their vehicles, seized from outside the massage centre, to avoid any legal action against the place as they had promised with the Lal Masjid administration in exchange for securing release of the hostages. The identity of these clients is not being disclosed.

Six females – Jaiang Ying, Wang Li, Wang Xin, Jiao Ling, Li Bo and Li Hong – and a male, Geg Min, were handed over to the district administration following a deal with them.

Ghazi said that the abductees had been set free in view of Sino-Pak friendship and the assurance that the massage centre would be shut down. He invited the Chinese ambassador to Islamabad to visit the Lal Masjid.

He said it was the responsibility of the government under the Constitution to provide an opportunity to Muslims to live their lives in accordance with Islam. He said foreigners living in Pakistan were also required to follow the Constitution.

Ghazi said the China massage centre was involved in sex trade and complaints were being received about it since long. “Even housewives used to tell us by phone that the centre charges Rs 1,000 for massage while by paying Rs 500, something else was also available,” he said.

He said China as a country was not involved in this business but some individuals. These people should have been deported, he said, adding that the administration officials admitted that sex trade was going on at the centre. However, officials of the law-enforcement agencies were tackling the situation only on papers, he added.

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A willing medium for the Talibanic propaganda

Lal Masjid comes under heavy shelling Ghazi rules out surrender; |

The News
July 7, 2007
By Shakeel Anjum

ISLAMABAD: The Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa came under heavy shelling on the fourth day of the siege as Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi declared that he preferred martyrdom to surrender. The security agencies kept shelling the besieged complex even during an hour-long heavy rain and storm. “Hundreds of bullets and mortar shells were fired at the walls and main gate of the Jamia Hafsa to expose the inner scene of the complex so that the activities of the miscreants holed up inside can be monitored”, a security official told The News adding, main gate as well as the lobby were completely demolished. Private TV channels reported that the Lal Masjid inmates resorted to intensive firing when the security forces launched an attack at 1:20 am on Saturday.

The attack was followed by a series of blasts around Lal Masjid. The sounds of blasts continued till 2:00 am. The channels also reported several explosions in Sectors E-7 and F-7 of Islamabad. The residents of these sectors came out of their houses after hearing the blasts. However, sources close to security forces denied that any explosions were heard in Sectors E-7 and F-7.

A TV channel reported at 2:20 am that a heavy police force surrounded the Jamia Faridia building in Sector E-7. Most of the Jamia Faridia students have fled, following the siege of Lal Masjid. Meanwhile, Maulana Ghazi remained defiant. “We have decided that we can be martyred but we will not surrender. We are ready for our heads to be cut off but we will not bow to them,” Ghazi told Geo News. “We are more determined now.” Later, again talking to Geo News, he said three children were killed by the shelling of security forces on Friday.

He reiterated that he was not ready to surrender; however, offered that the government could check for those wanted in cases. In the same programme, Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao told Geo News that Maulana Ghazi himself was wanted in cases. However, Ghazi said the problem was raised about the people of banned outfits and no one from the banned outfits was present with them. He said all the cases against him were fabricated. The government, he said, implicate people in false cases. He also referred to the chief justice case in this regard.

Ghazi said Interior Minister Sherpao himself, according to his information, was facing cases. He also referred to cases against Faisal Saleh Hyat. He went on the government kept silent about him in the past and now they have been talking of cases against him. When Sherpao said that Ghazi is facing five cases, Ghazi said the minister even does not know about the number of cases against him. He said there are 64 cases against him. Ghazi said there is one-point agenda that he and his associates would not offer arrest.

He, however, offered to relinquish the possession of Lal Masjid, the Jamia Hafsa and the Jamia Faridia. He said the male and female students, still inside the building, were not ready to leave despite requests by their parents and him. He added the father of a girl came to the Jamia Hafsa and started weeping as his daughter was not ready to go with him. He said he approached the girl and told her to go but she said she would not go in any case.

He said he told the father to come again next day, so that he could persuade the girl to go with him. He said it was with great difficulty that he could convince the girl to go with his father. He said the government has cut off water supply to Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa. Ghazi claimed that scores of persons were killed and their bodies were lying in the premises of the complex. So far, 70 to 80 students had been killed in the shelling by security agencies, he said, adding: “The government itself is an extremist as America is the extremist.”

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Feeding conspiracy theories to Ansar Abbasi’s columns in The News

Who is cooking what against CJ

Friday, February 26, 2010

Agency reports claim miscreants could embarrass chief justice; anti-CJ rallies likely

By Ansar Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: A flurry of intelligence reports generated during the recent weeks put Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry at risk of being embarrassed by miscreants allegedly paid by the government.

Although authenticity and credibility of such intelligence reports remain in question, some of these reports are really interesting. One such report talks of a government move to organise pro-president and anti-chief justice demonstrations.

Another report talks of a possible assault on the chief justice inside his Court No 1 or even outside to embarrass him. Another report generated by the National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) of the interior ministry last month, which warned officials concerned in Islamabad about a “Conspiracy against the government”, said The News/Jang Group was likely to plant a story about the government’s plan to embarrass the chief justice.

The NCMC report, which has as its subject “Conspiracy against the government”, was circulated on January 28 and reads: “A reliable source has revealed Jang/News group is likely to plant a story that the government has planned to embarrass the chief justice of Pakistan. For the purpose some lawyer(s) may physically attack/slap and/or abuse Mr Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in Court No 1.

“This story would be floated in journalist circles and likely to be published by the Jang/News group (most likely in a day or two). This exercise is aimed at creating and accentuating an atmosphere of distrust and hostility between the government and the judiciary. “2. The government should pre-empt such a move, asking authorities in the information ministry for the needful.”

The NCMC report was dated January 28, the day when the crime reporter of The News Shakeel Anjum, while quoting an intelligence report, reported a government-sponsored group of miscreant lawyers was preparing to create disorder and chaos in Court Room No 1 presided over by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry during proceedings on any contempt of court case.

“The objective behind the ‘plan’ is to cause embarrassment to the chief justice and show defiance to the apex court decisions, The News has learnt on good authority,” the report said.

The News report said the intelligence report was submitted to the interior ministry. The News report added: “The interior ministry has issued orders to take ‘stringent’ preventive measures to foil any such bid inside the Court Room No 1, which, if happened, will only trigger yet another conflict between the government and the judiciary, which already have strained relations in the wake of the apex court verdict on the NRO.”

According to Shakeel Anjum, a day before the story was published, i.e., January 27, he had talked to a top police official of the Islamabad Capital Administration, who had confirmed the receipt of the intelligence report and had also revealed he already had a meeting with the interior minister on the subject. There was no mention of any conspiracy against the government or the involvement of the Jang Group in such a “conspiracy”.
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In view of the above facts and specimens, how can we trust a so-called investigative book on Benazir Bhutto’s assassination by a biased and dishonest journalist?

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