ISLAMABAD: A joint investigative committee would be formed for investigation into Mumbai attacks based on evidences that New Delhi had handed over to Islamabad, sources said.

According to sources, the committee would carry out investigation following the evidences provided by India and would look closely into places and internet telephone numbers and Internet Protocols addresses pointed out in evidences.

Committee would also form the future course of action after carrying out preliminary enquiry, sources informed.

Talking to visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher who called on him at President House here Monday, President Zardari said Pakistan praised the efforts of United States for restoration of peace in the region.

President also conferred “Hilal-e-Quaid-e-Azam” on US Assistant Secretary of State in appreciation of his efforts to strengthen bilateral relations between Pakistan and United States.

He was talking to US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher on Monday who called on him at Prime Minister House here on Monday.

Richard Boucher reached Islamabad today to hold talks to deescalate the simmering tensions between Pakistan and India in the wake of Mumbai attacks.

The top American diplomat for South Asia discussed Pakistan and India tension, regional situation and bilateral relations with Prime Minister Gilani.

Gilani also urged the United States to mediate for ceasefire in Gaza.

Boucher also met Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

Tremors were felt in Islamabad, Peshawar, Swat, Chitral, Gilgit, Buner, Lahore, Mirpur Azad Kashmir, Abbotabad, Balakot, Mansehra, Batgram, Kohat, Hangu and Karak. Meanwhile, people in panic have come out of their homes. However, there were no immediate reports of any casualties or damage.

According to sources, security personnel are also included in the injured who are being shifted to hospital.

Some of the wounded are in serious condition, sources added.

The first blast, which was of low intensity, carried out with the help of explosives planted near the Polytechnic College. The second blast of high intensity, caused by a suicide bomber, occurred at the vehicle of Rescue-15, causing several casualties.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani have strongly condemned the blasts in DI Khan.

The Prime Minister has ordered to ensure provision of every possible treatment to the injured.

According to credible sources, the three messages were sent through different emissaries, political and non-political, in the last five days.

A PML-N leader told The News on Saturday that his party’s top leadership did not want any more photo sessions and that any meeting between the top leadership of the two major parties could only take place once the promises made to the nation were fulfilled, and a very clear agenda, including repealing the 17th Amendment strictly in accordance with the Charter of Democracy, was formulated.

Sources said that an adviser to the Punjab chief minister, who formerly was a senior bureaucrat, met PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday, carrying a message from Interior Ministry Czar Rehman Malik that an immediate meeting should be arranged between President Zardari and Nawaz Sharif.

Rehman gave the message to the former bureaucrat during a meeting in Islamabad some days ago and it was conveyed to the PML-N chief on Wednesday.

Yet another message was conveyed late Tuesday night during a telephone call to the PML-N chief by a fabulously rich town developer, having excellent relations with the top PPP leadership. This top town developer of the country conveyed President Zardari’s message that the president wanted an immediate meeting in the developing scenario and a worsening situation and wanted to talk on “every issue” now.

According to sources, this town developer contacted the PML-N chief after many months as his last talk with Sharif was on August 7, 2008, when he played the role of a guarantor.

A source, privy to the information, said the PML-N chief complained to the town developer and asked him where he had disappeared for five long months after giving guarantees. “Mian Nawaz Sharif asked him about the promises of August 7 and questioned why should he be trusted now. What is the need now for more meetings for negotiating the same issues?”

The messenger, however, tried to reassure the PML-N chief that now the ‘promises’ will be fulfilled.

When no positive response came from the PML-N, finally, President Zardari himself called Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif on Thursday and invited his elder brother for a meeting in the Presidency to start a fresh round of talks, the first among the two top leaders and then between the top leadership of the two parties.

The PML-N leadership, however, insists on a result-oriented meeting whose agenda, including the restoration of the deposed judges, should be decided beforehand.

A senior PML-N leader was also of the view that even if such meetings were necessary, the messages should be conveyed through political channels and not through non-political players.

Spokesman of the Presidency Farhatullah Babar, when approached by The News for version, said that according to his knowledge, no formal contact had been made with the top PML-N leadership for some fresh round of talks.

“You know, political leaders often make contacts off and on telephone or through friends but according to my information, no such development has taken place in the last few days,” Babar insisted.

When Babar was asked that according to credible information, the top PML-N leadership had been sent three different messages through political and non-political players and that the PML-N leaders said they did not want more photo sessions, Babar replied that he would not comment on hypothetical questions as according to his information no such contacts were made.

Insiders say that some sincere leaders of both the parties remain in touch despite all what has happened in the last nine months. These leaders include Raza Rabbani of the PPP and Ishaq Dar of the PML-N; however, both do not make the real decisions and feel desperate about the overall situation.

Sources say both want an immediate implementation of the promises made to the nation so that a meaningful round of talks could be initiated between the two major parties to stabilise the situation and tackle the grave crises facing the country.

According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, the intensity of the quake was 5.9 on the Richter scale and its epicentre was somewhere in Hindukash Range in Afghanistan. The quake was felt in various cities of Punjab, NWFP and Azad Kashmir.

No losses of life or property were reported in the quake.

A strong earthquake has hit northeastern Afghanistan. The jolts rattled the capital Kabul for about a minute.

Sepaerately, a 7.2-magnitude quake struck at sea to the northwest of Manokwari in Indonesia’s West Papua province, and the government warned of a tsunami.

The U.S. Geological Survey says Sunday’s quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 and was located in the northeastern province of Badakhshan in the Hindu Kush mountains. The area is often hit by earthquakes but is sparsely populated.

Talking to special envoy of the Iranian President and Minister for Petroleum Gholamhossein Nowzari, who called on him at President House here Saturday, Zardari said the terrorism could only be tackle by joint struggle, urging the countries to enhance cooperation in this regard.

President termed the Israel’s ongoing airstrikes in Gaza the violations of United Nation’s charter and demanded for immediate truce.

Iran’s special envoy apprised the president of Israel’s recent offensive in Gaza, saying that the blockade of the Gaza strip and continuous airstrikes by Israel have posed severe threats to regional security and stability.

Nowzari said his country considers its trade and economic relations with Pakistan very important and wants to complete the IPI gas pipeline as early as possible.

The Envoy handed over the president a special message of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. President Zardari accepted the invitation by his Iranian counterpart to visit the neighboring country.

Addressing the foundation day ceremony of PML-N he said the individulas that had violated the constitution and attacked the judiciary were presented guard of honour when they quit the government.

He said the sovereignty of the country is being attacked by foreign air strikes within Pakistani territory.

One centre has already been established near the Khyber Pass that links the countries and around three others are planned, an International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) spokesman said separately.
A larger Joint Coordination Centre is also envisaged ‘to disrupt terrorist activity at the borders and will require the joint effort of all military forces along the border’, Isaf Captain Kevin Callahan said in the statement.
The commission brings the Afghan and Pakistani militaries together every few months, with Isaf as a mediator, to improve border relations.
Gen Kayani, Gen Bismullah and Gen McKiernan also signed a charter to formalise their commitment to the commission, Isaf said.
Gen Kayani asked the US to stop drone attacks in tribal areas of the country and termed them counterproductive in war against terrorism and extremism. He made this demand during the meeting of tripartite commission.
The meeting was also attended by Director General Military Operations from Pakistan and Afghanistan. The commanders also discussed the prevailing condition in the tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghan border.

DGMOs from Pakistan and Afghanistan briefed the participants about achievements so far made in the war against terrorism, besides current situation at Pak-Afghan border, sources added.
Sources said that Gen Kayani taking up the matter of drone attacks in tribal areas told the participants that the drone attacks are counterproductive in fighting militancy and in fact they are giving rise to extremism as many innocent people are being killed. Demanding an immediate end to such attacks, the Army Chief said Pakistani forces are fully capable of handling militancy in their own territory.
He emphasised that Afghan and Isaf forces should look out for extremists’ elements on the Afghan side of border and emphasised the need for broad-based intelligence sharing and cooperation.
Pakistan, Afghanistan and the International Security Assistance Force stationed in Kabul have agreed to increase the number of border coordination centres to prevent illegal crossing.
Presently, there is only one such centre operating and now three more centres will be established to improve the coordination among the tripartite forces.
COAS General Parvez Kayani reached Kabul early Friday for crucial talks with Afghan and US military leaders on new approaches to fight Taliban and other militant groups in South Asia.

In this regard, a meeting of relevant ministers and officials has been convened today (Friday) in the presidency for a briefing on the steps being taken to alleviate the hardships of people. The industrialists had already warned the government that if the supply of gas was not assured and loadshedding not ended, then all the industries would be closed.

The shadowy Mehsud was accused by the government of former president Pervez Musharraf and US officials of masterminding the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto at a campaign rally in Rawalpindi in December 2007. Reports surfaced in October that Mehsud was seriously ill.

His whereabouts are not currently known. The offices destroyed in Friday’s strike were once a girls’ school that was taken over several months ago by fighters loyal to Mehsud, the security official said. Sources said US drones once again violated Pakistani airspace and fired two missiles in at a building in tehsil Laddah in South Waiziristan killing four and injured several people.

The Committee headed by Sheikh Aftab Ahmad visited the PAC and was given detailed briefing about the ongoing projects being undertaken by the prestigious organisation in the defence production sector.

The Chairman PAC Air Marshal Khalid Chaudhry HI (M) T Bt gave detailed briefing about the projects whereby informing that the PAC has set up the factory for initiating the serial production of JF17 Thunder aircraft.

He said PAC has the capability to manufacture 75 % avionics and 58 % of airframe of the modern fighter aircraft.

About other project being carried out by PAC, he said PAC had been overhauling around 180 engines of various fighter jets and 60 aircraft a year. As during the last three years, since he joined as Chairman of PAC, around 160 aircraft and some 580 engines of the aircraft have been overhauled.

He also informed that the Mirage Rebuild Factory, which is a part of PAC has been rebuilding 35 years old version of the Mirage aircraft which were bought as scrap from various countries.

In the avionics sector he said state-of-the-art machinery recently imported from various developed countries has been installed to manufacture various gadgets for different versions of the aircraft in the inventory of Pakistan Airforce.

In reply to a question, he said PAC has the capability to manufacture 50 aircraft annually and as soon as the project was approved by the government the factory would start its production. In line to meet with the PAF’s future requirement of fighter aircraft, he said, the factory has to work on war footings as prototype project, small batch production and serial production have to be run simultaneously.

The meeting being held at the Presidency will look into the reasons of the shortage and chalk out the strategy to overcome it, reported Agency news.

The relevant ministers and officials will brief the President on steps being taken to alleviate hardships of the people.

He said this while addressing the representatives of Bajaur affectees living in camps due to the ongoing operation against the militants in the area.

The President said that Pakistan had been attacked by the militants and it was imperative to defeat them for peace and stability in the country.

He said that the government was aware of the hardships faced by the affectees and had devised plans for building Reconstruction Opportunity Zones in the tribal areas to speed up development and provide employment to the youth.

He said the government has also made plans for providing compensation to the victims of terrorism.

The government was engaged in a comprehensive dialogue with the international community on the issue to defeat the terrorists on the one hand and rebuild economically the tribal areas on the other, he added.

The meeting was also attended by Qamar Zaman Kaira, Minister for KANA, Syed Naveed Qamar, Minister for Privatization, Najmuddin Khan, Minister for SAFRON, Shaukat Tareen, Finance Advisor and Senator Nilofar Bakhtiar, leader of the delegation.

Representatives of the Bajaur affectees highlighted their problems and called for restoration of normalcy and peace at the earliest in the region.

Advisor to the Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik informed the meeting that the writ of the government had already been established in four tehsils of Bajaur Agency.

He said that Charmang and Mamond tehsils would also be under complete control of the government by the end of this month.

The injured were rushed to the Agency Headquarter Hospital where two of them were said to be in critical condition. Hospital’s sources confirmed that eight people were discharged after receiving emergency treatment. The rockets fired by militants also affected the several offices located in the colony. Following the attack, the political administration has deployed an extra contingent of Bajaur Levies at sensitive installations across the agency.

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According to Indian reports, the captured gunman told Indian interrogators the 10 attackers trained in Azad Kashmir and later went by boat from Karachi to Mumbai. Pakistan has repeatedly said India has not provided evidence.
Shah was picked up with another LeT commander, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, during Pakistani raids on militants launched in response to the Mumbai attack, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani told reporters on December 10.

The blast was caused by explosive material, SSP Saddar Amir Shaikh said.

The wounded persons were transferred to the civil hospital. The bomb disposal experts reached to the spot to investigate into the incident.

Police and Rangers personnel have cordoned off the area after the incident.

General Kayani called on President Asif Zardari at the Aiwan-e-Sadr and discussed with him professional matters.

Later, the army chief called on premier Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani at the PM secretariat.

He discussed with the prime minister prevailing situation in the region following Mumbai terror attacks and other important issues. Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi also attended the meeting.