ISPR SLAMS HRW REPORT ON SHAHZAD MURDER

Pakistan Army on Thursday slammed Human Rights Watch (HRW) for its report that accused the country’s premier spy agency for killing a journalist in a press statement it issued last month.
Military’s strong-worded response, that came over two weeks after the aforesaid statement was issued, rubbished the findings of HRW incorporated in its report whose summary was released on January 30.

The HRW had pointed fingers at Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and security establishment for killing Saleem Shahzad, the slain reporter of Asia Times Online. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) termed the press release “extremely derogatory, biased and contradictory in terms.”

It accused Asia Times Director Brad Adams of discrediting the Judicial Commission that investigated Saleem Shehzad’s alleged murder, demonising the ISI and castigating the Government of Pakistan.” It said, “The report goes on to suggest a darker destination of evidence if pursued again. It is unclear where Mr Adams forms opinions like these but one thing is evident that his thought process and ability to logically analyse a given situation suffers from serious bias.”

“Brad Adams may have his head buried deep in sand and HRW may be choking under heaps of bias but it is quite apparent that such diatribe is exceptionally disparaging despite an ‘extensive examination’ by the commission, to quote HRW press release. It raises serious questions on the partisan nature of HRW and Brad Adam’s objectivity.”

In his story printed on May 27 last year, Shahzad had reported about the alleged nexus between militants and some Pakistan Navy officials. Two days later, he was abducted from a highly secured area of Islamabad and the journalist’s tortured body was found alongside a drain near Mandi Bahauddin some 130 kilometres away from Islamabad on May 31.

The ISPR insisted that the Judicial Commission was headed by a “Very honourable judge of the same Supreme Court of Pakistan which is highly respected for its integrity and courage of conviction.”
“To expect the Judicial Commission probing Saleem Shehzad’s alleged murder headed by Justice Saqib Nisar, to spare or shy away from the so-called ‘culpable ISI’ is not only disrespectful but also out of character of the honourable court.”

“We would seriously urge HRW to read the report of the commission of enquiry into the incident and see facts as they are,” ISPR said referring to the statements of Shahzad’s close friends and acquaintances recorded before the commission, none of whom, military claims, “pointed a finger towards anyone”
In July last year, the HRW had printed a detailed report “We Can Torture, Kill, or Keep You for Years” accusing Pakistan’s security forces for enforced disappearances in Balochistan

US mulling to apologise on Nato attack: NYT

WASHINGTON: The Obama administration is considering to tender an apology on the deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers in Nato attack on a border post in November, The New York Times reported.
A senior American military commander is expected to travel to Pakistan this month in what Obama administration officials say is the first step toward thawing a strategic relationship that has been in effect frozen for more than two months.

Gen. James N. Mattis, the head of the military's Central Command, will meet Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the Pakistani Army chief of staff, to discuss the investigations of an exchange of fire at the Afghan border that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, as well as new border coordination procedures to prevent a recurrence of the episode.

General Mattis's visit, the first by a high-ranking American official since the cross-border confrontation in November, was to have begun Thursday, but has been postponed by at least a week pending what is expected to be a spirited debate in the Pakistani Parliament over a new security policy toward the United States.

Pakistani and American officials are quietly optimistic that both events will trigger a chain of public engagement and private negotiations that will reboot the two nations' frayed strategic relationship, although along more narrowly defined lines than before.

Pakistani officials say they will probably reopen NATO supply lines running through their territory, which have been closed for more than two months. The State Department is supporting a proposal circulating in the administration for the United States to issue a formal apology for the deaths of the Pakistani soldiers in the Nov. 26 air strike by American gunships.

"We've felt an apology would be helpful in creating some space," said an American official who has been briefed on the State Department's view and who spoke on the condition of anonymity as internal discussions continued.

Musharraf will be arrested on his arrival: FIA Prosecutor

Former President Pervez Musharraf will be arrested on his arrival in Pakistan as a court conducting the trial of those charged with involvement in the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto has declared him a fugitive, a prosecutor said on Saturday. Musharraf is a "proclaimed offender" or a fugitive who will be arrested on his arrival in the country, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali told reporters. There is no need of any warrant for this arrest, he said.
The former military ruler, currently living in Dubai and London in self-exile, has said he plans to return to Pakistan on January 25 or 27 to lead his All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) party. ...