ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry met with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at the latter’s official residence in Islamabad on Wednesday to resolve the points of contention existing between the executive and the judiciary.

On Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Gilani paid a surprise visit to a dinner being hosted by the Chief Justice in honour of Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday.

The Prime Minister and the Chief Justice exchanged pleasantries.

Prime Minister Gilani informed Chief Justice Iftikhar that he had some 'good news' that he would soon share with the nation.

The executive recently came under heavy criticism for elevating Justice Khwaja Sharif to the Supreme Court without consulting Chief Justice Iftikhar.

Justice Khwaja Sharif was the sitting Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court and was to be replaced by Justice Saqib Nisar.

However, both judges refused to accept their new postings, as they had yet to receive Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry's seal of approval. — DawnNews LINK

ISLAMABAD: Federal Sports Minister Mir Ijaz Jakhrani told the National Assembly on Wednesday that the government has announced a cash reward of Rs. 0.5 million each for the two female athletes who won gold medals in South Asian Games.

Sprinter Nasim Hameed set a new record in 100-meter race while Sara Nasir bagged a gold in karate. “Both players have done the country proud and performed superbly,” Jakhrani said.

Jakhrani assured that the govt would fully support these athletes and assist them in coaching and other requirements.

“They are our assets and we’d send both young players to Commonwealth Games as well as the Olympics.”

Earlier, MNA Khushbakht Shujaat, appealed to the Prime Minister to boost female sports by providing good facilities for them.

MNA Marvi Memon eulogised the tremendous performance of female athletes at the South Asian games on behalf of her party. She called for establishing a specific fund for supporting female sports in the country, particularly to encourage those belonging to poor families.

Our Islamabad correspondent adds: The Senate on Wednesday called upon the Federal Government to provide a job to Pakistani athlete Naseem Hameed who emerged as the fastest woman athlete in the South Asian Games. The 22-year-old athlete entered her name in the history books of the South Asian Games when she clinched gold by leading eight runners in the 100-metre sprint to record her career-best feat at the Banglabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.

A resolution passed by the upper house states: “It is indeed a tremendous achievement but it requires praise, support and appreciation ... She belongs to a family living below the poverty line.”

“The Federal Government has been requested to provide her [Naseem] with a job in any autonomous, semi-autonomous body or corporation such as PIA, etc., and her training programme, too, should be taken up by the government.”

The resolution further said that “Naseem has shown potential for further victories, if properly trained ... A civil award may be bestowed upon her.”

Meanwhile, in a point of order raised by women legislators in the National Assembly, Marvi Memon, from PML(Q), and Khush Bakht Shujaat, from MQM, also called on the government to provide Naseem with better sporting facilities and a regular means for earning a livelihood.LINK

ISLAMABAD: One of the pioneers of rebel opposition to India in the disputed Kashmir region said on Thursday that talks between Pakistan and India would fail if they did not focus on the “core issue” of Kashmir.

India suspended a four-year-old peace process with Pakistan after an attack on the Indian city of Mumbai by militants in 2008.

India had been demanding action against the militants it says were behind the assault before a peace process could resume, but this month it offered to hold high-level talks despite little progress in Pakistan’s prosecution of seven suspects.

Syed Salahuddin, commander of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, the biggest Kashmiri rebel group, said talks would be “a futile exercise” if they did not address the dispute over the Himalayan region, cause of two of the three wars between Pakistan and India since their independence in 1947.

The United States wants to see an improvement in ties between the nuclear-armed rivals to help stabilise Afghanistan where both are competing for influence.

An easing of tension would help Pakistan focus on its fight against al Qaeda-linked militants on the border with Afghanistan.

Indian officials say they have offered open-ended talks on all issues affecting peace and security, emphasising counter-terrorism. Pakistani media says India is reluctant to revive full-scale talks covering all problems, including Kashmir.

“I talk on behalf of the jihadi leadership, that we all stand for a negotiated settlement,” Salahuddin, who is also head of the United Jihad Council, a loose alliance of 13 guerrilla groups, told Reuters in an interview.

“But negotiations must be Kashmir-centric ... unless this core issue is addressed and it is focused upon, there will be no result.”

He said Kashmiris must also be involved in talks.

“It’s not a bilateral boundary dispute between India and Pakistan. It is question of the right of self-determination of 30 million people,” he said.

Both Pakistan and India claim Muslim-majority Kashmir in full but rule it in part.

India accuses Pakistan of arming and sending militants into Indian-controlled Kashmir. Pakistan denies that, saying it only gives political support to what it calls a freedom movement.

Indian Defence Mininster A.K Antony told reporters in New Delhi on Thursday Pakistan was not tackling the militants.

“One thing is very clear, almost all the 42 terrorist outfits operating from across the border ... are intact,” he said. “There is no attempt on the part of the government of Pakistan to dismantle these terrorist outfits.”

The heavy-set, bearded Salahuddin, 61, has been at the forefront of the 21-year-old insurgency in Kashmir.

Salahuddin, from Badagam town in Indian Kashmir, was a politician who turned to militancy after he lost an election for the Kashmir legislative assembly in 1987, which he says was “massively rigged” by India.

He first crossed into Pakistan-administered Kashmir in 1990 and went back to Indian Kashmir several times for militant action when he would also meet his family under cover of darkness.

His group’s office, in a middle-class neighbourhood in Rawalpindi, gives no hint of a militant campaign except for Islamic books on jihad stacked in a cupboard.

Salahuddin said there was no hint of weariness among those fighting Indian forces.

“So far, every democratic, political and constitutional method has failed to yield any result. There is no other option other than this armed struggle,” he said.

Salahuddin calls for the merger of Kashmir with Pakistan but acknowledged there was a “school of thought” in Kashmir seeking independence from both India and Pakistan. But both were united in demanding Kashmir be freed from Indian rule, he said.

He defended alleged militants from the Lashkar-e-Taiba group, including its founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, blamed by India for the Mumbai assault in which 166 people were killed.

“They are absolutely innocent in this respect,” he said LINK.