Bill on Balochistan lands in US congress

WASHINGTON: A bill has been tabled in the US House of Representatives calling upon Pakistan to recognize the right of self-determination for Balochistan.Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) introduced a House Concurrent Resolution that the Balochi nation has a historic right to self-determination.The bill states that the Balochi people “have the right to self-determination and to their own sovereign country; and they should be afforded the opportunity to choose their own status.”“The Balochis, like other nations of people, have an innate right to self-determination,” says Rohrabacher. “The political and ethnic discrimination they suffer is tragic and made more so because America is financing and selling arms to their oppressors in Islamabad.”Reps....

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Telenor Gets Majority Stakes in VimpelCom, Drops Arbitration Claims

Telenor Group, in a latest development, has bought 234,000,000 VimpelCom preferred shares from Weather Investments for US$374,400,000, to increase its voting rights at VimpelCom from 25.01 percent to 36.36 percent and to become majority stake holder in VimpelCom, said a statement issued by the Telenor Group. Just to recall, Mr. Naguib Sawiris and his family last year bought 29.63 percent stakes in VimpelCom through Weather Investments in exchange of Orascom Telecom. Weather’s shares in VimpelCom, after this transaction, will come down to 18.28 percent. In connection with this new buyout of shares, Telenor has withdrawn all its claims against Altimo Holdings & Investments Ltd., Altimo Cooperatief...

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Electricity projects on top of Ahmadinejad’s agenda

“Pakistan attaches high priority to its relations with Iran,” said Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar, add-ing that the three projects would help ease energy crisis. - File photo ISLAMABAD: Talks between Pakistan and Iran during the forthcoming visit of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will mainly focus on cooperation in energy sector. “Pakistan and Iran have agreed to complete at fast pace projects for importing electricity to enhance bilateral relations in the field of trade, energy and economy,” Iranian Ambassador Alireza Highighlian told Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar here on Tuesday. At present three electricity import projects are under way, the first of them is of 35MW which will be enhanced later to...

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Ahmadinejad leaves Tehran for Islamabad’s trilateral meeting

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has departed for Pakistan to take part in a tripartite summit on regional cooperation and developments. The two-day Islamabad summit will open on Friday with the participation of the Iranian president and his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts Hamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari. We hope that the Islamabad meeting would take bigger steps toward the promotion of regional cooperation and the restoration of peace and stability in the region, President Ahmadinejad told reporters before departure on Thursday. He said that all solutions put forward by extra-regional countries failed to contribute to the restoration of stability in the region. Iran’s chief...

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Pakistan, India sign three trade agreements

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India Wednesday signed three trade agreements with pledges to adhere to all the accords in letter and spirit and build bridges of understanding to lead the two countries towards prosperity and stability. The two sides signed agreements including Customs Cooperation Agreement, Mutual Recognition Agreement and Redressal of Trade Grievances Agreement to build confidence of the business community on both the sides. The agreements were signed at the conclusion of bilateral trade talks between the Commerce Ministers of Pakistan andIndia. Through the implementation of these agreements, the two countries will systematically address the issues related to non- tariff barriers. Addressing a press...

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Four names for new DG ISI under consideration

PM Gilani, COAS Gen. Kayani and ISI Chief Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha during a meeting at Prime Minister House in Islamabad.—AP/File photo ISLAMABAD: The government mulls over assigning a new director general of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) as its current chief Lt-Gen Shuja Pasha’s tenure ends on March 18, DawnNews reported on Wednesday. According to sources, the four names under consideration for the post are Maj-Gen Mohammad Asif, Maj-Gen Naushad Kiyani, Lt-Gen Zaheerul Islam and Lt-Gen Javed Iqbal. Extending Pasha’s tenure is also on the cards, it added. It is important to note that the tenure of the current DG ISI has been extended twice by the government. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani...

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