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Advancing floodwaters threaten Dadu, Johi towns
KARACHI: River defences in Pakistan’s flood-hit south were bolstered Tuesday in a bid to save two towns from catastrophic flooding as the UN warned the world community must help the militant-hit nation recover. Eight million people remain reliant on aid handouts to survive, six weeks after monsoons caused devastating floods in the country’s worst disaster in living memory. Advancing floodwaters continue to threaten the towns of Johi and Dadu in Sindh province, with 19 of its 23 districts deluged and 2.8 million people displaced, according to provincial authorities. “Armed forces and irrigation officials are racing against time to save Johi and Dadu,” said provincial irrigation minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo. “Floodwaters are increasing pressure on Johi embankment, while the raging waters are just five kilometres away from Dadu city,” Dharejo said. He said residents had formed a human chain to help reinforce embankments securing the towns. “It is very heartening to us that local people are being very courageous and helping authorities, picking up stones to reinforce the embankments,” he said. Dadu and Johi are about 320 kilometres north of Karachi. Meanwhile, the UN’s development chief for Asia said the world must respond to Pakistan’s crisis and help it rebuild to secure hearts and minds in the insurgency-wracked nation. Global cash pledges have been slow coming to bolster rescue and relief efforts in Pakistan, where more than 21 million people have been affected by the floods. Helping Pakistanis rebuild homes and businesses, reduced to rubble by the unprecedented deluge, will be even more important to long-term regional and global stability, said UN Assistant Secretary General Ajay Chhibber. “Now that the water has receded in large parts… what’s clear from these visits is that the early recovery needs to start now,” said Chhibber during a visit Monday to the militant-hit northwest. “If there’s greater unrest in Pakistan it will have much greater regional and global implications. “This is a country that is a very large, very important country in the region, a very large, very important country in the globe, so that battle for the hearts and minds of people here is very important.” Last week the UN said that despite an improvement in aid donations after a visit by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in mid-August, extra pledges had “almost stalled” since a week earlier. The UN has warned that the slow pace of pledges could impede relief operations and says Pakistan faces a triple threat to food supplies — with seeds, crops and incomes hit. An initial relief appeal has been about two-thirds funded, and Chhibbers said a second appeal would be launched on September 17, seeking help for the next steps in Pakistan’s recovery. Hollywood star Angelina Jolie arrived in northwest Pakistan Tuesday with the UN’s refugee agency to draw world attention to the crisis. “UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie arrived in Pakistan today to meet people affected by the floods and to highlight the continued urgent need for help,” the agency said in a statement. Jolie, the 34-year-old actress and roving envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, visited affected communities in the northwest, it said, where millions of long-term Afghan refugees reside. The floods have ruined 3.6 million hectares of rich farmland, and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation said farmers urgently needed seeds to plant for next year’s crops. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has warned that the country faces inflation of up to 20 per cent and slower growth because of the disaster. The floods have killed 1,760 people but disaster officials have said the number of deaths is likely to rise “significantly” when the missing are accounted for.
Morgan the key, sorry fielding nothing new: Afridi
CARDIFF : Pakistan one-day captain Shahid Afridi said his side had to see the back of Eoin Morgan here on Tuesday if they were to level their two-match series against World Twenty20 champions England .
Saving flood-hit Pakistan has global implications: UNDP
NOWSHERA: The world must help Pakistan rebuild homes and livelihoods destroyed by devastating floods to secure hearts and minds in the militant-hit nation, the UNDP’s regional head told AFP. Global cash pledges have been slow coming to bolster rescue and relief efforts ongoing in the flood-damaged nuclear nation, where more than 21 million people have been affected by a month of monsoon-triggered floods. Now helping Pakistanis rebuild homes and businesses, reduced to rubble by the unprecedented deluge, will be even more important to long-term regional and global stability, said UN Assistant Secretary General Ajay Chhibber. “Now that the water has receded in large parts… what’s clear from these visits is that the early recovery needs to start now,” said Chhibber, the Asia-Pacific head of the UN Development Programme, during a visit Monday to the militant-hit northwest. “If there’s greater unrest in Pakistan it will have much greater regional and global implications. “This is a country that is a very large, very important country in the region, a very large, very important country in the globe, so that battle for the hearts and minds of people here is very important.” Last week the UN said that despite an improvement in aid donations after a visit by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in mid-August, extra pledges had “almost stalled” since a week earlier. The UN has warned that the slow pace of pledges could impede relief operations and says Pakistan faces a triple threat to food supplies — with seeds, crops and incomes hit. An initial relief appeal has been about two thirds funded, and Chhibbers said a second appeal would be launched on September 17, seeking help for the next steps in Pakistan’s recovery. The millions made homeless, many living in makeshift shelters, will need to be encouraged back to their land, even if their homes have been destroyed, in order to restore the social fabric of communities, said Chhibber. An initial 100 million dollars would also be required to establish cash-to-work schemes, paying the landless poor to clear debris and begin rebuilding schools, community and health centres. “You can see people milling around, they need things to do,” said Chhibber after visiting the northwest town of Nowshera, in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where 19 people were killed Monday in the latest suicide bombing to hit the militant-riddled province.
China offers $300 million more for flood victims
ISLAMABAD : China released $300 million more for the flood disasters in Pakistan . By adding this amount the total relief amount for flood victims from China has reached $500 million.
Authorities race to protect Dadu, Johi
KARACHI: Authorities were Monday racing to protect two southern towns and their 360,000 residents from surging floods, as the nation struggles to cope with its worst natural disaster in living memory. A month-and-a-half after monsoons caused devastating floods throughout the country, submerging an area the size of England, eight million people remain dependent on handouts for their survival, which many say are too slow coming. Advancing floodwaters continue to threaten towns in Sindh province, where 19 of its 23 districts have been deluged, displacing more than 2.8 million people, according to provincial authorities. “The situation is a bit serious in Johi town and Dadu. We are taking all-out measures to save them from ravaging floodwaters,” provincial irrigation minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo told AFP. “The water is 20 kilometres away from Dadu city but we cannot rule out a serious threat to this city,” one of the largest in the north of Sindh, Dharejo said. “We are making all our efforts to save Dadu and Johi,” he added. Dadu and Johi are about 320 kilometres north of Karachi and officials fear the waters will breach protective embankments unless they are quickly strengthened. “Things are getting serious, we have employed all the possible resources on the embankments to save the remaining towns and villages of Dadu district,” Dharejo said. District coordination officer Iqbal Memon said Johi was more in danger from the advancing floods. “The floodwaters are fast heading towards Johi town after inundating most parts of Khairpur Nathan Shah and Mehar towns and several surrounding villages in Dadu district,” he said. “For two days, we are employing all available means to strengthen the protective embankments around Dadu and Johi but the threat still remains,” he said. About 80 per cent of the Johi’s population of 60,000 had already fled to safer areas. Memon, however, asked the 300,000 residents of Dadu not to panic. “The people of Dadu city should remain vigilant for any serious situation that could come across,” he said. The UN has warned that the slow pace of aid pledges could impede relief operations and says Pakistan faces a triple threat to food supplies
Pakistan corruption scandal no surprise: Boycott
LONDON : Former England captain Geoff Boycott said Monday that Pakistani cricket was repeatedly implicated in corruption scandals because authorities had not clamped down hard enough in the past.
Afridi blasts Hameed in Pakistan corruption row
CARDIFF: Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi blasted Yasir Hameed as being mentally a teenager as the batsman insisted he was duped by a newspaper over betting scam claims which eclipsed the team’s defeat to England. One-day skipper Afridi tore into Test batsman Hameed, who claimed he had done nothing more than repeat the allegations of “spot-fixing” being faced by three Pakistan players. The row overshadowed Pakistan’s first international game since the scandal rocking the sport first erupted. They were beaten by five wickets in the first of two Twenty20 fixtures against England at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. Britain’s biggest-selling newspaper News of the World — which broke the corruption story engulfing Pakistan’s tour of England — released footage of Hameed in a bar telling an undercover reporter that some Pakistan players were fixing “almost every match”. “They’ve been caught. Only the ones that get caught are branded crooks. They were doing it (fixing) in almost every match. God knows what they were up to. Scotland Yard was after them for ages,” he was quoted as saying. “It makes me angry because I’m playing my best and they are trying to lose.” The 32-year-old also said he had been approached by shadowy figures and offered bribes but refused — and was subsequently dropped from the side for two years. Following the T20 defeat in the Welsh capital, Afridi said what he thought of Hameed. “Mentally he is 15, 16. I don’t know with who he was sitting or in which situation he gave this message,” he said. “We have known him for a long time and we can expect anything from him. He has been doing these type of things a lot of times.”Asked if Hameed was unreliable, he replied: “Yeah, the people know which type of character he is.”Hameed released an affidavit, read by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)’s lawyer outside the country’s High Commission (embassy) in London. The batsman said he believed he had been talking to a potential sponsor — who turned out to be an undercover reporter. “He offered me at least 50,000 pounds (77,000 dollars, 60,000 euros) for the deal,” which involved having an airline logo on his bat, plus television and billboard advertisements in the United Arab Emirates. Hameed said he was asked about the corruption allegations. “As far as I recall, I only told him whatever I had already read in the newspapers about the matter.” He said two days later the man telephoned and offered 25,000 pounds to give a statement against the three players under investigation: Pakistan Test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif. Hameed said he refused and put the phone down. The batsman said he later received a text from the man, which read: “Pls call me. Incidentally you are in video drinking wine and saying all the quotes attributed to you. Denying it is just stupid as we will be releasing the video to TV. Better that you stand up and speak the truth!!!!”He said he decided not to respond and went to the PCB. News of the World claimed a fourth Pakistan cricketer was being investigated by the International Cricket Council (ICC) over alleged fixing. They repeated on Sunday claims they paid Mazhar Majeed, an agent for several Pakistan players, 150,000 pounds (185,000 euros, 230,000 dollars) for advance knowledge of no-balls in last month’s final Test against England, which could then be bet upon. That prompted the ICC to charge Butt, rising star Aamer and Asif, and suspend them pending a decision on the allegations. They were interviewed under caution for a second time by British police Friday. The paper said that up to 15,000 pounds of the cash it allegedly handed to Majeed was found in Butt’s London hotel room. Butt’s lawyer denied any wrongdoing, saying it would not be unusual for his agent to give him money. On Saturday, Afridi apologised for the scandal. “On behalf of these boys — I know they are not in this series — I want to say sorry to all cricket lovers and all the cricketing nations,” he said. In Sunday’s match, England, set a seemingly modest 127 for victory, collapsed to 62 for five. But left-handers Eoin Morgan (38 not out) and man-of-the-match Michael Yardy (35 not out) saw England to 129 for five with an unbroken partnership of 67 as they won with 17 balls to spare. It was England’s first match in the format since they beat Australia in the World Twenty20 final in Barbados in May. Pakistan were well-received by a crowd of just under 11,000 at Sophia Gardens, with the only jeers coming as a result of misfields.
I am ready to come back for revolution: Altaf
KARACHI: MQM’s leader Altaf Hussain said on Sunday that he
Atherton pleads for Aamer leniency
LONDON : Former England captain Michael Atherton has urged leniency for Pakistan ’s Mohammad Aamer in the fixing scandal that has shaken world cricket because the teenager was in “the grip of evil”.
Crime adds to misery for flood victims
MEHMOOD KOT: Crime and the sale of donated aid supplies are undermining the aid effort for Pakistan’s flood victims. In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s provincial capital Peshawar, flour bags and tins of cooking oil bearing the logos of international aid agencies like the World Food Prgramme and USAID are openly on sale. “We bought them from the victims,” said shopkeeper Abdul Ghafoor, who owns a shop in Peshawar’s Gur Mandi. “They get money and buy something else which they need more.” “It cannot happen without officials’ involvement,” said another shopkeeper, Rahimullah Khan. “Victims cannot bring a truck full of supplies here.” One Reuters reporter saw flour being unloaded in a market from a truck labelled “Relief Goods for Flood Affected People, from Islamic Relief”. The goods are then sold at cheaper prices than usual. “I can save 300 Pakistani rupees per 50 kg bag of flour. A customer prefers to buy it because it’s better quality and a lower price,” said flour dealer Najeeb Ahmed Khan. Government officials are attempting to tackle the situation. District authorities have raided and sealed two warehouses where stolen aid supplies were found, and made two arrests. “We have formed a committee to check these illegal activities, but it’s sad it’s happening,” said district government official Siraj Ahmed. Further south in Punjab, villagers say people living outside flood-affected areas have stolen from houses abandoned by flood victims. Rana Farmanullah, a 27-year-old villager in Mehmood Kot, said robbers arrived on boats to loot the villagers’ belongings. “They took away everything,” he said. “They were taking valuables and electrical equipment. They stole washing machines, standing fans, refrigerators, small electrical devices, and jewellery.” To the north-east, in the town of Bhakkar on the banks of a swollen Indus River, fisherman said they were removing valuable components from boat engines, worried they could be stolen.
‘Lack of medical facilities in flood-hit areas’
ISLAMABAD: Federal Secretary Health, Khushnood Akhtar Lashari, on Saturday said there was a lack of doctors, paramedics and other staff in flood-affected areas. He said the government was working to overcome the situation. Speaking to media representatives, Lashari said the National Volunteer Program had been launched to cater to the demand in which more than 2,000 doctors had already been registered. He said 45,74000 cases of diarrhoea, malaria, skin and other diseases had been registered in affected areas but there was no fear of any outbreak. Meanwhile, a representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said the agency had distributed medicines to two million affected persons and had medicines stocked for another four million affected persons. He said fear still existed of outbreaks of diseases.
Flood relief phase extended to six months
KARACHI: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Saturday said relief efforts would be extended to six months as floods ravage more southern towns in the worst disaster to hit the country. A month after monsoons triggered catastrophic flooding throughout the country, submerging an area the size of England, eight million remain dependent on handouts for their survival, which they say are too slow coming. “In the current circumstances and urgent needs, the relief phase which was earlier planned to end on October 30, now will continue for six months,†Gilani told the lower house of the federal parliament. “Early recovery phase shall be completed by December 30, while damage and need assessment by World Bank and Asian Development Bank would be completed by September 30,†he added. Authorities in Sindh province were busy evacuating more people to safety in several flooded towns around 350 kilometres north of Karachi as officials said thousands more tents were urgently needed. “Most parts of Khairpur Nathan Shah town and Mehar town and several surrounding villages have been flooded,†Iqbal Memon, district chief of Dadu, told AFP. “Most of the people have been evacuated from these towns and hundreds of those remaining were being helped by the Pakistan navy and local administration,†he said. Memon said the flooding in Dadu district was caused by a breach in the Khudawa canal on Friday. Some 800 people in Baid village were stranded and calling for urgent evacuation. “We are sheltered on higher ground in the village, there are about 800 people who are stranded here with their belongings and cattle surrounded by rising water,†villager Bashir Gadahi told AFP by telephone. “This cell phone is the only communication means left and its battery won’t last long. We are calling the authorities, but so far no rescue is in sight,†Gadahi said. “We have no fodder to feed our cattle and our rice and chilli crops have been destroyed by the flood,†he said. People were also fleeing the flooded town of Jati but faced a shortage of transport, local television reports said. Town official Hadi Bakhsh Kalhoro said about 100 people were stranded there and a rescue effort was underway to evacuate them to safety. Sindh relief commissioner Ghulam Ali Pasha said there was a shortage of tents, with a further 200,000 people displaced from Khairpur Nathan Shah alone. “The flood has affected some eight million people in Sindh and some 2.8 million people were displaced,†Pasha told AFP. “Only 1.2 million people are in camps, while the rest have no shelter as we are facing an acute shortage of tents and some 50,000 tents are immediately needed,†he said. He said the floods had destroyed some 4,600 schools. The government’s official death toll from the floods has reached 1,760 but disaster officials have warned that number is likely to rise “significantly†when the missing are accounted for.
PM Gilani calls for APC to discuss flood situation
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday called for an All Parties’ Conference to discuss the flood situation. During his speech in the National Assembly, Prime Minister Gilani said the loss incurred by Pakistan due to the floods was between five to six billion US dollars and that 30 per cent of the country’s agricultural land had been devastated. Gilani informed NA that around four billion rupees had been accumulated by September 3 in the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund. He said the floods had claimed more than 1,600 lives. He further said that some 479 health centres were operational and providing relief to the survivors. — DawnNews
Gentleman’s game haunted by underworld
NEW DELHI: The betting scandal involving Pakistan cricketers in England has revived fears about the influence of shadowy underworld dons who have form in subverting the “gentlemen’s gameâ€. The middleman who gave undercover British reporters exact details of no-balls to be bowled by Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif during the Lord’s Test against England said he worked for an “Indian partyâ€. The alleged link to unidentified backers has not been spelt out, but cricket has in recent years become all too familiar with illegal betting and match-fixing rackets – and South Asia sits at the heart of the web. India, cricket’s financial powerhouse, accounts for nearly 70 per cent of the game’s global revenues and is regarded as the hotbed for betting syndicates and match-fixers spreading across Asia and the Gulf. India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which probed the explosive match-fixing scandal of 2000 that ensnared three international captains, alluded to the underworld’s links to cricket. “During the inquiry,†the CBI report said, “it was learnt that the lure of easy money has gradually attracted the underworld into this racketâ€. “It seems that it is only a matter of time before major organized gangs take direct control of this racket, a phenomenon that will have implications not only for cricket but for national security as a whole.†The CBI investigations and subsequent action from cricket bodies around the world led to life bans being imposed on three Test captains – South African Hansie Cronje, Mohammad Azharuddin of India and Pakistan’s Salim Malik. Cronje, who admitted to having links with bookmakers but denied he was involved in match-fixing, was killed in a mysterious plane crash near Cape Town in 2002. When Pakistan’s English coach Bob Woolmer died during the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, soon after his team crashed out in the first round, Jamaican police initially treated it as murder and pointed fingers at the underworld. There is widespread suspicion in the cricketing world about the subsequent police account that Woolmer died of “natural causesâ€, as suspicions around shady bookies refuse to die down. “We were treated like murderers and members of mafia,†said Inzamam-ul Haq, Pakistan’s captain at that time. “I never thought this would happen to me after a defeat in a cricket match.†Former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Tauqir Zia, during whose tenure life bans were imposed on Malik and bowler Ata-ur-Rehman for their alleged involvement in match-fixing, warned of the danger to players’ lives. “It’s a vicious circle,†said Zia, a former army officer. “Once a player enters this circle, there is no exit door.†Geoff Lawson, Pakistan’s coach in 2007-2008, said players may feel forced into corruption because of “extortion, threats and the well-being of their own family membersâ€. “It would not surprise me if illegal bookmakers have told players that if they do not perform X and Y, their families will be kidnapped or harmed,†the Australian told the Sydney Morning Herald last week. Lawson recalled an incident when a Pakistan selector asked him to include a player because the selector had received a kidnap threat against his daughter if the player were dropped. Notorious Indian gangster Dawood Ibrahim, wanted for 1993 bombings in Mumbai that killed more than 200 people, has long been suspected by police of being a match-fixing kingpin. Ibrahim, who Indian officials say lives in Pakistan, emerged out of hiding in 2005 when his daughter married the son of Pakistani batting great Javed Miandad in Karachi. Another Pakistani legend, Wasim Akram, once claimed his father had been kidnapped after his team lost a Test match against South Africa from a winning position in 1997. The body of a well-known Pakistani bookmaker, Hanif Kodvavi alias Hanif Cadbury, was found badly mutilated in Johannesburg in 1999 amid speculation he was killed for not paying out betting money. In the current scandal, the International Cricket Council has barred Pakistan captain Salman Butt along with Amir and Asif from playing any further matches until their cases are resolved. All three protest their innocence. —AFP
Gentleman’s game haunted by underworld
NEW DELHI: The betting scandal involving Pakistan cricketers in England has revived fears about the influence of shadowy underworld dons who have form in subverting the “gentlemen’s game”. The middleman who gave undercover British reporters exact details of no-balls to be bowled by Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif during the Lord’s Test against England said he worked for an “Indian party”. The alleged link to unidentified backers has not been spelt out, but cricket has in recent years become all too familiar with illegal betting and match-fixing rackets – and South Asia sits at the heart of the web. India, cricket’s financial powerhouse, accounts for nearly 70 per cent of the game’s global revenues and is regarded as the hotbed for betting syndicates and match-fixers spreading across Asia and the Gulf. India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which probed the explosive match-fixing scandal of 2000 that ensnared three international captains, alluded to the underworld’s links to cricket. “During the inquiry,” the CBI report said, “it was learnt that the lure of easy money has gradually attracted the underworld into this racket”. “It seems that it is only a matter of time before major organized gangs take direct control of this racket, a phenomenon that will have implications not only for cricket but for national security as a whole.” The CBI investigations and subsequent action from cricket bodies around the world led to life bans being imposed on three Test captains – South African Hansie Cronje, Mohammad Azharuddin of India and Pakistan’s Salim Malik. Cronje, who admitted to having links with bookmakers but denied he was involved in match-fixing, was killed in a mysterious plane crash near Cape Town in 2002. When Pakistan’s English coach Bob Woolmer died during the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, soon after his team crashed out in the first round, Jamaican police initially treated it as murder and pointed fingers at the underworld. There is widespread suspicion in the cricketing world about the subsequent police account that Woolmer died of “natural causes”, as suspicions around shady bookies refuse to die down. “We were treated like murderers and members of mafia,” said Inzamam-ul Haq, Pakistan’s captain at that time. “I never thought this would happen to me after a defeat in a cricket match.” Former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Tauqir Zia, during whose tenure life bans were imposed on Malik and bowler Ata-ur-Rehman for their alleged involvement in match-fixing, warned of the danger to players’ lives. “It’s a vicious circle,” said Zia, a former army officer. “Once a player enters this circle, there is no exit door.” Geoff Lawson, Pakistan’s coach in 2007-2008, said players may feel forced into corruption because of “extortion, threats and the well-being of their own family members”. “It would not surprise me if illegal bookmakers have told players that if they do not perform X and Y, their families will be kidnapped or harmed,” the Australian told the Sydney Morning Herald last week. Lawson recalled an incident when a Pakistan selector asked him to include a player because the selector had received a kidnap threat against his daughter if the player were dropped. Notorious Indian gangster Dawood Ibrahim, wanted for 1993 bombings in Mumbai that killed more than 200 people, has long been suspected by police of being a match-fixing kingpin. Ibrahim, who Indian officials say lives in Pakistan, emerged out of hiding in 2005 when his daughter married the son of Pakistani batting great Javed Miandad in Karachi. Another Pakistani legend, Wasim Akram, once claimed his father had been kidnapped after his team lost a Test match against South Africa from a winning position in 1997. The body of a well-known Pakistani bookmaker, Hanif Kodvavi alias Hanif Cadbury, was found badly mutilated in Johannesburg in 1999 amid speculation he was killed for not paying out betting money. In the current scandal, the International Cricket Council has barred Pakistan captain Salman Butt along with Amir and Asif from playing any further matches until their cases are resolved. All three protest their innocence. —AFP