Missing persons: ISI, MI counsel says RAW and Mossad involved

ISLAMABAD:
The counsel for Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI) has revealed in the Supreme Court that Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Israel’s Mossad are active in Pakistan. He was speaking during the hearing of the missing persons case.

He said that they were behind kidnappings in the country and were being helped by terrorist groups.

The chief justice asked the defence counsel if the agencies had any credible information of the involvement of RAW and Mossad, and why they did not take any against them. “We did not bar you from taking action against RAW and Mossad.”

Terming the intelligence agencies’ reply on Adiala missing persons unsatisfactory, the apex court on Friday took suo motu notice against the abduction of a boy who used to provide food at camps set up by the relatives of missing persons outside parliament.

A three judge-bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry directed Inspector General of Police Islamabad and Attorney General of Pakistan Maulvi Anwarul Haq to submit a report of the incident by March 17 and present the abductee before the court on March 19.

Addressing Maulvi Anwarul Haq and Raja Irshad, counsel for ISI and MI, the chief justice said that this time a man was abducted right under the nose of the federal government. Advocate Tariq Asad the counsel for missing persons told the court that Omar Mehmood Khan was picked up by the intelligence agencies because he used to serve the food to the families at the missing persons’ camp at D-Chowk (in front of the Parliament).

Raja Arshad rejected the allegations, stating that the military intelligence agencies were not involved in missing persons’ episodes.

A family recently returned from Canada through a letter had informed the Human Rights Cell of the apex court that one of their family members, Omar Mehmood Khan, 24, was abducted by the agencies on March 10 near Orchid Scheme in Islamabad.

“After going through the contents of the letter last night, we issued notices to IGP Islamabad that what kind of high-handedness was underway by none other than officials of agencies, even in the federal capital city,” the chief justice informed the attorney general.

The letter suggests that Omar was kidnapped in the same style as was used in picking up many other missing persons. Men driving two double cabins with tinted glasses, a black corolla, a white Suzuki Baleno and a Suzuki Mehran picked up the boy in front of his father, mother and a younger brother.

Omar’s mother, Dr Rubina was also present in the court today. The chief justice, while calming her down, said that “we will not allow anyone to act above the law”, adding that the agencies were not above the Constitution.

Advocate Raja Irshad asked the court why all blame was leveled on the ISI and MI. The chief justice said that, “We respect our armed forces and intelligence agencies, but when they detracted then the court and media expressed concerns and you cannot stop us from this.”

During the last hearing, the court had rejected explanatory reports submitted by the lawyer of the agencies and termed them unsatisfactory, and had also sought a detailed report from the chief secretary of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The K-P chief secretary submitted a report on the health of inmates today, which was appreciated by the court.

Counsel for detainee Hafiz Majid, Advocate Tariq Asad informed the court that his client was suffering from Cancer and Hepatitis C, and asked that permission be granted to shift him to Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital in Lahore.

The court was informed that the health condition of at least three prisoners was still not satisfactory. The chief justice asked Raja Irshad how the detainees were being treated. “Were they not human? Why a fair trial right was denied to them? We will proceed against you after deciding initial things – you will tell us how the four of them died in your custody.”

Advocate general of K-P will submit a report within three days on which internment centers inmates will be kept at. The court also asked him to arrange a place where relatives of these inmates could see them easily.

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iPads made by Pakistan Air Force

Mohammad Imran holds a Pakistani-made PACPad computer tablet at his electronics store in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Picture: AP

Rawalpindi – Inside a high-security air force complex that builds jet fighters and weapons systems, Pakistan’s military is working on the latest addition to its sprawling commercial empire: a homegrown version of the iPad.
It’s a venture that bundles together Pakistani engineering and Chinese hardware, and shines a light on the military’s controversial foothold in the consumer market. Supporters say it will boost the economy as well as a troubled nation’s self-esteem.
It all comes together at an air force base in Kamra in northern Pakistan, where avionics engineers – when they’re not working on defence projects – assemble the PACPAD 1.
“The original is the iPad, the copy is the PACPAD,” said Mohammad Imran, who stocks the product at his small computer and mobile phone shop in a mall in Rawalpindi, a city not far from Kamra and the home of the Pakistani army.
The device runs on Android 2.3, an operating system made by Google and given away for free. At around $200, it’s less than half the price of Apple or Samsung devices and cheaper than other low-end Chinese tablets on the market, with the bonus of a local, one-year guarantee.

 The PAC in the name stands for the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, where it is made. The PAC also makes an e-reader and small laptop.

Such endeavors are still at the pilot stage and represent just a sliver of the military’s business portfolio, which encompasses massive land holdings, flour and sugar mills, hotels, travel agents, even a brand of breakfast cereal.
The military is powerful, its businesses are rarely subject to civilian scrutiny, and it has staged three coups since Pakistan became a state in 1947. Many Pakistanis find its economic activities corrupting and say it should focus on entirely on defence.
“I just can’t figure it out,” said Jehan Ara, head of Pakistan’s Software Houses Association, said of the PACPAD.
“Even if they could sell a billion units, I can’t see the point. The air force is supposed to be protecting the air space and borders of the country.”
Supporters say the foray into information technology is a boost to national pride for a country vastly overshadowed by archrival India in the high-tech field. Tech websites in the country have shown curiosity or cautious enthusiasm, but say it’s too early to predict how the device will perform. Skeptics claim it’s a vanity project that will never see mass production.
Only a few hundred of each products has been made so far, though a new batch will be completed in the next three months.
“The defence industry is trying to justify its presence by doing more than just produce weapons,” said Ayesha Siddiqa, author of Military Inc., a critical study of military businesses.
“Some smart aleck must have thought we can make some money here.”

PAC’s website says the goal is “strengthening the national economy through commercialisation” and lauds the collaboration with China – something that likely resonates among nationalists.
China is regarded as a firm ally by Pakistan’s security establishment, whereas the US, despite pouring billions of dollars in aid into the country, is seen as fickle and increasingly as an enemy.
These perceptions have heightened as the US intensifies drone attacks on militants based in the Pakistani borderlands. But the military is also a target of those militants. In 2007 the base at Kamra, home to 12,000 workers and their families, nine people died when a cyclist blew himself up at the entrance.
PAC officials suggested the program that produces the PACPAD was modeled in part on the Chinese military’s entry into commercial industry, which lasted two decades until it was ordered to cut back lest it become corrupted and lose sight of its core mission.
The tablet and other devices are made in a low-slung facility, daubed in camouflage paint, near, a factory that produces J-17 Thunder fighter jets with Chinese help.
“It’s about using spare capacity. There are 24 hours in a day, do we waste them or use them to make something?” said Sohail Kalim, PAC’s sales director.
“The profits go to the welfare of the people here. There are lots of auditors. They don’t let us do any hanky-panky here.”
PAC builds the PACPAD with a company called Innavtek in a Hong Kong-registered partnership that also builds high-tech parts for the warplanes.
But basic questions go unanswered. Maqsood Arshad, a retired air force officer who is one of the directors, couldn’t say how much money had been invested, how many units the venture hoped to sell and what the profit from each sale was likely to be.
The market for low-cost Android tablets is expanding quickly around the world, with factories in China filling most of the demand. Last year, an Indian company produced the “Aakash” tablet, priced at $50, and sold largely to schoolchildren and students.
Arshad said a second-generation PACPAD would be launched in the next three months, able to connect to the Internet via cell phone networks and other improved features. He said the Kamra facility could produce up to 1000 devices a day.
During a brief test, The tablet with its 7-inch screen appeared to run well and the screen responsiveness was sharp.
“It seems good, but operation-wise I have to look into it,” said Mohammad Akmal, who had come to the store in Rawalpindi to check the product out. “Within a month or so, we will know.” (AP)

Read more: http://www.defenceblog.org/2012/02/ipads-made-by-pakistan-air-force.html#ixzz1mtHX0hUe

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