Seven die, 11 injured in Kamoki road accident

GUJRANWALA: Seven people were killed and 11 others injured Tuesday when two buses collided in Kamoki.

The bus coming from Peshawar collided with the Gujranwala-bound bus because of a loader suddenly appeared on the road. The injured were rushed to Lahore and Gujranwala hospitals.

Three killed as coach collides with wagon in Ratodero

RATODERO: Two women were killed and three persons injured Tuesday when a Karachi-bound coach coming from Swat collided with a Raiwind-bound wagan on the Ratodero Bypass Road.

The dead were Nargis, 27 and Shazia Parveen. The injured included Mohammad Ashraf and Nusrat Begum. They were rushed to the Civil Hospital Larkana.

Pak status as poppy free country under threat

PESHAWAR: The United Nations declaration of Pakistan being a poppy-free country is under threat with the cultivation of the banned crop on thousand of acres of land in the tribal areas .

However, the authorities in the Khyber Agency bordering Afghanistan began poppy fields destruction operation on Monday with the cooperation of local tribesmen. A tractor leveled several fields in the remote Choora Valley, some 50 kms west of provincial capital Peshawar to signal the start of the campaign. A large number of Khasadars and local tribesmen too did their bit by plucking out the petite poppy plants with their hands. The only crop planted in the Choora valley on both sides of the seasonal Bara river was poppy .

Political Agent of Khyber Agency Fida Wazir, his assistant Riaz Masud and a large number of local tribal elders from Jhandakhel tribe were present on the occasion. The political agent, Fida Wazir, told the reporters that according to their estimates poppy was cultivated on a thousand acres of land in his agency. \"After a series of negotiations we have succeeded in persuading them to stop the cultivation,\" he said .

He lauded the cooperation of the tribesmen in eradicating the menace which he said was not only a global but domestic problem as well. \"One can\'t build a splendid house by destroying someone else\'s home,\" he said assuring the tribesmen all support in removing their problems. He said the federal government and the governor had given him special instructions to meet their demands .

Addressing a Jirga on the occasion, the political agent said the area was blessed since it had irrigation water in abundance. \"I hope one day you will be able to get rid of these guns and make a decent livelihood,\" he said pointing to a number of Kalashnikov carrying tribal youths. He urged the tribesmen to get united and stop opposing development schemes .

Earlier, several tribal elders speaking on the occasion announced voluntary destruction of the poppy crop whether the government initiated any development projects or not. They called for construction of dams to store water, electricity, telephone facilities and upgrading of different schools in their area. The most positive demand was for the establishment of a first-ever girls school.

Pakistan protests harassment of its diplomatic staff in India

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has formally lodged protest with India over the "harassment" of its diplomatic staff in New Delhi, and dismissed the allegations that Indian diplomats in Pakistan were being harassed.

Foreign Office spokesman Aziz A Khan told newsmen here at the weekly briefing, termed the treatment to the Pakistani diplomats as "willful harassment" and said despite the "formal written protest" with the Indian authorities on January 7 by the Pakistan's Acting High Commissioner, the harassment persists.

The spokesman was asked to comment on a statement by Prime Minister Vajpayee wherein he criticized Pakistani agencies of harassing Indian Acting High Commissioner in Islamabad. The spokesman termed the Indian allegations as "baseless and motivated" adding it is just to cover up what they have been doing with the Pakistani diplomats in New Delhi.

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