PCB announced team against NZ Tour

After a lull in international assignments over the last two years, Pakistan suddenly find themselves embarking on a schedule that will keep them in action until February next year. They first play three one-dayers in Abu Dhabi starting November 3, followed by two Twenty20s in Dubai before heading off to New Zealand for a three-Test series. Following that, they move to Australia where they have another three-Test series and a series of five ODIs as well as a T20I. The large squads, in part, reflects the heavy schedule.

 

Squads

Tests: Salman Butt, Khurrum Manzoor, Imran Farhat, Younis Khan (capt), Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Fawad Alam, Faisal Iqbal, Kamran Akmal (wk), Danish Kaneria, Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer, Abdur Rauf, Umar Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmad

One-dayers: Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Khalid Latif, Younis Khan (capt), Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal (wk), Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Wahab Riaz

Twety20: Khalid Latif, Imran Nazir, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi (capt), Kamran Akmal (wk), Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Saeed Ajmal, Imran Farhat, Fawad Alam, Sohail Tanvir

Misbah axed from all three formats

Misbah-ul-Haq's international revival seems to have come to an end, after he was left out from the squads in all three formats for Pakistan's upcoming series of ODIs, T20Is and Tests against New Zealand in the Middle East and New Zealand. Pakistan's selection committee have seemingly covered as many bases as possible in the three formats, recalling several forgotten names and forming an usually large 18-man Test squad.

Misbah's form has been poor in all three formats over the last year, in contrast to 2007, when he reignited his dormant international career in sensational fashion at the World Twenty20 in South Africa and then on a tour to India. The emergence of Umar Akmal as a middle order prospect has, for now at least, brought Misbah's second innings to a close.

However, chief selector Iqbal Qasim hoped Misbah would regain form before the tour to Australia later this year. "He has been given rest because we think he is under pressure and needs time to regroup himself," Qasim said.

The other major theme to the squads is the return of opener Imran Farhat, who ends a two-year exile after his stint in the Indian Cricket League by being picked in all three squads. Pakistan's last few squads have lacked specialist openers; at the Champions Trophy, only Imran Nazir was a specialist in the position.

Alongside Farhat returns another left-handed opener, Salman Butt; he was dropped after a poor series in Sri Lanka this summer but is back in both the Test and ODI squads. According to the selectors, the left-hander was brought back to avoid reliance on makeshift openers. "Opening is a specialized field and we want to hand over this job to regular openers," Qasim said.

Nazir is retained in the Twenty20 squad. Khalid Latif, in imperious domestic form, has also been recalled to Pakistan's ODI and Twenty20 squads, offering another opening option.

There will be disappointment at the non-selection of fresh faces performing well in domestic cricket, particularly batsmen, but the selectors have recalled left-arm pacemen Sohail Tanvir and Wahab Riaz. The pair make up for the absence of Mohammad Asif from the first limited-overs leg of the tour; because of his deportation last year from Dubai, Asif is unable to travel back and so has been picked only for the Test squad.

Seven players - the Akmal brothers, Saeed Ajmal, Farhat, Shoaib Malik, Umar Gul and Mohammad Aamer - find a place in all three squads. Younis Khan, after resigning and coming back in the last week as captain, will lead the Test and ODI side, and Shahid Afridi remains the Twenty20 captain.

Clinton vows US support for Pakistan’s ‘courageous’ fight

WASHINGTON: As Pakistan pushed its battle against militant stronghold in South Waziristan amid continuing retaliatory terrorist attacks, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced US solidarity and support for the nation’s ‘courageous’ anti-terror fight.

Speaking at US Institute of Peace, Clinton also noted that the recent terrorist attacks against government and military targets do not pose a threat to Pakistan’s nuclear command and control or access.

‘We don’t think that those attacks pose a threat to the nuclear command and control or access.’

‘We have been reassured about the security of the nuclear weapons stockpiles and facilities. But it is obviously a matter that we are watching very closely,’ she said in reply to a question about nuclear safety and the threat of proliferation in the wake of last week’s deadly attacks in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
Washington, she said, remains in touch with Islamabad over these issues.

Clinton’s remarks came as Pakistanis braved an unprecedented wave of terrorist bombings to fight a high-stakes battle against militants in the tribal area of South Waziristan bordering Afghanistan, where the US-led forces are struggling to contain an expanding Taliban insurgency.

‘We are supporting the Pakistani Government in their courageous efforts against these extremists, which, to us, is one of the most important steps they can take to make sure that these questions that you raise are going to be answered satisfactorily.’
In answer to another question, the top US diplomat said the Obama Administration saw the ultimate passage of the $7.5 billion five-year economic assistance package, called Kerry Lugar Bill, as a ‘great milestone in our relationship.’


‘I believe we have gone a long way in answering and putting to rest a lot of those misperceptions. As you know, Foreign Minister (Shah Mahmood) Qureshi made a special trip here last week and met with members of Congress, certainly Senator (John) Kerry and Congressman (Howard) Berman and others, to make clear what the intent of the legislation was. And on his recent trip in the region, Senator Kerry, in between helping us very significantly answer concerns raised in Afghanistan, made a trip to Islamabad where he reiterated our approach.’


Clinton said the US will try to do a good public diplomacy job in responding to misperceptions about its position on various issues and underlined that the ‘United States is hoping to be a good partner for not just the Government of Pakistan, but more importantly, the people of Pakistan.’—APP

Illegal Afghans given 72 hours to leave Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik has issued a 72-hour notice for illegal Afghans living in Islamabad to leave the capital.


The interior minister issued the ultimatum following today’s militant attack on a senior military official in Sector G11, a residential area that is located near an illegal Afghan settlement.

Rehman Malik has also ordered a door-to-door search in five major sectors of the capital, including G9, G10 and G11. The objective of this search is to hunt down illegal Afghans and terrorists.

The interior minister has also said certain Pakistani money exchange agencies and their foreign sources are involved in terror financing.

Rehman Malik said the government has taken serious notice of these reports. He has directed the FIA to conduct a full fledged investigation. He added that anyone found guilty of terror financing, will be charged under the Anti-Terrorism act.

Terrorism biggest problem for Pakistan, says Nawaz

Sharif expressed these views while addressing workers at the residence of MNA Begum Tehmina Daultana after expressing condolence on the demise of her husband Zahid Anwar Wahla.

Shairf said that democracy can steer the country out of troubles and put it on path to prosperity and development.

He expressed concerns that democracy was derailed time and again in the past, and termed it the main factor behind troubles confronting the country. Pakistan could have earned the status of a developed country by now had there been no derailment of democracy, said Nawaz.

Mian Nawaz Sharif highlighted the need for overpowering the energy crisis, adding that load shedding had affected the country’s industrial and agriculture sectors.

He said that our country was obtained after offering numerous sacrifices, and that the lively nation of Pakistan can overcome all problems.

He said that Pakistan can emerge as a developed country by virtue of rule of law, independent judiciary, justice, merit and democracy.—APP

Sudan UN peace mission head assassinated in Islamabad

SLAMABAD: Suspected Taliban militants shot and killed a Pakistani army brigadier and his driver in the capital on Thursday as the military continued a major offensive against the insurgents in their strongholds near the Afghan border.

Militants shot and killed Brigadier Moin-ud-din Ahmed, deputy force commander of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), who was on vacation in Islamabad.
'Everyone in the mission is very shocked,' Kouider Zerrouk, UNMIS spokesman told Reuters. UNMIS, one of the world's largest UN peacekeeping missions with around 11,000 personnel, was set up to monitor and support the 2005 peace deal than ended the two-decade civil war between Sudan's north and south.

Ahmed, whose rank is equivalent to a US brigadier-general, one step below a full one-star general, is the second senior officer to be killed in less than two weeks following a commando-style raid on army headquarters in Rawalpindi.


A shopkeeper, Naveed Haider, said he saw a man running, his face covered with a yellow cloth, before he heard gunshots.

'A man with a motorbike was waiting for him on the street. He sat on it and they fled,' the witness said before taken away by police for questioning. Police said Brig. Haider's driver was also killed and a bodyguard wounded.

Waziristan after militants rocked the country with a string of bomb and suicide attacks, killing more than 150 people.


Analysts have warned of the possibility of more urban attacks as the militants are squeezed out of their strongholds, with the Taliban hoping bloodshed and disruption will cause the government and ordinary people to lose their appetite for the offensive. -Reuters