ISLAMABAD: As public pressure in France mounts on President Nicolas Sarkozi to testify over alleged corruption in the sale of French submarines to Pakistan in the mid-90s, the then Director General Naval Intelligence (DGNI) of Pakistan Navy has offered help to Islamabad and Paris to book the corrupt and bring back the looted money to Pakistan. Talking to The News, former DGNI Commodore Shahid Ashraf, who by his own account was tortured, harassed and put under illegal custody by the sleuths he once commanded and prematurely retired from the service “for knowing too much about the commission mafia in defence forces”, said that he was willing to cooperate with the Pakistani as well as French authorities. “I have a lot to share with them about the kickbacks in the Agosta submarine deal,” he insisted. Ashraf, in a recent interview with this newspaper, disclosed certain details of the Agosta submarine deal and revealed while the deal had led to the removal of the then Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral Mansurul Haq and the framing of a corruption reference against Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari but those mighty and powerful in the navy, who made millions of dollars from the deal, were never held accountable. The cover-up in the submarine deal, according to the former DGNI, was meant to save the skin of many in the Pakistan Navy. To force his silence, he said, he was maliciously charged for getting Rs1.5 million from a naval officer, who was alleged to have got illegal gratification and kickbacks from foreign suppliers of the naval vessels, etc., but was ‘interestingly’ made an approver against the DGNI. On the contrary, a list of naval officers, who were alleged to have received kickbacks, were never touched. Instead, they were promoted as rear admirals.
Pak Navy's Rear Admiral (retd) Tanvir Ahmed on Agosta Submarine Scandal - Part 1
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij7YP4USCN4
It is pertinent to point out that a Feb 17, 1995 letter, issued by SOFMA (the French company that was involved in the Agosta deal), talked of making payment of $40,000 to each of the four naval officers whose names were mentioned in the same letter. Instead of probing the four officers, however, each one of them was later elevated as a rear admiral while the DGNI was taken to task for alleged corruption of Rs1.5 million. Interestingly, he was alleged to have received this money from a naval officer, who was getting money from foreign suppliers of the defence deals. As being the DGNI, he had even sought permission of his high command to catch an agent, who was giving bribe money to naval officers but was not allowed to do so.
Besides the then DGNI, the former naval chief Admiral Abdul Aziz Mirza has recently also given credence to the French investigative report that talked of almost $49 million kickbacks in the Agosta-submarine deal allegedly received by President Asif Ali Zardari and others, including the naval officers. Recently, in an interview with The News, Aziz Mirza had also disclosed that the then Benazir government had urged the Pakistan Navy to go for the French subs. Mirza, while quoting the then Naval Chief Admiral Saeed Khan, had revealed that Benazir Bhutto’s Defence Minister Aftab Shabaan Mirani had clearly indicated to the Pakistan Navy’s high command the Benazir’s government’s preference for the induction of the French submarines.
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQQqA6h_pXg
Despite these clear verbal directions from the defence minister, the naval top command, according to Mirza, had again met and deliberated upon the subject and decided to recommend two options to the government namely the British Upholder and the French Agosta. The government later approved the induction of Agosta. Mirza, who led the Pakistan Navy from Oct 1999 to Oct 2002, said that the Navy first formally came to know about the kickbacks in the Agosta deal in 1998 following which it had proceeded against three officials of the ranks of captain and commodore for taking bribes and they were removed from service. “My hunch is that besides the politicians, some top ranking naval officers even above the rank of commodore might have also received kickbacks as reflected in the recent French media reports, however, they (the top Naval officials) remained undetected for want of proof or witnesses,” Mirza was quoted to have said, claiming that even the condemned former naval chief Masoor Ul Haq was not convicted of Agosta kickbacks but for the bribes that he had pocketed in the other defence deals. In Paris, the families of French engineers killed in a 2002 bombing attack in Karachi are pressing President Nicolas Sarkozy to testify over alleged corruption linked to the deaths. A lawyer for the families said they had lodged a demand with investigating magistrate Renaud Van Ruymbeke to question Sarkozy, former president Jacques Chirac and former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin in the case.
Pak Navy's Rear Admiral (retd) Tanvir Ahmed on Agosta Submarine Scandal - Part 3
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeF5f2eK7QI
Van Ruymbeke is investigating parts of a complex case that has spawned allegations of illegal political funding implicating former prime minister Edouard Balladur, for whom Sarkozy served as campaign spokesman in 1995. The families suspect that the bombing in Karachi in 2002, which killed 11 French engineers and three others, was prompted by the cancellation of commission payments on sales of French submarines with Pakistan. French investigative news website Mediapart in June quoted Luxembourg police as saying that a company set up with Sarkozy’s approval had channeled money from arms deal commissions to fund political activities in France.Sarkozy and Balladur have repeatedly dismissed the allegations of illegal party funding and so does President Asif Ali Zardari in Pakistan. REFERENCE: DG Naval Intelligence ready to spill the beans By Ansar Abbasi Saturday, November 20, 2010 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=2161&Cat=13&dt=12/30/2010
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Navy’s approver in the Agosta submarine deal is tightlipped even today and declined on Saturday to say what precisely made him a target of the then Director General Naval Intelligence, while sparing all others in the white uniform. Another source, however, claimed that a former naval chief, besides the already condemned Admiral Mansurul Haq, was involved in the dirty Agosta deal in addition to some senior officials of the Defence Ministry and key political players of that time. Capt Z U Alvi, the approver in the Agosta deal case, when approached, told The News that he would not utter a word on anything relating to the French submarines deal. He was asked about any pressure on him to become an approver against former DGNI Commodore Shahid Ashraf. He was also asked if he had any idea as to what were the total amount of bribes and commissions taken by the Navy officers in the Agosta and other deals. His mere response was an advice to contact the Pakistan Navy for details. Alvi, in his statement, dated 17 Oct, 1998, given under Section 337 of PPC before additional deputy commissioner, Islamabad, had admitted having received over Rs4 million as illegal gratification and kickbacks from foreign suppliers and alleged to have paid some of the amount to the then DG Naval Intelligence Shahid Ashraf and another officer Capt Liaquat Malik. Shahid Ashraf was of the view that Alvi was made an approver to implicate him and to ensure that all others were spared. The former DGNI wonders that Alvi, who directly received the commission from foreign suppliers, was made an approver against him, who was accused of receiving gratification from someone who got the commission in foreign deals. Shahid Ashraf said that Alvi did not mention the name of many others whom he had paid heavy amounts. In his statement given to the naval and defence authorities, Shahid Ashraf had contended that he was fixed on the basis of a statement of Capt Alvi, who became an approver although there was no provision in the PN Ordinance or the PN rules for an approver. “The BoI (Board of inquiry) may like to deliberate as to why did he make a statement taking names of only two officers who have been hurriedly tried, forced into pleading guilty and were awarded harsh sentences,” the former DGNI had said in his statement. Interestingly, the approver, Alvi, had admitted having received kickbacks from foreign suppliers of naval craft, stores to Pakistan Navy and transfer of technology to the navy in return for favours given to them by him in drawing up of contracts, negotiations, supervision of construction of sites and otherwise facilitating contracts between the Navy and suppliers and manufacturers of such naval craft and stores and transfer of technology. Shahid, according to the charge sheet served on him, was accused of having obtained money from Capt Alvi, who was in contact with foreign suppliers. One of the charges leveled against Shahid also talked of Capt Alvi of having received gratifications in the MCMV project meant for the purchase of US$550m worth minehunter special craft.Pak Navy's Rear Admiral (retd) Tanvir Ahmed on Agosta Submarine Scandal - Part 4
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0kHpo9jJbw
According to another source, Admiral Mansrul Haq, who was sentenced and jailed, had received extortion money from the French in some other defence deals whereas another naval chief, the source alleged, was the actual recipient of his share in the Agosta submarine deal. The source recalled that US$40,000 was also paid to a financial adviser of the Ministry of Defence by a local agent of the French supplier. He alleged that like the Pakistani rulers, and defence and naval officials, some French ministers and politicians, a businessman who was the wheeler-dealer and French naval officials all received part of the commissions in this US$1.8 billion submarine deal. The submarine deal, which was initially approved for less amount, was later allocated an additional $300 million because of the sudden increase in price. This sudden increase, the source said, was initially refused by VA Jafari and put on hold, but suddenly one day he asked for the file and signed for the release of the money. “This is part of the official record,” the source said. REFERENCE: Navy approver still scared and will not speak By Ansar Abbasi Sunday, November 21, 2010 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=2190&Cat=13&dt=1/2/2011 
SPEAKING at a ceremony at Bahria College, Islamabad on Tuesday, navy chief Noman Bashir claimed that the kickbacks in the Agosta submarine deal in the 1990s were ‘inappropriate’ and that ‘action’ has been taken against the ‘responsible persons’. With the controversy over the acquisition of French submarines refusing to die down, particularly in France, it is time the Pakistan Navy comes clean about all that it knows about the affair. If the Pakistani taxpayer’s money was wasted on a defence deal that helped earn lucrative kickbacks for key officials, then the public has every right to know who was involved and what punishments have been meted out. Perhaps the most famous naval officer associated with the Agosta deal is former naval chief Mansurul Haq, who was sacked by the Sharif government in 1997 and then finally stripped of his rank and privileges by the Musharraf regime after negotiating a plea bargain on corruption charges. However, Mr Haq was not punished for crimes associated with the Agosta deal. To date, the only known offenders who have been punished for facilitating the Agosta deal are two low-ranking naval officers, and even there the punishments have been minor. So it would be interesting, to say the least, to find out what Adm Bashir meant when he said that ‘responsible persons’ had already been acted against.
Pak Navy's Rear Admiral (retd) Tanvir Ahmed on Agosta Submarine Scandal - Part 5
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49egadhyxDs
Despite all the talk of corruption in Pakistan in recent months, it has largely gone unnoticed that the biggest deals Pakistan signs most regularly with international partners is in the defence sector. And these deals just happen to be the most opaque of all acquisitions in the public sector. What do Pakistanis know about the weapons systems and other multibillion-dollar equipment their armed services routinely acquire? Are they essential; was the most judicious use of public money made; were the best rates negotiated — to these and many other important questions Pakistanis have few answers. The cloak of secrecy behind which the armed services operate, routinely justified on the basis of ‘national security’, has almost certainly helped shield massive losses to the state. And there is little sign that the culture of impunity is about to change. It is telling that a serving navy chief can casually suggest a potential billion-dollar scam is a closed issue because internal measures have been taken to punish some unknown individuals. At the very least, the Pakistan Navy should publicly declare the results of its internal investigations into the Agosta deal. Only then will the public be in a position to know if ‘appropriate action’ has indeed been taken. REFERENCE: Agosta deal Thursday, 25 Nov, 2010 http://news.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/agosta-deal-510
ISLAMABAD: The post-1996 probe into the Agosta submarine deal, which led to the removal of the then-Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral Mansurul Haq and a corruption reference against Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari, was an alleged cover-up to save many key officials of the Pakistan Navy, besides turning a blind eye to a controversial $550 million deal of minehunters signed in 1992 during Nawaz Sharif’s first tenure. Documents available with The News show grey areas that remained untraced, while a key naval officer of that time told The News the cover-up in the submarine deal was meant to save the skin of many in the Pakistan Navy and was done by Senator Saifur Rehman, who was only interested in fixing Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari. The most interesting aspect of the whole affair was the statement of the then-director general Naval Intelligence (DGNI), who was instantly turned into an example for others when he was recalled from an overseas course, retired prematurely, court martialed and harassed to keep his mouth shut. The documents show the naval authorities charged DGNI Commodore Shahid Ashraf of getting Rs 1.5 million from a naval officer, who was alleged to have got illegal gratification and kickbacks from foreign suppliers of naval vessels, etc., but made an approver against the DGNI, who had given to the authorities a list of naval officers who had allegedly received kickbacks but were never touched and promoted as rear admirals instead.According to a source, the DGNI knew too much and, therefore, he was silenced. The NAB sources also confirmed the existence of a Feb 17, 1995 letter issued by SOFMA (the French company that was involved in Agosta deal) that talked of making payment of $40,000 to each of four naval officers whose names were mentioned in the same letter. Instead of probing the four officers, each one of them was later elevated as Rear Admiral. A statement of the DGNI submitted before the Board of Inquiry (BoI) was explosive but was ignored. When approached, Shahid Ashraf owned all that he had stated in the documents available with The News, and offered to present himself before a commission to spill the beans and uncover the faces, who, according to him, were alleged to have done wrong but were never touched. According to Ashraf, the Agosta deal was never struck by Adm Mansurul Haq, who had actually received kickbacks after the award of the contract for its smooth implementation. Those who had received the kickbacks before the award of the contract, he said, were never formally questioned. In his statement, he had told the BoI: “It needs no emphasis that lions share of kickbacks was paid before the award of the main contract. I had received information as the DGNI that Adm SM Khan, R Adm IH Naqvi, V Adm AU Khan, R Adm A Mujtaba, R Adm Jawed Iftikhar had received gratifications in connection with the award of contract for Agosta 90-B, for favouring the Agosta 90-B submarine acquisition by the Pakistan Navy.”He also revealed: “Col Ejaz Ahmad was actively pursuing the interest of the contractor and obliging officers concerned from time to time. My sources had intercepted information that Mr DEVENSAY of DCN (French company) had issued instructions in the form of a letter to Col Ejaz stationed in Rawalpindi as agent of DCN to pay $40,000 each to following officers of the Pakistan Navy: a. Cdre Mushtaq Ahmed, b. Cdre Khushnud Ahmed, c. Cdre SV Naqvi, and d. Cdre Naveed Ahmed”. All of these officers were said to be members of the committee for evaluation of technical specification of onboard equipment. He stated: “A copy of this letter was shown to me by R Adm Sarfraz Khan during investigation by Col Zafar in the presence of the Commanding Officer (Cdr Qazi), Cdre Shahid Nawaz (DGNI) and Cdr Shafiq Ahmed, Registrar Naval Court of Appeals. The copy of this letter was marked to Zafar Iqbal, stationed in Washington as agent of SOFMA, who was arrested by FIA. Mr DEVENSAY had directed him to release an amount of $160,000 out of special fund in favour of Col Ejaz for payment to these (four) officers.” He also stated: “Cash pay-off to officers was discussed in the Command and Staff meeting held immediately on return of CNS (Naval Chief) Adm Mansurul Haq from France in early 1995. The CNC informed the members that Cdre Shahid Ashraf had called me (Mansurul Haq) in France and seriously upset me by reporting that foreign currency was to be doled out to some serving officers of the PN. However, the investigation remained inconclusive as the Chief of Naval Staff deemed it appropriate to abandon the investigation for reason known to him.” Shahid told The News he had shared the same information with the then-acting Chief V Admiral AU Khan.
Shahid, in his statement dated Aug 23, 1999, also disclosed: “As far as I can recall, evaluation teams comprising R Adm IH Naqvi, R Adm Jawed Iftikhar and R Adm SA Mujtaba visited China, France, England and Sweden. This team recommended Swedish submarine as FIRST choice. Then another team comprising of R Adm AU Khan, R Adm SA Mujtaba, Capt Mushtaq Ahmed, Capt SV Naqvi and Capt Naveed Ahmed visited France, England and Sweden. Serious deliberation took place at Naval Headquarters to finalise the recommendations. Cdre Khushnud Ahmed (then DNWOP), Cdre Mushtaq Ahmed, Crde Naveed Ahmed (DSMM), Cdre SV Naqvi (then DSMO), Capt ZU Alvi (DNC) remained actively involved in the evaluation process with both the team visited abroad.” He added: “It should be noted that R Adm Mujtaba was made member of both the teams that visited abroad. The depth of his involvement in the contract before and after its award can be gauged from the fact that he went out of his way in supporting the inclusion of Capt ZU Alvi in the first project team in France despite the fact that Capt Alvi did not qualify the criteria laid for the selection of the project mission team. He had also persuaded the then-CNS (Naval Chief) to override the observations made by the intelligence against Capt Alvi ...”
He revealed intelligence sources had also reported that Col Ejaz Ahmed, agent of SOFMA in Rawalpindi, had been in continuous liaison with the evaluation team and other officials in NHQ (Naval Headquarters) and MoD (Ministry of Defence). “I, as DGNI, issued certain instructions to impose restrictions on the agents of foreign firms getting involved in negotiations/agreement.” He noted the whole process to acquire submarines from France took place during the time of Admiral SM Khan, who remained Chief of the Naval Staff from November 1991 to Nov 1994. He also placed it on record that after he had protested against his “wrongful” retirement to the defence minister, a round-the-clock surveillance was placed on him; he was arrested on the orders of Cdre Rashidullah and detained for several days for recording of the summary of evidence while all other officers were free. “Several coercive measures were taken against me to force me into pleading guilty,” he added.
According to Shahid, he was fixed on the basis of a statement of Capt Alvi, who became approver although there is no provision in the PN Ordinance or PN Rules for approver. Alvi, in his statement dated 17th of Oct, 1998, given under Section 337 of PPC before the additional deputy commissioner, Islamabad, had admitted to have received over Rs 4 million as illegal gratification and kickbacks from foreign suppliers and alleged to have paid some of the amount to Shahid and another officer Capt Liaquat Malik. Shahid said Alvi did not mention the name of many others whom he had paid heavy amounts. “The BoI (Board of Inquiry) may like to deliberate as to why did he make a statement taking only two names of officers who have been hurriedly tried, forced into pleading guilty and awarded harsh sentences,” the former DG NI said in his statement. Interestingly, the approver had admitted to have received kickbacks from foreign suppliers of naval craft, stores to Pakistan Navy and transfer of technology to the navy in return of favours shown to them by him in drawing up of contracts, negotiations, supervisions of constructions of sites and otherwise facilitating the contracts between the navy and the suppliers and manufacturers of such naval craft and stores and transfer of technology. Shahid, according to the charge-sheet served on him, was accused of having obtained money from Capt Alvi, who in all charges was in contact with the foreign suppliers, etc. One of the charges levelled against Shahid also talked of Capt Alvi to have received gratifications in MCMV project meant for the purchase of $550m worth Minehunter special crafts. According to the former DGNI, this project was finalised during Nawaz Sharif’s first tenure as prime minister but was never probed either by Senator Saifur Rehman, Pakistan Navy or by the NAB. Shahid said the cover-up in the submarine deal to save the skin of many in the Pakistan Navy was done by Senator Saifur Rehman, who was only interested in fixing Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari. Editor’s Note: Since it was not possible to contact all of these officers named or accused, The News would welcome their versions, if and when submitted for publication in these columns. REFERENCE: The submarine kickbacks Pandora’s box reopened By Ansar Abbasi Saturday, January 02, 2010 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=216475&Cat=2&dt=1/1/2010
TAIL PIECE IS "EXCLUSIVELY" FOR THE JANG GROUP OF NEWSPAPERS AND MR. ANSAR ABBASI
KARACHI: The Jang Group and Geo Network are proud to announce that Dr Maleeha Lodhi has rejoined the organization as Special Adviser International Affairs. Dr Lodhi will lead efforts to establish new platforms for global discourse and enhance the Group’s global engagement and international profile. Dr Maleeha Lodhi brings extensive experience in diplomacy, media and teaching to this role. She is the Founding Editor of The News and she held the position for many years. Her diplomatic experience spans 11 years representing Pakistan twice as Ambassador to the US and more recently as High Commissioner to the UK. She also served as a member of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament for six years. She was a Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School in 2008 and until earlier this year a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington. Dr Lodhi is a recipient of the Hilal-e-Imtiaz for Public Service, having also received several international honours for her diplomatic and academic work. She has just completed an edited book, Pakistan: Beyond the ‘Crisis State’ due to be published jointly by Hurst (London), Columbia University Press and OUP (Pakistan). Officials of Jang Group and Geo are extremely proud and excited to have Dr Lodhi as part of the senior editorial team. REFERENCE: Dr Maleeha Lodhi joins Jang Group, Geo Thursday, December 16, 2010 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=2701&Cat=13 Thursday, December 16, 2010, Muharram 09, 1432 A.H http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/dec2010-daily/16-12-2010/main4.htm
Maleeha Lodhi with "Kamran Khan" - Part 1
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyqzj4gG1Oc
Maleeha Lodhi with "Kamran Khan" - Part 2
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_mTG8By4fA&feature=channel
Mr Shaheen Sehbai, the Group Editor, The News International (Jang Group of Newspapers) had written in the year 2000 that, "Every one in the present morally, intellectually and financially depleted Pakistan --the print media and its well-entrenched "gurus" among the foremost --- is shouting from the roof top for accountability of every one else.Yet no one has seriously demanded, nor does any one appear to be contemplating, any accountability of the media itself. The peers, naturally those who come out unscathed and "clean", should sit down to formulate lists of those who have been publicly demonstrating a lack of intellectual, moral and professional integrity. Big names like Minhaj Barna, Mushahid Hussain, Maleeha Lodhi, Wajid Shamsul Hassan, Nazir Naji, Ataul Haq Qasmi, Ayaz Amir, Hussain Haqqani, Irshad Ahmed Haqqani, Najam Sethi, Nasim Zehra, Jamiluddin Aali and many others who sought or accepted political, diplomatic or government jobs, or joined political parties as activists, should be asked to explain why they did not quit journalism to do so and why they continued to use the profession to get, keep or regain lucrative jobs or positions of power. How do they retain, or claim to retain, their objectivity and credibility, once they have demonstrated their political ambitions. In the least they should have apologised to the profession".REFERENCE: Who will Bell the Bad, Fat Cats? by Shaheen Sehbai January 5, 2000 http://www.chowk.com/articles/4687 Shaheen Sehabi on the Accountability of Media/Press. http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/10/shaheen-sehabi-on-accountability-of.html
"QUOTE"
Issue No 66, Nov 9-15, 2003 | ISSN:1684-2057 | satribune.com
Musharraf Fires US Spy Agency for Pushing Amir Lodhi's Arrest
Maleeha's Fugitive Brother Allowed to Sneak Away from Embassy in Washington
Special SAT Report
ISLAMABAD: A major scandal about the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) of General Musharraf's military government came to light last week when a private US spying company disclosed that wanted fugitive Amir Lodhi, brother of the Pakistan High Commissioner to UK Maleeha Lodhi, had been tracked down several times but allowed to sneak out by the Government, once from the Pakistan Embassy in Washington.
According to Pakistan's influential Daily 'Dawn', Amir Lodhi, an arms dealer, was wanted by the Government of Pakistan in the French submarines case in which a former Pakistan Navy Chief, Admiral Mansurul Haq had been nabbed by the same spy agency and made to pay $7.5 million to the Pakistan Government.
Dawn reported, quoting unnamed sources, that the US company, Broadsheet, a private spy tracking agency hired by NAB, had protested as it had tracked Amir Lodhi, the brother of Maleeha Lodhi, a number of times, but the NAB was not ready to get him extradited.
"In one instance, officials quoted company sources as saying, he was allowed to sneak away from Pakistan's Embassy in Washington," Dawn said.
It reported: "Pakistan recently terminated the contract of US assets recovery company, Broadsheet, as the company had raised objection on NAB's "selective approach."
The paper said Pakistan had exposed itself to costly international arbitration in Ireland by terminating the contract of Broadsheet because of political favoritism.
Dawn quoted officials saying the US company was frustrated at the approach of the National Accountability Bureau, as it was governed by what it termed political expediency.
The NAB had entered into an agreement with Broadsheet, a specialist in asset recovery, for regaining the plundered national wealth stashed in foreign banks by public office holders.
The bureau had agreed to pay 20 per cent of the amount recovered with the help of the company. Under the contract, the government was required to hand over a list of its "targets" to the company.
The sources said US company was not happy how its good work for nabbing the wanted men like, Amir Lodhi, and Abdullah Shah, was squandered by NAB for political expediency.
Similarly, Dawn said, NAB showed no interest in the arrest of Abdullah Shah, former chief minister of Sindh, when the company had tracked him down as well. Sources said the company, which was getting paid only on the recovery of the stolen wealth, wanted to lay hands on at least eight Pakistani bureaucrats, and politicians hiding in foreign lands, but the NAB advised the company to "hold on."
The NAB is reportedly negotiating a similar agreement with a British law firm for the same purposes. So far, the best catch in the NAB's history, former naval chief Mansurul Haq, was made possible with the help of the US company, and for that the company was paid 20 per cent of the recovered $7.5 million.
The company, which was provided a list of 250 "targets" of politicians, and bureaucrats, was also miffed at the government's deals with some of its potential targets. One of its target, Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, became a minister with the change of government.
The unilateral termination of the contract, sources said, in all probabilities would be raised before the arbitrators sitting in Ireland as per the agreement. Pakistan has been losing millions of dollars to foreign companies because of inept decisions. Its disputes with Saba Shipyard, Bayinder of Turkey, Impregilo of Italy, and SGS of Switzerland is costing Pakistan millions of dollars on litigation with these companies in foreign jurisdictions, Dawn reported. URL: http://antisystemic.org/satribune/www.satribune.com/archives/nov9_15_03/P1_maleeha.htm
"UNQUOTE"
Please keep one thing in mind while going through the article below that Mr Shaheen Sehbai had complained about the Falling Standards of The News International in 2002 [the standards fell when Mr Shaheen Sehbai resigned during Musharraf's Tenure in 2002] now standard of The News International is again risen since Mr Shaheen Sehbai has agin joined and now it can be compared with The New Yorker/ The Washington Post and The New York Times. Mr Shaheen's Magazine's story above on Dr. Maleeha Lodhi, raised finger onher integrity.
Dr. Maleeha Lodhi [1990-93: Editor, The News, Islamabad/1997-99: Editor, The News, and often contribute as a columnist for The News International and that too when Mr Shaheen Sehbai is Group Editor of The News International]
Opinion Archive The News International Pakistan
Testing times for Pakistan-US relations 10-November-2009
South Waziristan: risks and opportunity 3-November-2009
The shadow of the past 27-October-2009
Terms of friendship 20-October-2009
The Afghan quagmire 13-October-2009
The Afghan fallout 6-October-2009
Obama's test in Afghanistan 29-September-2009
Redefining moment for PML-N? 15-September-2009
Evaluating the Swat test 8-September-2009
Criticism, conspiracy and public cynicism 1-September-2009
One step forward, two steps backwards 25-August-2009
The power of the past 18-August-2009
Parliament and the media 11-August-2009
Kashmir -- at a crossroads, again? 4-August-2009
The limits of power 28-July-2009
More talks about talks? 21-July-2009
Pakistan's leaderless moment 14-July-2009
The governance deficit 7-July-2009
Window of consent 30-June-2009
Terms of re-engagement 23-June-2009
Dilemmas of expanding the war 16-June-2009
Turning a new page? 9-June-2009
Winning the peace 2-June-2009
The Swat operation: peril and possibility 26-May-2009
Making parliament more effective 19-May-2009
The costs of delayed action 6-May-2009
The retreat of Jinnah's Pakistan 22-April-2009
Beyond the 'war on terror' 15-April-2009
The Obama strategy: risks and opportunity 4-April-2009
The challenge of governance 25-March-2009
Pause or turning point? 19-March-2009
State of despair 12-March-2009
The costs of confrontation 3-March-2009
Rule without governance 5-February-2009
Back to the future 29-January-2009
The crisis management test 17-January-2009
Review of 2008: between hope and despair 8-January-2009
Obama’s foreign policy challenges 17-November-2008
KARACHI: The Jang Group and Geo Network are proud to announce that Dr Maleeha Lodhi has rejoined the organization as Special Adviser International Affairs. Dr Lodhi will lead efforts to establish new platforms for global discourse and enhance the Group’s global engagement and international profile. Dr Maleeha Lodhi brings extensive experience in diplomacy, media and teaching to this role. She is the Founding Editor of The News and she held the position for many years. Her diplomatic experience spans 11 years representing Pakistan twice as Ambassador to the US and more recently as High Commissioner to the UK. She also served as a member of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament for six years. She was a Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School in 2008 and until earlier this year a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington. Dr Lodhi is a recipient of the Hilal-e-Imtiaz for Public Service, having also received several international honours for her diplomatic and academic work. She has just completed an edited book, Pakistan: Beyond the ‘Crisis State’ due to be published jointly by Hurst (London), Columbia University Press and OUP (Pakistan). Officials of Jang Group and Geo are extremely proud and excited to have Dr Lodhi as part of the senior editorial team. REFERENCE: Dr Maleeha Lodhi joins Jang Group, Geo Thursday, December 16, 2010 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=2701&Cat=13 Thursday, December 16, 2010, Muharram 09, 1432 A.H http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/dec2010-daily/16-12-2010/main4.htm
| Augusta scam: SC opens case against Amir Lodhi |
Updated at: 1332 PST, Wednesday, March 31, 2010 ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court (SC) approved the appeal filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to restore the reference against Amir Lodhi, an accomplice in Augusta Submarine commission scam, Geo News reported Wednesday. The apex court bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry heard the NAB’s appeal regarding Augusta Submarine commission. It should e mentioned that the former Naval Chief Admiral Mansoor-ul-Haq was released by plea-bargaining. The apex court restored the reference against accused Amir Lodhi in Augusta Submarine commission scam and ordered Lahore High Court (LHC) to hear the case. http://www.geo.tv/3-31-2010/62086.htm |
Maleeha Lodhi with "Kamran Khan" - Part 1
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyqzj4gG1Oc
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday accepted an application of the National Accountability Bureau seeking restoration of an accountability reference against Amir Lodhi, a co-accused in the Augusta Submarine commission scam and a beneficiary of the National Reconciliation Ordinance. A seven-member larger bench of the apex court comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmed, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Tariq Parvez, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday ordered the Lahore High Court (LHC) to hear the case. The accountability court had already released former naval chief Admiral (r) Mansoorul Haq – the main accused in the Augusta Submarines deal scam in 1994 including other arms sales – by accepting his plea bargain after he offered to pay back $7.5 million. Lodhi was a defence contractor and a co-accused in an arms kickback deal in the Augusta Submarine contract. The post-1996 investigation into the deal led to Mansoor’s removal as the naval chief. Amir Lodhi is also the brother of former Pakistani ambassador Maliha Lodhi. An accountability court had issued a non-bailable warrant for Lodhi’s arrest, a co-accused in the case for receiving $1,739,282 as kickbacks from suppliers. According to the reference, Lodhi was instrumental in obtaining commissions and kickbacks. The commission was transferred through offshore companies that he established. REFERENCE: Supreme Court revives accountability cases against Amir Lodhi Thursday, April 01, 2010 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\04\01\story_1-4-2010_pg7_34
Maleeha Lodhi with "Kamran Khan" - Part 2
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_mTG8By4fA&feature=channel
The reference accused the former naval chief of receiving $3,369,383 through transfer of money from M/s Titan Europe to M/s Foraker and then to M/s Moylegrove. Similarly, Amir Lodhi, brother of Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, received $1,739,282 allegedly from these illegal transactions. The reference accused that Amir Lodhi was instrumental in obtaining commissions and kickbacks in defence deals on his own as well as on Admiral Haq's behalf. Meanwhile, the same court directed the authorities to provide a copy of corruption reference against Chaudhry Mohammad Zaman, ex-deputy director, Agriculture Extension Rawalpindi. REFERENCE: Mansurul Haq's remand extended for 11 days Staff Reporter DAWN WIRE SERVICE Week Ending: 4 August 2001 Issue : 07/31 http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/2001/aug0401.html#mans
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD42hLaapJ4&feature=channel
"Ijaz told us that in this way you will kill two birds with one stone, one we will ensure votes in the US House for the Brown Amendment and the other the company R.D.D.A. will not sue you", the spokesman added. The spokesman said that when Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi was given this proposal she saw it as a trap wherein Pakistan Government could land in bigger trouble; so she turned down Mr Mansoor Ijaz's proposal saying that "it was illegal". In the Wall Street Journal article, Mr Ijaz has implied that Ambassador Lodhi used "aggressive tactics" in pushing for F-16 monies after the passage of the Brown Amendment because her brother, Amir Lodhi, was interested in the Mirage deal with France as he was the middleman as alleged in the article. REFERENCE: Author was denied $15m, claims Shaikh Our Correspondent DAWN WIRE SERVICE Week Ending : 10 October 1996 Issue : 02/41 http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/1996/10Oc96.html#auth
Maleeha Lodhi with "Kamran Khan" - Part 4
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TesQlS8QsH4&feature=channel
THE air of triumphalism attendant upon the extradition of Grand Admiral Mansurul Haq deserves to be kept in perspective. The Grand Admiral was an enterprising person. Of that there can be little question. What heights would he not have scaled in corporate finance? This is just one example, albeit a telling one, of how we mix priorities in Pakistan. The Grand Admiral should have been head of the State Bank or an investment corporation. And Amer Lodhi, reputedly the chief whip in the Agosta submarine deal, should have headed the navy. Since Pakistani lawyers are not famous for being choosy in these matters, it should come as no surprise to anyone if Amer Lodhi has been taken on by Mr S. M. Zafar as a client. On his behalf Mr Zafar, as eminent and expensive a lawyer as they come, has issued a plaintive statement disclaiming any Lodhi connection with arms procurement. The rewriting of memory is one of Pakistan's most thriving industries. Scams and disasters that would cause upheavals elsewhere scarcely cause a ripple on the calm surface of our national waters. That all responsibility is denied is understandable. But we go one step further and deny the very existence of the performances enacted, or the calamities staged.
Maleeha Lodhi with "Kamran Khan" - Part 5
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB1EaR3x3rM&feature=channel
Next to memory-fixing the most productive industry is the laundering of reputations. In this dry-cleaning business the dirtiest linen comes out clean. The National Accountability Bureau is nailing people for misdemeanours, small or breath-taking. Otherwise who is guilty in Pakistan? Not Benazir, Zardari, Nawaz Sharif, Saifur Rehman, Ukraine tank dealers, Agosta submarine commission agents, second-hand Mirage handlers, high-flying bankers, hospitality-purveying industrialists or entrepreneurs whose abilities would leave even fiction writers amazed. What's so surprising then if Mr S. M. Zafar claims innocence on behalf of Amer Lodhi, a gent whose enterprising abilities get a tell-tale reference in newspapers every now and then? Or take Amer Lodhi. He has friends in the US but as Mr S M Zafar informs us, he is a citizen of Monaco. You can't get any smarter than this. And here's one of our former navy chiefs, someone who might have been credited with greater sense, making a mistake any small-time crook would have avoided. REFERENCE: You don't shoot admirals, do you? Ayaz Amir DAWN WIRE SERVICE Week Ending : 26 May 2001 Issue: 07/ http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/2001/may2601.html#youd
Maleeha Lodhi with "Kamran Khan" - Part 6
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSQl8OFWmQY&feature=channel
When the Agosta submarine deal in Benazir's second term was going through it was widely rumoured that vast sums in commissions were involved. I too wrote about the proposed deal and got a rupees five crore damages' notice from Mr Zardari's lawyer. Then I heard no more of it. Much later, the navy, after some ill-timed revelations, were sprung, hauled up a couple of officers for receiving bribes. They got short prison sentences. This was the only peep the nation got into the skullduggery of this affair. Who were the principal beneficiaries? What were the sums they made? Suspicions abound but the details are shrouded in mystery. Later just by the skin of its teeth Pakistan avoided a Mirage 2000 deal that would have broken the back of our defence budget. Things had indeed come to a pass where strategic or battlefield need was not determining the choice of weapons but rather the commissions to be made on them. In both the consummated submarine deal as well as the abortive Mirage deal the middleman was said to be one Amer Lodhi, whose dad was onetime head of Attock Oil Company. Once at a party I was witness to a scene where one guy was trying to beat up another, an arms agent, because of a quarrel over a sum of money. The fixer had apparently arranged an introduction with the then air chief, Abbas Khattak, for which favour the agent was supposed to pay him ten lakh rupees.
The agent paid an instalment but then withheld the rest of the amount because, he said, the deal he was pushing had not gone through. Ten lakhs for an introduction, not bad whichever way you look at it. No, for the connected life here is easy and comfortable. As for the unconnected, they do not matter. But could a tehelka expose be done here? Not on your life. For one, Pakistani journalists are too lazy, desk artists who do their stories without moving from their seats. The legwork required for investigative journalism is not part of the local style. For another, who would permit such an intrusion into the forbidding spires of national security? Years ago when the Frontier Post (since dead) came up with a front-page news item saying that for a trip abroad Begum Ziaul Haq was taking 40 pieces of baggage with her, there was commotion in the ISI and a Stalinist purge in the newspaper's ranks. Things have moved on but not so much that a general in the procurement division could be caught on film (as was the hapless General Ahluwalia) declaring his partiality for Blue Label Scotch. Is it my patriotism speaking or am I right in thinking that Pakistani procurement officers even in jest would not lose their heads over such a trifle? REFERENCE No tehelka please, we're Pakistanis Ayaz Amir DAWN WIRE SERVICE Week Ending : 24 March 2001 Issue : 07/12 http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/2001/mar2401.html#note
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Amir and Maleeha Lodhi, Partners in Crime
NOTE: A British high court on Tuesday ordered two Pakistani ex-colleagues of Amir Lodhi, the brother of Pakistani 'Ambassador' to the U.S. Maleeha Lodhi, to pay $750 million dollars in the infamous BCCI massive corruption and big frauds case. Following are excerpts from the "Profile" of Maleeha Lodhi, 45, published in the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, April 5, 1994, written by the Times Staff Writer John-Thor
Dahlburg:
"Amer [Lodhi], the older of her [Maleeha Lodhi's] two brothers, was a globe-trotting liaison for the infamous Bank of Credit and Commerce International, whose collapse caused losses to depositors in excess of $10 billion."
"Now trying to cut deals with Pakistan's government on behalf of defense firms such as the French maker of the Mirage warplane, the New York-based brother has become a friend and business partner of Benazir Bhutto's husband [Asif Ali Zardari who now lives in a jail in Pakistan]. He [Amer Lodhi] also turned informant for the Manhattan [New York] district attorney's office in its BCCI probe."
"Operator and wheeler-dealer are labels Pakistani observers frequently affix to this woman, sometimes in envy."
"Some critics in Pakistan accuse [Maleeha] Lodhi of using her newspapers [The News International and Jang] to promote certain business interests, including the government's purchase of Mirage warplanes. One Western correspondent swears he saw a [Benazir] Bhutto aide writing an article that appeared the next day in Lodhi's newspaper, The News, and bylined 'by our correspondent.'"
"...many [Pakistan] Foreign Office officials resent her as an outsider, and a woman to boot, vaulting over so many senior career diplomats."
"Maleeha Lodhi's credentials include an eye for power, a blue-blood
pedigree and a thousand-watt smile."
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UK COURT ISSUES JUDGEMENT AGAINST TWO BCCI DEBTORS
LONDON, UK, December 21, 1999 (Reuters): A British high court on Tuesday issued a $750 million civil judgement against two Pakistani businessmen relating to debts owed to the collapsed Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), the bank's liquidators said. The judgement was made against Mustafa and Murtaza Gokal, brothers of BCCI convicted fraudster Abbas Gokal, who is serving a 14-year prison sentence in Britain. Mustafa Gokal was a Minister in General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq Cabinet between 1977 and 1980.
The high court also established a worldwide injunction freezing the movement of any assets of the two brothers, who live in Pakistan. The three Gokal brothers ran the Gulf Group, a Pakistan-based shipping company, which was by far the largest debtor of the British-headquartered BCCI. In the final years before BCCI's collapse in 1991 as a result of massive fraud, Gulf was receiving over $1 million a day in loans from BCCI. The liquidators seized some $60 million of Gulf's assets when the debts were first uncovered.
"Deloitte & Touche, BCCI Liquidators, intend to pursue this judgement vigorusly," the liquidators said in a statement. BCCI creditors are fighting a string of cases to recover more than $10 billion of funds lost when the bank collapsed. So far nearly $5 billion or 46 percent of the bank's losses have been returned to creditors in two dividend payments. A third dividend of $1 billion is plannedfor this spring, a spokesman for the liquidators said.
The liquidators have appealed their failed 500 million pounds-plus ($804 million) negligence claim against the Bank of England over its granting of BBCI's licence. An appeal hearing at the House of Lords will take place in mid-January. [Copyright Reuters Limited 1999] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pakgovnetwork/message/4222
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PPP anti democratic as blocking people of commenting on their page is this DEMOCRACY????
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