Nadeem Malik

Friday, June 29, 2007

Cyclone YEMYIN hits Sindh, Balochistan

Cyclone YEMYIN hits Sindh, Balochistan

 

 

 

7 army rescue helicopters fly off from Quetta to Turbat and Sibbi

 

 

4 helicopters waiting at Multan and Sukkur for rescue operations

 

PAF C-130 aircraft carrying relief goods

 

FWO construction teams to repair extensively damaged coastal highway

 

Mirani Dam in critical condition

 

Army Engineers Battalion moves from Panjgur to Mirani Dam

 

 

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon offers assistance

 

FC  evacuates more than 600 families stranded in Turbat

 

RCD Highway blocked due to erosion of road

 

Awaran-Bela road also closed

 

Railway track damaged, trains stuck up between Mach and Sibbi

 

Bolan Express, Jaffar Express, Chilten Express and Baloch Express affected

 

 

National Disaster Management Authority sets up control room to ccordinate relief operations

 

NDMA control room numbers Tel: 051-9209338, Fax: 051-9201065

 

EARTHQUAKE:

 

30,000 people still living in tents and 3.5 Mln in non-permanent dwellings

 

Thousands stranded on rooftops in sweltering 43C heat

 

Helicopters air-dropping urgent relief

 

200,000 homes destroyed

 

Flooding in Pech River in eastern Afghanistan

 

Poorly installed hoardings kill more people than cyclone

 

 

Falling walls in katchi abadis, electrocution created huge problem

 

South Asian rains kill 400 people

 

230 dead Karachi, 25 in Balochistan, 155 in India, 40 in Afghanistan

 

800,000 people affected by tropical cyclone

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                          

     ISLAMABAD, Jun 28 (APP): Governor Balochistan Awais Ahmed Ghani Thursday said rescue and relief operation is in full swing  in the rain-affected province, shifting marooned persons to safer places and providing them relief goods.

      Massive relief activities are underway to provide edible items, tents and other facilities to the affected people, the Governor Balochistan said while talking to a private TV (CNBC).

     He said the tropical cyclone has badly affected almost the entire province.

     He said 14 persons were killed in recent rains and flash- floods throughout the province. Four of which were drown, while 10 others were killed in different incidents like roofs' collapse, he added.   

     The governor said federal government has allocated Rs. 200 million and the provincial government Rs. 100 million in addition to local funds to carry out relief activities.

     To a question about Mirani dam situation he said the dam is safe and situation is under control, rejecting the impression of occurrence of breaches in the reservoir.

 

 

 

 

Balochistan-Relief Over 20,000 'Family Packets' being distributed in flood hit areas of  Balochistan

 

      ISLAMABAD, Jun 28 (APP): More than 20,000 family packets of 16kg each  have been prepared for onward distribution among the stranded people of rain  and cyclone Yemyin hit areas of Balochistan.

      Balochistan Relief Commissioner Provincial Disaster Management  Authority Khuda Bukhsh Baloch told CNBC TV that the packet containing rice,  sugar, soap, etc will easily fulfil one week needs of a family.

      He said the same number of flour bags are also being provided to the affectees along with family packets.

      Moreover the concerned DCOs have also been authorised to purchase edibles for distribution in their respective areas to alleviate their sufferings.  The overall situation in the province is improving fast.Turbat, Jhal Magsi, Bolan, Lasbella, Jaffarabad, Naseerabad, Lasbela and Sibbi are worst affected districts having a population of around 0.8 million, he added.

      Six C-130 planes and 12 helicopters are conducting relief and rescue  operation in flood hit areas of Balochistan.Food items are also being dropped for stranded people by other relief agencies also.

  So far only two casualties have been reported in district Jaffarabad.  No casualty has been reported by any DCO from across the province.

      About 35000 vulnerable polulation has been shifted to safer places. Communication links of Turbat with rest of the country would be restored by  Friday, he concluded




-----------------------------------------------------------
N A D E E M M A L I K
CNBC PAKISTAN
BUREAU CHIEF
ISLAMABAD

0321-5117511

nadeem.malik@hotmail.com

16th Floor, Saudi Pak Tower, 61-A Jinnah Avenue, Islamabad. 051-2800113-14, Fax: 051-2800118

 



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NewsGuru on Disaster Management- Governor Balochistan

 

                                                                                                          

     ISLAMABAD, Jun 28 (APP): Governor Balochistan Awais Ahmed Ghani Thursday said rescue and relief operation is in full swing  in the rain-affected province, shifting marooned persons to safer places and providing them relief goods.

      Massive relief activities are underway to provide edible items, tents and other facilities to the affected people, the Governor Balochistan said while talking to a private TV (CNBC).

     He said the tropical cyclone has badly affected almost the entire province.

     He said 14 persons were killed in recent rains and flash- floods throughout the province. Four of which were drown, while 10 others were killed in different incidents like roofs' collapse, he added.   

     The governor said federal government has allocated Rs. 200 million and the provincial government Rs. 100 million in addition to local funds to carry out relief activities.

     To a question about Mirani dam situation he said the dam is safe and situation is under control, rejecting the impression of occurrence of breaches in the reservoir.

 

 

 

 

Balochistan-Relief Over 20,000 'Family Packets' being distributed in flood hit areas of  Balochistan

 

      ISLAMABAD, Jun 28 (APP): More than 20,000 family packets of 16kg each  have been prepared for onward distribution among the stranded people of rain  and cyclone Yemyin hit areas of Balochistan.

      Balochistan Relief Commissioner Provincial Disaster Management  Authority Khuda Bukhsh Baloch told CNBC TV that the packet containing rice,  sugar, soap, etc will easily fulfil one week needs of a family.

      He said the same number of flour bags are also being provided to the affectees along with family packets.

      Moreover the concerned DCOs have also been authorised to purchase edibles for distribution in their respective areas to alleviate their sufferings.  The overall situation in the province is improving fast.Turbat, Jhal Magsi, Bolan, Lasbella, Jaffarabad, Naseerabad, Lasbela and Sibbi are worst affected districts having a population of around 0.8 million, he added.

      Six C-130 planes and 12 helicopters are conducting relief and rescue  operation in flood hit areas of Balochistan.Food items are also being dropped for stranded people by other relief agencies also.

  So far only two casualties have been reported in district Jaffarabad.  No casualty has been reported by any DCO from across the province.

      About 35000 vulnerable polulation has been shifted to safer places. Communication links of Turbat with rest of the country would be restored by  Friday, he concluded




-----------------------------------------------------------
N A D E E M M A L I K
CNBC PAKISTAN
BUREAU CHIEF
ISLAMABAD

0321-5117511

nadeem.malik@hotmail.com

16th Floor, Saudi Pak Tower, 61-A Jinnah Avenue, Islamabad. 051-2800113-14, Fax: 051-2800118

 



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Wednesday, June 27, 2007

More effective disaster preparedness urged as storm kills over 200

PAKISTAN: More effective disaster preparedness urged as storm kills 200

KARACHI, 26 June 2007 (IRIN) - Three days after the rainstorm that lashed Paksitan's main port city of Karachi on 23 June, Khursheed Jamshed, 50, is unsure if her 20-year-old son, Pervaiz, has survived.

"He went out with some friends, and has not returned. We pray he is alive. He has not returned yet," Khursheed told IRIN in Karachi.

As if the chaos unleashed by the storm was not enough, people in Karachi, which has a population of some 15 million people, were bracing for Cyclone Yemyin 03b, which has formed in the Arabian Sea 150km south of Karachi.

"The cyclone will bring heavy rain to Karachi and coastal areas over the next two days," the director-general of Pakistan's Meteorological Office, Qamaruz Zaman, told IRIN.

By 26 June, there were indications the cyclone had spared Karachi but had lashed coastal areas of Sindh and the adjacent Balochistan Province. "We have made arrangements to evacuate people from coastal areas," Waseem Akhtar, adviser to the provincial chief minister of home affairs, said.

Four thousand evacuated

At least 4,000 people had been evacuated from coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan by 26 June, and the army, navy and paramilitary forces remained on high alert.

Despite those measures, 14 cyclone-related deaths were reported in Balochistan by 26 June.

Rains triggered by the cyclone meanwhile created panic in a city still reeling from the storm on 23 June.

As a result of the winds and rain, house walls collapsed, giant billboards tumbled over and electricity cables fell to the ground.

Rizwan Edhi of the charitable Edhi Foundation said "at least 200 and possibly more people died in rain-related incidents".

This information was borne out by Sindh Health Minister Syed Sardar Ahmed, who confirmed the death toll. "We have alerted hospitals, and are trying to do all we can to manage the confusion."

Poorly installed hoardings

People though remain generally dissatisfied with the government's efforts.

"It was terrible. Poorly installed billboards crashed down before our eyes," said Ilyas Ghani, 24, who was out on his motorcycle during the storm. He and his brother, Riaz Ghani, called for tougher rules regarding the installation of giant advertising hoardings, which have caused deaths in the past as well.

People also staged protests over prolonged power cuts in Karachi. In some cases, power cuts lasted 28 hours or more.

With uprooted trees, billboards and debris blocking roads, traffic virtually came to a standstill. As ambulances belonging to the Edhi Foundation and other organisations began collecting bodies on 23 June, relatives searched the hospitals for their missing loved ones.

"My father is missing. We are not sure if he is dead or injured," said Ameena Anjumn, 20, daughter of Hamid Khan, 48, at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

The Edhi Foundation and other welfare groups said most deaths were caused by falling walls, tumbling billboards or electrocution - as power cables fell across roads.

According to initial estimates, at least 2,000-3,000 houses have been damaged in the city and at least 1,000 have suffered significant damage, including collapsing walls.

Shanty town hit

Some of the worst damage came in low-income residential areas, such as Orangi - South Asia's largest shanty town with a population of nearly 800,000 people.

"Virtually every second or third house here has been damaged," said Ali Kassim, 30, a social activist working in the area.

The Karachi-based Urban Resource Centre, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that advocates housing rights, said 50 percent of Karachi residents live in shanty towns or 'katchi abadis' made up of houses built from clay, unbaked brick, timber or sometimes mere canvas. The number of such persons is also rising rapidly in all major cities, experts said.

Millions of people live in unsafe houses and are vulnerable to roof or wall collapses. According to the HRCP, at least 90 people died across the country in 2006 as the result of falling roofs or walls. Hundreds of others were injured.

Cyclone damage

Another 300-400 houses in Sindh and Balochistan were reported to have suffered damage from the cyclone still hovering over the coast.

While the storm and the havoc it has caused has apparently alerted the authorities to the need to take preventive action ahead of the cyclone, with evacuations continuing, many fear it is too little too late.

Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim has already criticised the "weather authorities" for failing to issue timely warnings about the storm.

After the devastating earthquake of October 2005 that hit northern areas of Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, killing at least 75,000 people, there had been much talk of a disaster-readiness plan in the country.

"Each year, people die in floods or due to collapsing walls. Most housing in the country is unsafe," said I.A.Rehman, the director of Pakistan's independent Human Rights Commission (HRCP).



-----------------------------------------------------------
N A D E E M M A L I K
CNBC PAKISTAN
BUREAU CHIEF
ISLAMABAD

0321-5117511

nadeem.malik@hotmail.com

16th Floor, Saudi Pak Tower, 61-A Jinnah Avenue, Islamabad. 051-2800113-14, Fax: 051-2800118

 



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‘Musharraf election in uniform’

'Musharraf election in uniform'
Wednesday, June 27,2007

LAHORE, June 25: President Pervez Musharraf will have to get himself re-elected between Sept 15 and Nov 15 while retaining his military uniform, but if he takes the option of going in for re-election between Nov 15 and Dec 15, the protection given to him under the Constitution to hold two offices will become a moot point, says prominent constitutional expert and a former minister for law Dr Khalid Ranjha.

Talking to Dawn on Tuesday, the ruling PML Senator said under Article 41 of the Constitution, election of the president was to be held not earlier than 60 days and not later than 30 days of the expiration of the term of his office. Thus, the election of the president should take place between Sept 15 and Dec 15.

Article 41(7), he said, provided that the chief executive, as he then was, would assume the office of the president and shall hold the same for five years. However, by the same article, provisions of Article 43 that prohibit the president from holding any other office stand overridden.

"The president, therefore, enjoys the protection of holding another office along with the presidency for a period of five years i.e. up to Nov 15."

Also a former judge of the Lahore High Court, Dr Ranjha said the president had now two options. First he may get himself re-elected 60 days before the expiry of his term. In such an eventuality, the Constitution permits him to go into the electoral process while retaining his uniform and holding the office of the army chief.

His second option is to seek a fresh mandate within 30 days after the expiry of his term i.e. between Nov 15 and Dec 15. In this case, the protection available to him under Article 41(7) may not be available.

"However, one may not ignore the fact that prohibition under Article 63-D has been deferred by an act of parliament till Dec 31, 2007."

Dr Ranjha said: "It may, therefore, be argued that even after Nov 15 till Dec 15, the protection given to President Musharraf to hold dual office may remain. However, this is debatable."

Some other ruling PML leaders are of the view that Gen Musharraf should re-run for the post as a civilian, implying that the general should give up the post of the army chief before seeking mandate for another term.

Dr Ranjha said Gen Musharraf's term as president was due to expire on Nov 15, but was allowed to stay as army chief till Dec 31. The term could be extended by parliament by waiving the disqualification clause, he said.

He rejected as bad logic argument that since the existing assemblies were about to complete their five-year tenure, they were not competent to give another term to Gen Musharraf. He said if the opposition parties were not "Musharraf-specific", they would realise that the argument that existing assemblies could not re-elect a president for a full five-year term did not hold water.

He argued that if Gen Musharraf decided to quit, the existing assemblies would elect his successor for a full term. And if during the rest of the life of the existing assemblies the new president also resigned for some reason or he died, a new successor would also be chosen for five years. This, he said, clearly meant that the assemblies could elect presidents as many times as the post fell vacant.

Opposition parties' insistence that the existing assemblies could not give Gen Musharraf another term was a 'self-serving argument', said the former law minister.

He said it was the government's prerogative to decide when to hold the elections. However, whichever assembly was in existence would re-elect the president.

He said at one stage, the government gave a serious thought to holding elections in phases. However, he said, he did not know if the plan had been reviewed.

Under the said plan, the National Assembly elections were to be held while retaining the provincial assemblies.

Dr Ranjha said there was no possibility of any manipulations in the presidential polls even if Gen Musharraf was in uniform.




-----------------------------------------------------------
N A D E E M M A L I K
CNBC PAKISTAN
BUREAU CHIEF
ISLAMABAD

0321-5117511

nadeem.malik@hotmail.com

16th Floor, Saudi Pak Tower, 61-A Jinnah Avenue, Islamabad. 051-2800113-14, Fax: 051-2800118

 



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Tuesday, June 26, 2007

NEWSGURU ON POWER SECTOR CRISIS

WAPDA-Losses WAPDA reduces five percent line losses in four years:Chairman

ISLAMABAD, Jun 22 (APP): Through prudent measure the line losses of WAPDA have been brought down by five percent from 20.9 percent to 24.3 four years ago, Chairman WAPDA Tariq Hameed told CNBC channel.

Commenting on power shortages he said various long term measures have been continuing to overcome the scarcity from 500 to 200 mw.

More than 3,350MW power would be available in the country by 2008-09 including 330 MW through own sources as three thermal units of WAPDA would also start production by then.

Two power plants having capacity of 286 mw have been operationalised recently.IPPs thermal plants are working hundred percent.

Power demand has increased in the country at phenomenal pace due to rapid development.WAPDA's consumers have also increased from 14 million to 16.8 million.

To a question he said its wrong to blame WAPDA for power shortage saying: " We have submitted likely increase in demands to concerned department including Private Power Infrastructure Board (PPIB)."

Similarly no expansion of power plants was carried out in last years due to their privatisation plan, he added.

Regarding huge subsidy of Rs 55 billion being paid to WAPDA by the government he said the government is offering subsidy to lifeline consumers, tubewells, FATA people, etc.

"The income of WAPDA is Rs 250 billion.Government was bound to pay 2 percent of it to people as subsidy which is Rs 55 billion.So it is wrong to say that WAPDA was getting subsidy instead people are getting subsidy," he added.




 

-----------------------------------------------------------
N A D E E M M A L I K
CNBC PAKISTAN
BUREAU CHIEF
ISLAMABAD

0321-5117511

nadeem.malik@hotmail.com

16th Floor, Saudi Pak Tower, 61-A Jinnah Avenue, Islamabad. 051-2800113-14, Fax: 051-2800118

 



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Monday, June 25, 2007

Þæãی ÇÓãÈáی Êæšäÿ ˜ی ÊÌæیÒ ÒیÑ ÛæÑ ªÿ۔ ÔÌÇÚÊ ÍÓیä

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assemblies' tenure can be extended

* PML chief says he is against 'politics of references'
* Constitution will be amended if Musharraf decides to remain in uniform

Daily Times Monitor


LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain says the government has various options if the MMA decides to dissolve the NWFP Assembly after the opposition's all parties conference, one of them being to extend the assemblies' tenure for a year.

In an interview with CNBC Pakistan on Sunday, he said the government could also dissolve the National Assembly. "We have options either to dissolve the NA and hold fresh elections or elect President Musharraf from the present assembly," he said. The provincial assemblies can exist constitutionally even if the NA is dissolved, he added.

"We would also resign if the opposition resigned from the provincial assemblies," Hussain said. He added that politics was a "game of cards" in which sometimes you bluffed, and statements about dissolving assemblies were part of the game. He said he was against "politics of references" and had asked the MQM to withdraw the reference against Imran Khan.

He said the Constitution would have to be amended if Gen Musharraf decided to remain in uniform after December 2007.

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Shujaat invites political parties to prepare code of conduct for elections PDF Print E-mail

ISLAMABAD, Jun 24 (APP): President Pakistan Muslim League (PML) Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain Sunday extended an invitation to opposition parties to prepare code of conduct for the upcoming elections, removing their reservations in this regard. Talking to CNBC television, the PML President vowed to ensure holdinns would be held in accordance with the Constitution, either these are Presidential or general elections.

Ch. Shujaat underlined the need to maintain culture of tolerance in politics, putting the country on consistent path of development and prosperity.

To a question he said the party getting majority in the elections would form the government as it was a democratic process.


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-----------------------------------------------------------
N A D E E M M A L I K
CNBC PAKISTAN
BUREAU CHIEF
ISLAMABAD

0321-5117511

nadeem.malik@hotmail.com

16th Floor, Saudi Pak Tower, 61-A Jinnah Avenue, Islamabad. 051-2800113-14, Fax: 051-2800118

 



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SHUJAAT SAYS PROPOSAL TO DISSOLVE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY BEING DISCUSSED

Assemblies' tenure can be extended

* PML chief says he is against 'politics of references'
* Constitution will be amended if Musharraf decides to remain in uniform

Daily Times Monitor


LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain says the government has various options if the MMA decides to dissolve the NWFP Assembly after the opposition's all parties conference, one of them being to extend the assemblies' tenure for a year.

In an interview with CNBC Pakistan on Sunday, he said the government could also dissolve the National Assembly. "We have options either to dissolve the NA and hold fresh elections or elect President Musharraf from the present assembly," he said. The provincial assemblies can exist constitutionally even if the NA is dissolved, he added.

"We would also resign if the opposition resigned from the provincial assemblies," Hussain said. He added that politics was a "game of cards" in which sometimes you bluffed, and statements about dissolving assemblies were part of the game. He said he was against "politics of references" and had asked the MQM to withdraw the reference against Imran Khan.

He said the Constitution would have to be amended if Gen Musharraf decided to remain in uniform after December 2007.

----------------------------------

Shujaat invites political parties to prepare code of conduct for elections PDF Print E-mail

ISLAMABAD, Jun 24 (APP): President Pakistan Muslim League (PML) Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain Sunday extended an invitation to opposition parties to prepare code of conduct for the upcoming elections, removing their reservations in this regard. Talking to CNBC television, the PML President vowed to ensure holding of free, fair and transparent elections.

He said elections would be held in accordance with the Constitution, either these are Presidential or general elections.

Ch. Shujaat underlined the need to maintain culture of tolerance in politics, putting the country on consistent path of development and prosperity.

To a question he said the party getting majority in the elections would form the government as it was a democratic process.


-----------------------

 



 

-----------------------------------------------------------
N A D E E M M A L I K
CNBC PAKISTAN
BUREAU CHIEF
ISLAMABAD

0321-5117511

nadeem.malik@hotmail.com

16th Floor, Saudi Pak Tower, 61-A Jinnah Avenue, Islamabad. 051-2800113-14, Fax: 051-2800118

 



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RATE OF RETURN ON SAVINGS CERTIFICATES

ISLAMABAD: Central Directorate of National Savings revises rates of return on different instruments effective June 23, 2007- CDNS

 

ISLAMABAD: Return on Defense Saving Certificates rises 10 pct to 10.15 pct; Special Saving Accounts and Scheme from 9.17 pct to 9.25 pct, Regular Income Certificates from 9.24 pct to 9.54 pct- CDNS

 

ISLAMABAD: Return on Pensioners Benefit Account and Behbood Saving Certificates increase from 11.52 pct to 11.64 pct- CDNS

 

ISLAMABAD: Rate of return on Savings Account moves up from 6 pct to 6.5 pct- CDNS

 




-----------------------------------------------------------
N A D E E M M A L I K
CNBC PAKISTAN
BUREAU CHIEF
ISLAMABAD

0321-5117511

nadeem.malik@hotmail.com

16th Floor, Saudi Pak Tower, 61-A Jinnah Avenue, Islamabad. 051-2800113-14, Fax: 051-2800118

 



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Saturday, June 23, 2007

UBL GDRs & HBL IPO

ISLAMABAD:  Privatisation Commission sells 202 mln UBL shares for $650.3 mln- Privatisation Minsiter Zahid Hamid

 

ISLAMABAD: One GDR of UBL equivalent to 4 shares sold for $12.85- Zahid Hamid

 

ISLAMABAD: Privatisation Commission receives total offers of $2.5 bln for UBL GDRs- Zahid Hamid

 

ISLAMABAD: PC to launch HBL IPO at PKR 235 per share in next 2-3 weeks- Zahid Hamid

 

ISLAMABAD: CCoP approves 5 pct HBL shares for initial offering, with 2.5 pct green shoe option- Zahid Hamid

 

ISLAMABAD: HBL IPO comprising over 75 mln shares to fetch PKR 12.2 bln- Zahid Hamid

 

ISLAMABAD: PSO privatisation deferred till the beginning of next fiscal year- Zahid Hamid

 




-----------------------------------------------------------
N A D E E M M A L I K
CNBC PAKISTAN
BUREAU CHIEF
ISLAMABAD

0321-5117511

nadeem.malik@hotmail.com

16th Floor, Saudi Pak Tower, 61-A Jinnah Avenue, Islamabad. 051-2800113-14, Fax: 051-2800118

 



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Friday, June 22, 2007

Insider Trading Can Now Touch Many Corners of the World


 

Insider Trading Can Now Touch Many Corners of the World

 

By LANDON THOMAS Jr. and MICHAEL J. de la MERCED

Published: June 20, 2007

Life in the great Pakistan bull market had been good to Ajaz Rahim. He had a big house in an affluent Karachi neighborhood, a swimming pool with a wave machine and a Yamaha motorcycle that people who know him say he liked to ride without a helmet.

Friends said that Mr. Rahim, an admirer of Warren E. Buffett, often talked of how he had become a "rupee billionaire" from investments in Pakistani stocks, real estate and a recent winning streak in the American market.

Then, in late February, it all imploded. Stock in TXU, the Texas energy giant, had spiked after a $45 billion buyout offer and Mr. Rahim had just taken $5.1 million in profit. But his broker was telling him that his assets, which regulators say exceeded $7 million, were being frozen and that American legal authorities suspected he had traded on inside information.

Within weeks, Mr. Rahim left Pakistan and his job at Faysal Bank, where he had overseen stock trading, and went for a time to Canada, where his wife and two children had moved, say people with knowledge of his actions.

In May, prosecutors charged Mr. Rahim with 26 counts of insider trading in Federal District Court in Manhattan and said in the complaints that a friend at Credit Suisse, Hafiz Muhammad Zubair Naseem, had tipped him off that TXU would be taken private before his profitable trades.

Now, fearing that his Pakistani origins might be enough to land him in an American jail, Mr. Rahim has returned to his hometown, Lahore, a city in northeast Pakistan, say people who have been briefed on his whereabouts.

Mr. Rahim's lawyer, Spencer C. Barasch, declined to comment on his client's whereabouts, saying only that Mr. Rahim was not hiding but was "letting the legal process work itself out." Mr. Barasch said his client was innocent and would fight the charges against him.

The circumstances are more dire for Mr. Naseem, the former banker at Credit Suisse who is accused of feeding Mr. Rahim inside information on at least nine deals. Released on bail of $1 million, his passport confiscated and his assets frozen, Mr. Naseem remains confined to his home in Rye Brook, N.Y.

While the Pakistani locale may be unusual, the story of Mr. Rahim and Mr. Naseem revolves around themes of hubris and aspiration that are timeless. And it is one in a recent spate of such incidents. While many have involved Americans, others have spanned the globe, from Hong Kong to Croatia to Pakistan.

Mr. Rahim is one of a new generation of market players who have seen their fortunes soar as a wave of capital has propelled emerging markets to new highs, from China to India and most starkly Pakistan, where the stock market has jumped more than 800 percent since 2001.

Far removed from the insider trading scandals of the 1980s, these investors have become enthusiastic speculators on overseas markets. But, as they have taken on more risk, regulators say that some are violating American securities laws, prompting the authorities to range far and wide to try to catch them.

Since the attacks of Sept. 11, $10 billion in American aid, a stream of money from oil rich investors and a pro-economic reform government supported by Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, have produced the most explosive bull market in the country's history.

This year the market is up 35 percent, shrugging off suicide bombs in Karachi and civil unrest protesting the rule of General Musharraf.

While there is no evidence that Mr. Rahim used inside information in the local market, legal specialists in Pakistan say that lax regulation has created a permissive trading environment.

"There is a culture of noncompliance in Pakistan," said Tariq Hassan, the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. "If you can't get caught, then you have the incentive to make a quick buck."

Mr. Rahim, 44, and Mr. Naseem, 37, could not be more different from each other.

Known for his love of Cuban cigars and sleek automobiles, Mr. Rahim seems a caricature of the classic Wall Street deal maker. His social network extended deep into Pakistan business circles, and he developed a reputation as an expansive host who held frequent parties.

As the markets boomed, so did his wealth. "How much do you think I'm worth," his associates recall him asking during a recent dinner party. "$30 million," guessed one. "Higher, higher," Mr. Rahim responded, according to one person who was there.

Mr. Barasch, the defense lawyer, says that while people have tried to guess his client's wealth, Mr. Rahim has never talked specifically about his net worth.

Mr. Naseem, the son of a civil servant, had little of his mentor's panache. He came to know Mr. Rahim while the two worked at American Express in Lahore in the late 1990s. In 2002, Mr. Naseem came to the United States to get a business degree at New York University. After a stint at JPMorgan, he joined Credit Suisse. He lives in a rented home in Westchester County, where he cares for a child who has cerebral palsy.

 

 

Insider Trading Can Now Touch Many Corners of the World

(Page 2 of 2)

At the time Mr. Naseem left Pakistan, Mr. Rahim's fortunes were at a low ebb. American Express was closing its operations in Pakistan, and Mr. Rahim had suffered deep losses from his investments in plummeting American technology stocks.

In 2002 he got a break, landing a job at Faysal Bank, a small commercial bank majority owned by the Dar al-Maal al-Islami Trust, an Islamic investment conglomerate in Geneva founded by Prince Muhammad al-Faisal al-Saud, a senior member of the Saudi royal family and an advocate of Islamic-based finance principles.

A spirited man who sports a French beard and enjoys a glass of whiskey, Mr. Rahim stood out among his more conservative colleagues within the Dar al-Maal al-Islami group, the slogan of which is "Allah is the purveyor of all success."

People who know him say that he always envisioned himself as a market-savvy deal maker, and when capital began flowing into Pakistan after Sept. 11, Mr. Rahim, put in charge of managing Faysal Bank's stock portfolio, became an influential investor in the local market.

He was promoted to head of investment banking in 2005 by Faysal's chief executive, Farook Bengali.

Feeling flush with success, Mr. Rahim burnished his public image by financing the building of a hospital in Karachi, named after his mother. And in 2006, he led the bank's push into real estate by investing in development projects in Lahore and Islamabad.

Unlike many investors in Pakistan who stick to the market they know, Mr. Rahim fancied himself a global investor, regardless of his losses in 2000, say people who know him.

In April 2006, according to the government's complaint, he began an extraordinary investment run by taking positions in nine American companies just before they were involved in takeovers or deals that allowed him to cash out quickly, culminating in the TXU trades in February.

In each case, the government accuses Mr. Naseem, who had joined Credit Suisse in March 2006, of tipping off Mr. Rahim that these companies would be taken over. He is accused of illegally retrieving the information from a database of Credit Suisse, which was an adviser in each deal.

"Let the fun begin," Mr. Naseem wrote in an e-mail message that he sent to a brokerage house in Karachi, asking to open up an account, according to the complaint.

A lawyer for Mr. Naseem, Michael F. Bachner, said that his client "denies all allegations that he engaged in any wrongdoing," and that he would contest the charges in court.

For his defense, Mr. Rahim is expected to argue that before the TXU trades, he had read a UBS research report, which said the stock sell-off represented a buying opportunity. People briefed on his defense strategy say that he also consulted a report on the Motley Fool investor Web site, as well as several articles on The Street.com.

Indeed, while the chronology of telephone calls and stock purchases seems persuasive on the surface, Judge James C. Francis IV, in Federal District Court in Manhattan cast some doubt on the government's case at a recent hearing, calling the evidence "plainly inferential."

Arif Habib, a prominent investor in the Pakistan market, says that Mr. Rahim was known for his propensity to pass along stock tips, although Mr. Habib says that he himself never acted upon them.

"He used to say that there were good opportunities in international markets," said Mr. Habib, the chairman of a securities firm that bears his name. "He had the habit of talking about everything."

In its complaint, the Security and Exchange Commission contends Mr. Rahim passed along Mr. Naseem's tips to "certain of his associates in Pakistan, including bank officers, bank directors and brokerage officials," and that these people also traded before the merger announcements.

While it is unclear if any further Pakistani executives will be named, Mr. Rahim's web of relationships reached all corners of the country's business world, and such a prospect has created anxiety in a financial community that has not been exposed to any serious regulatory scrutiny.

Reached on his cellphone, Mr. Bengali, the head of Faysal Bank, said that Mr. Naseem had never passed on any overseas stock tips to him and that Mr. Rahim had never used Faysal's capital to trade illegally.

He was adamant in saying that Mr. Rahim's days at the bank are over. It is a reality that is underscored by the swift disappearance of Mr. Rahim's picture from the bank's Web site, where he was once featured standing next to the man who had given him a second lease on his career.

"He has resigned and he is no longer with us," Mr. Bengali said. "None of us are aware of such happenings. It's a complete shock."

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