Maverick Report
LONDON: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday met British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at 10 Downing and discussed in a meeting that lasted for one hour the bilateral ties, regional and international situation with focus on economic rehabilitation and strategic support to Pakistan in the wake of fight against militancy.

Briefing journalists, Presidential Spokesperson Farhatullah Babar said President Zardari emphasised the need for carrying forward the process of comprehensive up-gradation of the relations between the two countries and political, economic, investment, education, science and technology and cultural fields.
Babar said during the last meeting between President Zardari and PM Brown in May this year, the two leaders had agreed to establish a strategic dialogue and the Pakistan president’s call for carrying forward the process was in the context of that agreement between the two.
According to his spokesperson, President Zardari apprised the British prime minister of the successes thus far in the fight against militants and the rehabilitation of displaced persons, emphasising also the need for the international community to step forward and help Pakistan in this arduous task.
Babar said the issues relating to the setting up of Economic Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (RoZs), access for Pakistani manufactures to EU markets, the forthcoming Friends of Democratic Pakistan summit in New York and the Malakand Plan also came under discussion. The president said the commitment of the ministerial meeting in Islamabad to rehabilitate Swat and Malakand through infrastructure development should be honoured without delay.
About the regional situation, according to Babar, President Zardari said that Pakistan would work with international partners to promote stabilisation of Afghanistan and expressed the hope that the trilateral consultation between the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan would gather further impetus after presidential elections in Afghanistan.
President Zardari said that the joint statement at Sharmal Shaikh should provide necessary impetus for the resumption of Pak-India dialogue. Babar quoted the president as saying that Pakistan was seriously focusing on the Mumbai attacks probe but as agreed in the joint statement at Sharmal Shaikh, the bilateral relations between the two countries could not be held hostage to Mumbai probe.
In the meeting, Prime Minister Brown appreciated Pakistan’s efforts, particularly the building of national consensus, in the fight against militancy describing it as key to the success. He said that Britain was committed to supporting a democratic Pakistan in economic and other fields. He also expressed complete support of Britain to democracy and democratic institutions in the country.
The meeting was also attended by Interior Minister Rehman Malik and High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan.

Maverick Report
ISLAMABAD: Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, a top nuclear scientist of Pakistan who is described as father of the country’s nuclear bomb, has said that if mischievous attitude continued with him on the pretext of security protocol, he would disclose sensitive information.
Dr Khan, who was disgraced by former military ruler Gen (Retd) Pervez Musharraf on the pretext of involvement in nuclear proliferation and confined to the four walls of his house, was talking exclusively to Geo News after Lahore High Court verdict. He said the elements he served the most treated him maliciously. He said he never talked with anyone during five-year confinement to home.
Dr. Khan expressed sorrow over the maltreatment meted out to him and when asked about accusations, he said: “I am leaving this issue to God.”
Replying to a question, Dr Khan said he would go to the Supreme Court if the Lahore High Court decision could not be implemented. He praised the judiciary and said the present judiciary comprised brave judges. He said he wants freedom of movement like any other free citizen of the country.
Earlier, the Lahore High Court ordered to end Dr Khan’s official protocol immediately and issued contempt of court notices to the district magistrate and deputy inspector-general of police Islamabad and summoned them on September 4.
Dr Khan had filed an appeal with the Lahore High Court seeking end to his ‘official protocol’ at the earliest. His counsel Dr S M Zafar prayed the court that according to the ‘protocol’, provided on behest of (now defunct) Islamabad High Court, Dr Khan had to report to police in advance about his visits. The appeal also mentions the ‘sense of being interned’ despite being officially declared free.
Adjourning the hearing to September 4, Justice Ejaz Ahmad Chaudhry of the Lahore High Court said in his remarks that Islamabad High Court verdict should be implemented fully.

Maverick Report
ISLAMABAD: Empowerment of workers of the state-owned entities under the Benazir Employees Stock Option Scheme (BESOS) is receiving encouraging response from the employees, said Federal Minister for Privatisation, Petroleum & Natural Resources Syed Naveed Qamar while addressing a meeting of the Privatisation Commission Board here on Friday.
According to an official handout, the minister said the scheme would usher a new era of workers revolution who were being given free of cost 12 per cent of the government shares in the state-owned entities and the entities already privatised.
“It will ensure the improvement in efficiency, quality and production, which will increase the value and profit of the company. The BESOS has become the hallmark of the government’s workers friendly policies,” he said.
Syed Naveed Qamar lauded the efforts made by the officials of the Privatisation Commission for the effective implementation of BESOS in the shortest possible time.
Under BESOS, 12 per cent of the government shares in the Heavy Mechanical Complex and Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) have so far been distributed among all the employees of the two entities. In the OGDCL, 438 million shares worth Rs36 billion were distributed among the employees free of cost, which will benefit about 10,576 employees of the unit.
Eighty state-owned entities identified for the scheme include 16 listed and 33 unlisted public companies, 17 private companies and 14 units established under a special act or ordinance.
Some of the companies are Pakistan Petroleum Limited, Oil & Gas Development Company Limited, Pakistan State Oil Company Limited, Habib Bank Limited, Pakistan Reinsurance Company Limited, Karachi Electric Supply Company Limited, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited, Mari Gas Company Limited, Sui Southern Gas Pipelines Limited, Pakistan Engineering Company Limited, Pakistan International Airline Corporation, United Bank Limited, Pakistan National Shipping Corporation, National Bank of Pakistan and Kot Addu Power Company Limited.
In the meeting, the Privatisation Commission Board approved the appointment of Merrill Lynch as the financial advisor for Jamshoro Power Company, a leasing transaction.