Pakistan 'A' completes Afghanistan whitewash

FAISALABAD: Pakistan 'A' outlasted a much improved Afghanistan team to win the third and final one-day cricket match by four wickets here on Sunday, for a 3-0 whitewash of the tourists.

Noor Ali (51) guided Afghanistan to an imposing 274-9 in their 50 overs before Sarfraz Ahmed and Saad Nasim hit half-centuries to help the hosts overcome the visitors after 278-6 in 48.1 overs.

Sunday's victory completed a rout that saw Pakistan win the first match in Islamabad by five wickets and the second at Rawalpindi by 150 runs.

Afghanistan were the first international team to tour Pakistan since March 2009 terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus, which killed eight people and injured seven touring players and their assistant coach in Lahore.

Ahmed put two match-winning partnerships of 63 for the sixth wicket with Sohail Tanvir (31) to lift Pakistan 'A' from a precarious 120-5 before seeing them off through an unbroken seventh wicket stand of 95 with Nasim.

Ahmed hit three boundaries during his 73-ball 53 not out and was ably
supported by Nasim who hit seven boundaries during his 43-ball 50 not out.

For Afghanistan, Ali was the pick of the batsmen, holding one end intact during his sedate 72-ball innings which had six boundaries. And Karim Sadiq had a fiery 26-ball 42 not out studded with seven boundaries.

For Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah took 3-29.

The Pakistan Cricket Board hope their successful hosting of Afghanistan will send positive signals to top teams who have refused to tour here.

Last week Sri Lanka refused to visit Pakistan for a October-November
series, citing security fears.

Abbreviated scores: Afghanistan 274-9 in 50 overs (Noor Ali 51, Karim Sadiq 42 not out, Shabir Nori 35, Mirwais Ashraf 31; Yasir Shah 3-29)

Pakistan 'A' 278-6 in 48.1 overs (Sarfraz Ahmed 53 not out, Saad Nasim 50 not out, Sharjeel Khan 38, Babar Azam 37, Sohail Tanvir 31).

Pakistan finish with Ireland flourish

BELFAST: Pakistan completed a 2-0 one-day international series win over Ireland in Belfast with victory by five wickets at Stormont here on Monday that rounded off eight months on the road.

Pakistan, set a target of 239, won with eight balls to spare thanks mainly to half-centuries from Younis Khan (64) and Umar Akmal (60 not out).

The World Cup semi-finalists have been unable to play any major matches at home since an armed attack on Sri Lanka's tour bus in Lahore in March 2009 made the country a 'no-go zone' for the world's leading teams.

But there were few signs of travel-weariness against Ireland.

Only Mohammad Hafeez, dismissed in the second over without scoring, failed but Taufiq Umar and Azhar Ali, in his first one-day international, shared 65 for the second wicket to put Pakistan back on course.

Younis Khan played the decisive innings with 64 from 74 balls, including four fours and a six.

He shared stands of 68 for the fourth wicket with captain Misbah-ul-Haq and 69 for the fifth with Akmal, who faced just 48 balls and hit six fours and a six.

The Ireland bowlers stuck to their task well with Boyd Rankin the most economical, conceding just 29 runs in his nine overs and also ending the innings of Azhar Ali, caught at slip by Paul Stirling.

It was Stirling who was named man-of-the-match after setting up the contest with a wonderfully entertaining 109, his first century against a Full Member nation, to follow ODI hundreds against Canada and, at the recent World Cup, the Netherlands.

At the interval, Pakistan would have been delighted to be chasing only 239.

Ireland, skittled out for 96 during Pakistan's seven-wicket win in Saturday's series opener, were on course for a substantial total while the 20-year-old Stirling was at the crease.

The batsman, who plays for English county Middlesex, made 109 off just 107 balls with four sixes and seven fours.

But when he was fourth out for 182 at the start of the 44th over, Ireland failed to kick-on.

The hosts lost momentum during the one rain interruption in the innings, after 37 overs, with Ireland on 159 for two.

Ireland took their batting powerplay two overs after the resumption but Saeed Ajmal and Junaid Khan bowled five excellent overs which brought two wickets and yielded only 23 runs.

Junaid, Saturday's man-of-the-match with four wickets, finished with two for 53 but the majority of those runs came in his first spell when Stirling was on the rampage.

The 21-year-old left-arm paceman got his revenge in the powerplay when he bowled Stirling and he followed up with wicket of Gary Wilson, in the last over, for 33.

Off-spinner Ajmal was Pakistan's most successful bowler with four for 35.

His haul included Kevin O'Brien, scorer of the fastest-ever World Cup century during Ireland's shock win over England in Bangalore in March.

Oil up in Asia as dollar slips

SINGAPORE: Oil rose in Asian trade Tuesday as a weakened dollar spurred investor interest in dollar-priced commodities including crude, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, gained 35 cents to $100.94 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for July delivery was up 58 cents at $115.26.

"The euro has hit a three-week high (Tuesday) on optimism and hope that Greece can get a second bailout," said Ong Yi Ling, a commodity analyst for Phillip Futures in Singapore.

"This optimism caused the euro to rebound and the dollar to weaken, leading to higher prices in Asian trade," she added.

The euro fetched $1.4371 in early Asian trade, up from $1.4264 late Monday.

A weaker dollar makes dollar-priced commodities such as crude futures cheaper for investors holding other currencies.

Traders are looking to US markets for leads when they reopen Tuesday. Markets in the US, the world's biggest oil consumer, were closed Monday for Memorial Day holiday.

Yen drops on Moody's Japan debt warning

TOKYO: The dollar jumped against the yen in Asian trade Tuesday after ratings agency Moody's said it could lower Japan's Aa2 government debt rating, dealers said.

The greenback rose to 81.26 yen in Tokyo trade from 80.79 yen in late Monday. The euro fetched $1.4386, up from $1.4264, and 116.89 yen from 115.24 yen.

Markets in London and New York were closed on Monday for public holidays.

Moody's said Tuesday it could cut Japan's sovereign debt rating within three months, voicing doubt its leaders would manage to contain the industrialised world's biggest debt.

Japan's government debt is already twice the size of its roughly $5 trillion economy and is set to grow with reconstruction costs from the March 11 quake, tsunami and nuclear disasters.

With one of the lowest birth rates and highest life expectancies, Japan's population of 127 million started shrinking several years ago, reducing the labour pool and raising welfare obligations.

Moody's in its warning cited "heightened concern that faltering economic growth prospects and a weak policy response would make more challenging the government's ability to fashion and achieve a credible deficit reduction target".

"Without an effective strategy, government debt will rise inexorably from a level which already is well above that of other advanced economies."

Takako Masai, general manager of markets sub-group at Shinsei Bank, told Dow Jones Newswires: "There is uncertainty how the government is going to come up with supplementary budgets, and it is unclear how the revenue for the recovery is funded."

"Japanese politics can be yen-selling factors" in coming weeks, she added, while noting the uncertainty over the US economic recovery and Greek debt problem may support the Japanese unit in the longer term.

The euro earlier rose against the dollar after The Wall Street Journal reported that Germany was considering dropping its push for a rescheduling of Greek bonds, said a dealer in Tokyo.

The gain was magnified amid thin trading, he said.

Talks with auditors from the EU, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank have dragged into an unprecedented fourth week and Athens' ongoing debt woes are causing friction in European capitals and market concern.

Nepal's royal massacre still a mystery 10 years on

KATHMANDU: A decade after Nepal's crown prince stunned the world by gunning down nine family members, mystery still surrounds the massacre that plunged the monarchy into a crisis from which it never recovered.

Many Nepalese believe they may never know the truth about the night of June 1, 2001, when a drink- and drugs-fuelled prince Dipendra ran amok with an automatic weapon at a family dinner at the palace in the capital Kathmandu.

Dipendra, dressed in military fatigues, killed his revered father, King Birendra, his mother, brother and sister and five other relatives before shooting himself, according to official findings.

The 31-year-old Eton-educated heir to the throne was believed to have been crazed with anger after being stopped by the queen from marrying the woman he loved.

But conspiracy theories continue to swirl in Nepal about the bloodbath, which caused outpourings of hysterical grief in the impoverished nation where the king was seen as the reincarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu.

"The high-level (government) commission formed to investigate the massacre only reported what happened and how it happened," said Vivek Kumar Shah, a former military secretary at the royal palace.

"It didn't say why it happened," he added.

Shah said some internal and external forces could have provoked the crown prince but declined to elaborate, saying only: "There were interest groups who wanted to end the monarchy."

The royal massacre, believed to have been the worst since Russia's Romanovs were shot on the order of Vladimir Lenin in 1918, prompted rumours about the possible role in the slayings of the king's less popular brother, Gyanendra.

Gyanendra was away from the Nepalese capital on the night of the killings.

"The people, who were numb with grief, reached a hasty conclusion it was a conspiracy (involving Gyanendra)," Kishor Shrestha, editor of Nepalese weekly Jana Aastha, said.

From the start of his reign, Gyanendra was much less beloved than his brother who in 1990 had legalised political parties, ushering in a new era of democracy and constitutional monarchy.

Gyanendra's unpopularity only deepened when he dismissed the government and embarked on a period of autocratic rule in 2005, a move that united Maoist rebels with political parties, paving the way for mass protests that forced the king to step down three years ago.

A Maoist-dominated constitutional assembly declared a republic in May 2008. Many ordinary Nepalese were delighted to see the back of the dour king as well as his playboy would-be heir, Paras.

On June 11, 2008, Gyanendra left the palace for a hunting lodge on Kathmandu's outskirts, marking the final end to a royal lineage founded by his warrior ancestor Prithvi Narayan Shah, who conquered dozens of small kingdoms in the 18th century.

"The monarchy lost its traditional respect" with Gyanendra's decision to dismiss the government, said Nepalese journalist Yubaraj Ghimire.

"Looking back, I think the politics of 2006 when the Maoists and other parties were arrayed against the monarchy played a critical role in its demise," Ghimire said.

Now, Nepal remains in tumult, racked by political crisis as parties struggle to draft a new constitution and oversee the peace process that began when the decade-long Maoist civil war ended in 2006.

The widespread hope that followed the end of the conflict and the abolition of the unpopular monarchy has been replaced by a growing sense of anger and frustration in Nepal, one of the world's poorest countries.

And 10 years on from the royal massacre, even though many Nepalese believe they still do not know the full truth, there is a waning desire to reopen old wounds with another investigation.

Judicial tribunal visits Kharotabad site

QUETTA: The Judicial Tribunal investigating the Kharotabad incident visited the site where five Chechens were killed by FC personnel, Geo News reported Monday.

The Tribunal headed by Balochistan High Court Judge Justice Muhammad Hashim Kakar and accompanied by IG Police Balochistan and other concerned officials visited the site of the Kharotabad incident.

The Tribunal inquired about the details and progress of the ongoing probe from the investigating officers and also questioned the personnel deployed at Kharotabad security check post about the incident.

Later, Justice Muhammad Hashim Kakar also collected information about the incident from ASI posted at Kali Khezi Check Post, SHO air port Fazl-ur-Rehman and the area residents.

He along with other officials examined the place of the incident and remained there for about one hour.

Journalists visit PNS Mehran

KARACHI: Pakistan Navy took journalists on a tour to PNS Mehran on late Monday, Geo News reported.

Journalists visited those parts within naval base where terrorists attacked and where naval commandos killed militants.

During the visit, Navy officials used maps and pictures to brief journalists on the security arrangements at naval base and also highlighted those areas where ensuring security is not the direct responsibility of Pakistan Navy.

Journalists were told that four militants attacked on PNS Mehran who entered from southern region of the base where security arrangements don’t come under direct authority of Pakistan Navy.

Militants first secured positions in base then launched attacks on officials which allowed situation to go out of control, journalists were told.

To a question, officials said that the likelihood of internal support for militants can not be denied.

Commission to be set up before budget session: Firdous

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said Sunday that an independent commission to probe the Abbottabad raid would be set up before budget session, adding that prime minister is consulting with all political parties in this regard.

Talking to Geo News, Dr Firdous said that decision has been taken to constitute commission and expressed hope that it would be formed before budget session.

According to the sources, names of Justice Javed Iqbal, Fakheruddin G Ibrahim, General Jehangir Karamat (retd) and various other politicians are under consideration.

ISI urged SA not to fund Nawaz Sharif: WikiLeaks

KARACHI: ISI asked Saudi Arabia not to fund Nawaz Sharif for his election campaign, a secret cable of 2008 revealed. 

According to WikiLeaks, National Security Adviser Tariq Aziz told Asif Zardari that after being elected as a prime minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi could challenge his authority, as Zardari was considering Qureshi as a PPP candidate for prime minister.

Aziz told US Ambassador Anne Patterson on February 15 that Saudi Arabia has provided heavy funds to Nawz Sharif for his election campaign in order to defeat Pakistan Peoples’ Party.

In the same meeting, he also told Patterson that ISI Director Nadeem Taj had met with the Saudi Ambassador to request Saudi Arabia to stop funding Nawaz Sharif. He also told the Saudi Ambassador that by doing so, the pact between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will be violated in case Sharif returns to Pakistan.

On February 15, NSA Tariq Aziz told Ambassador that in the past four day he has met twice with Zardari, who asked him for “advice” on who should be prime minister if the PPP is asked to form a government. DG ISI Taj and Aziz urged Zardari not to pursue the premiership for himself, as it would split the party and reduce PPP’s national influence. Zardari raised the idea of becoming Prime Minister with Aziz on February 14. Aziz told Ambassador that this might have been possible in years past, but under the new constitution, which stipulates that the PM must be a member of parliament, Zardari would not qualify.

Aziz said he encouraged Zardari to support Amin Faheem for PM. Zardari complained that Faheem is a poor administrator who lacks the skills needed to run the government. Aziz admitted to Ambassador that this is true; when Faheem was Minister of Communications he spent much of his time at his home in Karachi. Aziz told Zardari that Faheem’s shortcomings could be mitigated by appointing a strong staff, but Zardari remained convinced Faheem was too weak to be PM.

According to Patterson’s comments in the secret cable, Aziz was clearly depressed and pessimistic about the possibility that Musharraf’s party could hold on to power in the next government; we see Zardari’s continuing contacts with the government as a sign that he will deal with Musharraf after the election.

Afridi quits international cricket

KARACHI: Former skipper Pakistan cricket team Shahid Khan Afridi has announced retirement from international cricket here late on Monday, Geo News reported.

According to sources, Afridi’s disagreement with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) over some issues resulted in his early retirement.

He said it was hard for him to play under a cricket board, which pays no respect to senior players.

“I cannot work with the people who find it difficult to tolerate statements in favour of cricket,” he stated, saying that the duty of a coach is to work for the welfare and in favour of team.

"It is nothing short of an hounour for me that Pakistan played world cup semifinal under my captaincy,"