ISLAMABAD, 2 November 2006 — Fleeing prisoners shot dead two employees at the Turbat Jail in a shootout early yesterday. The prisoners involved had been charged with arms smuggling and attempted murder and were serving lengthy jail sentences. Six prisoners managed to escape.
Two women in burqa (veil) visited the two accused yesterday morning and reportedly gave the two men guns. After the women left, a van carrying armed men arrived at the outer gate of the jail and a shootout began.
According to an official at the jail, two jail employees — Abdul Ghafoor and Constable Juma Khan — were killed in the shootout. Four others, Waris Ali, Hatim, Shakir and Liaquat Ali were seriously wounded in the firing, he said.
The prisoners who managed to escape were identified as Abdul Rasool, Wazir Ahmed, Muhammad Bakhsh, Shakir Ali, Tabish and Yaseen. Abdul Rasool had been convicted of drug smuggling and given 25 years jail term.
IPIC to Set Up Oil Refinery in Hub
The International Petroleum Investment Company of Abu Dhabi has been given a nod by the Economic Coordination Committee of the Federal Cabinet to set up one of the best oil refineries in the world at Khalifa Point, Hub, in Balochistan. The ECC meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Tuesday approved the $2 billion IPIC investment plan, official sources told Arab News yesterday.
The Pakistan government has agreed to provide 2,000 acres of land in Hub which was initially acquired for the proposed Pak-Iran refinery to be given to the prospective investors for establishing an oil refinery through international competitive bidding (ICB).
In 2002, Tehran refused to establish the proposed $1.3 billion oil refinery saying the project would not be profitable. Minister of State for Petroleum Naseer Mengal told Arab News, “The land acquired by the State Petroleum and Petrochemical Corporation for setting up the Pak-Iran refinery at Khalifa Point in Hub would now be given to IPIC of Abu Dhabi.” The proposed oil refinery will have the capacity to refine between 200,000 and 300,000 barrels of crude oil and related products per day.
Protest Over Madrasa Attack
Protests continued in Pakistan yesterday against the airstrike on a madrasa in Bajaur that killed 82 people.
The provincial assemblies of Balochistan and the North West Frontier Province adopted resolutions condemning the attack and demanding probe. The NWFP Assembly also condemned the government’s move to ban the entry of MMA leaders in Bajaur. Armed tribesmen ransacked government buildings.
In the second day of demonstrations more than 20,000 people, many brandishing guns, gathered at several rallies in the remote Pashtun tribal belt along the Afghan border.
The biggest protest was at Salarzae village, near the blown-up madrasa, where about 10,000 men demanded the resignation of President Pervez Musharraf. Some of the 8,000 protesters at Momandgarh town smashed up a private school, an electricity substation and an uncompleted building for security officials.
