Part of Mumbai conspiracy took place in Pakistan: Rehman Malik

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has registered a case that could lead to prosecution of the people behind the killing of 179 people in the Indian city of Mumbai last November, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik said on Thursday.

"Some part of the conspiracy has taken place in Pakistan," Malik told a news conference here.

"We have lodged an FIR into the case," he said, referring to a police complaint, generally known as a first information report (FIR). Malik said Pakistan had assured India of its full cooperation in the investigations of Mumbai attacks and that Pakistan had been a victim of terrorism since long.

7 female hostages freed from hotel in Lahore: police

LAHORE: Lahore Police claimed recovering seven girls from a hotel located in Loyair Mal area in Lahore on Monday, police sources said.

According to sources, as many as seven girls were seized in a hotel in Lahore whom police freed following a raid on the hotel. Police sources added, they have sealed the hotel.

Police conducted a raid along with Geo News media team and found hotel owner and administration missing from there meanwhile, they heard girls scream from a locked room of hotel. Police broke the door and took girls under their custody.

Police informed media, several abduction cases had been registered against the hotel owners in past and added, two brothers of hotel owner work in police.

Sexual harassment charges leveled against lady FBI officer

NEW DELHI: The FBI probe into the Mumbai terror attack took an unusual twist with Faheem Ansari, one of the accused, leveling sexual harassment allegations against a lady officer of the American agency who had reportedly interrogated him here.

Faheem has moved the court with his lawyer Ejaz Naqvi filing an application before an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate alleging that a lady FBI officer, who had interrogated the accused, had "sexually harrassed him all through the night." The court issued a notice today to the city police's crime branch and directed it to file their reply to the application by February 26.

The application also made a plea for Faheem to be sent for medical check-up as he has developed "itches and wounds in his private parts and all over his body".

"Faheem had been interrogated by three FBI officers out of which one of them, a lady officer, had sexually abused him," Naqvi told the court.

‘Internal hand involved in Mumbai attacks’

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Singh Modi criticises ruling Congress for not taking action against any local group

NAGPUR: Indian Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Singh Modi hinted on Sunday that the Mumbai terror attacks could not have been carried out without internal help – comments that are in sharp contrast with claims by other Indian officials who hold Pakistan solely responsible for the attacks.

The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said, “If we single out that one incident (Mumbai attacks) and ask any person in this country ... with basic information and knowledge, they will say that such a big terror attack on India cannot take place without any internal help from the nation itself.”

Criticism: He criticised the Congress-led coalition government for not taking action against any local groups involved in the Mumbai attacks.

Modi’s new theory contradicts India’s official position, and came just hours ahead of Pakistan’s reply to an Indian dossier of information given to Islamabad.

Addressing a BJP convention here, the Gujarat chief minister also slammed the policies of the ruling Congress party.

According to Hindustan times, Modi also made a scathing attack on the Gandhi-Nehru family, alleging that a conspiracy had been hatched to promote the family, posing a danger to the future of the country.

“A conspiracy to promote one family’s past is posing a danger for the future of the country,” Modi said without directly naming the Gandhi-Nehru family, but the indication was obvious.

Dubai real estate collapse

Pakistani investors suffer losses

By Mansoor Ahmad

LAHORE: The real estate industry’s collapse in Dubai has caused more damage to the Pakistani elite than the losses they are facing in their industries in Pakistan. Around $72.35 billion worth of property projects are stated to have stalled in Dubai.

Rumours are ripe in Dubai that these projects, undertaken by some renowned real estate developers, have been put to an indefinite hold. There is no official word from the developers about the stoppage of work but those who visit Dubai could see that work on over 50 building projects costing $3.8 million to $70 million has come to a standstill. Out of this, cancellation of work on real estate projects worth $3.275 billion has been confirmed.

Investors from around the globe had booked apartments in these projects by paying advance payments to the developers. They do not know whether they would get back their investment. Most of the capital flight from Pakistan in the recent past landed in Dubai for investment in real estate. The flight of capital during the past 12 months has been admitted even by the Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance, Shaukat Tarin.

There is no real figure about the exact investment by Pakistani entrepreneurs in Dubai’s real estate. The money was sent through back channels and the Federal Investigation Agency estimates a minimum outflow of over $3 billion during the first few months of the current government, which sent the rupee to over Rs83 against the dollar. The recovery of the rupee started after International Monetary Fund’s standby arrangement in November last year.

Dubai has remained a favoured destination for Pakistani investors. However, until a year ago only the richest invested their resources in the most enterprising Gulf state. Last year, even medium-sized entrepreneurs panicked by deteriorating economic conditions in the country rushed to invest in real estate in Dubai which was booming at that time.

The Dubai government then introduced the condition of one apartment for one family. Under this rule, the definition of family was husband, wife and children. Sisters, brothers or other relatives were not permitted to stay in the same apartment. This caused turmoil in the real estate business in Dubai as these apartments were occupied by a large number of workers who shared high rent. Individual workers could not afford to pay for separate apartments and vacated them causing a sharp decline in rents and real estate prices.

The investors are in a fix. Those who got possession of their property find the rent very low but cannot dispose of the property because prices are very low. However, most of them who invested in real estate during the last one year have not even got possession of their property and now construction of most of the projects is on hold with real possibility that these would be abandoned.

The cancelled projects in Dubai include $1.3 billion Nad El Sheeba race course which was being built by Mayden LLC. The $680 million Falcon City of Wonders undertaken by ETA Star has also been scrapped. The Dubai Exhibition City project worth $450 million has also been cancelled. Desert Gate Hotels and Towers being built at an estimated cost of $350 million by Bawadi LLC has been abandoned. Pikington Emirates has announced cancellation of its $200 million Float Glass Factory project. Walter’s Edge (Business Bay), a $125 million project of Damac Properties, has also been called off. The same builder has stopped a $100 million Dolphin Tower project. Nadra Tower (Business Bay), a project of Tanweel, has also been cancelled. It was to be built at an estimated cost of $70 million. (The News)