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Posted by Dr. Salman in JOINT INVESTIGATION TEAM on July 15th, 2017
Another Offshore Company Revealed
ISLAMABAD: The Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which submitted a damning report on the offshore assets of the Sharif family on Monday, has come up with some crucial evidence which might be sufficient to send Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif packing. The six-member probe team has submitted a key document to confirm that Sharif was employed with the Capital FZE as its board chairman from August 6, 2006 to April 20, 2014.Damning indictment: JIT suggests filing NAB reference against Sharif family The document – a letter from Shehab Sultan Mesmar of the Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority (JAFZA) dated July 4 – has been issued in response to the JIT’s query about Sharif’s ownership in the offshore company.
Posted by Fiona in Middle East on July 15th, 2017
Over the past two years, Qatar has conducted over $86 billion worth of transactions in Chinese Yuan and signed several economic agreements with China.
Is the Saudi-led crackdown on Qatar a Washington manoeuvre to nix the Emirate’s attempts to sell oil and gas in Chinese yuan, via Iran, undermining the hegemony of the US dollar that has been the international standard since the Nixon Presidency?
America’s hostility to Iraq and Libya was rooted in their attempts to sell oil in currencies other than the US dollar, and led to regime change in both nations, along with the brutal deaths of Saddam Hussain and Muammar Gaddafi, respectively.
Observers have long opined that the “real” reason for the war in Iraq was Saddam Hussein’s decision, announced in October 2000, to price Iraqi oil in the new currency of the European Union, rather than in US dollars, “the currency of the enemy”. It is well known that unless the price of oil is denominated in dollars, Washington cannot run its huge balance of payments deficits, as other nations hold accounts and reserves in dollars only to pay for oil.
According to a Guardian report of 2003, Iraq made handsome profits in selling oil in euros, until the US invasion (March 2003) forced oil sales back to the dollar. Prior to that, from 2001, under the UN oil-for-food program, almost all Iraqi oil exports were paid in euro and roughly 26 billion euros (£17.4 bn) was paid for 3.3 billion barrels of oil into an escrow account in New York. It earned a higher rate of interest in euros than it would have in dollars.
According to a Guardian report 2003, Iraq made handsome profits in selling oil in euros, until the US invasion forced oil sales back to the dollar.
Wikileaks has since revealed Hillary Clinton’s emails which show that the US and French President Nicolas Sarkozy were keen to attack Libya’s Gaddafi to scuttle his plan to unite Africa under a single gold-backed currency (African gold dinar) to be used to buy and sell oil on the global markets.
France moved UN Security Council Resolution 1973 for a no-fly zone over Libya, ostensibly to protect civilians. But an April 2011 email to Hillary Clinton, titled “France’s client and Qaddafi’s gold”, exposes Nicholas Sarkozy as saying for Gaddafi’s blood to obtain Libyan oil (French company, Total), ensure France’s regional influence, boost Sarkozy’s domestic reputation (for re-election; he lost), assert French military power, and curb Gaddafi’s sway over “Francophone Africa” (French colonial Africa).
Iraq made handsome profits in selling oil in euros, until the US invasion (March 2003) forced oil sales back to the dollar.
The email deals lengthily with the enormous threat that Gaddafi’s gold and silver reserves, estimated at “143 tons of gold, and a similar amount in silver,” posed to the French franc that was a leading African currency.
The “confidential” reason behind the war was that “This gold was accumulated prior to the current rebellion and was intended to be used to establish a pan-African currency based on the Libyan golden Dinar. This plan was designed to provide the Francophone African Countries with an alternative to the French franc (CFA).”
The 2 April 2011 email to Hillary Clinton (UNCLASSIFIED US Department of State Case No. F-2014-20439 Doc No. C05779612 Date: 12/31/2015) reports a high-ranking official on the National Libyan Council as stating that factions have developed within the Council, partly due to French cultivation of clients among the rebels.
General Abdel Fatah Younis is said to be the leading figure closest to the French, and Younis has told his clique on the NLC that the French have promised to provide military trainers and arms.
There is some impatience over the pace of delivery, and the men understand that France has clear economic interests at stake. Sarkozy’s occasional emissary, the intellectual Bernard Henri-Levy, is not respected by the pro-France NLC action.
The email notes that Qaddafi has immense financial resources. On April 2, 2011, sources with access to advisors to Saif al-Islam Qaddafi revealed in strictest confidence that while the freezing of Libya’s foreign bank accounts did affect Muammar Qaddafi, his ability to equip and maintain his armed forces and intelligence services was intact. These sources said that Qaddafi’s government holds 143 tons of gold and a similar amount in silver.
The recently promoted Saudi crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman, is reputed to be the prime mover behind the attempt to isolate Qatar.
In late March 2011, these stocks were moved to SABHA (south-west in the direction of the Libyan border with Niger and Chad), from the vaults of the Libyan Central Bank in Tripoli.
This gold was intended to be used to establish a pan-African currency based on the Libyan golden dinar and was to offer the Francophone African Countries with an alternative to the French franc.
Seen in this context, Qatar could be the next country to face a Syrian or Yemen-style attempt at regime change. It is pertinent that on June 5, soon after the visit of US President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabia, Riyadh led other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in an attempt to browbeat Qatar through a list of 13 demands that Doha must comply with, or face unspecified action. Most western capitals agree that the demands are difficult to accept.
Briefly, these include shutting down Al-Jazeera and its affiliate stations, and other news outlets funded by Qatar such as Middle East Eye; curbing diplomatic ties with Iran and expelling members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (who are not present in Qatar); terminating the Turkish military base in Qatar; consenting to monthly audits for a year after accepting the demands, and aligning with other Gulf and Arab countries militarily, politically, socially, and economically. As of now, Qatar has rejected the demands as unreasonable.
The recently promoted Saudi crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman, is reputed to be the prime mover behind the attempt to isolate Qatar. The aim is to curtail Qatar’s links with Iran, Riyadh’s main regional rival. But this is not practical for Qatar as it derives much of its wealth from the offshore South Pars natural gas field, which it shares with Iran. This relationship is why Iran, like Turkey, immediately sent Doha food supplies after the Saudi blockaded the only land route to the emirate.
It is pertinent that Qatar, like Turkey and Saudi Arabia, had initially wanted to build a natural gas pipeline to Europe, through Syria, against the wishes of President Assad. This prompted the Syrian Alawi/Shia government to urge Shia-majority Iran and Iraq to build a pipeline eastward, excluding the Sunni-majority Qatar, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, which backed the anti-Assad fighters. Qatar has since reconciled to the near collapse of the anti-Assad front.
Over the past two years, Qatar has conducted over $86 billion worth of transactions in yuan and signed several economic agreements with China.
It is notable that Iran too conducts its oil-related business deals with China in yuan. Soon after the nuclear deal with Washington in 2015, Tehran moved to improve its economy by upping production on its share of the Iran-Qatari gas reserve and signed a deal with France’s Total in November 2016.
Qatar was forced to join and lifted a self-imposed ban on developing the gas field in April 2017.
The Iran-Qatar deal has the potential to derail American hegemony over world financial markets. This explains President Trump’s move to make Riyadh his first foreign visit. Trump has made his intention to secure regime change in Tehran clear. How he intends to cope with Qatar, which hosts the largest US military base in the region, with around 11,000 troops, is less clear. Shifting the base could potentially destabilise other host countries. For now, he could leave the problem to Riyadh. But as events in Syria and Yemen show, it is easier to get embroiled in a conflagration in the Middle East than it is to get out.
Posted by syed abbaa in CURRENT EVENTS on July 14th, 2017
KARACHI: The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing money laundering allegations found Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif “could not satisfactorily answer most of the questions” during his appearance on June 15.
The JIT report, submitted to the Supreme Court on Monday, said he was “evasive, speculative and non-cooperative”.
“He was generally evasive and seemed preoccupied during the interview,” the report said. “Major part of his statement was based on ‘hearsay’. He remained non-committal, speculative and at times non-cooperative while recording his statement before the JIT,” said the team’s analysis of the prime minister’s statement.
It went on to say that Prime Minister Sharif tried to “parry most of the questions” by giving indefinite answers or by stating that “he does not remember, ostensibly to conceal facts”.
Sharif insists his assets reflected in income tax returns, wealth statements
In his statement to the JIT, the prime minister gave details of his early life, his entry into politics and the offices he held during his three-decade-long political career.
He claimed that the assets he owned, possessed or had acquired “are, in their entirety, reflected in my income tax returns and wealth reconciliation statements”.
“I do not own or possess, nor have acquired any assets or interests therein other than those mentioned in my income tax returns and wealth reconciliation statements,” he stated.
He, however, informed the JIT that initially, he had been a shareholder and/or director in one or more companies established by his late father in Pakistan. But for about three decades “I have not been the director in any of those companies. In any case, I have not been actively involved in the business of any of those companies since 1985”.
“I became finance minister in 1981. I was not overseeing any businesses myself after 1981, although I may have been the director of some companies. I, however, disassociated myself from all businesses in 1998,” he said, adding: “As far as the meaning of disassociation from business is concerned, it is true that it is more in terms of disassociation from any management function, rather than in terms of holding financial interests in a company. After all, how can you make a living if you disassociate yourself from the financial interest…”
Talking about the London properties, he said he had gone there in 1989 and in the 1990s and stayed in the Avenfield apartments. “I knew Hussain and then Hassan, who were studying in London, were living in those apartments. All the expenses related to their stay were met by the money my father used to send them. I know broadly that we were paying the ground rent, service charges and utilities but do not know whether rent was being paid or not. Hussain was dealing with these issues and he knows the most. I knew it was an arrangement made by Mr Al Thani and my father. I do not, however, know about how the bearer certificates were transferred.”
Mr Sharif informed the JIT that he did not refer to the investment between the Qatari family and his father in his speeches but clearly said that he would tell the details when the time came.
About a Guardian report that quoted his wife as saying that the Avenfield apartments were purchased for Hassan and Hussain in 2000 while they were studying in London, “my response is that sometimes these things are said because of lack of knowledge”, he said.
Regarding a huge sum of money gifted to him by his son Hussain, he said in the statement: “I do not find any issue with the fact that my son Hussain sends me money as gifts which I either spend myself or gift it to my daughter Maryam. It is foreign exchange coming into Pakistan and the money was sent through the official banking channels.”
Q: In your speeches, you had mentioned that all record relating to Azizia and Gulf Steel was available but later your counsel stated in the Supreme Court that no such record was available. Can you explain this contradiction?
A: I am not sure, maybe I had given the record to the speaker, but I am not sure about this.
Q: You have stated that you stand by whatever respondents 6, 7 and 8 have submitted before the Supreme Court of Pakistan during the proceedings of the case about Gulf Steel and Azizia etc. Did you personally see what they have submitted before the Supreme Court of Pakistan or your knowledge is based on family discussions?
A: I had not seen the submissions, my knowledge is based on the family discussions but I endorse whatever has been submitted by them.
Q: Do you have any other documents that you want to produce in addition to the ones you have brought today?
A: There are no further documents to be produced. We have already provided all the documents we had.
Q: In 1999, the Queens Bench Division had put a caution on the Avenfield properties which was removed on the basis of a settlement. What is your knowledge about the terms of the settlement?
A: I have heard about it but I do not know about the terms of the settlement.
Q: You had referred to the settlement of family assets in 2005. Was the matter of investment of proceeds of Gulf Steel discussed especially with regards to the Avenfield properties?
A: Yes, perhaps it was discussed and since they had remained in the possession of Hassan and Hussain. I think Hassan is the owner but I’m not sure.
Q: Hussain claims to own the apartments now but practically Hassan has lived in one of the apartments for decades now. Don’t you find this a bit odd?
A: It is not unusual for brothers.
Q: Do you know about the trust deed signed between Mr Hussain Nawaz Sharif and Ms Maryam Nawaz Sharif with reference to the companies of Mr Hussain?
A: I have no knowledge of the trust deed signed by Mr Hussain Nawaz Sharif on behalf of Maryam (Nawaz) Safdar.
Q: Do you know Saeed Ahmed of National Bank of Pakistan and did you have any business with him?
A: I know Saeed Ahmed since a very long time but I do not have any business links with him.
Q: Do you know the Qazi family?
A: I do not know them. I meet a lot of people and do not remember them all.
Q: Do you know Sheikh Saeed?
A: Yes, I know him since a long time, but I do not have any business relationship with him.
Q: A settlement with NAB was carried out on your behalf in 2001-2 for the case of Hudabiya papers mills and payment were made through loans taken from Chaudhry and Ramzan mills. Please apprise us with the details of this settlement.
A: I do not know if there was a loan. I do not have any knowledge of this matter.
Q: Did you send any money abroad to any of your family members?
A: No I did not.
Q: Was a portion of the money received from Hill Metals used for political funding?
A: No, but if I did, is it a crime?
Q: Would it not come under foreign funding?
No reply was made.
Reference
Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2017
Posted by admin in CURRENT EVENTS on July 12th, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWwBbBhHV0w
Standing tall and dominating the famous Tiger Hill on the Line of Control (LoC) is a grim reminder of the Kargil war. Point 5353, the highest peak in the region which has a clear view of the National Highway 1 D, remains occupied by Pakistan even a decade after the battle.
While the point is clearly on the Indian side of the LoC, it remains in Pakistani control which has fortified it with reinforced bunkers and has even built a special road nearby to carry up supplies for soldiers.
The Indian Army, which made several unsuccessful attempts to occupy the post after the Kargil war, has since given up the post as “untenable” given the geography of the region that makes it fairly easy for Pakistani troops to climb.
What makes Point 5353 so valuable for the two armies is that it has a clear view of the national highway that connects the Kashmir valley with Kargil. The main reason the Army retaliated hard to the Pakistani intrusion in 1999 was that disruption of traffic on the road would cut off supplies to Ladakh and the Siachen glacier.
While officers say that Point 5353 is surrounded by three Indian posts, including Point 5240 and any action from there would be neutralised, the fact remains that artillery observers from the post can easily direct fire on a 25 km stretch of the national highway.
Besides, the most dominating feature in the region has a clear view of the Tiger Hill and surrounding areas. Sources say Pakistan has constructed concrete bunkers at the location and have a special supply base on their side of the LoC that has substantial reinforcements.
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