Pakistan Courts want to block Facebook in Pakistan

LAHORE - The Lahore High Court Justice Sh Azmat Saeed on Monday ordered ministry of information and technology to block access to all websites in Pakistan especially American social networking website “Facebook”, spreading religious hatred on internet and to submit a compliance report by October 6. The judge, however, made it clear that no search engine including “Google” would be blocked.
The court issued this order while hearing a petition seeking a permanent ban on the access to American social networking website “Facebook” for hosting competition featuring blasphemous caricatures.
Muhammad & Ahmad, a public interest litigation firm, through chairman Muhammad Azhar Siddique advocate filed this petition and prayed for a permanent ban on access to Facebook for hosting a fresh blasphemous caricature drawing contest world over under a title "2nd Annual Draw Muhammad Day-May 20, 2011".
The petitioner pointed out that Islamic values are being derogated in the name of information that is hurting feeling of billions of Muslims.
He said despite order of the court, ministry of information technology did not block websites spreading religious hatred. 
Petitioner requested that Facebook and all similar websites be permanently blocked or banned in Pakistan for airing, placing, visualizing obscene caricatures of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
The petition aims at stopping unholy drawing contest as well as blocking access to the facebook site in order to save feelings of millions of Muslims from being hurt by the objectionable caricatures which the masters minds of the "2nd Annual Draw Muhammad Day-May 20, 2011 are planning through the dirty contest.
He pleaded that due to holding of fresh competition, SHO Civil Lines Police Station be directed to register a criminal case under Section 295-C and other relevant provisions of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) against the perpetrators.
Petitioner has sought directions for the federal government to stop display of material with respect to blasphemy of any religion or Holy Prophet on Facebook and all other such websites in Pakistan.
He said the government be directed to establish a permanent authority, having legal status, who would monitor such objectionable activities across the world, so that blasphemy of Holy Prophet should be banned forever, including the holy personalities of all religions.

Pakistani Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani

General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani. File photo

• Army chief says US general knows names of countries in contact with Haqqanis

LAHORE/NEW YORK - Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani, after accusations of US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, termed these (accusations) as very unfortunate and not based on facts, a statement released by the Inter Services Public Relations said on Friday.
“This is especially disturbing in view of a rather constructive meeting with Admiral Mullen in Spain,” the ISPR quoted the army chief as saying. In an unprecedented public condemnation on Thursday, Admiral Mullen said that the “Inter-Services Intelligence agency was actively supporting a network linked to al Qaeda and blamed for an assault on the US Embassy in Kabul last week.”
On the specific question of contacts with Haqqanis, General Kayani said that Admiral Mullen knows well which countries were in contact with Haqqanis. “Singling out Pakistan is neither fair nor productive,” he said. He categorically denied accusations of proxy war and ISI support to Haqqanis.
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar also dismissed Mullen’s remarks, saying they were unproven. "You cannot afford to alienate Pakistan," she said in comments broadcast on Friday from New York City, where she is attending a UN General Assembly meeting.
"Anything which is said about an ally, about a partner publicly to recriminate it, to humiliate it, is not acceptable. We have conveyed (to the US) that you will lose an ally,” she said.