Brief News:
Petrol price slashed by Rs 3 per litre
Kharotabad killings
MQM seeks seats on Opp benches
Trade, not aid, solution of Pak problems: Zardari
Pak-US relations ‘not without tension or frustration’: Obama adviser
Rawalpindi | Fired up
Forex reserves decline to $17.47 billion
FPCCI asks Indian counterpart to stop opposing Pakistan in WTO
FBR urged to extend Amnesty Scheme limit till
Rejects demand to vacate Shamsi base- US
WASHINGTON / ISLAMABAD: The US is rejecting demands from Pakistan that American personnel abandon a military base used by the CIA to stage drone strikes against militants, US officials told Reuters.
US personnel have not left the Shamsi air base and there is no plan for them to do so, said a US official familiar with the matter. “That base is neither vacated nor being vacated,” the official said. The information was confirmed by a second US official.
On Wednesday, federal Minister for Defence Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar said that US had been asked to stop using the base for drone strikes and vacate it.
Relations between the two uneasy allies deteriorated after the May 2 raid by US SEALs in Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden. Wednesday’s statement by Mr Mukhtar was the latest salvo.
“We have been talking to them (on the issue) for some time, but after May 2, we told them again,” he told Reuters on Thursday. “When they (US forces) will not operate from there (Shamsi base), no drone attacks will be carried out.”
Earlier, the Financial Times quoted Mr Mukhtar as saying that Pakistan had already stopped US drone flights from the air base. Despite the defence minister’s statements, it was unclear what the situation at Shamsi is.
A US military official said no American military personnel had ever been stationed at the base, but the drone programme in Pakistan is run by the CIA, and the official declined to comment on that.
Pakistani military officials confirmed that the US had been asked to vacate the base, but wouldn’t comment on when the request had been made or whether the Americans had complied.
“We have told them to leave, vacate our base. We cannot provide security to their people,” a senior air force official told Reuters.
But a member of parliament who represents the area, retired lieutenant general Abdul Qadir Baluch, said that US officials were still at the base.
A senior Pakistani military official added that when US forces first launched counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan “provided Americans two bases in Jaccobabad and Shamsi. Jacobabad base has been vacated for long time ago, but Shamsi is still with them.”
“They are vacating it,” the official insisted. “Shamsi base was for logistic purpose. They also used it for drones for some time but no drones have been flown from there.”
Oil prices slashed by upto Rs 3 per litre
The government has reduced the prices of different petroleum products by up to Rs 3 per litre in line with reduction in global oil prices, effective today (Friday). The price of petrol has been reduced by Rs 3 per liter, High Speed Diesel (HSD) Rs 2.01 per liter and Light Diesel Oil (LDO) by Rs 1.13 per litre. However, no change has been made in price of kerosene oil.
However, the price of High Octane Blending Component (HOBC) has been increased by Rs 2.21 per liter after its deregulation. The government has not reduced price of kerosene oil and rather imposed Petroleum Levy (PL) of Rs 1.59 per liter on it. The government slashed price of petrol by Rs 3 per liter, Light Diesel Oil (LDO) Rs 1.13 per liter, JP-1 Rs 2.37 per liter, JP-8 Rs 0.84 per liter, JP-4 Rs 2.36 per liter and High Speed Diesel (HSD) Rs 2.01 per liter.
After reduction, new prices of petroleum products would be as petrol at Rs 83.71 per liter, kerosene oil Rs 84.65 per liter, LDO Rs 81.39 per liter, HSD Rs 92.10 per liter, HOBC Rs 100.46 per liter, JP-1 Rs 81.54 per liter, JP-8 Rs 79.45 per liter and JP-4 Rs 73.16 per liter.
The OMCs will continue to make profits of Rs 1.5 per litre on petrol, Rs 1.58 per litre on kerosene oil, Rs 1.61 per litre on light diesel and Rs 1.35 per litre on high speed diesel. Addressing a press conference, Ogra spokesman Jawad Naseem said the government had increased rate of PL on petrol to Rs 5.46 per liter and HSD Rs 2.15 per liter.
The rate of General Sales Tax (GST) has dropped by 8 per cent on petrol, 6.3 per cent on LDO, 7.1 per cent on HSD and 5 per cent on kerosene oil due to reduction in oil prices.
Naseem said federal government has deregulated the prices of petroleum products of MS, HOBC, LDO, JP-1, JP-4 and JP-8 effective June 1, 2011 and refineries and OMCs will fix and announce ex-refinery and ex-depot prices of these products on monthly basis. However, Ogra will only compute and notify ex-refinery price of HSD and kerosene oil.
Mohammed Saleem Mansoori
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