ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will go ahead with a plan to import natural gas from Iran even if the US levies additional sanctions on the country, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said.
Gilani's comments Tuesday come two days after the US special envoy to Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, cautioned Pakistan not to ''over commit'' itself to the deal because it could run afoul of new sanctions against Iran.
The deal has been a constant source of tension between the two countries, with Pakistan arguing that it is vital to its ability to cope with an energy crisis and the US stressing that it would undercut international pressure on Iran over its nuclear program.
Gilani said Pakistan would reconsider the deal if it violated UN sanctions, but the country was ''not bound to follow'' unilateral US measures. He said media reports that quoted him as saying that Pakistan would heed Holbrooke's warning were incorrect.
The UN has levied four sets of sanctions against Iran for failing to suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for a nuclear weapon. The latest set of UN sanctions was approved earlier this month.
The US has also applied a number of unilateral sanctions against Iran, and Congress is currently finalising a new set largely aimed at the country's petroleum industry. Both houses have passed versions of the sanctions and are working to reconcile their differences.
Pakistan and Iran finalised the gas deal earlier this month. Under the contract, Iran will export 760 million cubic feet of gas per day to Pakistan through a new pipeline beginning in 2014. The construction of the pipeline is estimated to cost some $7 billion.
While US officials have expressed opposition to the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline deal, the issue is complicated by Washington's reliance on Pakistan's cooperation to fight al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
The US also acknowledges that Pakistan faces a severe energy crisis and has made aid to the energy sector one of its top development priorities. Electricity shortages in Pakistan cause rolling blackouts that affect businesses and intensify suffering during the hot summer months.

PAKISTAN (ISLAMABAD): The government has refused to appoint Narcotics Control Secretary Tariq Khosa as the chief of a team to probe the Rs9 billion Bank of Punjab (BoP) scam.

In a late-night decision taken a day before the hearing of the case on Friday, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani turned down a request by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for the appointment of Mr Khosa in compliance with orders of the Supreme Court.

“Rejecting NAB’s request, the prime minister asked the Establishment Division to recommend at least three names for appointment as head of the investigation team,” an official of the Prime Minister’s Secretariat said.

Shabbir Anwar, a press secretary to the prime minister, said he was not aware of the decision. Political analysts believe that the prime minister’s refusal to appoint Mr Khosa may lead to another confrontation between the government and the judiciary. It is the second time that the government has stalled request regarding Mr Khosa.

The Supreme Court ordered the NAB chairman on May 28 to requisition the services of Mr Khosa from the Establishment Secretary to head a team probing the BoP scam. The court said a team comprising Mr Khosa and other highly skilled investigating officers should take forward the investigation in consultation with NAB Chairman Nawed Ahsan. According to the court’s orders, Mr Khosa, who is also an elected member of the executive committee of Interpol, could co-opt any other officer to assist him after approaching the NAB chairman. In accordance with directives of the Supreme Court, the NAB chairman wrote a letter to the Establishment Division on May 29 requisitioning Mr Khosa’s services, but the authorities sat on the communication for some time. Finally the request was turned down by the prime minister. Mr Khosa was earlier removed from the post of director-general of the Federal Investigation Agency even though he is regarded by the judiciary as one of the most upright and hard-working officials in the bureaucracy. It was Mr Khosa who had initiated the move for extradition from the United States of the principal accused in the scam, former BoP chief Hamesh Khan, who had allegedly sanctioned heavy bank loans to influential people, which have not been returned.

He was also investigating allegations about the involvement of a federal minister in a human trafficking case. Although the Supreme Court took exception to his transfer and ordered his reinstatement, the government ignored orders, appointing him secretary of the narcotics control division instead. “The government believes that posting and transfer of top bureaucrats is its prerogative because they require approval of the prime minister,” sources said.