ROME (AP) — Tensions in Italy's uneasy ruling coalition increased Wednesday as the government's allies denounced an accelerated date for a high court decision that could see former Premier Silvio Berlusconi banned for years from public office.
Although Berlusconi isn't in the government himself, steady support from his center-right People of Freedom party is necessary to keep Premier Enrico Letta's 10-week-old government alive, since Letta's center-left Democratic Party doesn't have enough support in Parliament to control both houses.
But Berlusconi's allies hobbled Parliament's work following the Court of Cassation's decision to schedule an appeal in the media mogul's tax fraud trial for July 30, months earlier than expected. The high court said it moved up the date to prevent the statute of limitations from expiring on one of the charges on Aug. 1.
As if those tensions weren't enough for Letta's fragile government as it tries to revive growth and create jobs, Standard & Poors's Rating Service on Tuesday downgraded Italy's credit rating and warned of further reductions if Italy's economic prospects stay bleak.
Last week, relations had already become tense among Italy's unusual ruling alliance of rivals after the International Monetary Fund urged Italy to bring back a property tax that Letta reluctantly agreed to suspend to placate Berlusconi and his populist following.
The increased IMF pressure, the ratings drop and the high court development all "converge on a single aim — the collapse of the Letta government and the destabilization of Italy," said Alessandro Pagano, a lawmaker from Berlusconi's party.
He called the speeded up court timetable a kind of "judicial vice being tightened around" the conservative leader.
Berlusconi's lawyers had expected the high court to rule no sooner than the fall in his appeal of his tax fraud conviction involving his Mediaset empire, which saw him sentenced to four years in prison and barred from holding public office for five years.
Berlusconi was convicted in a scheme that involved inflating the price his Mediaset media empire paid for TV rights to U.S. movies and pocketing the difference. Berlusconi has said he did nothing wrong and has accused Milan magistrates of pursuing politically motivated cases against him.
Even if the top criminal court upholds the sentence, there is little risk that the 76-year-old Berlusconi, because of his age, would ever serve time behind bars.
Nevertheless, the debate over the high court decision was already having its effect on the work of the government and Parliament Wednesday: Coalition leaders scrapped a planned meeting to discuss the unpopular property tax and a meeting of chamber whips was suspended at the request of Berlusconi's allies so they could huddle to discuss the Cassation decision.
To protest the derailment of work over Berlusconi's plight, senators from the legislature's third-largest bloc, the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, took off their jackets — mandatory dress code for men in the upper chamber — further heating up the political climate.
"If that's how Parliament is, if it does nothing, then we'll work out of Parliament," 5-Star leader Beppe Grillo said. "Autumn is around the corner, and with it possible economic collapse."
Letta has said he doesn't believe the court's accelerated calendar will affect his government. But even the leader of a center-right party that used to be a loyal ally of Berlusconi was irked by the behavior of Berlusconi's lawmakers.
"It's not possible that Parliament shuts down for one party's problems, with so much to do," said Roberto Maroni, head of the Northern League. Letta's government appears to be "on the true brink of a crisis."
A close Berlusconi ally, Maurizio Lupi, tried to tamp down worries about the government's survival, saying the accelerated court decision "puts at risk not the coalition, but democracy in this country."
"We will continue to do our work and move forward," said Lupi, who serves in the government as infrastructure minister.
The July 30 high court hearing leaves Berlusconi's defense team less time to prepare arguments. His lawyers only lodged the appeal on June 19. Usually it takes months to schedule such a hearing in Italy's notoriously slow justice system.
Berlusconi has faced dozens of legal cases in his two decades in politics, but has most of the time has either been acquitted or seen the charges dismissed when statutes of limitations expired.
Last month, Berlusconi was convicted, sentenced to seven years and banned from politics for life for paying an underage prostitute for sex during infamous "bunga bunga" parties and pressuring public officials to cover it up. He denies wrongdoing and is appealing that verdict as well, a process that could take a couple of years.
In Italy, sentences are considered final after two levels of appeals are exhausted.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that China's rise is good but its theft of U.S intellectual property must stop as the global powers held annual talks that signaled more cooperation on tackling climate change while underscoring their deep differences on human rights.
The gathering took place a month after the U.S. and Chinese presidents' summit in California that tried to set a positive tone in relations but also made clear Washington's growing anxiety about Chinese cybertheft.
"We both will benefit from an open, secure, reliable Internet. Outright cyberenabling theft that U.S. companies are experiencing now must be viewed as out of bounds and needs to stop," Biden said in his opening remarks at the State Department.
He cited the "emerging and continuing growth of the Chinese economy" as good news, with Beijing's rise "good for America and the world." Yet such progress, Biden said, "comes with some new international responsibilities."
In the first of two days of Cabinet-level discussions they talked about trade and investment barriers, and the nuclear program of North Korea, where the U.S. wants China to lean on its troublesome ally to disarm. Also on the agenda were territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas, where assertive Chinese behavior has unnerved its neighbors.
The most tangible outcome Wednesday was an announcement of new initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. The two sides agreed to cooperate on cutting emissions from vehicles and coal combustion, and to promote more efficient use of energy in buildings, transport and industry. Implementation plans will be ready by October, the State Department said.
Secretary of State John Kerry returned from his wife's bedside in Boston and issued tearful thanks for the outpouring of good wishes for Teresa Heinz Kerry, hospitalized as she recovers from a seizure-like episode. He returned later Wednesday to Massachusetts, with deputy William Burns now taking his place at the talks.
The Chinese side was led by Vice Premier Wang Yang and State Councilor Yang Jiechi, who said U.S.-China relations had "reached a new starting point" after the June summit between President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping.
"China will stay committed to reform and opening up," Yang Jiechi said, adding that his nation was committed to being a responsible player in the international system.
But he made only passing reference to cybersecurity as one of the "global challenges" that the U.S. and China should work together on. They have discussed it this week, but remain at odds over what is acceptable behavior in cyberspace. U.S. officials are resisting China's attempts to compare their concerns over U.S. surveillance for intelligence gathering — as revealed by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden — with American concerns about theft of intellectual property and proprietary business information.
Differences also came to the fore when Kerry made forceful comments to China on the importance of human rights to the United States, according to U.S. officials who briefed reporters about the closed-door exchanges, describing them as "lively."
In his public remarks, Yang said Beijing was willing to discuss human rights with the U.S. However Vice Premier Wang stressed that China — a one-party state intolerant of political dissent — won't accept views that "undermine our basic system."
China has also been reluctant to deepen military ties, which Biden stressed were important for avoiding the risk of confrontation between the two countries in the Pacific.
Despite those reservations, the two sides broached the sensitive issues of nuclear policy and missile defense for the first time in annual talks. China is concerned that U.S. moves to boost its capabilities in response to the emerging threat from North Korea are aimed at China too.
Another U.S. concern, the low value of China's currency and its impact on the skewed trade balance, has eased as the yuan has appreciated in value against the dollar. But the U.S. is still prodding Beijing to expedite economic reforms.
Biden said China needs to free its exchange rate, shift to a consumption-led economy instead of relying on exports and enforce intellectual property rights. He said the U.S. welcomes China's growth, but it should be based on international rules.
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew urged China to "follow through decisively" on its economic reform commitments.
U.S. businesses and lawmakers want easing of barriers to American trade and investment, a roll back of subsidies for Chinese state-owned enterprises and progress on negotiations for a bilateral investment treaty.
China objects to security screening of its companies as they look to invest in the U.S.
In Congress, a Senate committee was examining China's biggest takeover of a U.S. company, a proposed $4.7 billion bid by Shuanghui International for pork producer American Smithfield Foods Ltd.
A bipartisan group of 15 senators has asked Lew to consider U.S. food security and food safety issues when the deal has a national security review. That could fuel China's suspicions that its companies are subject to tougher scrutiny than other foreign investors in America.
LONDON: British Broadcasting Corporation Two (BBC Two) has claimed that 0.4 million pounds were found in London police raids at the office of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Altaf Hussain’s residence.
The raids were conducted on December 06, 2012 and June 18, 2013.
Meanwhile, MQM’s deputy convener Dr Farooq Sattar talking to BBC Two admitted that the London police had seized some amount of money during the raids, however, he added that he was not aware of the exact figure.
Sattar said that MQM was not involved in money laundering. He alleged that the BBC’s documentary on Altaf Hussain was influenced by pro-Taliban elements.
He further stated that no threatening statements were issued from London to trigger violence in Pakistan.
PARIS: Astronomers on Wednesday reported their best observation yet of a massive star embryo growing within a dark cloud -- the largest stellar "womb" ever spotted in our Milky Way galaxy.
The star, which could grow to 100 times the mass of our Sun and up to a million times brighter, was spotted by the most powerful radio telescope on Earth -- the ALMA international astronomy facility located in Chile, according to a paper published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Astronomers hope its discovery, at a distance of some 11,000 light years from Earth, will shed light on how these exceptionally massive stars are formed, shrouded as they are in dust and mystery.
"Not only are these stars rare, but their births are extremely rapid and childhood short, so finding such a massive object so early in its evolution in our Galaxy is a spectacular result," study co-author Gary Fuller of the University of Manchester said in a statement issued by the European Southern Observatory (ESO)
The most massive and brightest stars in the galaxy form within cool and dark cloud cores, hungrily feeding on material being dragged inwards by the embryo star's gravitational pull.
This specific star is located in the Spitzer Dark Cloud, whose core has a mass about 500 times that of the Sun.
"This object is expected to form a star that is up to 100 times more massive than the Sun. Only about one in ten thousand of all stars in the Milky Way reach that kind of mass," said study lead author Nicolas Peretto of Cardiff University.
"The remarkable observations from ALMA allowed us to get the first really in-depth look at what was going on within this cloud. We wanted to see how monster stars form and grow, and we certainly achieved our aim. One of the sources we have found is an absolute giant -- the largest protostellar core ever spotted in the Milky Way!"
According to the ESO, there are two theories on the formation of massive stars, which have at least ten times the mass of our Sun.
The first theory suggests that parental dark clouds fragment, creating several small cores that collapse and form stars. The other sees the entire cloud collapse inwards, with material racing into its centre to feed the star or stars growing there.
The new results support the second theory, said the statement.
"The ALMA observations reveal the spectacular details of the motions of the filamentary network of dust and gas and show that a huge amount of gas is flowing into a central compact region," said team member Ana Duarte Cabral from the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique in Bordeaux, France.
The find was made possible by the high sensitivity of the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array, located 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) above sea level, deep in Chile's Atacama Desert.
ALMA has 66 antennas exploring the universe via radio waves emitted by galaxies, stars and other bodies not captured by optical and infrared telescopes, which only receive light.
NOTTINGHAM: Steven Finn brought England back into the fist Ashes Test as bowlers held sway on an overcast opening day at Nottingham's Trent Bridge on Wednesday.
At stumps, Australia were 75 for four in reply to England's seemingly meagre 215, a deficit of 140 runs, after 14 wickets had fallen in the day's play.
Fast bowler Finn took two wickets in two balls before England spearhead James Anderson produced a superb delivery to clean bowl Australia captain Michael Clarke, the tourists' best batsman, for nought.
Steven Smith, not even in the original Ashes squad, was 38 not out and Phil Hughes, no longer an opener but batting at six, seven not out as floodlights pierced the gloom.
Shane Watson, who in 41 previous Tests had managed just two hundreds, was out in familiar fashion when he pushed forward firmly against Finn without adjusting for away movement and was caught by third slip Joe Root for 13.
Next ball Australia were 19 for two when Ed Cowan, who spent the early part of the season at Trent Bridge, with Nottinghamshire, carelessly chased a wide delivery and was caught at second slip by county colleague Graeme Swann.
Clarke came in on a hat-trick, which he survived narrowly after Finn missed both the outside edge and off stump by fractions.
But Clarke lasted just five more balls with Anderson producing a near unplayable delivery that angled in and seamed away late to hit off stump.
Australia had lost three wickets for three runs to be 22 for three and this with regular England new ball bowler Stuart Broad off the field with a shoulder injury suffered while batting.
Opener Chris Rogers, recalled for his second Test five years after his debut, hung on for over an hour.
But the 35-year-old veteran of the English county circuit was eventually lbw for 16 to Anderson, bowling from around the wicket.
Earlier, Australia fast medium-bowler Peter Siddle took five wickets for 50 runs after England captain Alastair Cook won the toss, with Jonathan Trott's 48 the hosts' top score.
In his first Ashes Test as captain, Cook was caught behind off James Pattinson for just 13.
Root, in his first Ashes Test and first as an opener, made a promising 30 before he was bowled off-stump by Siddle's excellent outswinging yorker.
England, notoriously slow starters in recent Test series, lost star batsman Kevin Pietersen for 14 shortly after lunch when he nicked Siddle to Clarke in the slips.
Trott was in good touch and struck nine fours before Siddle, bowling from wide on the crease, induced him to play on.
Bell made 25, 24 in boundaries, when he edged a half-cock shot off Siddle to Watson in the slips. (AFP)
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| The Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah |
Talking to reporters at the Parliament House, he said the decision to postpone the conference had created doubts in people’s minds.
He called upon the government to immediately convene the conference because security had become the biggest problem in the country.
About the reason cited for delaying the conference, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan being out of the country, the PPP leader said the issue of national security should not be linked to one individual. Mr Khan should have given preference to the matter over his personal visit to the UK.
It was officially announced by the prime minister’s office earlier this month that the conference would be held on July 12 and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan invited heads of various parties to attend it.
But the government changed its decision and said July 12 was only a proposed date and that the meeting had been delayed due to unavailability of some political leaders, including the PTI chief.
The opposition leader refused to comment on the leaked report of the Abbottabad Commission, saying that it was not appropriate for him to comment on a report that had not been officially provided to him.
He demanded an inquiry to determine who had leaked the report on a sensitive issue.
Answering a question about the nomination of chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), he said he could change the nomination if there was any legal complication about the appointment of one of his nominees.
Mr Shah has proposed the names of retired Justice Rana Bhagwandas and retired Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza for the post. He did so in response to a letter sent by the prime minister to him on July 2, nominating retired Justice Rehmat Hussain Jaffery and former federal secretary Khawaja Zaheer Ahmed for the office.
The post of NAB chairman fell vacant in May when a five-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Tassadduq Hussain Jilani, declared the appointment of retired Admiral Fasih Bokhari as void.
Meanwhile, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Wednesday that the Abbottabad Commission report had failed to fix responsibility for security lapses on the country’s western borders. The report had generally held the political and military leadership responsible, he said in a statement.
“It should have clearly spelt out why radars were in sleeping mode on the eve of the raid on the residence of Osama bin Laden,” he said, adding that the report should have recommended “rolling of some heads”.
The report, he said, had failed to establish how the CIA had a vast intelligence network in the country.
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| PPP's information secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira |
LAHORE: PPP’s information secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira hit out at the critics of the armed forces on Wednesday and said it was unfair to expect from the army and intelligence agencies to detect the US helicopters which had taken part in the Abbottabad operation in which Osama Bin Laden was killed.
He said in a statement that the helicopters had flown from an airbase in Afghanistan and were equipped with the latest stealth technology which no other country had, adding that the people blaming the Pakistan Air Force for not being able to track the US helicopters knew nothing about such technology.
He said it was the lack of technological capability of the armed forces which hindered their ability to pre-empt the intrusion of the US helicopters into the country’s airspace.
He said the presence of Bin Laden in Afghanistan, Pakistan or along the border was also a failure of the CIA and MI6 and other international agencies which had been engaged in hunting down the world No-1 fugitive.
The PPP leader said it was unfair to expect from the national security apparatus to contain the operational reach of the only superpower with unimaginable resources.
He said the Abbottabad Commission should withdraw its report and determine whether the country’s armed forces had the capability to see the helicopters with stealth technology on their radars.
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| Former Pakistan ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani |
WASHINGTON: Former Pakistan ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani has rejected the Abbottabad Commission’s suggestion that as ambassador he issued visas without authorisation or was responsible for CIA agents coming into Pakistan in large numbers.
Mr Haqqani said in a statement that the US Navy SEALS who found Osama bin Laden did not come with visas and the entire controversy over visas had been manufactured to distract attention from the two vital questions. “The first question is, why Pakistan’s bloated security agencies failed to find OBL for nine years and the second, how were the US SEALS able to come into Pakistan without detection by our security forces,” he said.
The former ambassador said the commission interviewed him on Dec 19, 2011 in Islamabad and he informed it that he did not have access to official records for visas at the time but the commission had not recorded that point in its report. He added that the figures for visas were provided by officials at the embassy and the foreign ministry after he had resigned and to say that these came from him was “an absolute falsehood”.
Mr Haqqani also said that giving a visa to a person does not make him invisible within Pakistan. “Entry of that person is still recorded at the airport and he can be followed like thousands of Pakistanis and foreigners are followed by intelligence agencies,” he said.
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| Hanif Mohammad is now set to spend one week in hospital for observation |
NOTTINGHAM: Hanif Mohammad, first of the greats of Pakistan batting and arguably the best of his era, was successfully operated for liver cancer at London Bridge Hospital on Wednesday evening. Hanif is now stable and out of danger, according to his surgeon Robert Hutchins.
Hanif, a veteran of 55 Test matches, was diagnosed four weeks back only by chance when he went to a hospital in Karachi complaining of itching on top of his stomach. Dr Nihal Masood then discovered what was wrong with the ‘Little Master’ and advised him to have immediate attention to get the tumour in his right liver lobe removed.
Only days later Hanif, 78, flew over to London for a second opinion which was later confirmed. Only a few days ago I went to see Hanif immediately after arriving in London to cover the Ashes. At his daughter’s home in Wembley, he looked cheerful despite what he was going to go through in the next few days — an operation to remove the affected part.
“I am feeling fine. The surgeon has told me that it is just the start and it has not spread and that I have got to get it out,” Hanif stated.
While talking to me he looked as much confident about going through the operation as he was when facing the fastest bowlers of his time.
“I would have loved to watch the Lord’s Ashes Test but it seems that I will not be able to because I am told that I will have to stay in ICU and hospital for a week, and then will have to rest for a month,” Hanif told me.
I was informed by Hanif’s youngest son Shahzeb Mohammad that the surgeon removed his right liver lobe and the gall bladder as well to make sure that the problem was fully addressed.
The legendary batsman still holds the record of playing the longest innings in Test cricket when he scored 337 in 970 minutes against the West Indies at Bridgetown, Barbados in 1957-58 to draw the six-day Test after Pakistan were asked to follow on as they were a massive 473 runs behind.
And only next season in Pakistan he made a mammoth 499 before getting run out at KPI ground in Karachi against Bahawalpur in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy to break Sir Don Bradman’s first-class cricket world record of 452. After 34 years, Hanif’s proud feat was surpassed by Brian Lara when he made 501 against Durham in county cricket.
In 1967 as Pakistan captain he made a brilliant unbeaten 187 against England in the Lord’s Test. Hanif, the iconic figure of Pakistan cricket, is also considered the inventor of reverse sweep and could bowl with both arms with equal dexterity.
At a tough time like this he needs the support and the prayers of the people of his country.
“Please ask the people in Pakistan to pray for me,” Hanif had said before going for the surgery.
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| Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif exchanges views with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Engineer Shaukatullah Khan during meeting at PM office in Islamabad on Wednesday, July 10, 2013 |
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held a meeting here on Wednesday with lawmakers from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and asked the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to contact the elders of various tribes to ascertain the help needed from the federal government so that the people of the region could live in peace.
“There have been meetings before. The previous government too kept saying it was very much concerned over the miserable condition of the people in Fata who for many years have been facing the brunt of the war against terrorism. However, unfortunately, nothing happened in the end,” Bismillah Khan, an independent member of the National Assembly, said after the meeting.
The prime minister, along with senior members of his government, patiently listened to the lawmakers.
The government plans to hold an all parties conference to evolve a national policy on militancy and security.
Talking to Dawn, Mr Khan said “we had a frank discussion” with the prime minister about problems faced by Fata’s people and their solutions.
“We all supported the government’s initiative to restore peace in Fata, but asked the prime minister to first listen to our people.”
After the meeting, the prime minister asked the governor, who was also present on the occasion, to get in touch with the elders of tribes and said he would continue to hold such meetings.
Bismillah Khan said the legislators had warned the government that half-hearted efforts like those made in the past would further destabilise the region and the government would have to make a sustained effort for concrete results.
Talking to Dawn, Qaisar Jamal, an MNA of the Tehreek-i-Insaf, said that for the outside world Fata was a monolith, but “we have a whole lot of people, following different ideals and facing various problems which can only be understood if you meet the local people”.
He said there was a trust deficit between the government and people of Fata, which over the years had aggravated because of the government’s “short-sighted policies”.
“The only way out is to sit with the local tribal elders, listen to them and implement their recommendations.”
Mr Jamal said the Bara market, the main centre of business in the region, had become a haunting place during the past five years because of continuous fighting, snatching away the only source of income for a large number of families. He said the displaced people of the region had yet to be rehabilitated in their villages and there was no functioning school and college.
The lawmaker said that if the government was interested in addressing the problems, it would have to get out of a ‘photo op’ mentality and build on this meeting, which “at best was a sort of orientation session for the new government about our problems in Fata”.
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| The grief-stricken students gathered at the site of deadly blast and chanted full-throated slogans against government and university administration for their failure to avert the tragedy, which struck the university on June 15. |
QUETTA: Despite threats and intimidation, students of Sardar Bahadur Khan Women University appeared to be determined to carry on their educational journey.
SBK women university was opened amid tight security on Wednesday after 25 days of deadly suicide bombing, which left more than a dozen female students dead.
Academic activities were resumed in Balochistan's only female university.
The students gathered at the site of deadly blast and chanted full throated slogans against the government and university administration for their failure to avert the tragedy, which struck the university on June 15.
Around 40 female students reached university to resume their studies. "We will not bow our heads before terrorists", an emotionally charged female student Bakhtawar Bibi told Dawn.com.
Women university was closed for an indefinite time soon after the bombing. Intelligence officials revealed that a female suicide bomber had carried the attack inside the university bus. "We will continue our struggle despite odds", she said.
Vice Chancellor SBK Women University Farzana Jabeen told reporters that strict security measures were adopted to ensure protection of female students.
"Secret cameras have also been installed to make sure proper monitoring inside university", she said.
Moreover, scanners have also been installed at the entrance gate of university to check vehicles and barbed wires were placed at walls.
Shaista, another female student told Dawn.com that her parents stopped her from going to university owing to looming security threats. "I will be coming to university, no matter what happens", Shaista said.
Police and paramilitary troops were also deployed outside women university to avoid occurrence of any untoward incident.
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| Security officials inspect the wreckage of the vehicle at the site of the bomb blast in Karachi on July 10, 2013 |
KARACHI: A suspected suicide explosion targeting President Asif Ali Zardari's chief security officer killed at least three people in Karachi on Wednesday, police said.
Eleven others were injured in the powerful explosion which rocked the busy New Town neighbourhood in the heart of Karachi, less than a kilometre from the Quaid's mausoleum.
“Three people, including the president’s chief security officer, Bilal Sheikh, were killed in the bombing,” said Superintendent Police Usman Bajwa.
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari said that "Bilal had rendered many sacrifices for the PPP and that he was not just a bodyguard but more like a son."
President Zardari also appealed to party workers to offer fateha for Bilal.
The president added that Bilal had accompanied Benazir Bhutto when she was attacked in Karachi on Oct 18, 2007.
Bilal Sheikh was an active worker of the Pakistan People’s Party, the ruling party in Sindh province.
A spokesman for the Bilawal House, President Zardari's private residence in Karachi, had earlier confirmed Sheikh’s death. Sheikh's driver was also killed in the explosion.
Bajwa said the attack appeared to be a suicide bombing. “Bilal Sheikh’s vehicle was the target of the attack,” he said.
Officials said the wounded included six police officers and one FIA personnel. The injured were shifted to a local hospital where a state of emergency was imposed.
Bilal Sheikh was said to be a trusted aide of President Asif Ali Zardari, had previously been in charge of Zardari's private residence in Karachi, and was also responsible for the security in Karachi of Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the president’s son and PPP co-chairman.
Sheikh had also been in charge of security for Zardari's wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto when she returned to Karachi from exile on October 18, 2007, two months before her assassination.
The explosion came on the eve of the holy Muslim month of Ramazan, due to be observed in Pakistan from Thursday.
Bajwa said Sheikh and his driver had gone to buy food for Ramazan, the fasting month, when his vehicle was targeted. "He had never taken this route before, and he always had security with him," he said.
Sheikh had survived two previous attempts on his life.
No militant group has claimed responsibility of the attack as yet, but the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan have previously targeted the Pakistan People's Party for it's "secular views".
President Zardari and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif “strongly condemned” the attack, state media said.
In a statement, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari also condemned the attack, blaming an "anti-democratic and extremist mindset" to be behind the bombing. "We will not be intimidated by such cowardly acts and such acts will not deter our resolve to fight terrorism," he said.
England fought back brilliantly with the ball after disappointing with the bat on an astonishing opening day of the Ashes series at Trent Bridge.
In a riotous final session, the hosts lost their last four wickets for two runs in crumbling to 215 all out before tearing through Australia's top order with the new ball to reduce them to 75-4.
Peter Siddle was Australia's outstanding performer on an overcast day which offered plenty of assistance to swing bowlers, removing five of England's top seven to finish with figures of 5-50.
But Steven Finn dismissed Shane Watson and Ed Cowan in successive balls and James Anderson took two wickets of his own to leave the match beautifully poised, with Steve Smith on 38 not out.
If England can dismantle the remainder of the Australian batting order on Thursday, they could yet escape with the first innings lead they were targeting when captain Alastair Cook won the toss and chose to bat on a dry pitch hardened by several days of sunshine.
It was a decision that appeared justified as the hosts found the boundary 19 times in the first session and advanced to a promising 178-4 in the afternoon.
But a combination of poor shot selection and fine swing bowling saw them lose their last six wickets for 37 runs to round off an innings that had lasted just 59 overs.
With Stuart Broad off the field receiving treatment to a shoulder injury he suffered while batting, Australia began their innings positively. Shane Watson struck successive fours off Finn as they took the total to 19 off as many balls.
But the Middlesex fast bowler gained his revenge with a double strike as first Watson, then Cowan were drawn into chasing balls outside off stump, sending thick edges through to a gleeful England slip cordon.
If Finn's intervention had altered the course of the match, Anderson was about to turn things full circle with the wicket of Michael Clarke for a six-ball duck.
The Australia captain, averaging 66 in his 24 previous Tests as skipper, was beaten by a ball that moved away at the last moment and kissed the top of his off stump.
Anderson's 308th Test wicket took him past Fred Trueman into third on England's all-time list, and his 309th followed soon afterwards as Chris Rogers was trapped lbw to a ball which replays revealed would have brushed the outside of leg stump.
It was a breathtaking finale to a day that began with fireworks and a fly-by from the Red Arrows to mark the renewal of hostilities in one of sport's oldest rivalries.
Australia sprung a huge surprise before the start of play by handing 19-year-old spinner Ashton Agar his Test debut at the expense of Nathan Lyon.
The tall left-armer, of Sri Lankan background, had only played 10 previous first-class matches and was lining up in the Home Counties Premier League for Henley earlier this season.
James Pattinson, one of five Australians playing in their first Ashes Test, was given the responsibility of delivering the first ball of the series. But as a hush descended over the 17,000 fans inside a sold-out Trent Bridge, the 23-year-old sent down a high and wayward bouncer that was rightly called a wide.
Left-armer Mitchell Starc delivered a similarly inauspicious first over, but once their nerves settled Australia's new ball pair found plenty of swing and beat the bat with regularity.
Pattinson claimed the wicket of the England captain in the ninth over as Cook aimed a forceful shot at a ball outside off stump and got a healthy nick through to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin.
Jonathan Trott quickly wrested the initiative back England's way, striking consecutive boundaries in Siddle's first over and cracking Agar's first delivery - a full toss - to the cover fence.
Joe Root had appeared equally assured in a partnership of 51 before he was clean bowled by a superb away-swinging yorker from Siddle.
Kevin Pietersen and Trott followed soon after lunch, the former edging an expansive shot to second slip for 14 and the latter deflecting an equally reckless drive on to his stumps.
Ian Bell and Jonny Bairstow revived England with a counter-attacking partnership of 54, but the wicket of Bell - caught at first slip off another fine delivery from Siddle - proved pivotal as England's lower order folded miserably.
Matt Prior lazily slapped Siddle to point for one and Broad top-edged a pull shot to gift Pattinson the simplest of caught and bowled dismissals.
Bairstow was bowled after playing around a full ball from Starc, with Finn caught behind off the following delivery.
Anderson survived Starc's hat-trick ball but in the following over Graeme Swann prodded tamely to cover to complete the rout.
