Pakistan army and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani have asked President Asif Ali Zardari to go if he does not accept a new deal hatched by them in consultation with foreign powers.

The new political deal, backed by Washington, London and the army establishment, has quietly been conveyed to Pakistan PM Gilani, to bring down the political temperature in the country.

As part of the deal, the PM has been asked to immediately convince Zardari to demonstrate the flexibility required to break the present deadlock, before the ‘Long March’ reaches Islamabad.

Gilani has reportedly been given 24 hours to convince Zardari into agreeing to the new political and constitutional arrangement, as further delay will not produce any positive results for the political forces currently on the warpath.

The ball is now firmly in the court of President Zardari, who has to take a decision swiftly on endorsing the agreement brokered by powerful international actors.

If Zardari does not accept the new deal then:

* Army, foreign powers will be left with no option but to implement ‘minus-one formula’
* Presidents office will be completely marginalised, Zardari will be removed
* Gilani will take over as power will be restored to PM office
* Nawaz Sharif’s PML(N) will join the cabinet
* Deposed SC chief Justice Iftikar Chaudhary will be reappointed.

Terms of the deal are:
* Pak PM Gilani has been asked to convince Zardari to accept the new political and constitutional arrangement
* The deal also states the removal of Punjab governor Salman Taseer, who is an obstacle to good relations between the PPP and the PML(N)
* Implementation of the new Constitutional package through the Parliament
* The deal also demands the restoration of Supreme Court Justice Ifthikar Chaudhary.

Since March 11, there have been a series of meetings that have shaped this deal.

The Pakistan army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani met PM Gilani in Islamabad on March 11, where in the ninety minute meeting the former essentially told the latter to set the deal in motion.

On Thursday, the US ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson met former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. The reason ostensibly was after Sharif alleged that there was a plot to assassinate him.

Meanwhile, the PM has not met the president after he returned from his trip to Dubai. He has however been talking to the President over the phone.

UK foreign secretary David Miliband also telephoned President Asif Ali Zardari to discuss the present situation on Thursday.

The second-last day of the KaraFilm Festival finally put a smile on the organisers’ faces as the two of Kara’s “oldest supporters,” Mahesh Bhatt and Nandita Das, finally managed to make it to the festival. In addition, the day was highly promising with the festival drawing its biggest crowd yet.

Das (who came on Friday for Ramchand Pakistani’s premiere as well) and Bhatt (who arrived on Saturday) were welcome signs and a massive statement of commitment from the neighbours across the border.

Bhatt and Das, during a small press conference held at the Arts Council said that the High Commission had knowledge of their association with Kara, and that it was very easy for them to get a visa, with Bhatt’s visa arriving within an hour.

Bhatt said that he had been coming to the past four Kara’s and the government’s on both sides knew this, as well as the nature of Kara itself. The festival provides a great forum to interact with like-minded people from different parts of the world, they said, adding that in troubled times, the exchange of people and artistes becomes important because they are part of the peace process.

Bhatt was of the opinion that the moderate voice in these tense times should be accorded more importance. The incident involving a Pakistani comedian was much regretted by the Indian public, he said, adding that the trend at the moment was such that any production involving Pakistanis was being put off as the distributors and exhibitors would object.

Hasan Zaidi, the chief organiser of Kara, said that the reason some Indian films could not be shown at the festival was because distributor refused to release their films. Das’ film Firaaq, which was screened on Saturday, was brought over by her own efforts and was yet to be released in Indian cinemas.

Das said that had it not been for Kara, she would not have met Mehreen Jabbar and never would have become part of Ramchand Pakistani. For now, she hoped that a good script from Pakistan would find its way to her so she could work on this side of the border as well.

Among the screenings on Saturday was “Right to Life,” a documentary on the problem of the lack of proper facilities, funds, and personnel, which affect birthing mothers.

The story follows one of the most prominent gynaecologists of Karachi, and perhaps even of Pakistan, Dr Shershah Syed. Attended by a host of midwives, nurses, doctors and students who filled up the hall to capacity, the documentary showed how primitive Pakistan is in the health sector.

If nothing else, the main obstacle is the government, who, while knowing how something should be done, does not do it right just to pocket a few coins for itself. The lack of funds, a flawed national policy and the government’s attitude towards healthcare means that there is rarely enough for everyone.

Earlier in the morning, children were treated to the animated film Kungfu Panda, where a panda must learn the ancient art of kungfu to protect not only himself but his village as well.

A host of children came to watch the premiere showing, including groups from various schools. Among them were also children from the Garage School project, and the Adamjee Orphanage.

KARACHI: Dacoits killed two real brothers amid robbery as brothers resisted against them while a person sustained injuries resisting against bandits during another incident of plundering in Karachi on early Thursday, police said.
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According to sources, four dacoits broke into a house located in Sajjan Goth in Samanabad area and opened fire on dwellers who resisted against them.
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Deceased brothers, identified as Abdul Samad and Abdul Aziz, were married whose dead bodies were shifted to Civil Hospital Karachi, police sources added.
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Other incident occurred in Ibrahim Haydir area where looters opened fire on Kamal Hussain (40) amid an incident of street crime.
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He was moved to local hospital here for providing medical attainment, sources maintained.

Are George Clooney [Images] and Benazir Bhutto’s [Images] niece Fatima an item?

If the National Enquirer is to be believed, the Hollywood star and the 26-year-old niece of slain Pakistan leader are engaged in ’secret romance’.

According to the tabloid, Clooney was so ’smitten’ by the ‘brainy foreign beauty,’ after meeting her at an international conference last year, that he started a long distance relationship with her.

Fatima, an outspoken journalist, lives in a prosperous suburb of Karachi with her brother and step-mother.

‘George has courted her by phone and e-mail, and arranged to meet her abroad when their schedules allowed,’ a friend of Clooney told the paper. ‘Now he wants her to spend time with him in Hollywood. He’s still out there with his usual assortment of eye-candy hanging from his arm. But George insists those days could be coming to an end if Fatima wants to take their relationship to the next level.

‘Fatima was educated at Columbia University [in New York] and knew of [Clooney's] heart-throb rep,’ said the Enquirer. ‘But she didn’t take his advances seriously because she thought their age difference would make a serious relationship impractical.’

Impractical or not, Fatima has shown a steely determination where politics is concerned and has often criticized Pakistan’s government in her columns. An avid thinker, whose book of poetry, The Whispers of the Desert, and a memoir of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake was published recently, is also reported to be contesting her late aunt’s former seat in the Larkana constituency in the next elections.

“I became a Muslim because I felt Islam was more humanistic and peaceful than other religions. And if you can religiously connect with the locals, I think it could be a big help in carrying out our peace reconstruction mission.” So said on Friday those Korean soldiers who converted to Islam ahead of their late July deployment to the Kurdish city of Irbil in northern Iraq.

At noon Friday, 37 members of the Iraq-bound “Zaitun Unit,” including Lieutenant Son Hyeon-ju of the Special Forces 11th Brigade, made their way to a mosque in Hannam-dong, Seoul and held a conversion ceremony.

Moreover, as the faithful face the “Kaaba,” the Islamic holy place in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, all Muslims confirm that they are brothers.

Nosheen Idrees the 22 year old from Jhelum Pakistan will be representing Pakistan in the Miss Earth pageant. Nosheen was crowned the third runner up for the Miss Pakistan World pageant on the 23rd of May 2008.

A student of communications at the University of Sheffield, Nosheen hopes to bring back a title that can put Pakistan as a country that has the most beautiful women in the world. In her own words, Nosheen says, “Pakistan is a country where the most beautiful women exist and it’s a shame that it’s not recognized for it.” Nosheen is set to change the perception of how the world looks at Pakistan and hopefully she says that she may be able to spread the message of peace for her country and be a great ambassador for the youth.

Sonia Ahmed the president of Miss Pakistan World made a statement recently saying that Pakistan has reached 20 international pageants in just 5 years time and that the main mission is to continue with the effort to get Pakistan recognized as the country with the most talented and beautiful women in the world. (Miss Pakistan World)

Back in the early naughtiess private television in Pakistan was born, the first network brave enough too launch there own channel gave a chance to a number off new comers, some off them made an impact and the others faded away with time.  Amongst the successful few was Azfar ali who after much struggle finally directed a hit Television sitcom ‘sub set hai’. ‘Sub set hai’ was one off a kind, it was truly something different, using slang words , breaking social taboos, was something the youth of Pakistan loved, one way or the other it offered hope to the rebels although the ending was somewhat disappointing. Sub set hai was followed up by something even more rebellious when Azfar Ali and Mani decided to take to the air waves, the success they had was phenomenal it start as an underground movement and spread around the city like wild fire. The initial period was very unstable jumping from one station to the other disappearing off the airwaves for absolutely ages but none off these seemed to have affected there fan following if anything it went from strength to strength. We caught up with Azfar to discuss the journey so and what role does he see art playing in Pakistan.               

Q. Any philosophy behind you work?
A. ‘Change’
i believe in changing outdated ideas and conventional boring techniques…i think we should all look on ahead and focus on ourselves more and on our very own orginality than to follow the west or the indians. i believe we are a unique nation and we are as ‘cool’ as anyone anywhere else.

Q. Its been nearly five years since you and mani took to the air waves, do you think you guys have made a difference at all if so how?
A. Yes we have or we’d never make it this far. Our job is to ask the relevant questions, questions that makes you think, we call that ‘planting the seed’ the rest is up to the listeners what they make out of it… we plant the ’seed’ and the crop is nutured by the type of ’soil’ that receives it.                   

Q. Is comedy in Pakistan flourishing or dying?
A. i wouldn’t say dying but yes it is being neglected. Its not easy to make people laugh so it requires a certain type of skill. i would say that particular skill is not being developed or groomed.

Q. Is art a luxury or a necessity for a society like Pakistan?
A. ‘Necessity’ for sure. Art is thoughts in translation. One beautiful thing art does is that it gives you an insight about how others think and see things so differently than you. If used effectively it can be a great tool in bridging gaps between the haves and have nots.

Q. Why have u never directed any music videos?
A. i have, back in 1994 to 1997, but i always wanted to make movies so i moved towards plays to learn more about scripting and directing.

Q. How can the copyrights issue be tackled in Pakistan?
A. Every issue in Pakistan is directly linked to lawlessness. We have laws but no one is interested in enforcing them. We need to crack down on pirates and implement the existing laws on them. This is one way of doing it.

Q. Is there a casting couch or any sort of corruption within the Pakistani television industry?
A. Yes there is….like in every Pakistani business industry!

Q. How important is training for an actor, or does experience count more?
A. Actors are people who can make a lie sound real. how much can you train for that is something no one knows. But the fact of the matter is that the more you lie the better you get at it, and you can do that with both training or experience.

Q. What is the most effective means to communicate a message to the audience would you say tv, radio or films?
A. I would say a “HIT.” regardless of wherever it is aired.

Q. I read somewhere that you have an idea or a script ready for a movie you want to direct what is holding you back?
A. To begin with, lack of cinema houses. Also,we just don’t money to make a film we also need funds to promote it. i dont want any of my producers to make a loss so till this country is ready to invest in films and promotions, i ‘m holding back.