1. Political Fall Out of the Iran-Iraq War. The air assault on Baghdad began on 20 March 2003. Keeping in mind the religious sentiment of the population fanned by Muttahida Majlis e Amal (MMA) the Pakistan Government deplored the '..initiation of military action against Iraq'. At the same time the Government '… regretted that Saddam Hussein had not considered all options to save the Iraqi people from death and destruction.' The Pakistan Day parade scheduled for 23 March and the SAF games, scheduled to begin on 29 March, were cancelled. Prime Minister, Jamali postponed a planned visit to the US and UK. The MMA have, however, seized this opportunity of exploiting religious sentiment. 'Million Marches' were organized to protest against the 'US war with Iraq' in Karachi (March 02), Peshawar (09 March - estimated participation 300,000) and Lahore( 23 March estimated participation - 200,000). Police stopped about 2,000 protestors from holding an anti-war demonstration Sunday outside a US airbase in Pakistan's southern Sindh province. Protestors from the Muttahida Majli-e-Amal (MMA), staged a rally in Jacobabad against the US-led attack on Iraq. The mob tried to march to the well-guarded Shahbaz airbase in Jacobabad, used exclusively by US-led coalition troops for operations in Afghanistan. Police however forced the protesters to change their course. Smaller demonstrations were held in other cities. A discussion on the war in the Senate was quite acrimonious as the MMA was advocating a hard line resolution.

2. Escalation of Tension between India and Pakistan. On Pakistan on Wednesday successfully conducted test firing of an indigenously manufactured surface-to-surface Abdali missile system in a Tit-for-Tat response to India near Karach Earlier, India test fired medium range surface-to-surface missile Prithvi from the integrated test range (ITR) at Chandipur-on-sea, about 15 kms from here In an apparent thaw in relations, President Musharaf undertook a 3 day state visit to Russia at the beginning of February. This was the first visit by a Pakistani Head of State to Russia after 33 years. Trade and military ties were discussed. In this context, Pakistan offered Russia access to the Arabian sea through the strategic deep sea port at Gwadar. President Musharaf also urged the Russian President to mediate between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir dispute. Pakistan's visit to Russia was closely followed by the visit of the Indian external affairs minister who visited to Moscow towards the end of February.

3. Prime Minister Jamali's visit to China. Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali visited China from March 24-26 for bilateral talks. During the talks, '…the two sides reached broad consensus on such issues as maintaining high-level contacts, strengthening exchanges at all levels and conducting closer cooperation in the anti-terrorism field.'

4. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights praises Pakistan's Commitment to ensure respect for civil liberties. On 26 February, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed satisfaction at Pakistan's stated commitment to a clear policy of ensuring respect for human rights in all spheres of public and private life. At the end of his three-day visit to Pakistan, Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello also hailed the declaration by the country's new Parliament on its will to respect democratic values. Throughout his visit, Mr. Vieira de Mello has drawn special attention to the need to promote and protect the rights of women. He has discussed women's rights with all the officials and civil society members with whom he spoke, praising the fact that women made up 21 per cent of the new Assembly and about 17 per cent of the Senate, and noting efforts to raise the level of female literacy and increase the number of girls in schools. Still, the High Commissioner insisted on the need for Pakistan's Government to pursue its efforts to prosecute crimes against women, like honour killings. "There should be no tolerance for violence against women," he said. Discussing anti-terror measures, he said that he understood very well the difficult situation faced by Pakistan, but stressed the need to fight terror while respecting the rule of law and civil liberties.

5. Chief of Pakistan's Air Force killed in an Air Crash. The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Mushaf Mir and his wife were killed in an air crash on 19 February along with 15 others. An enquiry into the crash has been ordered. The crash is thought to be due to human error.

B. IMPORTANT DRUG CONTROL AND CRIME-RELATED MATTERS

1.CRIME: Terrorist Activities in Karachi. On 9 February, a bomb went off in the parking lot of the Clifton Shopping Galleria behind the Pakistan State Oil House in Karachi killing one person. Mr Khalid Bin Waleed, a leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was killed in Karachi mid-month. The assailants fired at him from a parked car. The murder was described as an attempt to spark violence between MQM (Altaf) and MQM Haqiqi.

2. Drug Seizures: 1 January to 5 March 2003: Opium 44.6 kg Heroin 2,602.7 kg Hashish 3,808.9 kg

C. PROGRAMME/ PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION AND DEVELOPMENT

1. PAK/94/840: Dir District Development Project (1994-2002). Project budget: US $ 14,291,600. (Project operationally closed in September 2002). A proposal related to follow-up activities, was submitted to UNODC HQs for review and comments in January 2003. The proposal is based on the recycling of the proceeds of non-expendable equipment to fund a new project. HQs clearance to proceed with the project is still awaited. The 2002 NEX audit will be initiated 10 March.

2. PAK/99/D86: Drug Law Enforcement Programme for Pakistan (1999-2002). Programme budget: US$ 5,252,364; allocation advice for 2003: US$ 466,000. A basic drug law enforcement training for two weeks was undertaken at Coast Guards, Karachi. Twenty officials participated in the training course. Installation of laboratory equipment for the Chemical Examiners Laboratory in Lahore commenced and is expected to be completed in early March.

3. RAS/98/D18: Support to Drug Law Enforcement Programmes in SW, South and Central Asia, from within Regional Office SW Asia. (1998-2003). Project budget: US$ 215,000; allocation advice 2003: US$ 25,800. The Regional Law Enforcement Adviser based in Kabul spent some time in Islamabad to monitor the implementation of the Drug Law Enforcement Programme for Pakistan and to provide inputs to a project document "Establishment of Intelligence units".

4. AD/PAK/01/F50: Establishment of a Network of Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Centres. Project budget: US$ 547,000; allocation advice 2003: US$ 241,000. Four new centers have been added to the network of drug treatment and rehabilitation centers that is being established under the project (one in Baluchistan, two in Sindh and one in NWFP province). A total of 13 centers will participate in a workshop to exchange first experiences with the project in March.

5. AD/PAK/01/F51: District Level Drug Abuse Prevention. Project budget: US$ 277,000; allocation advice 2003: US$ 70,900. A total of eight districts have been identified (2 NWFP, 2 Punjab, 2 Sindh, 2 Baluchistan) to participate in the project. Preparations have been made for the launching of a study on drug abuse amongst street children as recommended in the National Drug Abuse Assessment Report.

6. AD/PAK/01/F91: HIV/AIDS Prevention among Intravenous Drug Users in Karachi - a Pilot Project. Project budget: US$ 200,000; allocation advice 2003 US$ 76,700. The following services were provided by the two drop-in centers in Karachi during February: 45 new IDUs registered, 3,238 syringes distributed and 3,117 social services provided. Referrals: 7 clients for detoxification, 9 for specialized medical services and 8 for surgical services. A total of 168 clients received counselling.

Programme Development. A meeting was held with the Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to review the possibility for the placement of a Money Laundering Expert within NAB. A project document on the "Establishment of Intelligence" Units is being prepared. In this context, a meeting was held with the Director General of the Federal Investigation Unit (FIA) with regard to their participation in the project.

D. IMPORTANT MEETINGS/ PLANNED UPCOMING EVENTS

On 25 February, the Officer-in-Charge of the Country Office launched the INCB Report 2002 at a press conference in Islamabad. The launching of the report was widely covered by national and international media. The Officer-in-Charge met with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Sergio de Mello at a HOA meeting during his official visit to Pakistan. Staff of the country office participated in a seminar on human trafficking and smuggling organized by the Ministry of Interior and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Islamabad.