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Plane truths
 [DAWN] THIS is what happens when you allow your railways minister to control air traffic. Eyebrows were raised and there was talk of what angry steps an international airline could resort to when the aircraft carrying Dr Tahirul Qadri...Pak politician, and would-be dictator, founder and head of Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran and Pakistain Awami Tehrik. He usually resides in Canada, but returns to Pakistain periodically to foam at the mouth and lead demonstrations. Depending on which way the wind's blowing, Qadri claims to be the author of Pak's blasphemy law. Other times he says it wasn't him... was diverted to Lahore from Islamabad on Monday morning. It is said the brilliant idea came from the minister Khwaja Saad Rafiq. A top-of-the-line train-stopper among Pakistain's politicians, he apparently wanted to take his powers to altogether a new level. He did succeed in helping Islamabad avoid an unwanted guest, even if at the cost of some embarrassment to the country's civil aviation authorities and a little chaos in his own city of Lahore. The act brought back uneasy memories of the past: confused swirling around by planes on the Pak horizon and the dangers of sharing airspace with prominent people. At this rate, the reformists should soon be flying all by themselves. This is one area where there has been a lot of activity and where the country has made progress. Fifteen years ago, when Gen  Pervez PervMusharraf Posted by: Fred 2014-06-25 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=394066 |