Fwd: REKO Diq Scam: Why is Nawaz govt in a hurry to pay the Discredited Consortium ?

73 views

Skip to first unread message

Am Malik

unread,

Dec 18, 2014, 12:56:17 PM12/18/14

to ArabTimes...@yahoogroups.com, BalochistanTi...@yahoogroups.com, dail...@yahoo.com, dail...@pes.comsats.net.pk, daily...@yahoo.com, dail...@yahoo.com, daily...@yahoo.com, daily...@max.com.pk, dailyspe...@yahoo.com, dr-mauric...@googlegroups.com, drajma...@yahoo.com, drmaha...@yahoo.com, ecopo...@lists.efn.org, edi...@dawn.com, ehsanq...@hotmail.com, ejaz_...@yahoo.com, ejaz_...@yahoo.com, ejaz...@yahoo.com, em...@karachirelief.org, em...@uiuc.edu, emba_at...@googlegroups.com, emba_at...@googlesgroup.com, emer...@lists.hcs.harvard.edu, englishd...@googlegroups.com, eugener...@washpost.com, eujour...@email.com, executi...@yahoo.ca, Executi...@yahoo.com, f...@googlegroups.com, fabd...@isdb.org, fadi...@yahoo.com, faeza_...@hotmail.com, fahe...@hotmail.com, fahim_c...@yahoogroups.com, faisa...@yahoo.com, faisalan...@gmaail.com, farahso...@hotmail.com, farhee...@newsonetv.tv, faro...@hotmail.com, faruque...@yahoo.com, fatima.sa...@googlemail.com, firas...@yahoo.com, fp...@webnet.com.pk, freedom...@aol.com, gafo...@yahoo.com, geoshoa...@hotmail.com, hak...@yahoo.com, hasans...@googlegroups.com, hassan...@hotmail.com, hassan...@hotmail.com, help...@yahoogroups.com, ho...@topica.com, hr-ac...@lists.best.com, hr-...@lists.best.com, hr....@secp.gov.pk, hr.recr...@kesc.com.pk, hr_pa...@colpal.com, hri...@lists.best.com, ibra...@yahoo.com, igna...@washpost.com, ihtas...@hotmail.com, imran_s...@pall.com, in...@boell.de, in...@opinionmaker.org, in...@privatisation.gov.pk, irfan...@tmi.co.pkm, irfa...@hotmail.com, IslamabadAffai...@yahoogroups.com, jamaat_isla...@egroups.com, Jamiat_Ulem...@yahoogroups.com, jami...@yahoo.com, Eknazar, Irving Muslim, <iftikhar.qaisar@geo.tv>, <islamabadtonight@ajj.tv>, <jaferqureshi@gmail.com>, abdul.nasir muhammed, Admiral Irfan - Ahmed, ahmed peerzada, Al - Hayat News Paper, albalagh, Alex James, ALEX JAMES JAMES, ali imran, alma...@arabnews.com, APP Economic Desk, Arif Khan, Asghar Ali, Asif Ikram Malik, Asrar Niaz, baderud...@yahoo.ca, Baqa Muhammad Aseem, Bashir Syed, Brian Cloughley, Cdr Salman Ali PRO PN Karachi, Clarke, Emma, Col. Aleem Afridi, Col. Bakhtiar Hakeem, Commodore Tariq Majeed, daily...@bbc.co.uk, Dr Alvi, Dr Alvi1, Dr Alvi2, Dr Ghayyur Ayub, Dr Hafeez Khan Ortho Shifa, Dr Ikram Kashif, Dr. Babur Zahiruddin, Dr.Iqbal Zafar, drsh...@bellsouth.net, drshabir...@gmail.com, dtaff...@yahoo.com, duncan bright, Dunya TV, EAJAZZ ARY AHMAD, eajjaaz ary ahamad, earne...@hotmail.com, ehsan...@aku.edu, Ejaz Akram, ejaz...@gmail.com, Emmad Ahmed Hameed, ESPN, Ethad_e_Islami group, Ethel Solano, Export-Space Ships Intl, Express Tribune, f, f f, F.W...@yahoo.com, Fahad Chaudhary, Faheem Ataullah Jan, Faheem Iqbal Khan, Faheem Paracha, Fahim Babur Khan, Faisal Ghouse, Faisal Khan, Faisal Malik, Faisal Malik, Faisal Sattar, FAISAL SHAIKH, faisal_f...@yahoo.com, faisal...@ankahi.tv, Faiz Ibrahim, Faiz Paracha, Faiz Paracha, faiz ullah, Faiza Ahsan, Faiza Khan, Faizan Ahmed Usman, Faizan Ahmed Usmani, Faizan Rauf, falcon...@yahoogroups.com, farah malik, Farahnaz Isphani Farahnaz Isphani, Faraz Haider, Farhan Iqbal, Farhat fatima, Farhatullah khan Baber, Farida Jafri, far...@gmail.com, Farooq Iqbal, Farooq Malik, Farrukh Abbas, farrukh baig, Farzana Bari, feed...@geo.tv, fm 103, fmun...@gmail.com, food...@quartermainesworld.com, freelan...@yahoo.com, G M Khan, G. H. Choudhry, gabid...@yahoo.com, Gen Hamid Gul, Gen.Hidayat Niazi, geoj...@gmail.com, ghulam.m...@expressnews.tv, ghu...@hotmail.com, Gi...@usa.redcross.org, guzni...@gmail.com, Habib Jan PPP, habibyo...@gmail.com, hallia...@yahoo.com, hamad_yaseen20@yahoo.com'haroonrashidtoor@live.com' <haroonrashidtoor@live.com>,'imran.emedia@gmail.com'<imran.emedia@gmail.com>,'imrannaeem@gmail.com' <imrannaeem@gmail.com>,'isahmad@illinois.edu' <isahmad@illinois.edu>,'ishfaq@journalist.com' <ishfaq@journalist.com>,'james_cyprian@journalist.com' <james_cyprian@journalist.com>,'javed74_19@yahoo.com' <javed74_19@yahoo.com>,'javeria.malik@actionaid.org' <javeria.malik@actionaid.org>,'jawad@usa.com' <jawad@usa.com>,'journalist73@hotmail.com' <journalist73@hotmail.com>,'kashifuddin@live.com' <kashifuddin@live.com>,'kpaulson@saudigazette.com.sa' <kpaulson@saudigazette.com.sa>,'mairafaisal.khan@gmail.com' <mairafaisal.khan@gmail.com>,'mansoorbasrar@yahoo.co.uk' <mansoorbasrar@yahoo.co.uk>,'maqboolpk@hotmail.com' <maqboolpk@, Hamid Mir, hamid zaffar, hamzaf...@gmail.com, haroonra...@live.com, HK...@hotmail.com, hr pakistan, huma butt, hussainfa...@hotmail.com, hussa...@gmail.com, iba_b...@yahoo.com, Ibrahim Ali, ibrahim...@gmail.com, Iftekhar Hai, Iftekhar Hai, Ifty Hussain, Ikram Sehgal, impact...@gmail.com, Imran Khan, Imran Qureshi, imroz karachi, Imtiaz Ali, Imtiaz Gul, Inam Jafri, Inam-ul-haq Brig, info.one...@googlemail.com, in...@asmasociety.org, Informed Comment, intellect...@gmail.com, Iqbal Mangrani, iqbal sandhu, iqbal_...@yahoo.com, Irfan Afzal, Irfan Naqvi, Irshad Ahmad Arif, ishrat...@unic.org, ISHTIAQ AHMAD, isla...@msn.com, Islamaba...@yahoogroups.com, IslamOp...@yahoogroups.com, Israr Kasana, Newyork, Nation Correspondent, izl...@yahoogroups.com, Jaffar Ali Zaidi, ja...@rifiela.com, james_...@journalist.com, jamil_jo...@hotmail.com, jamilbh...@gmail.com, Javaid Hasan, javaid...@yahoo.com, Javed Chaudry, Javed Chaudry Columnist, lucky Rizwan, mr a qureshi, Mr Faisal Anwar Malik, Mr Imran Mahmood, Mr Jahangir Ansari, Mr. H. N Akhtar, Mrs. F. Bokhari, Naeem Ahmed, Nawaiwaqt Lahore, portugheis alberto, Student the Quran, The Express Tribune, The Terrorland, 滕光胜, Naveen Anwar Malik

In 1976 I saw a Satellite photo of Chagai mountains clearly indicating the line of copper deposits going along the either sides of the ridges in white colour. It was absolutely clear. Later I happen to read that where ever is copper there is gold. Would this mean that there are gold deposits in substantial amount already mapped by the satellite photos? What else has been mapped??

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Khaled Nizami <kaniz...@gmail.com>
Date: 15 December 2014 at 00:46
Subject: REKO Diq Scam: Why is Nawaz govt in a hurry to pay the Discredited Consortium ?
To:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Zafar Iqbal <bellaa...@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, Dec 14, 2014 at 8:37 AM
Subject: Why is govt in a hurry to pay TCC for Reko Diq? 22
To:

Why is govt in a hurry to pay TCC for Reko Diq?

Lawyers, experts, CM confused; Khaqan Abbasi says summary going to PM

Shaheen Sehbai & Ahmad Noorani
Saturday, December 06, 2014
From Print Edition

462 98 340 1

DUBAI/ISLAMABAD:

The Nawaz Sharif government is in an unnecessary haste to settle and pay millions, possibly billions, of dollars as compensation for the Reko Diq gold and copper mines to a discredited and ousted Canadian-Chilean mining consortium, a decision if made may resemble the infamous circular debt payment of Rs500 billion in the early days of the PML-N government.

Interestingly, mining and legal experts and the London and Pakistani lawyers of the Government of Pakistan as well as the Government of Balochistan do not agree. Chief Minister of Balochistan Dr Malik recently rejected the speculation that the provincial government had made any compromise on the Reko Diq copper-cum-gold project and said he would “soon disclose the facts about it.” He did not elaborate.

The News has talked to all the stakeholders in this matter, top British and Pakistani lawyers, including the firm of Mrs Cherie Tony Blair, ex-law minister Ahmer Bilal Soofi, known scientist Dr Samar Mubarakmand, Federal Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, spokesman of the Finance Ministry, son of the former Chief Justice Arsalan Iftikhar, a Canadian mining expert and some interested investors of US and Canada, besides others who spoke off the record.

All gave different versions and different on-the-record responses.The bombshell was thrown by Federal Minister for Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi who broke the news and said he was sending a summary to the prime minister seeking approval to immediately start negotiations with the Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) to settle “out of court” a claim which the TCC has launched in the International Court for Settlement of Disputes (ICSID).The Supreme Court of Pakistan, headed by ex-CJ Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, after he took suo moto notice of stories published by The News, threw the TCC out of Pakistan.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told Ahmed Noorani in Islamabad: “I am sending a summary to the prime minister for seeking his approval to start negotiations with TCC. Talks with TCC will start after PM’s approval and all details will be discussed while both sides will be sitting on the table.”

Khaqan Abbasi rejected the thought that the move to start negotiations with the TCC showed that the government was in some indecent haste. “Rather it is an understanding of the ministry that sitting on the table can help us both. What will be our final deal with TCC or whether we will give some project of Reko Diq to TCC cannot be discussed at this stage,” commented the petroleum and natural resources minister.

Abbasi said it was not possible to go into the details before that but he said “it was always an option to sort out issues with TCC by sitting on the table as an award of arbitration can be harmful for both sides.”

He said the Supreme Court had already declared the agreement with the TCC as null and void and this was the final legal position.

The issue at hand is that the International Court’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) has yet to decide whether it has the jurisdiction to intervene in such a matter and that the judgment will come after several months. The court will also decide whether Pakistan has any liability to pay.

Once these two decisions are taken, then the stage of determining the quantum of payment will arrive and that may take years. If any settlement on the table is needed, that would be at a later stage, otherwise the ICSID would fix the amount.

Rana Asad Amin, spokesman of the Ministry of Finance, told The News said that his ministry was only aware of the ICSID hearing on the TCC-Government of Balochistan dispute on Reko Diq and waiting for its decision which will be announced after four to five months.

“The Ministry of Finance is not aware if there are any talks for some deal of $5 billion for Reko Diq with TCC,” Rana said.
How did the figure of $5 billion or over Rs500 billion come up? No one knows as the TCC has not officially made any mention of what amount they will claim from Pakistan in an out-of-court settlement. But figures have been thrown around unofficially and through the Western media.

For instance, the influential Wall Street Journal reported in May 2013 that a 2010 feasibility study put TCC’s share of the potential profits on Reko Diq’s 56-year mine life at $12 billion.
When WSJ asked whether TCC would seek such monetary compensation, its CEO Tim Livesey said the company had hired an independent economic adviser to provide advice on how much compensation to seek and would only be in a position to disclose the figure in the second half of 2014.

So this figure has been thrown around unofficially with feelers that Pakistan may be forced to agree on a settlement close to $5 billion, experts in the field say.

WSJ says the TCC has only invested $260 million in exploration but Tim Livesey says we will also claim the lost profits, which is a highly controversial claim.

Many experts say TCC may have spent some money “unofficially” on putting “wings on files” but the company cannot claim a compensation for these expenses.Dr Samar Mubarakmand, a known Pakistan scientist who was present in Paris in October when the international court heard the case, says TCC conducted feasibility study of only one deposit in Reko Diq and is now seeking compensation for 14 deposits.

Why Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and his government is so keen to begin talks now to pay the ousted mining company is even beyond understanding of the high level legal team that was hired by Pakistan and Balochistan to fight the case in the ICSID in Paris.

The legal firm of Cherie Blair working in close coordination with prominent lawyer Ahmer Bilal Soofi in Pakistan was asked a set of questions and they responded in writing as follows:“We write with reference to your email of 24th November 2014 in which you have raised certain queries to Omnia, below are the comments of the Legal team representing Government of Pakistan in ICSID.

“We make it plain at the outset that this response is not a comprehensive briefing on the arbitration proceedings commenced by Tethyan Copper Company Pty Limited (“TCC”). It is aimed at providing you with information, where appropriate, in response to your queries.

“We note that you are doing a news story about ‘TCC-Govt of Pak negotiations for out of court settlement on Reko Diq’. Please note that we are not in a position to comment on the existence of settlement negotiations between the Government of Pakistan and TCC.

“The present mandate of the legal team is to represent the Governments of Pakistan and Balochistan in the ICC and ICSID arbitration proceedings commenced by TCC in November of 2011.

Reply all

Reply to author

Forward

0 new messages