Twitter blocked in Pakistan over contentious material

Pakistan blocked the social networking website Twitter on Sunday because it refused to remove material considered offensive to Islam, said one of the country’s top telecommunications officials.

The material was promoting a competition on Facebook to post images of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, said Mohammad Yaseen, chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication’s Authority. Many Muslims regard depictions of the prophet, even favorable ones, as blasphemous.

Yaseen said Facebook agreed to address Pakistan’s concerns about the competition, but officials have failed to get Twitter to do the same.

”We have been negotiating with them until last night, but they did not agree to remove the stuff, so we had to block it,” said Yaseen.

Instructions to block the site came from Pakistan’s Ministry of Information Technology, said Yaseen.

”The ministry officials are still trying to make them (Twitter) agree, and once they remove that stuff, the site will be unblocked,” said Yaseen.
Officials from Twitter and Facebook were not immediately available for comment.

A top court in Pakistanordered a ban on Facebook in 2010 amid anger over a similar competition. The ban was lifted about two weeks later, after Facebook blocked the particular page in Pakistan.

The Pakistani government said at the time that it would continue to monitor other major websites for anti-Islamic links and content.

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Doctors remove four extra limbs from baby who was born with

A baby boy born with six legs has had a successful operation to remove his four extra limbs, doctors said today.

The youngster from Karachi in Pakistanwas believed to have had a parasitic twin, which had not developed properly in the womb, resulting in the extra legs.

A team of five doctors had fought to save the boy's life at the National Institute of Child Health in Karachi.

Baby Boy after Surgery

The head of the NICH, Jamal Raza, said the abnormal birth was the result of a genetic disease which would affect only one in a million or more babies.

'It was strange that apparently an abnormal baby with six legs was as normal as other children,' he said.

Before surgeons could operate they said they had to work out which of the limbs belonged to the boy and which to his twin.

Baby Before surgery 

Doctors examined MRI, blood tests and CT scan reports before deciding to perform the surgery. The operation lasted eight-hours and was performed in stages.

The baby had been in an intensive care unit ward since he was born last week to the wife of an X-ray technician.

Imran Shaikh, the baby's father who lives in Sukkur, said he was grateful his son was treated.

'We are a poor family. I am thankful to the government and doctors for helping us successful operating my baby,' he said.

Shaikh and his wife live in Sukkur, around 280 miles north of where his son is being cared for. His wife is reported to be recovering well from the birth and in a good state of health. 

His wife - who is also his cousin - has been unable to travel because she had a caesarean section delivery.

He said they were planning on naming their son Umar Farooq.

The Sindh provincial health department said they were examining if he needed any further treatment to live a normal life.

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Doctors battle to save baby born with SIX legs

Pakistani doctors are battling the odds to save a newborn baby born with a rare genetic condition that has left him with six legs. 

The one-week-old boy is believed to be one of parasitic twins. 

His conjoined twin was born prematurely and incompletely developed, which resulted in the second child having the extra legs, said Jamal Raza, director of the National Institute of Child Health in Karachi, to News.com.

Doctors at the institute are fighting to save the newborn, who remains in an intensive care unit ward. 

Baby born with six legs 

Raza added that they were planning to operate on the boy and were considering asking for help from foreign experts with more experience in the rare disease, believed to afflict just one in one million babies. 

He tried to clarify that the baby did not have six legs – he had two legs and the other four belonged to the other twin.

'Operating on such a baby is not an easy task as proper assessments need to be done first,' he said. 'We need to figure out whether the baby has his twin’s limbs or his own. We also need to consider how much the internal organs have developed as the latter could complicate matters and decrease the baby’s chances of surviving.'

Baby boy born with six legs to be names Umar Farooq

Speaking to the news site, the baby's father, Imran Shaikh, made a plea for help from the government and charities.

‘I can’t afford to visit Karachi and get treatment for my baby,’ said the X-ray technician, who earns the equivalent of $66-a-month. ‘I appeal to philanthropists and the government to come forward for the treatment.’

Shaikh and his wife of four years live in Sukkur, around 280 miles north of where his son is being cared for. His wife is reported to be recovering well from the birth and in a good state of health. 

His wife - who is also his cousin - has been unable to travel because she had a caesarean section delivery.

He said they were planning on naming their son Umar Farooq.

Muhammad Qaisar, a doctor at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad, told allvoices.com he was certain the boy could be successfully operated on. ‘It is perhaps [the] first child in the history of Pakistan having six legs,’ he said.

‘The case will also be a test for doctors and we hope for the better,” he said.

Since Shaikh made his public plea for help, the Sindh Governor has come forward and directed officials concerned to make sure the child receives all the medical care he needs, Pakistani-based The Nation reported. 

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