Shakarparian memorial garden: Abbas plants olive sapling

ISLAMABAD: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas planted an olive tree sapling at the Memorial Garden in Shakarparian on Monday, making him the first Palestinian leader and 117th foreign dignitary to plant a tree there. Memorial Garden is located at the site where the federal cabinet met in 1960 to approve the plans for the new federal capital, Islamabad. The practice of visiting dignitaries planting saplings at the site began on February 21, 1964, when Zhou Enlai, the first Premier of the People’s Republic of China, sowed the seed of a Chinese tallow tree. The Capital Development Authority is planning to establish a gallery at the site with photographs and a brief introduction of the dignities who planted trees here. Textile Minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin, CDA Chairman Tahir Shahbaz, and other government officers were also present.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th, 2013.