ISLAMABAD: China hosted the foreign ministers of Pakistan and Afghanistan on Tuesday, in a bid to improve the neighbors’ historically fractious relationship.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China, Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani of Afghanistan and Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif led delegations from their respective countries.
According to a joint communique, the three countries agreed to strengthen counterterrorism coordination and cooperation. “The three sides will communicate and consult on developing a memorandum of understanding for counterterrorism cooperation,” it read.
All three countries urged the Taliban to join the peace process “as soon as possible,” calling a broad-based and inclusive peace and reconciliation process, which is Afghan-led and fully supported regionally and internationally the “most viable solution to end violence in Afghanistan.”
In the first trilateral dialogue between the three countries, the foreign ministers reiterated their “strong determination not to allow any country, organization or individual to use their respective territories for terrorist activities against any other countries,” according to their joint statement.
Speaking at a joint press briefing after their meeting, Asif said: “It was agreed that peace and stability in Afghanistan is essential for our shared objective of development, deepening connectivity and economic prosperity.”
“Pakistan emphasized the importance of border management, the return of Afghan refugees, and intelligence sharing for effective counter-terrorism cooperation.”
Afghanistan’s Rabbani said: “Terrorism is growing by the day and to turn around this trend will require full, sincere and practical cooperation among states in our own region and beyond to defeat this common menace.”
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid declined to comment, but the Taliban have previously rejected any offer to participate in the peace process.
China has serious concerns about the often-tense relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan, in view of its huge investment in the multibillion-dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), as well as its One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative.
Pakistani experts believe China has now adopted a proactive regional diplomatic approach to promote peace and reconciliation in war-torn Afghanistan, in cooperation with Pakistan, which would also help ensure security in China’s Xinjiang province, which borders both countries.
China has already hosted a meeting between the Afghan Taliban and Afghan government officials in 2015, and a delegation of Qatar-based Taliban political representatives traveled to China earlier this year, according to a Taliban official.
Sen. Mushahid Hussain, chairman of Pakistan’s Senate Defense Committee, said China is uniquely positioned to play an active role not only in economic development, but also in peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.
“Unlike others, China carries no extra-baggage, having stayed out of the internecine civil strife in Afghanistan,” Hussain told Arab News. ”Beijing enjoys the confidence of both the Afghan government and the Taliban, as well as Pakistan and the US, which has a diminishing military presence without China’s political and economic clout.”
“China’s economic growth southward, especially the CPEC, is directly impacted by Afghanistan,” said Ishaq Ahmed Khattak, director, intelligence and international security studies, South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI).
And, given the investment China has made in Afghanistan, it has to play a “predominant role in bringing peace through economic development and negotiations,” he explained.
Foreign Minister Yi visited Kabul and Islamabad in June this year to mend ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan. During that visit, the three countries agreed to establish a mechanism for regular interaction.
In their meeting on Tuesday, the foreign ministers decided that their next gathering would be held in Kabul in 2018.
China, Pakistan, Afghanistan ask Taliban to join peace process
China, Pakistan, Afghanistan ask Taliban to join peace process
Malaysia's jailed ex-PM Najib wins appeal to seek home detention for corruption sentence
In an application in April last year, Najib said he had clear information that then-King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah issued an addendum order allowing him to finish his sentence under house arrest. Najib claimed the addendum was issued during a pardons board meeting on Jan. 29 last year chaired by Sultan Abdullah that also cut his 12-year jail sentence by half and sharply reduced a fine. But the High Court tossed out his bid three months later.
The Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 ruling on Monday, ordered the High Court to hear the merits of the case. The decision came after Najib’s lawyer produced a letter from a Pahang state palace official confirming that then-Sultan Abdullah had issued the addendum order.
“We are happy that finally Najib has got a win,” his lawyer Mohamad Shafee Abdullah said. “He is very happy and very relieved that finally they recognized some element of injustice that has been placed against him.”
The lawyer said Najib gave a thumbs-up in court when the ruling was read.
He said it was “criminal” for the government to conceal the addendum order. Shafee noted that a new High Court judge will now hear the case.
In his application, Najib accused the pardons board, home minister, attorney-general and four others of concealing the sultan’s order “in bad faith.” Sultan Abdullah hails from Najib’s hometown in Pahang. He ended his five-year reign on Jan. 30 last year under Malaysia’s unique rotating monarchy system. A new king took office a day later.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has said he had no knowledge of such an order since he wasn’t a member of the pardons board. The others named in Najib’s application have not made any public comments.
Najib, 71, served less than two years of his sentence before it was commuted by the pardons board. His sentence is now due to end on Aug. 23, 2028. He was charged and found guilty in a corruption case linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
The pardons board didn’t give any reason for its decision and wasn’t required to explain. But the move has prompted a public outcry over the appearance that Najib was being given special privileges compared to other prisoners.
Najib set up the 1MDB development fund shortly after he took office in 2009. Investigators allege at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najib’s associates through layers of bank accounts in the United States and other countries, financed Hollywood films and extravagant purchases that included hotels, a luxury yacht, art and jewelry. More than $700 million landed in Najib’s bank accounts.
Najib is still fighting graft charges in the main trial linking him directly to the scandal.
Death toll from the German Christmas market attack rises to 6
- A woman succumbed to her injuries, prosecutors said Monday
- More than 200 people were injured in the Dec. 20 attack
BERLIN: The death toll in the attack on a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg last month has risen to six as a woman succumbed to her injuries, prosecutors said Monday.
Prosecutors in Naumburg said the 52-year-old woman died in a hospital, German news agency dpa reported. Authorities have said that the others who died were four women aged 45, 52, 67 and 75, and a 9-year-old boy.
More than 200 people were injured in the Dec. 20 attack.
Authorities have identified the suspect, who was arrested immediately after he drove a rented car through the crowded market early on a Friday evening, as a Saudi doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006 and had received permanent residency.
They have said he does not fit the usual profile of perpetrators of extremist attacks. The man described himself as an ex-Muslim who was highly critical of Islam, and on social media expressed support for the far-right.
Norway PM worried by Musk involvement in politics outside US
- The German government accused Musk of trying to influence Germany’s upcoming election
- Musk spent more than $250 million to help Trump get elected
OSLO: Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Monday that he found it worrying that billionaire Elon Musk was involving himself in the political issues of countries outside of the United States.
Musk, a close ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, last month endorsed a German anti-immigration, anti-Islamic political party ahead of that country’s national elections in February, and recently made remarks on British politics.
“I find it worrying that a man with enormous access to social media and huge economic resources involves himself so directly in the internal affairs of other countries,” Stoere told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.
“This is not the way things should be between democracies and allies,” he added.
If Musk were to involve himself in Norwegian politics, the country’s politicians should collectively distance themselves from such efforts, Stoere said.
Musk, the world’s richest person, spent more than $250 million to help Trump get elected and has been tasked by Trump to prune the federal budget as a special adviser.
The German government last week accused Musk, who owns social media platform X and is CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, of trying to influence Germany’s upcoming election with a guest opinion piece for the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said Musk’s support for Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was a “logical and systematic” play by the billionaire for a weak Europe that will not be able to regulate as strongly.
Russia says captured key town in eastern Ukraine
MOSCOW: Russian forces have captured the town of Kurakhove in eastern Ukraine, Russia’s defense ministry said on Monday, in a key advance after months of steady gains in the area.
Russian units “have fully liberated the town of Kurakhove — the biggest settlement in southwestern Donbas,” the ministry said on Telegram.
Canada PM Trudeau to announce resignation as early as Monday – reports
- Unclear whether Trudeau will leave immediately or stay on as PM until new leader is selected, says report
- Polls show Liberals will badly lose to the Conservatives in an election that must be held by late October
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to announce as early as Monday that he will resign as Liberal Party Leader, The Globe and Mail reported on Sunday, citing three sources.
The sources told the Globe and Mail that they don’t know definitely when Trudeau will announce his plans to leave but said they expect it will happen before a key national caucus meeting on Wednesday.
The Canadian prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.
It remains unclear whether Trudeau will leave immediately or stay on as prime minister until a new leader is selected, the report added.
Trudeau took over as Liberal leader in 2013 when the party was in deep trouble and had been reduced to third place in the House of Commons for the first time.
Trudeau’s departure would leave the party without a permanent head at a time when polls show the Liberals will badly lose to the Conservatives in an election that must be held by late October.
His resignation is likely to spur fresh calls for a quick election to put in place a government able to deal with the administration of President-elect Donald Trump for the next four years.
The prime minister has discussed with Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc whether he would be willing to step in as interim leader and prime minister, one source told the newspaper, adding that this would be unworkable if LeBlanc plans to run for the leadership.
