ISLAMABAD: Clad in a tracksuit and ankle weights, Imran Khan lounges in a plush chair and announces this is his political moment: the World Cup cricket champion believes power in Pakistan is his for the taking.
After years in the wilderness the former all-rounder is riding a wave of populism as rival parties stumble, decrying the venality of Pakistan’s political elite and promising an end to rampant corruption if he can win a general election due this year.
Often likened to US President Donald Trump for his populist flair and Twitter tirades, he prefers to draw parallels with former US presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders or British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn.
“It is one of the most ridiculous comparisons,” he sighs, when asked about Trump during an interview at his hillside home near Islamabad.
But despite once describing a potential meeting with the US president as a “bitter pill,” Khan says he would be prepared to work with Trump to stop the “insanity” in Afghanistan.
“This war will only end through talks,” he says. “The solution does not lie in more bombs and guns.”
In the West, the man who led Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup champion cricket team is typically seen through the prism of celebrity, with memories of his headline-grabbing romances and playboy reputation standing out.
Back home, the 65-year-old cuts a more conservative persona as a devout Muslim, often carrying prayer beads and nurturing beliefs in living saints.
To his legions of fans, Khan is uncorrupted and generous, spending his years off the pitch building hospitals and a university.
“(He) deserves a chance over all the other leeches,” says supporter Shahid Khan, a 26-year-old engineer.
But Khan is also described as impulsive and brash, too tolerant of militancy and fostering close links to Islamists, amid speculation over his ties to Pakistan’s powerful military establishment.
Khan entered Pakistan’s chaotic politics more than two decades ago promising to fight graft and build a welfare state in the nation of over 200 million.
But for his first 15 years as a politician he sputtered, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party never securing more than a few seats in the national assembly.
“Sports teaches you that life is not in a straight line,” he says.
“You take the knocks. You learn from your mistakes.”
In 2012 PTI’s popularity surged with hordes of young Pakistanis who grew up idolizing Khan as a cricket icon reaching voting age.
The wave of youth support accompanied festering dissatisfaction among the middle class with the country’s corrupt and dynastic political elite.
Khan admits his party was ill-prepared to capitalize on the gains in time for the 2013 election.
But that was then. “For the first time, we’ll be going into elections prepared,” he says of 2018.
He points to his party’s governance of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province as a blueprint for nationwide programs focusing on human development.
Rahimullah Yusufzai, a veteran journalist based in KP’s capital Peshawar, says the party has done well on legislation — but implementation has been slow, as PTI grapples with inexperienced political newcomers and indiscipline.
“He has been there for more than four and half years,” Yusufzai says. “People are trying to figure out, what change did he bring?“
Others fear Khan’s mercurial nature is unsuited to being prime minister.
Last month he made headlines after asking his supporters in a tweet to pray he finds “personal happiness which, except for a few years, I have been deprived of,” following still unverified claims he had married his spiritual adviser.
“Imran Khan is very, very impulsive — a trait leaders score low on,” says Harris Chaudhry, a 23-year-old student.
Detractors have also attacked Khan for his repeated calls to hold talks with militants and for his party’s alliance with Sami ul Haq, the so-called Father of the Taliban whose madrassas once educated militant supremos Mullah Omar and Jalaluddin Haqqani.
Khan defends the partnership, saying Haq is instrumental to reform and helping poor students at risk of being radicalized in Pakistan’s long war on extremism.
To his opponents, he is merely latching on to a groundswell of naked populism.
“Imran Khan is right now the beneficiary of a wave of celebrity politicians who are anti-politicians,” explains Husain Haqqani from the Washington-based Hudson Institute, suggesting Khan has also benefited from ties with the military, whose penchant for meddling in Pakistani politics is well known.
Still, many believe this is the best political opportunity Khan will ever have.
His arch nemesis Nawaz Sharif was ousted from the premiership in July, leaving the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in disarray; while the once mighty Pakistan People’s Party has wilted into a shell of its former self.
This election, Khan says, is PTI’s “biggest chance” at victory, even as doubts reverberate after his party lost a by-election this week.
But when asked if, should he lose, would he hand over the party leadership to a successor, Khan is cryptic.
“I’m the only cricket captain in our history who left when he still could have been the captain,” he says.
First the world, now Pakistan: Imran Khan seeks election glory
First the world, now Pakistan: Imran Khan seeks election glory
Bangladesh imports fertilizers from Saudi Arabia to boost food security
- Saudi Arabia supplies about one-third of country’s DAP fertilizer demand
- The Kingdom is Dhaka’s ‘preferred country’ partner for fertilizer imports
Dhaka: Bangladesh has secured a two-year deal to import 400,000 tons of fertilizer from Saudi Arabia, the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation said on Sunday as the South Asian country seeks to boost its food security.
Bangladeshi officials have been working to increase food production as the country faces rising food demand amid decreasing farming land due to rapid urbanization and a growing population.
The BADC signed the new agreement with Saudi state-owned company Ma’aden in Riyadh on Dec. 15, following years-long cooperation between them.
“Good quality fertilizer plays a vital role in ensuring food security for our 175 million people. This fertilizer helps us increase productivity by many folds,” BADC general manager Ahmed Hassan Al-Mahmud told Arab News.
Under the latest deal, Ma’aden will supply 400,000 tonnes of diammonium phosphate fertilizer every year until 2026 and provide training for Bangladeshi farmers.
“The Saudi state-owned fertilizer company offered to provide training for our farmers, for the purpose of knowledge transfer on optimizing the use of the DAP fertilizers,” Al-Mahmud said, adding that Ma’aden has also offered to build fertilizer warehouses in Bangladesh.
The Saudi imports will contribute to about one-third of Bangladesh’s annual DAP fertilizer needs, which stands at about 1.3 million tonnes, he added.
Bangladesh also stands to benefit more from the latest agreement, as the fertilizers cost $2 less per tonne compared to the average market price.
“It will save us a significant amount of money,” Al-Mahmud said. “Saudi Arabia has been our trusted supplier for a long time, and we can purchase it at a reasonable rate compared with other sources.”
While the South Asian nation also imports from China and Morocco, Al-Mahmud said that the Kingdom was a “dependable and reliable source.”
He added: “We have been importing fertilizer from the Kingdom for more than 15 years. It takes only around 2 weeks to import fertilizer from the Kingdom, while from Morocco it takes more than 6 weeks. From that perspective also, Saudi Arabia is our preferred country for importing fertilizer.”
Jeju Air flight crashes in South Korea, killing nearly all 181 aboard
- All but 2 of the 181 people on board died in the accident, authorities confirmed
- The crash on Sunday is the deadliest aviation disaster ever on Korean soil
SEOUL: A passenger plane carrying 181 people belly-landed and crashed at an airport in southwestern South Korea on Sunday morning, killing all but 2 aboard the flight, officials said.
Jeju Air flight 7C2216 had taken off from Bangkok with 175 passengers and six crew on board. It was landing at Muan International Airport, about 290 km south of Seoul, when it crashed at around 9 a.m.
Footage broadcast by local media showed the Boeing 737-800 skidding across the airstrip, apparently with its landing gear still closed, and colliding head-on with the airport’s concrete fence before bursting into flames. Only the aircraft’s tail was recognizable after the explosion.
“After the plane hit the fence, passengers were flung out of the aircraft. There is almost no possibility of survival,” the National Fire Agency said during a briefing held for the victims’ families.
The accident has killed 179 people aboard the flight, the fire agency said. Emergency workers rescued two crew members, who health officials said are conscious and not in life-threatening condition.
Ju Jong-wan, senior official at the Ministry of Land, Traffic and Infrastructure, said the control tower had issued a bird strike warning that was followed by the pilots declaring a mayday shortly afterward, before the aircraft made its ill-fated attempt to belly land at the airport.
“Bird strike and landing gear malfunction are being suggested as possible causes of the accident, but we will need to do a thorough investigation to determine the true cause,” Ju told a press briefing, adding that the ministry is analyzing both black boxes from the crashed airliner.
One of the rescued crew members told fire authorities that a bird strike occurred a few minutes before the plane crashed, causing the engine to smoke up and explode.
A passenger texted a relative to say a bird was stuck in the wing, the News1 agency reported. The person’s final message was: “Should I say my last words?”
The crash is the deadliest aviation accident ever on South Korean soil, more than two decades after an Air China crash that killed 129 people in 2002. It is also the worst aviation accident involving a South Korean airline since a 1997 Korean Air crash in Guam that killed more than 200 people.
The accident appears to have been the first fatal one for Jeju Air, a low-cost South Korean carrier established in 2005 that flies to dozens of Asian countries.
“We sincerely apologize to all those suffering because of the accident at Muan International Airport,” said Jeju Air CEO Kim Yi-bae. “I relay my deepest condolences to the victims who have passed away and to the bereaved families … We will cooperate with the government to determine the cause.”
Boeing, the aircraft’s manufacturer, said in a statement that it is in contact with Jeju Air and is “ready to support them.”
While the US aviation giant has had a turbulent time in recent years, including two 737 Max crashes, analysts have said that the Boeing 737-800 had a strong safety record.
Mikheil Kavelashvili sworn in as Georgia’s president amid political crisis
- Current President Salome Zurabishvili has refused to step down when her term ends and demanded new elections
- Parliament, controlled by the governing Georgian Dream party, is shortly expected to inaugurate Mikheil Kavelashvili
TBILISI: At least 2,000 pro-EU protesters gathered in Tbilisi on Sunday as Mikheil Kavelashvili, a hardline critic of the West, took the oath of office as Georgia’s president
Kavelashvili’s inauguration has sparked a political crisis in the South Caucasus country, whose government has frozen European Union application talks, provoking major protests.
Georgia’s pro-EU president Salome Zurabishvili declared she was the country’s “only legitimate president”, refusing to step down as her term ended Sunday with the inauguration of a disputed successor but saying she would vacate the presidential palace.
“I remain the only legitimate president,” she told thousands of pro-EU demonstrators. “I will leave the presidential palace and stand with you, carrying with me the legitimacy, the flag and your trust.”
Months of political crisis are poised to enter an unpredictable phase, and it is unclear what will happen if Zurabishvili does not leave the presidential palace.
Parliament, controlled by the governing Georgian Dream party, is shortly expected to inaugurate its loyalist Mikheil Kavelashvili, a far-right former footballer.
An AFP reporter in Tbilisi saw a growing crowd of protesters outside the presidential palace, with many bringing EU flags and chanting “Georgia!”
Many held on to the railings of the presidential palace, which was decorated with a large Georgian and EU flag.
Zurabishvili and protesters have accused Georgian Dream of rigging the October parliamentary election, demanding a fresh vote.
They say this makes Kavelashvili’s inauguration illegitimate.
Zurabishvili had said she would spend the night in the palace, calling on protesters to come in the morning.
Her term is due to end with the inauguration of a successor.
Georgia has been gripped by protests throughout 2024, with Georgian Dream’s opponents accusing it of steering Tbilisi toward Moscow rather than toward the Caucasus country’s longstanding goal of joining the EU.
Impeached South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol defies summons third time in a row
- Yoon Suk Yeol also failed to attend a hearing he was summoned to last Wednesday, giving no explanation for his absence
- The conservative leader was stripped of his duties by parliament on December 14, following a short-lived martial law declaration
SEOUL: South Korea’s suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol refused a summons to appear for questioning on Sunday, the third time he has defied investigators’ demands in two weeks.
Investigators probing Yoon had ordered him to appear for questioning at 10 am (GMT 0100) on Sunday, a demand he rejected.
Yoon, a former prosecutor, also failed to attend a hearing he was summoned to last Wednesday, giving no explanation for his absence.
The conservative leader was stripped of his duties by parliament on December 14, following a short-lived martial law declaration that plunged the country into its worst political crisis in decades.
Yoon faces impeachment and criminal charges of insurrection, which could result in life imprisonment or even the death penalty, in a drama that has shocked democratic South Korea’s allies around the world.
“President Yoon Suk Yeol did not appear at the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) at 10 am today,” said the office in a statement.
“The Joint Investigation Headquarters will review and decide on future measures,” it added.
The CIO is expected to decide in the coming days whether to issue a fourth summons or ask a court to grant an arrest warrant to compel Yoon to appear for questioning.
He is being investigated by prosecutors as well as a joint team comprising police, defense ministry, and anti-corruption officials, while the Constitutional Court deliberates on the impeachment motion passed by parliament.
If upheld by the court, which is required to deliver its ruling within six months of the impeachment, a by-election must be held within 60 days of the court’s decision.
Former president Park Geun-hye was impeached under similar circumstances, but she was investigated only after the Constitutional Court removed her from power.
A 10-page prosecutors’ report seen by AFP stated that Yoon Suk Yeol authorized the military to fire their weapons if needed to enter parliament during his failed bid to impose martial law.
Russia will abandon moratorium on deployment of short and medium range missiles, Lavrov tells RIA
- Washington withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty in 2019
MOSCOW: Russia will scrap a proposed moratorium on the deployment of short- and medium-range missiles as the United States started to deploy such weapons, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with RIA news agency published on Sunday.
“We are assessing the situation on the basis of an analysis of the destabilising actions of the United States and NATO in the strategic sphere and, accordingly, the evolution of the threats that arise from them,” Lavrov said.
“Today it is clear that, for example, our moratorium on the deployment of short- and medium-range missiles is no longer practically viable and will have to be abandoned. The US has arrogantly ignored the warnings of Russia and China and in practice has moved on to the deployment of weapons of this class in various regions of the world.”
Washington withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty in 2019. Russia has since said it will not deploy such weapons provided that Washington does not.
