ISLAMABAD: The US Congress has slashed security funding to Pakistan by almost two-thirds under an amended defense budget following criticism of its coalition partner’s failure to tackle terror groups thriving in its porous border region with Afghanistan.
In a $717 billion budget for the coming year, Congress cut funding allocated to Pakistan to fight terrorism from $900 million to $350 million, with some analysts suggesting the figure may be even lower.
Former Professional Staff Member of the US Senate Committee on Armed Services Anish Goel said: “The legislation reduces the amount of funds provided for reimbursement to Pakistan to $150 million. This is a significant reduction from the $700 million authorized through the Coalition Support Fund last year.”
A US Embassy spokesman in Islamabad told Arab News: “The $150 million in defense funding is dedicated to Pakistan’s border security operations and is a clear sign of our commitment to improved security for both Pakistan and Afghanistan. We hope that Pakistan takes the necessary steps to enable the disbursement of this assistance.”
If Pakistan demonstrates its ability to secure the Pakistan-Afghan “borders against the threats posed by transnational terrorism,” it will be eligible for US assistance, the spokesman said.
Under a program to reimburse coalition nations for support provided to US military operations, Pakistan’s fund allocation in 2018 was reduced to $700 million, with half the figure pegged to its action against the deadly Haqqani Network supported by the Afghan Taliban.
In May, the US Committee on Armed Services House of Representatives raised concerns about Pakistan’s commitment to tackle militant groups its border region with Afghanistan and called for drastic cuts to financial relief provided to Islamabad.
The dramatic cut in funding is also part of Washington’s South Asia and Afghan policy unveiled last August. Relations between Pakistan and the US have remained frosty since the policy launch.
Reiterating his earlier comments this week, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Dr. Mohammed Faisal told Arab News that the funds should not viewed as aid but “reimbursements to be made to Pakistan under the Coalition Support Fund” for its logistical and operational support, which a disappointed US has “discontinued.”
“Our position is very clear that mutual problems can only be addressed through mutual consultations and deeper engagement,” said Faisal.
The Congress defense budget made clear that Pakistan’s funding of $350 million would remain in place until the secretary of defense was satisfied that Pakistan is taking “demonstrable steps against the Haqqani Network.”
Goel told an Indian newspaper that the budget amendment “gets rid of the certification requirements for Pakistani action against the Haqqani Network, and also gets rid of the authority to reimburse Pakistan for counterterrorism.”
The US Embassy spokesman said: “The US administration’s position is unchanged. We continue to press Pakistan to target all terrorist groups without discrimination, including the Taliban, Haqqani network and Lashkar e-Tayyaba, and stand ready to work with Pakistan to combat terrorist groups without distinction.”
The US has increased its efforts to negotiate a permanent truce with the Taliban in hope of ending the Afghan war following a short-lived but successful cease-fire agreement between the Afghan government and Taliban in June and recent talks between US diplomats and representatives of the insurgency.
Washington believes Pakistan has considerable influence over the Taliban, which the Foreign Office has denied. Experts say the latest move to reduce funding is one of several tactics the US has applied to coerce Islamabad to conform to the Trump administration’s regional policies.
“This is all to put pressure on Pakistan,” Khaled Mohammed, director-general of Command Eleven, a national security think tank that advises Pakistan’s military.
“They are trying to get Pakistan to back the US move to make the Taliban lay down their weapons and become a regular part of the (Afghan) government. The Taliban will not do that.”
Khaled Mohammed said Islamabad will not bargain on America’s behalf because of a “trust deficit” dating back to the Russian occupation of Afghanistan.
However, “Pakistan is on the back foot. It could be backlisted by the FATF (Financial Action Task Force over non-compliance to submit a progress report). It could be blacklisted or placed under sanctions by the US. Eventually, Pakistan would find itself in a worse economic position, he said.
US cuts Pakistan security funding over terror fears
US cuts Pakistan security funding over terror fears
- Mutual problems can only be addressed through mutual consultations, says Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman
- Pakistan is on the back foot. It could be blacklisted by the FATF, says analyst
EU coast guard agency must ‘act to save refugee lives’ in Mediterranean: HRW
- Frontex ‘should uphold EU and international law and our shared commitment to humanity and the protection of life’
- More than 30,500 people have died or gone missing crossing to Europe by sea in past decade
LONDON: The EU’s coast guard agency, Frontex, should use its reconnaissance capabilities to help rescue refugee vessels in the Mediterranean, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.
HRW launched a new campaign, #WithHumanity, calling on Frontex to help save the lives of thousands of people making the perilous journey to Europe.
Over the past decade, more than 30,500 people have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean, and this year at least 1,600 have been recorded dead or missing alone.
Judith Sunderland, HRW’s associate Europe and Central Asia director, said: “Frontex planes and drones should use their eyes on the Mediterranean Sea to save lives. With thousands dying in the Mediterranean every year, it’s vital for Frontex to do all it can to help ensure that people on unseaworthy boats are rescued and brought to safety.”
Coordination issues between Frontex, national coast guards in Europe and NGOs must be resolved, HRW said.
“By focusing on the aspirations of people taking these dangerous journeys, we hope that people across Europe will join us in urging Frontex to prioritize saving lives at sea,” Sunderland said.
“Europe’s coast guard should uphold EU and international law and our shared commitment to humanity and the protection of life.”
As it stands, when Frontex staff sight refugee vessels in the Mediterranean using aircraft, it informs rescue centers in EU member states as well as Libya and Tunisia.
But nearby NGO rescue ships are often left out of the communication loop, as are nearby vessels, which HRW said should receive emergency alerts.
In many cases, Libyan and Tunisian forces have received alerts and interdicted the refugee vessels, returning passengers to countries where they “face serious human rights abuses.”
A 2022 report by HRW found that Frontex’s decisions make the agency complicit in abusive and indefinite arbitrary detention practices in Libya.
Last month, 11 people rescued from Libya on the Medecins Sans Frontieres ship Geo Barents were interviewed by HRW.
All had suffered abuse — including claims of sexual violence, forced labor and physical assault — while in Libyan detention centers or smuggler captivity.
The Pylos shipwreck in 2023 “demonstrated the fatal consequences” of failing to respond appropriately to refugee vessels, HRW said.
More than 600 people died after the severely overcrowded ship capsized in Greece’s search-and-rescue region.
Frontex informed coastal authorities but failed to issue an emergency alert to nearby ships on the basis that there was no “imminent risk of loss of life.”
NGO rescue staff told HRW that Frontex coordination can prove crucial to saving the lives of refugees.
Last October, Geo Barents performed a nighttime rescue, saving 64 people including women and children, after receiving the coordinates of an overcrowded raft in the Mediterranean.
Fulvia Conte, MSF’s search-and-rescue team leader, said: “To have precise coordinates, taken from the sky, with a thermal camera, of course it helps when searching for a boat.”
Frontex must ensure that the locations of vessels in distress are automatically transmitted to NGO rescue ships in the vicinity, HRW said.
“Through the #WithHumanity campaign, Human Rights Watch is asking the public to take a closer look at the lives and rights at risk in the Mediterranean Sea and their shared humanity with those making the crossing, and to demand action by the responsible authorities,” the organization added.
Russia moves to ratify North Korea defense treaty, Seoul issues warning
- Seoul’s spy agency says thousands of North Korean soldiers are currently training in Russia
- They are likely to deploy to the front lines in Ukraine soon, with thousands more to be sent by December
MOSCOW: Russia moved to ratify a key defense pact with North Korea on Thursday, while South Korea warned it would not “sit idle” if Pyongyang deployed thousands of troops to help Moscow fight Ukraine.
Seoul’s spy agency says thousands of North Korean soldiers are currently training in Russia and are likely to deploy to the front lines in Ukraine soon, with thousands more to be sent by December.
Lawmakers in Russia’s lower house of parliament voted unanimously on Thursday to ratify a treaty with North Korea that provides for “mutual assistance” if either party faces aggression.
The accord will be now sent to the upper house, the Federation Council, for its approval.
Both houses of parliament act as rubber stamps for the Kremlin.
The West believes North Korea is already giving Moscow weapons to use in its Ukraine offensive.
“South Korea won’t sit idle over this,” South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said of Pyongyang’s reported troop deployments, after talks with visiting Polish President Andrzej Duda.
The two countries agreed North Korea’s deployment was “a provocation that threatens global security beyond the Korean Peninsula and Europe,” he added.
South Korea, one of the world’s top 10 weapons exporters, has long resisted calls from its allies, including Washington, to supply Kyiv with weapons.
But it has hinted it could review this policy in light of North Korea’s actions and Yoon said Thursday that Seoul would “take necessary actions in cooperation with the international community” to respond.
Pyongyang and Moscow have drawn closer since Russia launched its 2022 military offensive on Ukraine.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as his country’s “dearest friend.”
Moscow on Wednesday refused to confirm or deny reports of North Korean soldiers being sent to Russia, telling reporters to “ask Pyongyang” where its troops were.
Seoul has already sold billions of dollars of tanks, howitzers, attack aircraft and rocket launchers to Poland, a key ally of Kyiv’s.
In June, South Korea agreed to transfer the knowledge needed to build K2 tanks to Poland, which experts have said could be a key step toward production inside the territory of Ukraine.
The two countries will “actively support the successful progress of the Korea-Poland defense cooperation,” Yoon said.
This will include signing a deal on a second contract for South Korean K2 tanks by the end of the year, he added.
They also announced they would “strengthen joint efforts for the restoration of peace and reconstruction in Ukraine” and “continue to expand support for the Ukrainian people and work closely with Poland in the process.”
President Duda’s four-day visit to South Korea will end on Friday, with a stop to Hyundai Rotem, producers of the K2 tanks, and to Hanwha Aerospace, South Korea’s largest defense contractor.
Hanwha Aerospace has signed a $1.64-billion deal with Poland to supply rocket artillery units.
A South Korean official from the president’s office told reporters on Tuesday that Seoul would “support (Ukraine) through defensive weaponry, and if things get out of line, we could consider sending offensive weapons.”
Prior to Yoon and Duda’s meeting, a North Korean balloon carrying trash landed on Seoul’s presidential compound.
Local media reported it contained propaganda leaflets ridiculing the South Korean president and his wife.
Photographs released by local media showed a leaflet featuring South Korean first lady Kim Keon Hee’s picture alongside the phrase: “Queen Kim Keon Hee, a figure who rivals Marie Antoinette, the epitome of luxury and indulgence.”
France to provide a $108 million aid package to support Lebanon
- Paris also seeks to help restore Lebanon’s sovereignty and strengthen its institutions
- There have been recent tensions between the French and Israeli leaders
PARIS: France will provide a $108 million (€100 million) aid package to support Lebanon, French President Emmanuel Macron told an international conference Thursday in Paris.
Macron said “in the immediate term, massive aid is needed for the Lebanese population, both for the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the war and for the communities hosting them.”
The war between Hezbollah militants and Israel has displaced a million people in the country, killed over 2,500 and deepened an economic crisis.
French organizers hope participants’ financial pledges of humanitarian aid will meet the $426 million the United Nations says is urgently needed.
Paris also seeks to help restore Lebanon’s sovereignty and strengthen its institutions.
France is hosting an international conference for Lebanon to rally military and humanitarian aid for the country where war between Hezbollah militants and Israel has displaced a million people, killed over 2,500 and deepened an economic crisis.
Paris also seeks to help restore Lebanon’s sovereignty and strengthen its institutions. The country, where Hezbollah effectively operates as a state within a state, has been without a president for two years while political factions fail to agree on a new one.
But the international conference comes as critics say French President Emmanuel Macron’s diplomatic approach in the Middle East has been blurred by his apparent evolving approach and sometimes chaotic communication.
Still, France’s historic links with Lebanon, a former colony, and its influential diplomacy give Paris momentum to coordinate “a proper response to the massive challenge that the war in Lebanon now poses,” said Middle East expert Rym Montaz, editor in chief of Carnegie Europe’s blog Strategic Europe.
The French “are trying to make sure that international donors get to hear firsthand from the actors on the ground in Lebanon who can best describe the most immediate needs caused by the Israeli aggression that has forcibly displaced 20 percent of the Lebanese population over the course of two weeks,” she said.
Israel in the past month has launched a major aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Lebanon as it targets Hezbollah, with strikes hitting the capital, Beirut, and elsewhere.
The International Organization for Migration has said about 800,000 people are displaced, with many now in overcrowded shelters, while others have fled across the border into Syria.
The cash-strapped Lebanese government is ill-prepared to deal with the crisis or the increased demands on its health system. A number of hospitals have been evacuated because of nearby airstrikes and fears that they might be targeted.
In recent weeks, Macron appeared to toughen his stance against Israel while repeatedly calling for a ceasefire in both Lebanon and Gaza, condemning the “unbearable human toll.” He reiterated his call on Monday while speaking by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his office said.
There have been recent tensions between the French and Israeli leaders, especially after Macron called for a halt to arms exports for use in Gaza.
Macron has also strongly condemned the “deliberate” targeting by Israel of UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, which Israel has denied.
Thursday’s conference will include ministers and officials from over 70 countries and international organizations, including the European Union and regional partners, Macron’s office said. Acting Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who met with Macron on Wednesday, will attend.
French organizers said they hope the expected financial pledges of humanitarian aid will meet the United Nations’ call for the $426 million it says is urgently needed in Lebanon. Italy this week announced new aid of 10 million euros ($10.8 million) and Germany on Wednesday pledged an additional 60 million euros ($64.7 million) for people in Lebanon.
France also aims at coordinating international support to strengthen Lebanon’s armed forces so they can “deploy more broadly and efficiently” in the country’s south as part of a potential deal to end the war. Such a deal could see Hezbollah withdraw its forces from the border.
International support may include equipment, training and financial aid to hire troops and ensure the army’s daily needs, Macron’s office said.
Lebanon’s army has been hit hard by five years of economic crisis. It has an aging arsenal and no air defenses, leaving it in no position to defend against Israeli incursions or confront Hezbollah.
The Lebanese army has about 80,000 troops, around 5,000 of them deployed in the south. Hezbollah has more than 100,000 fighters, according to the militant group’s late leader, Hassan Nasrallah. The militant group’s arsenal — built with support from Iran — is more advanced.
Conference participants also will discuss how to support the 10,500-soldier-strong UN peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL. European nations including France, Italy and Spain provide a third of its troops.
Italy, which has over 1,000 troops in the UNIFIL, is notably pushing for the peacekeeping force to be strengthened to “be able to face the new situation” on the ground, an Italian diplomat said, speaking anonymously to discuss ongoing talks.
“What we do know is that without a strengthened Lebanese armed forces and UNIFIL, there can be no sustainable peace and stability at the border between Lebanon and Israel,” Montaz said. “As such, the French efforts are important and crucial for the way forward.”
Indonesia says Chinese coast guard ship driven from disputed waters
- Chinese vessels have occasionally entered Indonesia-claimed areas of the North Natuna Sea
- The incidents are an early test for newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto
JAKARTA: Indonesia said Thursday it drove out a Chinese coast guard vessel from contested waters in the South China Sea twice in recent days, the latest move by a Southeast Asian nation against Beijing’s actions in the strategic waterway.
Chinese vessels have occasionally entered Indonesia-claimed areas of the North Natuna Sea at the southern edge of the South China Sea, drawing protests from Jakarta.
“The China Coast Guard ship re-entered the Indonesian jurisdiction in the North Natuna Sea on Wednesday,” Indonesia’s Maritime Security Agency said in a statement Thursday.
An Indonesian coast guard ship intercepted the boat and drove it from the area, it said.
The agency said the vessel first entered contested waters on Monday and when an Indonesian ship tried to contact the Chinese boat by radio, the Chinese coast guard said the area was part of Beijing’s jurisdiction.
The ship was “disturbing the activity of a survey” being conducted by state-owned oil company Pertamina, it said.
An Indonesian coast guard ship shadowed the ship and drove it away.
Huge unexploited oil and gas deposits are believed to lie under the South China Sea’s seabed, though estimates vary greatly.
The incidents are an early test for newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto who has pledged to bolster the defense of Indonesian territory.
In 2020 Indonesia deployed fighter jets and warships to patrol the Natuna islands waters in a spat with Beijing after Chinese vessels entered the area.
Beijing and Jakarta are key economic allies but the world’s largest archipelago nation is trying to stop foreign vessels from fishing in its waters, saying it costs the economy billions of dollars annually.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea and has ignored an international tribunal ruling that its assertions have no legal basis.
It has deployed military and coast guard vessels in recent months in a bid to eject the Philippines from a trio of strategically important reefs and islands in the contested waterway.
It has also been ratcheting up pressure over a disputed island group controlled by Japan in the East China Sea, rattling Tokyo and its allies.
Argentine police raid hotel where Liam Payne fell to death
- Television images showed a handful of agents working on computers at the lobby counter
BUENOS AIRES: Argentine police raided on Wednesday the Buenos Aires hotel where former One Direction star Liam Payne died after falling from his third-floor balcony, a police source told AFP.
Police officers from the special investigations and technology divisions were sent to the Casa Sur Hotel by the prosecutor’s office “to seize elements of interest for the investigation,” said a police source who asked not to be identified.
Television images showed a handful of agents working on computers at the lobby counter.
The 31-year-old British pop singer was found dead after staff called emergency services twice to report a guest “overwhelmed by drugs and alcohol” was “destroying” a hotel room.
He had spoken publicly about struggles with substance abuse and coping with fame from an early age.
Wednesday’s raid came a day after the Argentine prosecutor’s office met with the musician’s father, Geoff Payne, and assured him that his son’s toxicology studies had not been released by that institution.
US media reported on Monday that Payne had a cocktail of drugs in his system when he died.
ABC and TMZ said “pink cocaine” — containing methamphetamine, ketamine and MDMA — had been found during a partial autopsy, citing anonymous sources familiar with the preliminary tests.
The prosecutor’s office said it had not “disclosed any specific technical report outside the exclusive framework of the investigation and the judicial process corresponding to the case.”
Although there is no stipulated deadline for the results of the toxicological analyzes, an official from the Public Prosecutor’s Office told AFP that they could be concluded this week.
Investigators were examining cell phones, computers, photographs and videos from security cameras, and have taken “numerous witness statements to reconstruct the victim’s final hours and the scene of the events,” the public prosecutor’s office said.
Post-mortem results indicated that the 31-year-old was alone at the time of the fall and “was going through an episode of substance abuse,” prosecutors have said.
One of the highest-grossing live acts in the world, One Direction went on indefinite hiatus in 2016. Payne went on to enjoy solo success.
