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
Boats carrying Rohingya land in Indonesia’s North Sumatra and Aceh
- A boat carrying 64 men, 62 women and 20 children landed early on Thursday morning, in the Deli Serdang area of North Sumatra, Raphael Sandhy Cahya Priambodo, the head of regional police, told Reuters
A boat carrying 64 men, 62 women and 20 children landed early on Thursday morning, in the Deli Serdang area of North Sumatra, Raphael Sandhy Cahya Priambodo, the head of regional police, told Reuters.
“The Rohingya were swimming from the boat to reach the shore,” Raphael said, adding they were temporarily placed in a local administration office.
“All of them survived and are now in a good condition.”
Their arrival came after another boat also carrying about 150 Rohingya, a minority group who have faced persecution in Myanmar, had been stranded in Indonesia’s Aceh province for a week after local residents refused to let it come ashore.
The boat, which arrived in Indonesian waters on Oct. 17, was finally allowed to land on Thursday, the head of fishing community in South Aceh Muhammad Jabal told Reuters, after an appeal from the UN refugee agency to the Indonesian government.
From October to April, when the seas are calmer, many Rohingya Muslims leave Myanmar on rickety boats for Thailand, Muslim-majority Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh.
More than 2,300 Rohingya arrived in Indonesia last year, UNHCR data showed, more than the combined total of arrivals in the previous four years.
They have faced increasing rejection in Indonesia as locals grow frustrated at the number of arrivals.
Pakistan court orders former PM Imran Khan’s appearance today as his wife released on bail
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday ordered the administration of Central Prison Rawalpindi to produce jailed former prime minister Imran Khan by 3 p.m. to facilitate a meeting with his lawyers, as his wife Bushra Bibi was released after securing bail a day earlier.
The development follows Khan’s legal team moving the court, complaining that prison officials were preventing them and the ex-premier’s family from meeting him. Khan has been imprisoned for over a year, facing various charges, including corruption and sedition.
Currently, he is incarcerated in the state repository case, involving the possession of a jewelry set comprising a ring, bracelet, necklace and earrings gifted to his wife by a foreign dignitary. The couple allegedly undervalued the set and retained it at a lower price.
Bibi was released from jail after spending 265 days in the same case after the IHC granted her bail on Wednesday.
“Bring Imran Khan to Islamabad High Court at 3 PM to arrange his meeting with his lawyers,” Justice Ijaz Ishaq Khan remarked during the hearing. “I know you won’t implement my orders, but let me issue directions.”
The judge’s remark came amid an ongoing tussle between the executive and the judiciary, with the latter accusing the country’s powerful military and intelligence agencies of exerting pressure to secure favorable verdicts in political cases, particularly those involving Khan.
The military and intelligence agencies have denied these allegations, maintaining that they do not interfere in political matters.
Khan has not physically appeared in a court since August last year, with all hearings being held in the high-security Rawalpindi prison due to security concerns.
For the last two weeks, the Punjab government has banned all meetings with Khan and other prisoners in the jail, citing security reasons.
“A contempt of court petition was filed by the legal team after the jail administration, following Punjab government orders, banned meetings with Imran Khan, defying clear instructions from the court of Justice Ijaz Ishaq to arrange a meeting via video link if otherwise not possible,” Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said in a statement.
Khan’s legal team has struggled to secure his release, arguing that all charges against him are fabricated to keep him out of politics.
The PTI also confirmed that a bail bond for his wife was submitted in the court earlier in the day, leading to her release in the afternoon.
Mozambique tense ahead of election results
- It is widely expected to declare that ruling party Frelimo to be declared winner
- Frelimo has been in power since Mozambique’s independence from Portugal in 1975
MAPUTO: Mozambique’s capital Maputo was deserted early Thursday ahead of the announcement of results of the October 9 elections that an opposition candidate has rejected while calling for fresh protests against the ruling party which is expected to be declared winner.
In an announcement due at 2:30 p.m. (1230 GMT), the Mozambican National Electoral Commission (CNE) is widely expected to declare that Frelimo will remain in power, which it has held since independence from Portugal in 1975.
Emerging opposition presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane, backed by the Podemos party, has already claimed he won the vote, alleging electoral fraud and manipulation in favor of Frelimo and its candidate, Daniel Chapo.
Since voting day Mondlane has issued calls on social media for protests. In a new message on Facebook late Wednesday, he encouraged a “great national demonstration” against Frelimo’s half-a-century in power.
“The time has come for the people to take power and say that we now want to change the history of this country,” he said.
“In all the neighborhoods, all the districts, we are going to be on the streets, there won’t be enough bullets for everyone, there won’t be tear gas for everyone, there won’t be enough armored vehicles.”
Tensions in a country that has already seen bouts of post-election violence were exacerbated by the assassination on Saturday of a lawyer and political ally of Mondlane who were preparing a legal case to contest the vote on behalf of the opposition leader.
Thousands of people gathered outside Maputo Wednesday to bury the lawyer, Elvino Dias, who was killed in an ambush on a car alongside opposition activist, Paulo Guambe.
Mondlane, 50, has accused the security forces of the attack and claimed he could be next. Police said they have launched an investigation into the killings, which Frelimo “vehemently” condemned as a “macabre act.”
Outgoing president Filipe Nyusi, 65, warned Wednesday that calls for violent protests could be considered criminal acts.
“Inciting the population to revolt, misinforming the world and creating chaos for political purposes can be considered criminal acts,” said Nyusi, who has served a maximum two-term limit.
Police also called for calm on Wednesday, saying people should not allow themselves to be manipulated by “incendiary speeches and misinformation.”
Mondlane, a former radio presenter who has been able to attract younger voters in the destitute coastal country, was among a group of protesters tear gassed by police in a demonstration in the capital on Monday.
He has also accused security forces of wounding three people when they opened fire to disperse hundreds of his supporters in a protest in the northern city of Nampula on October 17.
Last year, several people were killed in clashes after Frelimo won municipal elections.
Election observers from the EU have raised concerns about the legitimacy of this month’s polls, noting “irregularities during counting and unjustified alteration of election results at polling station and district level.”
Initial indications of a low turnout in the country of some 33 million people could further erode the vote’s credibility.
Expected to be declared winner of the presidential polls, Daniel Chapo, 47, would be Mozambique’s first president born after independence from Portugal.
A former provincial governor with no experience in national government, he would also be the first leader not to have fought in the 1975-1992 civil war between Frelimo and Renamo, which claimed around a million lives.
Renamo’s leader Ossufo Momade, 63, also stood for election on October 9, as did Lutero Simango, 64, of the Mozambique Democratic Movement.
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.”
