ISLAMABAD: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday said he was “hopeful” after his visit to Pakistan. US Joint Chief of Staff Chairman General Joseph Dunford and the secretary of state arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday on an official visit.
During their visit, the dignitaries met with Prime Minister Imran Khan, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Bajwa and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in a high-level meeting during which relations between the two countries were discussed along with the Afghan peace process and blockage of $300 million in CSF.
Relations between Pakistan and the US reached an impasse when the Pentagon confirmed it had made a final decision to cancel $300 million in military aid to the country.
According to Reuters, however, the US secretary of state said he was “very pleased” with his meeting with the Pakistani foreign minister.
Ahead of his trip, Pompeo told Reuters that “there are a lot of challenges between our two nations for sure, but we’re hopeful that with the new leadership that we can find common ground and we can begin to work on some of our shared problems together.”
Khan also said he was “optimistic” he could reset Islamabad’s relationship with Washington. “You know I’m a born optimist,” said Khan, adding that “a sportsman always is an optimist. He steps on the field and he thinks he’s going to win.”
Zahid Hussain, a defense analyst and author of two books on militancy in the region, told AP that “the US seems only to see Pakistan through the prism of Afghanistan. The main thing is we would like to be allies with the US but with dignity.”
The secretary of state told reporters shortly before leaving Islamabad that the “broad spectrum” of topics discussed included efforts “to develop a peaceful resolution in Afghanistan.
“I’m hopeful that the foundation that we laid today will set the conditions for continued success,” he said, though he added there was a “long way to go” before Washington would resume military assistance.
Foreign MInister Qureshi described his meeting with Pompeo as “excellent.”
With regards to Afghanistan, Pompeo announced the appointment of Zalmay Khalilzad, a high-profile former US ambassador to Kabul, Baghdad and the UN, as the new US special adviser on Afghan reconciliation.
Khalilzad, born in Afghanistan, has been critical of Pakistan’s role in the Afghan peace process, often blaming the deteriorating security and countrywide chaos in the neighboring country on Pakistan’s military and intelligence agency, accusing them of aiding militants while being a US ally. This claim has been vehemently rejected by Islamabad.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Qureshi said that the US delegates’ visit to Pakistan ended on a positive note, adding that he was also extended an invitation to visit Washington.
“It was a good meeting. They agreed that the ‘blame and shame’ game only exacerbates the situation. Yes, we have different issues and we will be thinking differently, but we also share similar objectives. I felt that today’s meeting set the stage to reset the environment for these bilateral relations,” said Qureshi.
‘I’m hopeful’ says Pompeo after Pakistan visit
‘I’m hopeful’ says Pompeo after Pakistan visit
- US officials accuse Islamabad of ignoring or even collaborating with groups such as the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network
- Pompeo added he would also meet Pakistan's powerful army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa
Pakistan locks down capital ahead of a planned rally by Imran Khan supporters
- Interior Ministry is considering a suspension of mobile phone services in parts of Pakistan in the coming days
- Pakistan has banned gatherings of five or more people in Islamabad for two months to deter Khan’s supporters
It’s the second time in as many months that authorities have imposed such measures to thwart tens of thousands of people from gathering in the city to demand Khan’s release.
The latest lockdown coincides with the visit of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who arrives in Islamabad on Monday.
Local media reported that the Interior Ministry is considering a suspension of mobile phone services in parts of Pakistan in the coming days. On Friday, the National Highways and Motorway Police announced that key routes would close for maintenance.
It advised people to avoid unnecessary travel and said the decision was taken following intelligence reports that “angry protesters” are planning to create a law and order situation and damage public and private property on Sunday, the day of the planned rally.
“There are reports that protesters are coming with sticks and slingshots,” the statement added.
Multicolored shipping containers, a familiar sight to people living and working in Islamabad, reappeared on key roads Saturday to throttle traffic.
Pakistan has already banned gatherings of five or more people in Islamabad for two months to deter Khan’s supporters and activists from his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI.
Khan has been in prison for more than a year in connection and has over 150 criminal cases against him. But he remains popular and the PTI says the cases are politically motivated.
A three-day shutdown was imposed in Islamabad for a security summit last month.
Indian man awakes on funeral pyre
- Doctors sent Rohitash Kumar, 25, to mortuary instead of conducting postmortem after he fell ill
- Kumar was rushed to hospital on Friday for treatment but was confirmed dead later
JAIPUR: An Indian man awoke on a funeral pyre moments before it was to be set on fire after a doctor skipped a postmortem, medical officials said Saturday.
Rohitash Kumar, 25, who had speaking and hearing difficulties, had fallen sick and was taken to a hospital in Jhunjhunu in the western state of Rajasthan on Thursday.
Indian media reported he had had an epileptic seizure, and a doctor declared him dead on arrival at the hospital.
But instead of the required postmortem to ascertain the cause of death, doctors sent him to the mortuary, and then to be burned according to Hindu rites.
D. Singh, chief medical officer of the hospital, told AFP that a doctor had “prepared the postmortem report without actually doing the postmortem, and the body was then sent for cremation.”
Singh said that “shortly before the pyre was to be lit, Rohitash’s body started movements,” adding that “he was alive and was breathing.”
Kumar was rushed to hospital for a second time, but was confirmed dead on Friday during treatment.
Authorities have suspended the services of three doctors and the police have launched an investigation.
NATO chief discusses ‘global security’ with Trump
- NATO allies say keeping Kyiv in the fight against Moscow is key to both European and American security
Brussels: NATO chief Mark Rutte held talks with US President-elect Donald Trump in Florida on the “global security issues facing the alliance,” a spokeswoman said Saturday.
The meeting took place on Friday in Palm Beach, NATO’s Farah Dakhlallah said in a statement.
In his first term Trump aggressively pushed Europe to step up defense spending and questioned the fairness of the NATO transatlantic alliance.
The former Dutch prime minister had said he wanted to meet Trump two days after Trump was elected on November 5, and discuss the threat of increasingly warming ties between North Korea and Russia.
Trump’s thumping victory to return to the US presidency has set nerves jangling in Europe that he could pull the plug on vital Washington military aid for Ukraine.
NATO allies say keeping Kyiv in the fight against Moscow is key to both European and American security.
“What we see more and more is that North Korea, Iran, China and of course Russia are working together, working together against Ukraine,” Rutte said recently at a European leaders’ meeting in Budapest.
“At the same time, Russia has to pay for this, and one of the things they are doing is delivering technology to North Korea,” which he warned was threatening to the “mainland of the US (and) continental Europe.”
“I look forward to sitting down with Donald Trump to discuss how we can face these threats collectively,” Rutte said.
Indian man awakes on funeral pyre
JAIPUR, India: An Indian man awoke on a funeral pyre moments before it was to be set on fire after a doctor skipped a postmortem, medical officials said Saturday.
Rohitash Kumar, 25, who had speaking and hearing difficulties, had fallen sick and was taken to a hospital in Jhunjhunu in the western state of Rajasthan on Thursday.
Indian media reported he had had an epileptic seizure, and a doctor declared him dead on arrival at the hospital.
But instead of the required postmortem to ascertain the cause of death, doctors sent him to the mortuary, and then to be burned according to Hindu rites.
D. Singh, chief medical officer of the hospital, told AFP that a doctor had “prepared the postmortem report without actually doing the postmortem, and the body was then sent for cremation.”
Singh said that “shortly before the pyre was to be lit, Rohitash’s body started movements,” adding that “he was alive and was breathing.”
Kumar was rushed to hospital for a second time, but was confirmed dead on Friday during treatment.
Authorities have suspended the services of three doctors and the police have launched an investigation.
Fighting between armed sectarian groups in restive northwestern Pakistan kills at least 33 people
- Senior police officer said Saturday armed men torched shops, houses and government property overnight
- Although the two groups generally live together peacefully, tensions remain, especially in Kurram
PESHAWAR: Fighting between armed Sunni and Shiite groups in northwestern Pakistan killed at least 33 people and injured 25 others, a senior police officer from the region said Saturday.
The overnight violence was the latest to rock Kurram, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and comes days after a deadly gun ambush killed 42 people.
Shiite Muslims make up about 15 percent of the 240 million people in Sunni-majority Pakistan, which has a history of sectarian animosity between the communities.
Although the two groups generally live together peacefully, tensions remain, especially in Kurram.
The senior police officer said armed men in Bagan and Bacha Kot torched shops, houses and government property.
Intense gunfire was ongoing between the Alizai and Bagan tribes in the Lower Kurram area.
“Educational institutions in Kurram are closed due to the severe tension. Both sides are targeting each other with heavy and automatic weapons,” said the officer, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Videos shared with The Associated Press showed a market engulfed by fire and orange flames piercing the night sky. Gunfire can also be heard.
The location of Thursday’s attack was also targeted by armed men, who marched on the area.
Survivors of the gun ambush said assailants emerged from a vehicle and sprayed buses and cars with bullets. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack and police have not identified a motive.
Dozens of people from the district’s Sunni and Shiite communities have been killed since July, when a land dispute erupted in Kurram that later turned into general sectarian violence.
