ISLAMABAD: Donald Armin Blome, the United States nominee for ambassador to Pakistan, has said he would work to decrease tensions between India and Pakistan if confirmed for the position, and Washington and Islamabad would jointly combat all militant outfits, including Al-Qaeda, Daesh-Khorasan, and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.
Blome, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, is currently the US Ambassador to Tunisia. He was nominated to the position in Pakistan in October.
“The region can ill afford another conflict, especially between nuclear-armed states,” Blome said in testimony before the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Wednesday. “If confirmed, I will work with my colleagues to decrease tensions between India and Pakistan.”
“I have been encouraged by the continued cease-fire along the Line of Control. Strong US bilateral partnerships with India and Pakistan are not mutually exclusive; we need productive ties with both states. Pakistan and India should decide the pace, scope, and character of their bilateral Interactions.”
He said the bilateral relationship with Pakistan remained “extraordinarily consequential” for US core interests, and the US had a shared interest in promoting the role of US business and commercial interests in Pakistan’s economy.
“If confirmed, I will work with Pakistan to resolve market access issues, including concerns with Pakistan’s digital economy regulations, intellectual property protections, and contract enforcement. I will encourage Pakistan to promote more transparent investments through sustainable financing, with a focus on the environmental and social impacts of investment projects.”
Blome said he would press Pakistan to target “all terrorist groups without distinction.”
“The United States and Pakistan are committed to combatting AlQa’ida, Daesh-Khorasan, and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. If confirmed, I also will engage Pakistan on fighting all other groups – including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed,” the ambassador said.
Blome also said he would not shy from defending human rights in Pakistan, particularly the freedom of religion and expression.
“Religious minorities in Pakistan have long faced societal and legal discrimination, as well as accusations of blasphemy. These accusations have undermined the rule of law, threatened mob rule, deeply damaged Pakistan’s international reputation, and led to murderous violence and many deaths,” the ambassador said.
“If confirmed, I will speak out against these abuses and violations of human rights and religious freedom. I will urge the Pakistani government to cease harassment of journalists and members of civil society, who have faced kidnappings, assaults, intimidation, and disappearances, and hold perpetrators of these actions accountable. I will advocate for expanded protections for freedom of association and assembly and will meet with civil society partners regularly.”
Will work to decrease Pakistan-India tensions — US ambassador designate to Islamabad
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Will work to decrease Pakistan-India tensions — US ambassador designate to Islamabad
- Donald Blome says strong US bilateral partnerships with India and Pakistan not mutually exclusive, US needs productive ties with both
- Says would press Pakistan to target “all terrorist groups without distinction” including Al-Qaeda, Daesh-Khorasan, Pakistan Taliban
KSrelief distributes food aid to displaced persons from Pakistani district facing sectarian clashes
- 500 food packages distributed to people from Kurram district currently residing in Tehsil Thall and facing urgent food insecurity
- KSrelief has implemented 210 projects in Pakistan worth millions of dollars to improve the lives of vulnerable communities
ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) on Thursday launched a food security initiative in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, distributing food packages to people from a district marred by sectarian clashes since last month.
Kurram — a tribal district of around 600,000 in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where federal and provincial authorities have traditionally exerted limited control — has frequently experienced violence between its Sunni and Shia communities over land and power. Travelers to and from the town often ride in convoys escorted by security officials. The latest violence erupted on Nov. 21 when gunmen ambushed a vehicle convoy, killing 52 people, mostly Shias.
The assault triggered road closures and other measures that have disrupted people’s access to medicine, food, fuel, education and work. Over 130 people have been killed in the fighting that has ensued after the convoy attack, according to police records.
“As part of this effort, 500 food packages were distributed to displaced beneficiaries from Kurram district, who are currently residing in Tehsil Thall and facing urgent food insecurity,” the Saudi charity KSRelief said in a statement.
“The distribution took place in a camp in District Hangu, providing timely relief to displaced families in need.”
The initiative is part of KSrelief’s first phase of the Food Security Support Project for 2024-25, which aims to distribute 10,000 food packages among poor people across 14 districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
KSrelief has implemented 210 projects in Pakistan worth millions of dollars to improve the lives of vulnerable communities. Efforts include emergency relief for natural disasters, and long-term projects addressing food security, health care, education, and shelter. Shelter NFI and Winter Kits Project are notable initiatives providing essential items to families in harsh weather conditions, and food distribution programs that combat hunger and malnutrition.
In partnership with UNICEF, KSrelief supports critical health initiatives, such as vaccination campaigns to prevent polio and measles, safeguarding millions of children. The Noor Saudi Volunteer Project provides free eye care through eye camps, combating blindness among underprivileged populations.
Imran Khan’s party says wants to conclude negotiations with Pakistan government by Jan. 31
- Khan’s PTI, Pakistan’s government kicked off talks to ease political tensions on Monday
- PTI says Khan will not accept any “deal” with the government for his release from prison
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party announced on Thursday it wanted to conclude its negotiations with the government by Jan. 31, 2025, reiterating that it wanted a judicial commission to probe violent nationwide protests that broke out in May 2023.
The PTI and the government opened formal negotiations on Monday to ease political tensions in the country. Both sides moved to reduce tensions after Khan threatened a civil dissidence movement and amid growing concerns he may face trial by a military court for allegedly inciting attacks on sensitive security installations during the May 9, 2023 protests.
The PTI has put forward two demands: the release of political prisoners and the establishment of judicial commissions to investigate protests on May 9 last year and Nov. 26 in Islamabad this year, which the government says involved his party supporters, accusing them of attacking military installations and government buildings.
Members of the PTI’s negotiation team, Omar Ayub and Sahibzada Muhammad Hamid Raza, spoke to the media after meeting Khan in the Adiala prison in Rawalpindi. The negotiating committee apprised Khan regarding Monday’s talks with the government.
“The cutoff timeframe for negotiations is the end of January,” Raza told reporters outside Adiala prison. “By Jan. 31, we want to take these negotiations to their logical conclusion.”
Raza reiterated the PTI’s demands for the formation of judicial commissions for the May 9, 2023 and Nov. 26 protests.
“Our stance on the Nov. 26 (Islamabad protest) is quite clear: As of today, according to our data, 13 of our supporters were martyred, 64 suffered bullet injuries and the number of our missing supporters is between 150 to 200,” he said.
He said Khan will not accept any “deal” by the government for his release from prison. “Imran Khan will after facing all his cases in court, come out through the courts,” Raza said.
The next round of talks between the government and the PTI is scheduled to be held on Jan. 2.
Khan’s ouster in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in 2022 has plunged the country into a long-term political crisis, particularly since the PTI founder was jailed in August last year on corruption and other charges and remains behind bars.
His party and supporters regularly hold protests calling for his release, with many of the demonstrations turning violent, including the one on Nov. 26 in which the government says four troops were killed and the PTI says 13 of its supporters died.
The negotiations on Monday were held days after Pakistan’s military announced prison sentences for 25 people involved in the May 9 protests.
The military announced on Thursday it had sentenced 60 more civilians, among them Khan’s nephew and two retired army officers, to prison sentences ranging from two to 10 years, for the May 9 protests.
Khan’s party has pointed out that the sentencing is contrary to the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights, to which Pakistan is a party.
Trump envoy nominee hits out at Pakistani top minister over pro-Imran Khan comments
- Khawaja Asif alleges “few voices” in the West calling for jailed former premier’s release with “full support from Israel”
- In a response to Asif on X, Grenell says calls for review of what US taxpayers were providing Pakistan in aid
ISLAMABAD: US President-elect Donald Trump’s special envoy nominee Richard Grenell hit out at Pakistan’s defense minister this week, calling him “reckless” for alleging that Western voices backed by Israel were demanding ex-PM Imran Khan’s release from prison as part of an anti-Pakistan campaign.
Grenell has been in the news in Pakistan in recent weeks over social media posts calling for the release of Khan from prison. In a veiled reference to Grenell, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said voices in the Western world were making statements in the media for Khan’s release with “full support from Israel,” which Pakistan does not recognize, nor have diplomatic relations with.
“Which clearly shows that Imran Khan is an Israeli asset through which they want to destroy the only Muslim nuclear power [Pakistan],” Asif said. “The few voices that are being raised in the Western world for Imran Khan should know that we, the Pakistani people, know how to protect our interests.”
Grenell hit back at Asif on X.
“The death threats, and crazy talk … from the Minister of Defense is reckless,” Grenell said in a post in which he tagged the IMF and USAID. “There should be a review of what the US taxpayer provides Pakistan in aid.”
The Trump envoy nominee added that Pakistan’s embassy in Washington and its ambassador to the US, Rizwan Sheikh, had “some explaining to do.”
In an interview on Tuesday, Grenell had urged the President Joe Biden administration to use its last days in power to push for Khan’s release from prison so he could run for office in Pakistan.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Pakistan’s Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch declined to comment on Grenell’s statements.
“As far as any individual capacity, anyone making statements in their individual capacity, we would not like to comment on that,” she said.
Pakistan has been gripped by political unrest and uncertainty since Khan’s ouster from power through a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022. He blames his removal from the PM’s office on his political rivals led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the all-powerful military. Both reject the charge.
Khan has been in jail since August in a slew of cases he says are politically motivated to keep him away from power.
Pakistani military court sentences 60 civilians to jail terms between 2-10 years
- Military sentenced 25 civilians to prison time ranging from two to 10 years on Dec. 21
- Khan supporters charged with attacking military installations during protests on May 9, 2023
KARACHI: A Pakistani military court has sentenced 60 civilians to jail time ranging from 2 to 10 years in connection with riots in which supporters of jailed ex-premier Imran Khan were accused of attacking army facilities, the military said on Thursday.
The announcement comes days after the military said it had sentenced 25 people to prison for participating in violent protests on May 9, 2023, when hundreds of alleged Khan supporters stormed military and government installations and even torched a top commander’s house. The riots followed the former premier’s brief arrest by paramilitary soldiers in a land bribe case that day.
The military initiated army court trials of at least 103 people accused of involvement in the violence and there have been widespread reports it also plans to prosecute Khan under the Pakistan Army Act on charges of treason and attempting to incite a mutiny in the military.
A list of the 60 convicts announced on Thursday included two retired military officers, Brig. (retired) Javed Akram and Captain (retired) Viqas Ahmed Mohsin, and Khan’s nephew Hassan Khan Niazi.
“The trial of 9th May accused under military custody has hereby been concluded under the relevant laws,” the Inter-Services Public Relations, the military’s media wing, said. “All convicts retain the right to appeal and other legal recourses, as guaranteed by the Constitution and law.”
The military said the government and army remained steadfast in “their commitment to upholding justice and ensuring that the inviolable writ of the state is maintained.”
The federal government’s spokesman Attaullah Tarar said the verdicts showed that “rule of law has prevailed.”
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party also reacted to the development, saying the Dec. 21 verdicts by military courts against 25 civilians had been met by concern by the US, UK and the EU.
“Despite concerns shown by the US State Department, UK Government and European Union, they went ahead with convicting more civilians, in violation of almost the entire operative part of International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights to which Pakistan is a party,” the party said in a statement.
The verdicts come as the Pakistani federal government this week opened talks with the PTI in a bid to bring down political temperatures.
Pakistan has remained gripped by political unrest and uncertainty since Khan’s ouster from power through a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022. He blames his removal from the PM’s office on his political rivals led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the all-powerful military. Both reject the charge.
Though Khan was released days after his brief arrest on May 9 last year, he was rearrested in August and has since been in jail in a slew of cases he says are politically motivated.
Pakistan says prioritizes diplomacy, day after airstrikes in Afghanistan kill 46
- Pakistan army and government have not yet officially confirmed the airstrikes
- Media reports say Pakistan had hit militant hideouts, killing several insurgents
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said on Thursday Islamabad prioritized diplomacy with neighboring Afghanistan, a day after the country's Afghan Taliban rulers said at least 46 people including women and children had been killed in Pakistani airstrikes in the eastern border province of Paktika.
The Pakistan army and government have not yet officially confirmed the airstrikes, which the Afghan Taliban have condemned, saying they had targeted "mostly civilians."
Media widely reported on Wednesday that Pakistani security forces targeted multiple suspected hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban, also known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), dismantling a training facility and killing several insurgents.
At a weekly press briefing on Thursday, Baloch declined to confirm Tuesday’s airstrikes but said Pakistan was committed to the security of its people, and its security and law enforcement personnel conducted operations based on “concrete intelligence” against terror groups operating in the border areas.
“I would like to add here that Pakistan believes in dialogue and diplomacy. We have always prioritized diplomacy in our relations with Afghanistan,” Baloch said. “Despite the presence of terror hideouts and sanctuaries, and the consistent threat they pose to Pakistan, we have always opted for diplomacy.”
Baloch reiterated Pakistan's demand that Afghanistan prevent the use of its territory for terror attacks against Pakistan, calling on the neighbor to work with Islamabad to combat the threat posed by groups like the TTP.
“And any issues that either side has with regards to border management, trade and transit trade, security, terrorism, these issues remain high on our bilateral agenda,” Baloch added.
Border tensions between the two countries have escalated since the Taliban government seized power in 2021, with Pakistan battling a resurgence of militant violence in its western border regions.
Islamabad has accused Kabul’s Taliban authorities of harboring militant fighters, allowing them to strike on Pakistani soil with impunity. Kabul has denied the allegations.
The banned TTP group said in a statement on Wednesday the strikes had hit “the homes of defenseless refugees” on Tuesday evening, killing at least 50 civilians, including 27 women and children.
Deadly air strikes by Pakistan’s military in the border regions of Afghanistan in March that the Taliban authorities said killed eight civilians had prompted skirmishes on the frontier.
