ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reaffirmed its commitment to humanitarian aid and reconstruction efforts in Gaza during a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) pledging conference in New York, Pakistani state media reported on Saturday.
The statement came as the UN chief appealed for funding for the beleaguered UN agency helping Palestinian refugees in Gaza and elsewhere in the Middle East, accusing Israel of issuing evacuation orders that force Palestinians “to move like human pinballs across a landscape of destruction and death.”
UNRWA’s 30,000 staff provide education, primary health care and other development activities to about 6 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Pakistan has dispatched more than eight planeloads carrying over 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza since the outbreak of Israel’s war on Gaza in October last year, the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
“In New York, Second Secretary of the Pakistan Mission to the United Nations Rabia Ijaz advocated for a comprehensive reconstruction plan for Gaza and reiterated readiness to partner in the reconstruction of educational institutions,” the report read.
She also called for an urgent implementation of a peace plan for Gaza as outlined in the UN Security Council resolutions.
Pakistan does not recognize the state of Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
Since the beginning of Israel’s war, Pakistan has repeatedly raised the issue at the UN and other world forums, demanding international powers and multilateral bodies stop Israeli military actions in the Palestinian territory.
Israel’s latest evacuation orders in Gaza City have come with more civilian suffering and bloodshed.
Since the Hamas attack that killed some 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, Israeli ground offensives and bombardments have killed more than 38,300 people, mostly children, in Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
At UNRWA summit, Pakistan reaffirms commitment to humanitarian aid, reconstruction efforts in Gaza
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At UNRWA summit, Pakistan reaffirms commitment to humanitarian aid, reconstruction efforts in Gaza
- The statement came as UN chief appealed for funding for beleaguered UN agency helping Palestinian refugees in Gaza and elsewhere
- UNRWA’s 30,000 staff provide education, primary health care and other development activities to about 6 million Palestinian refugees
US says no discussions held with Islamabad about Pakistani charged in foiled assassination plot
- Washington says “will continue to do what is necessary” to protect its people from threats
- Asif Merchant attempted to recruit people in US to assassinate American officials, says Washington
ISLAMABAD: Washington has not held any discussions with Islamabad about a Pakistani man charged in the United States in connection with a failed plot to assassinate American politicians or government officials, a US State Department official said on Thursday.
The US Justice Department confirmed media reports on Aug. 6 it had charged Pakistan’s Asif Merchant, 46, for wanting to recruit people in the US to assassinate US politicians or government officials in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ top commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020.
Merchant, who prosecutors allege spent time in Iran before traveling to the United States from Pakistan, was charged with murder for hire in federal court in New York’s Brooklyn borough. A federal judge ordered him detained on July 17, according to court records.
Pakistan’s foreign office said on Wednesday it was in contact with American officials and was awaiting “further details” about the investigation.
“I don’t have any discussions to speak to today, but we have been clear that the United States will continue to do what is necessary to protect its people, including foreign officials, from threats emanating from Iran,” US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a weekly press briefing in response to Merchant’s case.
“That continues to be the case and beyond that, it’s really a matter that I should leave to the justice department,” he added.
When pressed to speak further on the matter, Miller said it was an “ongoing legal matter” hence he could not share more details about it.
According to the Justice Department, Merchant arrived in the US from Pakistan in April 2024 after spending time in Iran. There, he contacted a person he believed could assist him with the scheme. That person reported Merchant’s conduct to law enforcement and became a confidential source (CS), it added.
Court documents do not name the alleged targets of the plot. Merchant told a law enforcement informant that there would be “security all around” one target, according to the criminal complaint.
Trump, the Republican candidate in the November 5 presidential election, was wounded in an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania last month.
The US attorney general said investigators had found no evidence that Merchant had any connection to the shooting, which officials have said was carried out by a lone 20-year-old gunman.
The Justice Department said Merchant told the CS that the assassination would occur after he left the United States and he would communicate with the CS from overseas using code words. On June 21, Merchant met with the UCs in New York and paid them $5,000 in advance for the assassination.
Merchant subsequently made flight arrangements and planned to leave the United States on Friday, July 12, 2024, said the Justice Department. On July 12, law enforcement agents placed Merchant under arrest before he could leave the country.
Pakistan PM says army chief’s collaboration with government ‘role model’ for the future
- Army has historically wielded extraordinary influence in politics, economy and national security even during civilian rule
- Military says no longer interferes in politics but has come under criticism for its treatment of Imran Khan and his party
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday publicly praised Army Chief General Asim Munir, saying his collaboration with the government “in the best interests of Pakistan” should serve as a “role model” for future administrations.
Pakistan has a history of coups and extended periods of direct military rule, with the army wielding extraordinary influence in the domains of politics, economy and national security even with civilian governments in office. However, in recent years, the army’s role has come under unprecedented criticism, especially as it has been seen as working to vanquish the popular former prime minister Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. The military says it no longer interferes in political affairs.
During this year’s February 8 general election, independent analysts and critics of the military said it backed the election commission in denying a level-playing field to the PTI, whose candidates still ended up winning the most number of seats but did not have the numbers to form government, which was made by a fragile coalition of parties led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The Sharif administration is widely seen as lacking mass public support and considered close to the currently military set-up.
“There may be examples in the past but what I have seen is that the army chief’s collaboration with the government, in the best interests of Pakistan, is worth watching,” Sharif said as he addressed a ceremony in Islamabad on Thursday.
“I have not witnessed such strong cooperation between the government and constitutional institutions during my entire 40-year political career. The existing relationship between General Munir and the political government should serve as a role model for the future.”
Sharif’s closeness to the military is not new in Pakistani politics. Khan too was also widely believed to have been brought to power in 2018 with the backing of the army, but fell out with top generals and by April 2022 was ousted from the PM’s office in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence. He has since led a defiant campaign against the army, which he accuses of working with his political rivals to unseat him. Both deny the charge.
Tensions between Khan and the army reached a crescendo on May 9 last year when alleged supporters of the PTI attacked and damaged government and military installations. Hundreds of PTI supporters and leaders were arrested following the riots and some continue to remain behind bars as they await trial. The army has also initiated military court trials of at least 103 people accused of involvement in the violence. Many close Khan aides have since deserted him, due to what is widely believed to be pressure from the army, which denies the charge.
Khan has been in jail since last August, though all four convictions handed down to him ahead of a parliamentary election in February have either been suspended or overturned. Khan says all legal cases against him are politically motivated.
Last week, Khan offered to hold “conditional negotiations” with the South Asian nation’s military — if “clean and transparent” elections were held and “bogus” cases against his supporters were dropped.
“We prefer negotiations with the real decision-makers, the military leadership, instead of this puppet government,” Khan said in a statement from prison shared with the media by the PTI.
Pakistan says working with Iraq on special pilgrimage passports to regularize movement of travelers
- Pakistan’s religious affairs minister confirms 20,000-30,000 pilgrims who went to Iraq in last 5-7 years overstayed
- Says one option to regularize pilgrims’ movement are special passports that can only be used for pilgrimage
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government is working with Iraqi officials on options to better monitor and regularize the movement of pilgrims, the Pakistani minister of religious affairs said this week, including issuing special passports that could only be used for the purpose of pilgrimage.
Some of the holiest Muslim sites, particularly for Shi’te Islam, are in Iraq, including the shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala, where thousands of devotees arrive daily from Iraq and around the world. These include the Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf, which contains the tomb of Ali, the son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and one of the four caliphs of the Rashidun Caliphate. Another is the shrine of Imam Husain, the prophet’s grandson, in Karbala, the second holiest site for Shi’te Muslims. The annual Arbaeen pilgrimage to the shrine of Husain is considered the world’s largest public gathering, with millions flocking to Karbala.
Last month, Pakistani pilgrims to Iraq made headlines when Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Chaudhry Salik Hussain was widely reported as saying during a briefing to a Senate committee that there were at least 50,000 cases of Pakistani pilgrims who had traveled to Iraq and gone “missing.”
In an interview to Arab News this week, Hussain clarified that he had not used the word “missing” in the briefing.
“I never use the word missing [about pilgrims]. They’re not missing,” he said. “They are basically unauthorized people who go for ziaraat [pilgrimage] and then overstay.”
Many people, the minister explained, went on a pilgrimage visa and remained in Iraq in the hopes of finding jobs there or after being misled by travel agents who promised them employment in Europe or other countries:
“Probably up to 30,000 Pakistani might be still there [in Iraq] over five to seven years as a lot of them came back.”
The government was now working on a policy to streamline and monitor the visits of Pakistani pilgrims including through special passports, Hussain said.
“We are already devising a plan with the Iraqi government to regularize and give them legal status who are already there working in different farms, shops, factories, different areas,” the minister said.
“We’ll be signing an MOU very soon, which would regulate all of these migrations, people who go for the Ziaraat [pilgrimages] so we can better monitor them. There are a few options under consideration. We are thinking of issuing special passports, which would just be just for this journey, for ziarat, and then that passport cannot be used anywhere else.”
HAJJ 2025
Speaking about next year’s Hajj preparations, Hussain said Saudi Arabia had approved a quota for Pakistan of around 180,000 pilgrims for 2025.
“Saudi government side has really upgraded the system of Hajj and Umrah, especially for Hajj, they have made a simple formula that [there is a] first come, first serve basis [policy]: this is the space we have, if you come earlier, you get a good space, if you come late, these are the options we have,” the minister explained.
To ensure a hassle-free Hajj for next year, all preparations were being made in advance, Chaudhry added.
“We have told all our private Hajj organizations that they should be prepared themselves well in advance in terms of the accommodation, the transport, the food. All these things should be prepared well in advance so that we can get a good allocation from the Saudi side,” the minister said.
“We together [with Saudi Hajj ministry and embassy] are re-reorganizing the [religious affairs] ministry when it comes to Hajj.”
Death toll from six weeks of monsoon rains jumps to 154 in Pakistan
- NDMA says most deaths occurred in the eastern Punjab and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces
- Scientists and weather forecasters blame climate change for heavy rains in Pakistan in recent years
ISLAMABAD: The death toll from nearly six weeks of monsoon rains and floods across Pakistan has risen to 154, officials said Thursday, as downpours continued in much of the country, inundating some villages.
More than 1,500 homes have been damaged since July 1, when the monsoon rains began, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said. Orchards in remote areas of the southwestern Balochistan province were damaged, and rains flooded many streets in the eastern city of Lahore.
Azad Kashmir has also been battered by rains, causing landslides.
Many of the 154 deaths occurred in the eastern Punjab and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, according to the disaster agency and provincial authorities.
Pakistan is in the middle of the annual monsoon season, which runs from July through September. Scientists and weather forecasters blame climate change for heavy rains in recent years.
So far this year, Pakistan has received less rain than in 2022, when climate-induced downpours swelled rivers and inundated at one point one-third of the country, killing 1,739 people and causing $30 billion in damage.
Veon posts 13.9% jump in core profit, boosted by customer gains in countries like Pakistan
- The company’s sales grew by 24.2% in Pakistan where it owns the largest telecom provider Jazz
- The top Veon official mentions ‘robust organic performance’ across services in different markets
