ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Friday that the US report of a telephone conversation between Prime Minister Imran Khan and US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, inaccurately reported a mention of “terrorists operating in Pakistan.” “I say this with full confidence,” the foreign minister said at a press conference at the Foreign Office.
He announced that Pompeo is expected to visit Islamabad on Sept. 5, adding: “We believe the early interaction (between the two sides) will prove beneficial.”
Controversy surrounding the phone call between Prime Minister Imran Khan and the US Secretary of State emerged when the State Department said in a press statement on Thursday: “Secretary Pompeo raised the importance of Pakistan taking decisive action against all terrorists operating in Pakistan and its vital role in promoting the Afghan peace process.”
However, Pakistan’s Foreign Office described the State Department’s press release as “factually incorrect.” The Foreign Office further clarified that there was “no mention at all in the conversation about terrorists operating in Pakistan.”
“We stand by our stance,” the foreign minister said categorically.
Downplaying the controversy, Qureshi said that the conversation between the secretary of state and the prime minister was “very good.”
He added that Pompeo congratulated the prime minister and expressed his wish for “constructive engagement and productive bilateral relationship with the new government.”
“I look forward to Secretary Pompeo’s visit and to engaging with him for peace and stability and looking at areas where both countries stand to gain,” he said.
On bilateral relations between the two nations, he said that there was a need for understanding of the US position on Afghanistan to bring relations back to a high level the previously high level.
The foreign minister said the US had made huge investments in Afghanistan and it also was imperative for Pakistan to convey its “priorities and requirements” to Washington in order to have a better relationship.
“Peace in Afghanistan is vital for peace in Pakistan,” he said, adding that President Ashraf Ghani had started a peace process with “militants” and “we have to see what role Pakistan can assume in that.”
To a question about the presence of Daesh in Afghanistan, he said that Pakistan did not want to see an increase in the militant outfit’s footprint in the region.
When asked about India-Pakistan relations, he admitted that dialogue between the two countries was suspended and there was a need to create an “enabling environment” for constructive negotiations.
“We are not shy of engagement (with India),” he said, adding that Prime Minister Imran Khan had clearly said that if India took one step for peace, Pakistan would take two steps.
“But it takes two to tango,” he added. “You cannot clap with just one hand. We have a positive stance and remain hopeful.”
The foreign minister said that his Chinese counterpart would visit Islamabad on September 8 describing the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as “an important development” in their relationship.
Qureshi said that Pakistan also wanted to benefit from the opportunities that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) offered to its member countries.
Talking about the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), he said that Pakistan was on the global watchdog’s grey list and “we are expected to show progress (on the action plan).”
“I will never want Pakistan to be on the blacklist since it entails negative economic and other consequences,” he said.
Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan visited the Foreign Office where he was briefed on the country’s policy toward countries such as Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, India, Iran and the US.
The foreign minister said the premier’s visit to the Foreign Office showed that “this government takes its foreign engagements seriously.”
“The prime minister has stressed that he wants to see the Foreign Office effective and active,” he said.
“Our need is peace, regional peace. We need stability to progress and we need clarity in our objectives,” he added.
Islamabad denies Pompeo, Khan discussed terrorism in Pakistan
Islamabad denies Pompeo, Khan discussed terrorism in Pakistan
US Justice Department official eyes cases against Cuba leaders as Trump floats ‘friendly takeover’
- “Working group” formed to build cases against people connected to the Cuban government
- Trump’s has increasingly displayed aggressive stance against Cuba’s communist leadership
MIAMI: The top Justice Department prosecutor in Miami is considering criminal investigations of Cuban government officials, according to people familiar with the matter. The inquiry comes as President Donald Trump has raised the possibility of a “friendly takeover” of the communist-run island.
Jason Reding Quiñones, the US attorney for the Southern District of Florida, has created a “working group” that includes federal prosecutors and officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies to try to build cases against people connected to the Cuban government and its Communist Party, according to one of the people. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the effort.
It was not immediately clear which Cuban officials the office is targeting or what criminal charges prosecutors may be looking to bring.
The Justice Department said in a statement Friday that “federal prosecutors from across the country work every day to pursue justice, which includes efforts to combat transnational crime.”
The effort is taking place against the backdrop of Trump’s increasingly aggressive stance against Cuba’s communist leadership.
Emboldened by the US capture of Cuba’s close ally, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Trump last month said his administration was in high-level talks with officials in Havana to pursue “a friendly takeover” of the country. He repeated those claims this week, saying his attention would turn back to Cuba once the war with Iran winds down.
“They want to make a deal so bad,” Trump said of Cuba’s leadership.
While Cuba has faded from Washington’s radar as a major national security threat in recent decades, it remains a priority in the US Attorney’s office in Miami, whose political, economic and cultural life is dominated by Cuban-American exiles.
The FBI field office has a dedicated Cuba group that in 2024 was instrumental in the arrest of former US Ambassador Victor Manuel Rocha on charges of serving as a secret agent of Cuba stretching back to the 1970s.
In recent weeks, several Miami Republicans, in addition to Florida Sen. Rick Scott, have called on the Trump administration to reopen its criminal investigation into the 1996 shootdown of four planes operated by anti-communist exiles.
In a letter to Trump on Feb. 13, lawmakers including Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar and Carlos Gimenez highlighted decades-old news reports indicating that former President Raúl Castro — the head of Cuba’s military at the time — gave the order to shoot down the unarmed Cessna aircraft.
“We believe unequivocally that Raúl Castro is responsible for this heinous crime,” lawmakers wrote. “It is time for him to be brought to justice.”
While no indictment against Castro has been announced, Florida’s attorney general said this week that he would open a state-level investigation into the crime.
The Trump administration has also accused Cuba of not cooperating with American counterterrorism efforts, adding it alongside North Korea and Iran to a select few nations the US considers state sponsors of terrorism.
The designation stems from Cuba’s harboring of US fugitives and its refusal to extradite several Colombian rebel leaders while they were engaged in peace talks with the South American nation.
