LAHORE: Pakistan removed Islamist leader Saad Rizvi from its terrorism watchlist on Thursday, paving the way for his release from detention under a deal to end weeks of deadly protests by his followers over an alleged blasphemy.
The move came a week after the government agreed to free 2,000 detained members of his Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) movement, lifted a ban on the group and agreed to let it contest elections.
In return, the TLP has agreed to shun the politics of violence and withdraw a demand to have France's ambassador expelled over the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by a French magazine, negotiators have said.
The TLP took to the streets in mid-October, kicking off weeks of protests and clashes that killed at least seven policemen, injured scores on both sides and blocked the country's busiest highway.
At the height of the violence, Prime Minister Imran Khan's government banned the TLP, designated it a terrorist group and arrested Rizvi.
A government notification seen by Reuters said the TLP chief Saad Rizvi's name was "hereby deleted" from the terrorism watchlist after authorities lifted the ban.
It did not go into further details and the government and the interior ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. But legal experts said a removal from the watchlist would be a legal prerequisite for any release.
The TLP, which can mobilize thousands of supporters, was born in 2015 out of a protest campaign to seek the release of a police guard who assassinated a provincial governor in 2011 over his calls to reform blasphemy legislation.
It entered politics in 2017 and surprised the political elite by securing more than 2 million votes in the 2018 election.
The next national election is scheduled for 2023, and analysts expect political groups to start gearing up from early next year.
Pakistan takes Tehreek-e-Labbaik leader off terrorism list under deal to end protests
https://arab.news/peum7
Pakistan takes Tehreek-e-Labbaik leader off terrorism list under deal to end protests
- Experts say a removal from the watchlist can be a legal prerequisite for Saad Rizvi's release from prison
- The TLP was born in 2015 out of a protest campaign to seek the release of a police guard who assassinated a provincial governor in 2011
Pakistan says multilateralism in peril, urges global powers to prioritize diplomacy over confrontation
- The country tells the UN international security system is eroding, asks rival blocs to return to dialogue
- It emphasizes lowering of international tensions, rebuilding of channels of communication among states
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan warned the world community on Monday that multilateralism was “in peril” amid rising global tensions, urging major powers to revive diplomacy and dialogue to prevent a further breakdown in international security.
Speaking at a UN Security Council briefing, Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, said the world was drifting toward confrontation at a time when cooperative mechanisms were weakening.
His comments came during a session addressed by Finland’s foreign minister Elina Valtonen, chairing the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the world’s largest regional security body.
Formed out of the 1975 Helsinki Final Act, the OSCE was designed during the Cold War to reduce tensions, uphold principles of sovereignty and human rights and promote mechanisms for peaceful dispute resolution.
“Today, the foundational ethos of international relations, multilateralism, cooperation and indivisible security, as envisaged in the preamble of Helsinki Final Act, is perhaps facing its biggest challenge in decades,” Ahmed said. “The OSCE, too, is navigating a difficult geopolitical landscape, with conflict raging in the heart of Europe for nearly four years, depletion of trust and unprecedented strains on peaceful co-existence.”
He said a return to the “Helsinki spirit” of dialogue, confidence-building and cooperative security was urgently needed, not only in Europe but globally.
“This is not a matter of choice but a strategic imperative to lower tensions, rebuild essential channels of communication, and demonstrate that comprehensive security is best preserved through cooperative instruments, and not by the pursuit of hegemony and domination through military means,” he said. “Objective, inclusive, impartial, and principle-based approaches are indispensable for success.”
Ahmed’s statement came in a year when Pakistan itself fought a brief but intense war after India launched missile strikes at its city in May following a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir. New Delhi blamed Pakistan for the assault, an allegation Islamabad denied while calling for a transparent international investigation.
The Pakistani diplomat said the international system was increasingly defined by bloc politics, mistrust and militarization, warning that such trends undermine both regional stability and the authority of multilateral institutions, including the UN itself.
He urged member states to invest more in preventive diplomacy and the peaceful settlement of disputes as reaffirmed by the Council in Resolution 2788.
Ahmad said Pakistan hoped the OSCE would continue reinforcing models of cooperative security and that the Security Council would back partnerships that strengthen international law and the credibility of multilateral frameworks.
The path forward, he added, required “choosing cooperation over confrontation, dialogue over division, and inclusive security over bloc-based divides.”
