ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s new foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Wednesday expressed regret over the loss of life in a suicide attack in Karachi that targeted Chinese nationals, saying it was a “failed attempt” by militants to damage the longstanding relations between the two countries.
Bhutto-Zardari issued the statement while visiting the Chinese embassy in Islamabad soon after taking oath to his office which made him the youngest foreign minister in his country’s history.
Four people, including three Chinese nationals, were killed in a deadly suicide bombing in front of Karachi University’s Confucius Institute, a Chinese cultural center, which was later claimed by the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also directed the authorities to increase the security of Chinese residents and institutions in Pakistan.
“The relationship between Pakistan and China is a series of loyalties from generation to generation,” the foreign minister said. “Terrorists made a failed attempt to strike at the foundation of China-Pakistan friendship.”
He added such malicious intentions of militants would not sabotage the relationship between the two countries.
Baloch nationalist groups have regularly targeted Chinese workers in Pakistan where Beijing has been undertaking lucrative mining, energy and infrastructure development projects.
A BLA spokesperson on Wednesday threatened Beijing with “harsher” attacks until it stopped its “exploitation projects” in the country’s southwestern Balochistan province.
“Hundreds of highly trained male and female members of the Baloch Liberation Army’s Majeed Brigade are ready to carry out deadly attacks in any part of Balochistan and Pakistan,” spokesman Jeeyand Baloch warned in a statement published in English.
Reacting to Tuesday’s incident, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson maintained the “ironclad friendship” between China and Pakistan was unbreakable, reported the Associated Press of Pakistan.
“Once again, we mourn the passing of the Chinese and Pakistani victims and extend our sincere sympathies to the victims and to the injured and the bereaved families,” Wang Wenbin said.
“We will work together with Pakistan to crack down on terrorist forces and make sure the culprits behind the attack pay a heavy price,” he added.
Pakistan’s new FM visits Chinese embassy, regrets loss of life in Karachi suicide bombing
https://arab.news/4fpxc
Pakistan’s new FM visits Chinese embassy, regrets loss of life in Karachi suicide bombing
- The foreign minister condemns ‘failed’ militant attempt to damage Pak-China relations
- A Baloch separatist group has warned China of ‘harsher’ attacks in the future
Pakistan Supreme Court halts trial of prominent lawyer over alleged anti-military tweets
- Top court orders lower court to pause proceedings after lawyers allege due-process breaches
- Mazari-Hazir, husband face charges under cybercrime law that carry up to 14 years in prison
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday halted the cybercrime trial of prominent human rights lawyer Imaan Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, after their lawyers argued that a lower court had recorded witness testimony in their absence, violating due-process rules.
Mazari-Hazir, one of Pakistan’s most outspoken civil liberties lawyers, and Chattha are being prosecuted under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) over posts on X that authorities say incited ethnic divisions and portrayed the military as involved in “terrorism.” Both reject the allegations. If convicted under the relevant PECA provision, they face a prison term of up to 14 years.
The case has drawn broad attention in Pakistan’s legal community because Mazari-Hazir, who has been repeatedly detained over her criticism of the security establishment, argues that the trial court ignored basic procedural guarantees despite her medical leave request. The case also comes as Pakistan faces sustained scrutiny over the use of PECA against activists, journalists and political dissenters, with lawyers arguing that lower courts often move ahead without meeting minimum fair-trial standards.
The couple’s lawyer, Riasat Ali Azad, said his clients filed a petition in the Supreme Court because the lower court had moved ahead improperly.
“Today, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has stayed the lower court proceedings, the trial court proceedings and has said that the [Islamabad] High Court should decide our pending revision petition for which a date has already been fixed,” he told reporters.
Azad said the violation was clear under Pakistan’s Code of Criminal Procedure, which requires evidence to be recorded in the presence of the accused.
“Yet, on that very day, evidence of four witnesses was recorded in their absence, and a state counsel was appointed to conduct cross-examination on their behalf,” he said. “All these things are against the right to a fair trial under Articles 10 and 10-A.”
A three-judge bench led by Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar ordered the trial court to pause proceedings and instructed the Islamabad High Court to hear the couple’s pending criminal revision petition first.
The trial had been scheduled to resume on Dec.15, but the Supreme Court’s stay now freezes proceedings before both the additional sessions judge and the special PECA court.
The Islamabad High Court is expected to hear the criminal revision petition next week.
Chattha, who is also a lawyer, said the SC ruling underscored the need for procedural safeguards.
“It is a victory for the constitution and the law,” he said, arguing that the trial court had ignored their request to re-record witness statements in their presence.
