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  • Months of political ‘anxiety’ to end with Pakistan army chief's appointment – defence minister


Months of political ‘anxiety’ to end with Pakistan army chief's appointment – defence minister

The collage of photos shows six senior generals who are being considered for Pakistan army chief's post. (Photo courtesy: ISPR)
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Updated 23 November 2022
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Months of political ‘anxiety’ to end with Pakistan army chief's appointment – defence minister

  • Khawaja Asif says PM traveling to Turkey on Friday evening and would make his selection before departing
  • Hopes President Dr Arif Alvi, a close Imran Khan ally, would cooperate with the PM on the appointment
Updated 23 November 2022
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Defense Khawaja Asif said on Wednesday a “sense of anxiety” created by months of political turmoil and anti-government protests would be eliminated when a new army chief was announced later this week.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is poised to appoint a new army chief as Pakistan is in the grips of an intense political crisis, with the party of ex-PM Imran Khan leading a protest march to the capital that started from the eastern city of Lahore on Oct. 28.

The country was plunged into fresh turmoil earlier this month when Khan, who is calling on Sharif to immediately resign and call fresh elections, survived an assassination attempt during firing at his protest march.

Khan is sitting out the protests while he recovers but is expected to again join the march on Islamabad on Nov. 26, according to his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. Even before launching his protest march last month, Khan has been holding anti-government rallies across Pakistan since his ouster in a parliamentary vote on no-confidence in April.

“I don't want to speculate but the sense of anxiety that has been there for the last few months, not even weeks but months, when this issue [of the appointment] is settled in a day or two … because of this the sense of anxiety will be eliminated,” Asif told reporters when asked if the march might be called off after the new chief’s appointment.

He added that PM Sharif was traveling to Turkey on Friday evening and would make his selection before that.

The current chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, has been the head of the army since 2016 and received an extension in service in 2019. He will retire on November 29.

Amid widespread speculation in Pakistani media and public over who would be appointed the new army chief, the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday received from the ministry of defense the names of the top contenders for the post, as the government moves to vet nominations for arguably the most powerful office in the country.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will pick a chief from among the six names suggested by the army, and will subsequently advice the president to appoint him as army chief. As per the rules, the president has to approve the PM’s advise on the appointment on the same day.

When asked by reporters if President Dr Arif Alvi, a close Khan ally, would cooperate with the PM on the appointment, Asif said:

“The duties of the president or the prime minister, they should take decisions in the best interest of the nation … there should be no political consideration in this.”

Asif said that the government would take its coalition partners as the federal cabinet into confidence before announcing the name of the new army chief.

Among the main contenders for the army chief’s post are Lieutenants-Generals Asim Munir, the army’s quartermaster general, Azhar Abbas, the chief of general staff, Nauman Mahmood, president of the National Defense University, and Faiz Hameed, the former chief of Pakistan’s premier Inter-Services Intelligence agency and currently the commander of the army’s Bahawalpur Corps.

The appointment of a new army chief will have a crucial bearing on the future of the South Asian nation’s burgeoning democracy and set the tone for relations with India, Afghanistan, China, and the United States.

Topics: Army chief appointment Army Chief Pakistan

PCB proposes Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi as ICC Champions Trophy 2025 venues— report

Updated 7 sec ago
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PCB proposes Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi as ICC Champions Trophy 2025 venues— report

  • Pakistan are scheduled to host the eight-team ICC Champions Trophy tournament next year
  • PCB chairman says upgrading existing stadiums before tournament will be a “very tough test”
Updated 7 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

Islamabad: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has proposed Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi as the three venues for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025, in an initial draft schedule of the tournament that it shared recently with the International Cricket Council (ICC), sports website ESPNcricinfo reported on Sunday. 

Pakistan are scheduled to host the eight-team Champions Trophy tournament next year. If the tournament takes place in the South Asian country, it would mark the first time in nearly 30 years that an ICC event would be held in the country. 

The green shirts won the last edition of the Champions Trophy 2025, which was held in 2017 in England. Champions Trophy 2017 was thought to be the last edition of the tournament until the ICC brought it back in the new rights cycle (2023-2027) and awarded Pakistan the hosting rights for the 2025 edition. 

“Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi are the three venues proposed by the PCB in the initial draft schedule of the 2025 Champions Trophy, sent recently to the ICC,” ESPNcricinfo reported. “The eight-team tournament is expected to be played over two weeks, though the exact dates are not known yet,” it added. 

It said the Pakistan board sent the initial draft after an ICC sent a team to conduct recces for the tournament. PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi confirmed the development during a news conference in Lahore on Sunday. 

“The ICC’s security team came and we had a very good meeting,” Naqvi said. “They looked at arrangements here and we’ll also share stadium upgrade plans with them. We’re continuously in touch with the ICC. We are trying to ensure we host a very good tournament in Pakistan.”

A huge question mark looms over India’s prospects of touring Pakistan for the tournament. Political tensions between the two nuclear-armed nations mean they rarely play bilateral cricket against each other. India and Pakistan, fierce cricket rivals, meet each other on the field only during ICC tournaments and that too, at neutral venues. 

India last toured Pakistan during the 2008 Asia Cup. Last year, the PCB had to adopt a “hybrid model” while hosting the Asia Cup, whereby some games were played in Pakistan but all of India’s games and the final were held in Sri Lanka.

Another challenge on Pakistan’s hands would be to upgrade its existing stadiums in line with international standards, something Naqvi has had his eye on ever since he assumed the PCB chairman’s post this year. 

“If you look at Qaddafi [stadium in Lahore], it is good, but the viewing experience is not great for cricket. Football maybe, not cricket,” he said. Naqvi said Pakistan needed to improve facilities in the stadiums, especially the National Stadium in Karachi. 

“So on May 7th, we’ll finalize bids from international companies who will come and help us design,” he said. “We will work with local consultants as well. We are already late but we need to do these upgrades in four-five months. It will be a very tough test but we can do it.”

Topics: PCB

Pakistani PM to address closing plenary of WEF special meeting, meet Saudi ministers today

Updated 29 April 2024
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Pakistani PM to address closing plenary of WEF special meeting, meet Saudi ministers today

  • Shehbaz Sharif met Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday and discussed bilateral ties and war in Gaza
  • WEF has convened Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development in Riyadh 
Updated 29 April 2024
Shahjahan Khurram

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will address today, Monday, the closing plenary of a special meeting of the World Economic Forum being held in Riyadh and meet a number of top Saudi officials, state-run APP news agency said.

Sharif arrived in Riyadh on Saturday for the World Economic Forum’s Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development on April 28-29. The conference has convened more than 700 participants, including key stakeholders from governments and international organizations, business leaders from the World Economic Forum’s partner companies, as well as Young Global Leaders, experts and innovators.

“Sharif is scheduled to address the closing plenary of the Special Meeting of the World Economic Forum titled ‘Rejuvenating Growth,’ on the third day of his visit to the Kingdom,” APP said. 

“The third-day agenda of the prime minister’s visit also consists of his meetings with Saudi ministers for trade, energy, environment and agriculture. He is also likely to meet with the Malaysian counterpart.”

On Sunday, Sharif attended a Special Dialogue and Gala Dinner hosted by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman where they discussed bilateral ties as well as regional issues including the war in Gaza.

Sharif’s meeting with the crown prince took place less than a week after a high-powered delegation, headed by Saudi Foreign Minister Minister Faisal bin Farhan, visited Pakistan to discuss investments. 

“To continue the discussion, the Prime Minister said that he has brought with him a high-powered delegation to Riyadh, including key ministers responsible for investment, so that follow-up meetings could take place between relevant officials,” the Pakistani Prime Minister’s Office said. 

Sharif reiterated his invitation to the Saudi crown prince for an official visit to Pakistan at his earliest convenience, the PMO added. 

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong trade, defense and cultural ties. The Kingdom is home to over 2.7 million Pakistani expatriates and serves as the top source of remittances to the cash-strapped South Asian country.

Both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have been closely working to increase bilateral trade and investment deals, and the Kingdom recently reaffirmed its commitment to expedite an investment package worth $5 billion.

Separately, Sharif met Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) co-chair Bill Gates on the sidelines of the WEF meeting on Monday, the PMO said, and discussed efforts to eradicate polio in Pakistan, one of two countries globally where the virus is still endemic. The two leaders also discussed progress on ongoing activities between Pakistan and the BMGF in immunization, nutrition, and financial inclusion, the PMO said. 

Topics: Pakistan Saudi Ties WEF Arab News Pakistan

Police recover judge kidnapped last week in Pakistan’s restive northwest

Updated 29 April 2024
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Police recover judge kidnapped last week in Pakistan’s restive northwest

  • Unidentified armed men kidnapped Shakirullah Marwat near Bagwal town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Saturday
  • Police official says Marwat was recovered after police and security forces conducted joint operations in Tank, Dera Ismail Khan districts
Updated 29 April 2024
REHMAT MEHSUD

PESHAWAR: A district and sessions judge who was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen from Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Saturday has been recovered, a senior police official and a relative of the judge both confirmed on Monday.

Unidentified gunmen abducted Shakirullah Marwat near the dusty town of Bagwal on Saturday while he was traveling from his hometown city of Tank toward the Dera Ismail Khan district in KP. The incident alarmed Pakistan’s legal community and coincides with a resurgence of militant violence in KP and Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, following the Pakistani Taliban or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) termination of a fragile truce with Islamabad in Nov. 2022.

Security forces and police conducted two separate operations in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts “soon” after Marwat was abducted and killed six militants in the exchange, Regional Police Officer (RPO) Nasir Hussain Satti said. 

“Police and security forces were jolted into action the moment the judge was picked up,” Satti told Arab News. “The forces choked all entry and exit points of the two restive districts, leaving no room for kidnappers to keep the judge with them. Finally, they had to set him free,” he added.

Satti said the judge had been recovered without paying ransom money. “Absolutely not, the judge was recovered without paying any ransom or making any deal with the abductors,” he said. 

Farooq Khan, Marwat’s relative who is also a lawyer, confirmed the judge reached home safely on Sunday night. 

“Thank God Shakirullah has reached home safely,” he told Arab News. 

In a brief video message that was released on Sunday, the judge said he was kidnapped by the Pakistani Taliban and that his release was impossible if his kidnappers’ demands were not met. He was speaking from an undisclosed location and it wasn’t clear whether he was talking under duress. 

“I request the federal and provincial governments, the honorable chief justice of Peshawar High Court, the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the government of Pakistan and the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to accept their (Taliban) demands and ensure my release,” Marwat had said.

Shah Fahad Ansari, a high court advocate and divisional president for the Peoples Lawyers’ Forum, said the legal fraternity appreciated the swift response by police and security forces to ensure the judge’s safe recovery.

“But we demand the authorities adopt all measures to ensure security in the province and discourage recurrence of these kinds of incidents in the future,” Ansari said.

Earlier this month, an attack in Dera Ismail Khan resulted in the death of six people, including five customs department officials, with another person wounded when gunmen targeted their vehicle.

The recent weeks have also seen attacks on police officials in KP.

Earlier this month, a policeman was shot dead in North Waziristan. In related incidents, an official from the provincial counterterrorism department and a senior cleric affiliated with the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam religious party were fatally shot in target killings in the area.

While no group has claimed responsibility for these attacks, suspicion has fallen on the TTP, whose leadership is said to be based in neighboring Afghanistan.

Topics: Pakistan

Pakistan benchmark share index extends rally, breaches 73,000

Updated 29 April 2024
Reuters
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Pakistan benchmark share index extends rally, breaches 73,000

  • Pakistan’s benchmark index has surged 75.4% over past year, is up 12.5% year-to-date
  • South Asian country’s central bank will announce a policy rate decision later in the day
Updated 29 April 2024
Reuters

KARACHI: Pakistan’s benchmark share index breached the key level of 73,000 to trade at a record high of 73,300 in early trade on Monday, according to data from the Pakistan Stock Exchange website.

The index has surged 75.4 percent over the past year and is up 12.5% year-to-date.

The Central Bank’s monetary policy will announce a policy rate decision later in the day, and the International Monetary Fund’s executive board will meet on Monday to decide on releasing the final tranche of $1.1 million to the cash-strapped nation.
 

Pakistan begins week-long campaign to vaccinate 24 million children against polio

Updated 29 April 2024
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Pakistan begins week-long campaign to vaccinate 24 million children against polio

  • Campaign is being held in 91 districts of Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Islamabad
  • Pakistani polio vaccinators and security teams guarding them have often been attacked by militant groups 
Updated 29 April 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities kicked off a week-long campaign to vaccinate 24 million children against poliovirus in 91 selected districts on Monday, the state-run Radio Pakistan reported, as Islamabad tries to eliminate the potentially fatal disease from the country. 

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where the poliovirus, which causes paralysis and can be a life-threatening disease, is endemic.

“The campaign is being held in ten districts of Punjab, 24 districts of Sindh, 26 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 30 districts of Balochistan, and the federal capital Islamabad,” Radio Pakistan said, adding that 24 million children under the age of five would be administered the vaccine in these districts. 

Dr. Malik Mukhtar Ahmed Bharath, coordinator to the prime minister on National Health Services, said the government is committed to ensuring that all children are protected from poliovirus. 

“Poliovirus has been detected in multiple sewage samples in the country in recent months which means this virus remains a serious threat to children’s wellbeing,” Dr. Bharat was quoted as saying by the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) on Sunday. 

He said the only way to protect children from the disease is to vaccinate them against it. “We are sending polio teams to your homes, so make sure to open your door to vaccinators and get your child vaccinated,” he added. 

Dr. Shahzad Baig, coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication described it as a “critical campaign” being held in districts with a high risk of poliovirus spread. 

“We have detected the virus in over 31 districts this year, which is why we are continuing to implement regular vaccination campaigns in all high-risk districts to ensure that children have the immunity to fight off polio infection,” he said. 

Pakistan’s efforts to contain polio have often been met with opposition, especially in the country’s northwestern KP province, where militants have carried out attacks against vaccinators and the security teams guarding them. 

Many believe in the conspiracy theory that polio vaccines are part of a plot by Western outsiders to sterilize Pakistan’s population.

Pakistani masses’ doubts regarding polio campaigns were exacerbated in 2011 when the US Central Intelligence Agency set up a fake hepatitis vaccination program to gather intelligence on former Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. 

Topics: Pakistan Polio Campaign

Latest updates

PCB proposes Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi as ICC Champions Trophy 2025 venues— report
Pakistani PM to address closing plenary of WEF special meeting, meet Saudi ministers today
Scotland’s Yousaf will resign as first minister, BBC says
Police recover judge kidnapped last week in Pakistan’s restive northwest
Pakistan benchmark share index extends rally, breaches 73,000

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