ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday he was optimistic that Saudi Arabia’s Makkah Route Initiative, which was recently launched in the federal capital to facilitate over 26,000 Pakistani pilgrims, would also be expanded to other cities next year.
The statement comes a day after Pakistan’s religious affairs minister Senator Talha Mahmood and Saudi ambassador Nawaf bin Said-Al Malki formally launched the project at the Islamabad International Airport.
The Makkah Route Initiative is part of Saudi Arabia’s Guests of God Service Program, which King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud inaugurated in 2019 under Vision 2030 to diversify the kingdom’s economy. Under the scheme, Hajj pilgrims go through immigration process at the airports of their own countries before departing for Saudi Arabia.
“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday briefed the members of his cabinet on the details of the Road to Makkah agreement signed with Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, which will benefit a large number of Pakistani pilgrims,” said a statement released by the PM Office.
“The prime minister has expressed the hope that after its launch at the Islamabad airport yesterday, this facility, with the support of the Saudi government, will also be provided to pilgrims going to the kingdom from Lahore and Karachi next year.”
Following the launch of the initiative, Pakistan’s religious affairs minister said the immigration of pilgrims would take place in their own country, adding they would be able to exit Saudi airports upon arrival without having to go through the same process again.
Mahmood added the Saudi deputy interior minister, Dr. Nasser Al-Dawood, who visited Pakistan this week to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with officials in Islamabad, had promised to extend the Makkah Route Initiative to at least two to three more Pakistani cities.
“These include Lahore, Karachi, and Peshawar airports as they [Saudis] need time since a lot of preparation, including equipment and staff, is required for each airport,” he explained.
Mahmood also said the first Hajj flight would depart from Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi at 4:50 pm on May 21 and land in Madinah.
PM hopes Makkah Route Initiative will be expanded to Pakistani cities beyond capital
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PM hopes Makkah Route Initiative will be expanded to Pakistani cities beyond capital
- The initiative allows Hajj pilgrims to undergo immigration process in their home country before leaving for Saudi Arabia
- It was formally launched at the Islamabad airport where to help facilitate more than 26,000 pilgrims this Hajj season
Pakistani interior minister, KP CM vow to improve coordination amid surge in attacks
- Five Chinese nationals were killed in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday in a bombing
- Interior minister, KP chief minister vow to bring perpetrators of attack to justice
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s interior minister and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Thursday vowed to strengthen coordination between the center and the province to improve the law-and-order situation, the KP CM’s office said, amid a surge in terror attacks in the province.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvy arrived in Peshawar to meet Gandapur on Thursday to review the province’s law and order situation two days after five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver were killed in the country’s volatile northwest.
The incident took place in KP’s Shangla where a bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into the vehicle of Chinese engineers and construction workers on Tuesday.
The attack occurred in an area vital to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which encompasses various mega projects crucial for Pakistan’s economy. The victims were en route to Dasu Dam, Pakistan’s largest hydropower project, when they were targeted.
“To improve the law-and-order situation in the province, both agreed to improve the coordination between law enforcement institutions on the federal and provincial levels,” a statement from the KP chief minister’s office said.
The two condemned the attack on the Chinese nationals and expressed their condolences to Beijing and the families of those who had been killed in the attack.
“The two expressed their resolve to bring all those involved in the incident to justice and put an end to terrorism,” the statement said.
Gandapur said it was his government’s top priority to ensure law and order in the province and to safeguard people’s lives.
Pakistan’s foreign office said on Thursday that Islamabad had enhanced the security of Chinese nationals after the attack.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said both Pakistani and Chinese governments were in contact after the tragic incident on March 26, adding they were fully committed to bringing the terrorists, along with their facilitators and abettors, to justice.
No group had claimed responsibility for the attack but suspicion was likely to fall on separatists and the breakaway Gul Bahadur faction of the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP.
The TTP is a separate group, but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban.
The TTP denied being behind the suicide bombing in a statement Wednesday, saying: “We are in no way related to the attack on the Chinese engineers.”
Tuesday’s attack came less than a week after Pakistani security forces killed eight Balochistan Liberation Army separatists who opened fire on a convoy carrying Chinese citizens outside the Chinese-funded Gwadar port in the volatile southwestern Balochistan province.
Pakistan says security of Chinese nationals enhanced after deadly attack
- Pakistan’s foreign office says the government fully understands Chinese security concerns after the attack
- It points out Pakistan has built a fence, introduced one document regime to secure its border with Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office said on Thursday the government has further enhanced the security of Chinese nationals only days after a deadly suicide bombing killed five of them along with their Pakistani driver in the country’s volatile northwest.
The incident took place in Shangla, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into the vehicle of Chinese engineers and construction workers on Tuesday.
The attack occurred in an area vital to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which encompasses various mega projects crucial for Pakistan’s economy. The victims were en route to Dasu Dam, Pakistan’s largest hydropower project, when they were targeted.
“I can reassure you that Pakistan has further enhanced the security of Chinese nationals,” foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told reporters in a weekly media briefing in Islamabad.
She said both Pakistani and Chinese governments were in contact after the tragic incident on March 26, adding they were fully committed to bringing the terrorists, along with their facilitators and abettors, to justice.
“At this point, we are focusing on investigating the terror attack and ensuring that the dead bodies of the deceased are transported to their home country,” she added. “This is the first priority at this stage.”
Asked about the security concerns raised by the Chinese officials following the attack, Baloch said the Pakistani government fully understood their concerns.
“We are engaged with the Chinese officials at very senior level to discuss the arrangements for the safety of Chinese nationals and for the investigation of this particular terror incident,” she informed.
The foreign office spokesperson said Pakistan would continue to work with the Chinese authorities to ensure the safety and security of Chinese nationals, projects and institutions in Pakistan.
“We have no doubt that the … terror attack [in Shangla] was orchestrated by the enemies of Pakistan-China friendship and together, we will resolutely act against all such forces and defeat them,” she emphasized.
In response to a question regarding Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif’s statement regarding the necessity for stronger border controls between Pakistan and Afghanistan, she clarified he was elaborating measures already taken by Pakistan to regulate travel between the two neighboring countries.
“Pakistan-Afghanistan border is an important border, and Pakistan has, over time, taken several measures to secure the border, including erecting a fence along the border,” she continued.
“Pakistan has also introduced one document regime under which individuals can travel to Pakistan on the basis of valid visas on their passports,” Baloch added.
Pakistan’s top court conditionally allows military courts to declare reserved judgments in May 9 cases
- Supreme Court says judgments can only be announced in cases in which people can be released before Eid Al-Fitr
- Attorney general says 20 people can be released before the Muslim religious festival is celebrated next month
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday allowed military courts to announce judgments reserved in cases against civilians linked to the May 9 violence that erupted last year after the brief detention of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on corruption charges.
Demonstrators, identified with Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, targeted government buildings and military installations, notably setting ablaze the official residence of a senior army general in Lahore.
This incident prompted a significant crackdown on PTI leaders and supporters, with the government facing allegations of arbitrary arrests and custodial torture, which it denied.
Following the May 9 events, military authorities sought to prosecute civilians involved in the assaults on its properties nationwide. However, the move was challenged, and a five-member Supreme Court bench deemed civilian trials in military courts unconstitutional in October.
The government has since appealed the decision.
The Supreme Court said during the hearing today that only the verdict in those cases should be announced in which the people on trial can be released before the Eid Al-Fitr festivities next month.
“Twenty out of 103 suspects involved in the May 9 incidents will be released before Eid,” Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan told the court. “These 20 individuals will be released following the established procedure.”
The PTI has complained of being unjustly targeted by state institutions since the downfall of its administration in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022.
Khan himself remains behind bars in a high-security prison in Rawalpindi after being convicted in a number of cases in recent months.
Pakistan seeks swift implementation of Security Council’s ceasefire resolution in Gaza
- The foreign office asks Israel’s ‘backers’ to force the Netanyahu administration to end the Palestinian ‘massacre’
- It also seeks lifting of the ‘inhumane siege’ of Gaza to ensure smooth flow of humanitarian assistance to people
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office on Thursday called for the swift implementation of the United Nations Security Council’s ceasefire resolution in the Gaza Strip to end Israel’s relentless military campaign against the people of Palestine which has lasted for over five months.
Israel launched its campaign after a surprise attack was initiated by Hamas on Oct. 7 in response to the deteriorating condition of Palestinian people living under Israeli occupation. Since then, Israel has killed over 32,000 Gaza residents, most of them women and children, by targeting hospitals and residential neighborhoods.
The Security Council demanded an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas earlier this week in what was viewed as a massive legal blow to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration that has been widely accused of running a genocidal campaign against Palestinians.
However, Israel has continued to carry out its operations in the area.
“It has been three days since the adoption of the UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine,” the foreign office spokesperson, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, said during her weekly media briefing. “However, the Israeli war on the people of Gaza continues unabated and the Palestinian people continue to face starvation and genocide.”
“We call on the backers of Israel to urge Israel to bring an end to the massacre of the Palestinian people, lift the inhumane siege and allow humanitarian assistance in all parts of Gaza,” she continued. “The international community must redouble its efforts for a just and durable solution to the Palestine question and for the creation of a of an independent viable sovereign and contiguous Palestinian state along pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.”
A day earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also mentioned the UN resolution at an iftar-dinner hosted by the foreign ministry to honor the members of the diplomatic community in the country, calling for an immediate ceasefire.
“I would like to reiterate Pakistan’s firm support for the people of Palestine in their just struggle for their inseparable right to self-determination and we all hope and to make our sincere efforts that this UN Security Council’s resolution is implemented in latent spirit immediately and brutality against the Palestinians must end henceforth,” he said.
Pakistan PM arrives at Supreme Court to meet chief justice amid intelligence interference claims
- The meeting was scheduled following the top court’s deliberations over the accusations made by six high court judges
- The judges had complained of coercion by intelligence agencies in a letter to Supreme Judicial Council earlier this week
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived at the Supreme Court of Pakistan to meet Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Thursday, apparently to discuss the allegations made by six Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges in a letter about intelligence agencies’ meddling in judicial affairs.
The meeting was scheduled a day after the Supreme Court held a full court meeting to deliberate on the issue without issuing a statement or decision.
The six judges, out of a total IHC strength of eight, sent a written request to the Supreme Judicial Council earlier this week to hold a judicial convention to discuss how intelligence agencies put judges under pressure and coerce them to issue desired verdicts.
“The prime minister, along with the attorney-general of Pakistan, is scheduled to have a meeting with the chief justice on the court’s premises at about 2pm today,” the attorney-general’s office confirmed to Arab News over the phone earlier in the day.
It declined to provide further details about the agenda of the meeting.
Prior to the development, Pakistani bar associations called for a transparent inquiry into the matter while reacting to the letter.
“The concerns highlighted in the letter are indeed grave and warrant immediate attention,” Pakistan Bar Council said in a statement, demanding an investigation into the matter by a three-member committee of the Supreme Court judges.
“The contents of the letter depict a troubling narrative of attempts to undermine autonomy of the judiciary and influence judicial proceedings for political ends,” it continued.
The six judges provided various examples of alleged interference, including a case concerning Pakistan’s imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan. They informed that when two of the three judges on the bench deemed a plea to disqualify Khan for allegedly concealing his paternity of a daughter as not maintainable, they faced pressure from “operatives of the ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence]” through their friends and relatives.
The judges also mentioned incidents where their relatives were abducted and tortured and their homes were secretly surveilled, aiming to coerce them into delivering favorable judgments in specific cases.
The Islamabad High Court Bar Association and legal experts also demanded an investigation into the issue, calling it a “serious threat to rule of law and independence of judiciary.”
Speaking to Arab News, Justice (r) Shaiq Usmani said the Supreme Judicial Council had the power to summon anybody, examine the record and evidence and record statements of those involved in a matter. He said it should take the lead and investigate the matter raised by the IHC judges.
“The Supreme Judicial Council should record statements of all those involved in this matter besides examining the available evidence to fix responsibility,” he said. “The whole process could be completed in an in-camera inquiry with integrity and without sensationalizing the matter.”