QARDAHA: The tomb of ousted Syrian president Bashar Assad’s father Hafez was torched in his hometown of Qardaha, AFP footage taken Wednesday showed, with militant fighters in fatigues and young men watching it burn.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor told AFP the militants had set fire to the mausoleum, located in the Latakia heartland of Assad’s Alawite community.
AFP footage showed parts of the mausoleum ablaze and damaged, with the tomb of Hafez torched and destroyed.
The vast elevated structure atop a hill has an intricate architectural design with several arches, its exterior embellished with ornamentation etched in stone.
It also houses the tombs of other Assad family members, including Bashar’s brother Bassel, who was being groomed to inherit power before he was killed in a road accident in 1994.
On Sunday, a lightning offensive by militants seized key cities before reaching Damascus and forcing Assad to flee, ending more than 50 years of his family’s rule.
Tomb of Assad’s father set on fire in Syria hometown
https://arab.news/m963x
Tomb of Assad’s father set on fire in Syria hometown
Pakistan pushes for Chinese investment in export-oriented sectors
- China is Pakistan’s largest trading partner, with its exports to Islamabad standing at $19.62 billion in 2024
- Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Khalil Hashmi holds meetings with honorary investment councilors in China
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Khalil Hashmi met honorary investment councilors (HIC) this week to review their role in advancing trade and people-to-people linkages, urging them to mobilize investments from Beijing in Islamabad’s export-oriented sectors, the Press Information Department (PID) said.
Pakistan views China as an important strategic ally and investment partner, which has funneled billions of dollars into the country under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) energy and infrastructure project for over a decade.
China is also Pakistan’s largest trading partner, with its exports to Pakistan surging from $16.67 billion in 2023 to $19.62 billion in 2024, as per official data.
Hashmi held private meetings with HICs in China on Monday and a working luncheon to take stock of their work, strengthen coordination and set priorities for 2026, the PID said in a press release.
“He encouraged them to synergize their efforts with Pakistan’s national development priorities and mobilize Chinese investments in export-oriented sectors of Pakistan,” the statement said.
The Pakistani ambassador urged the HICs to prioritize channeling investments in 21 priority sectors of the economy through joint ventures to boost productive capacities, calling on them to integrate investments with human capital development.
Hashmi informed the HICs that the two business-to-business investment conferences held in Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Beijing, as well as six sectoral investment roadshows since last year cumulatively yielded the signing of over 300 memoranda of understanding and 25 joint ventures worth $11 billion.
“The HICs welcomed the initiative to convene focused annual review by the ambassador, marking the beginning of an institutionalized engagement with the HICs,” the press release said.
“They shared their plans for 2026 and expressed resolve to lend their full support to the embassy’s economic diplomacy agenda, especially the enhancement of Chinese investments in Pakistan and an increase in Pakistani exports to China, while boosting bilateral cooperation in these mutually beneficial areas.”
