QUETTA: The Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) on Friday announced a march toward the capital of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on April 6, amid a deadlock with authorities over the release of Dr. Mahrang Baloch and other Baloch ethnic rights activists.
Baloch and a few other activists were arrested on March 22 after they took part in a sit-in protest outside the University of Balochistan to demand the release of some members of her Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) rights group, whom they allege have been detained by security agencies. They have since been charged with terrorism, sedition and murder after the demonstration ended in the death of three protesters, according to police documents.
The Pakistan army and the government have in the past variously referred to Baloch and her BYC as “terrorist proxies” who they say are allied with militant separatist groups like the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). Baloch and her group deny the charge and say they lead peaceful protests for the rights of the ethnic Baloch people.
On Friday, the BNP-M, which led supporters out of its chief Akhtar Mengal’s tribal heartland of Wadh in Balochistan’s Khuzdar district on March 28 to stage a sit-in at Lak Pass near the Mastung district, said its two-day ultimatum for the authorities to release Baloch and other activists had ended and it would now move toward the provincial capital of Quetta.
“We are standing on our demands for the release of detained Baloch women activists, but the government committee is not listening to us seriously,” Sanaullah Baloch, a senior BNP-M member, told Arab News, accusing authorities of “digging trenches” at the Quetta-Karachi highway to keep them from reaching the provincial capital.
“We have decided to march toward the capital for another round of sit-in and protests.”
At least two rounds of talks between the government and BNP-M chief Mengal have failed to yield any result, while provincial authorities have suspended mobile Internet in Quetta for the last three days, citing “serious security threats.”
Zahoor Buledi, a senior Balochistan minister who is part of the negotiations, said the government is fully engaged in a dialogue with the BNP-M.
“Though we held two rounds of talks with Mr. Mengal, they didn’t bore any result,” he told Arab News. “Talks will continue.”
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by landmass and rich in mineral resources, has been the site of an insurgency for the last two decades. The separatists accuse Islamabad of exploiting the province’s natural resources, such as gold and copper. Successive Pakistani governments have denied the allegations.
Police actions against Baloch rights activists have intensified after Baloch separatists last month staged a dramatic train siege that officials said ended in around 60 deaths, half of whom were separatists behind the assault.
More than a dozen United Nations experts demanded last week that Pakistan immediately release detained Baloch rights defenders and halt its crackdown on peaceful protests.
Nationalist party supporters to march toward Balochistan’s capital for release of Baloch rights activists
https://arab.news/4f66r
Nationalist party supporters to march toward Balochistan’s capital for release of Baloch rights activists
- The Balochistan National Party-Mengal has been staging a sit-in in Mastung for the last one week to demand release of Dr. Mahrang Baloch and other activists
- Provincial minister Zahoor Buledi admits two rounds of talks with the protesters have failed to yield results, but says they will continue to negotiate
Pakistan plans Benghazi consulate, lending legitimacy to Libya’s eastern authorities
- Libya descended into turmoil after a 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled Muammar Qaddafi and has been divided into eastern, western authorities
- The UN-recognized government in Tripoli controls the west, while the Libyan National Army forces based in Benghazi hold the east and the south
KARACHI: Pakistan is in talks to open a consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, three sources with knowledge of the matter said, a move that could give a diplomatic boost to eastern authorities in their rivalry with Libya’s west.
Libya descended into turmoil after a 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled Muammar Qaddafi and has been divided into eastern and western authorities since a 2014 civil war. The UN-recognized government in Tripoli controls the west, while
Libyan National Army leader Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s forces based in Benghazi hold the east and south, including major oilfields.
Islamabad would be joining a small group of countries with a diplomatic presence in Benghazi. Haftar discussed the move with officials during an ongoing visit to Pakistan, the sources said.
Haftar met Pakistan’s army chief on Monday to discuss “professional cooperation,” the Pakistani military said. He was due to sit down with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday, the sources said, declining to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Pakistan’s prime minister’s office and foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
The LNA’s official media page said Haftar and his son Saddam met senior Pakistani army officials “within the framework of strengthening bilateral relations and opening up broader horizons for coordination in areas of common interest.” It did not give further details and Reuters could not immediately reach eastern Libyan authorities for comment.
Pakistan’s air force said in a statement that Saddam Khalifa Haftar met Air Chief Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu to discuss expanding defense cooperation, including joint training, with Islamabad reaffirming its support for the “capability development” of the Libyan air force. Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir visited Benghazi in December, where he signed a multibillion-dollar defense deal with the LNA, previously reported by Reuters.
All three sources said the decision to open a consulate in Benghazi was linked to the $4 billion defense deal, one of Pakistan’s largest-ever arms sales.
Libya has been under a UN arms embargo since 2011, although UN experts have said it is ineffective. Pakistani officials involved in the December deal said it did not violate UN restrictions. Haftar has historically been an ally of the UAE, which supported him with air power and viewed him as a bulwark against extremists, while Pakistan — the only nuclear-armed Muslim-majority nation — signed a wide-ranging mutual defense pact with Saudi Arabia late last year.
