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After army chief’s visit, Afghan president considers trip to Pakistan

October 7, 2017 News Desk

Afghan news agency Khaama Press reported Saturday that Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani is considering a visit to Pakistanin the near future after being extended an invitation by Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa during his recent visit to the country. Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Omar Zakhilwal had told news outlets that Ghani had been invited to Pakistan during a meeting with Gen Bajwa in Kabul last week. Amb Zakhilwal further added that President Ghani has accepted the invitation by the Pakistani military chief, Khaama said. However, the agency said it was not yet clear when the visit…

Lawmakers affected by IB ‘terrorism list’ demand clarification by government

October 6, 2017 News Desk

prime minister of Pakistan Shahid Khaqan Abbasi

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Friday met the director general of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the law minister along with several members of parliament allegedly investigated by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) for links to terror outfits, sources said. DG IB Aftab Sultan briefed the members of parliament on the issue, clarifying once again that the bureau is not responsible for the list, which purportedly names lawmakers with links to terrorists and was alleged to have been sent to IB by Prime Minister House when Nawaz Sharif was in office.…

Imran demands KP, Fata merger process kick off by 2018

October 6, 2017October 6, 2017 News Desk

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Friday demanded that the federal government expedite the merger of the Federal Administrated Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa without further delay. While addressing a press conference in Peshawar, he alleged that the federal government is deliberately spoiling the chance to merge Fata with KP. “The decision to merge Fata with KP is being reversed because of [Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chairman] Mahmood Achakzai and [Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief] Fazlur Rehman,” he claimed, adding that Achakzai is opposed to the merger even though he…

SC notes discrepancies in Jahangir Tareen’s income on tax returns, nomination papers

October 5, 2017 News Desk

The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned Advocate Sikander Mohammad, the counsel representing Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Jahangir Tareen, regarding discrepancies in his client’s income records. A three-member bench of the apex court ─ headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Umar Atta Bandial and Justice Faisal Arab ─ was hearing a petition filed by PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi which seeks the disqualification of Tareen and PTI Chief Imran Khan over the alleged non-disclosure of assets, existence of offshore companies, as well as receiving foreign funding for PTI. During the…

Pakistanis feel the pinch of Trump’s travel ban

September 30, 2017September 30, 2017 News Desk

Pakistan is among a handful of Muslim countries that are feeling the pinch of United States (US) President Donald Trump’s visa ban about six months in, with 26 per cent fewer non-immigrant visas issued to Pakistanis in 2017 as compared to previous year’s average, according to a Politico analysis. Trump passed an executive order at the beginning of the year which initially barred travellers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and Sudan. In successive iterations of the ban, Iraq and Sudan were dropped from the list and Chad, North Korea and Venezuela were…

FIA seeks capital punishment in Benazir case, says ATC passed verdict ‘in a hurry’

September 29, 2017 News Desk

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Friday challenged the verdict of an anti-terrorism court in the Benazir Bhutto murder case, arguing that the two guilty policemen as well as the five men acquitted of all charges deserve capital punishment. Last month, ATC had announced the verdict in the murder case, acquitting five Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan suspects — Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul, Sher Zaman, Rashid Ahmed and Aitzaz Shah — and announcing 17-year imprisonment for two former police officials. The court had also declared retired Gen Pervez Musharraf an absconder in the case. The…

Three top army officers including ex-DG ISPR Asim Bajwa reshuffled

September 28, 2017 News Desk

Three army officers, including former director general (DG) of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Lt Gen Asim Bajwa, are to be reshuffled, according to a handout released by the army’s media wing on Thursday. Lt Gen Asim Bajwa has been posted as corps commander southern command (Quetta), replacing Lt Gen Aamer Riaz, ISPR said. Lt Gen Riaz has been appointed Corps Commander Lahore, while Lt Gen Sadiq Ali, who currently holds the position, has been posted as inspector general of the Arms Branch at General Headquarters, Rawalpindi, ISPR said. Lt…

CJP takes notice of Sindh govt’s alleged acquisition of Hindu cremation grounds in Karachi

September 28, 2017September 28, 2017 News Desk

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Wednesday took notice of the Sindh government’s alleged acquisition of land used by the Hindu community in Karachi as a cremation ground. The CJP took notice of the issue after Shri Ram Nath Maharaj submitted an application claiming that the provincial government had acquired land being used by the Hindu community for the construction of the Lyari Expressway in 2008. Maharaj said that no alternative land had been allotted to the Hindu community, nor had any compensation been awarded for the…

Cabinet assails ‘fake news’ about Nawaz Sharif’s order to Intelligence Bureau

September 27, 2017 News Desk

ISLAMABAD: Members of the federal cabinet on Tuesday took serious notice of the airing of a “false report” on a private television channel claiming that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had directed the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to keep vigilance over some 37 legislators, mostly belonging to the ruling PML-N, allegedly for having links with banned terrorist and sectarian outfits, sources told Dawn. According to the sources, the issue was raised by Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Riaz Hussain Pirzada at the cabinet meeting that was presided over by Prime Minister Shahid…

PML-N ineligible to get party symbol over failure to elect new president: ECP

September 26, 2017September 26, 2017 News Desk

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday issued a notice to the PML-N following its failure to elect a party president after the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif and notified that the PML-N “is now not eligible” to get the party symbol. According to PML-N’s party constitution, it was supposed to elect a president within 45 days after the ouster of Sharif — the deadline passed on September 11. The notice, issued to PML-N Acting Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal, said that due to its failure to elect the party head,…

Senate committee holds law enforcement agencies responsible for missing persons

September 25, 2017September 25, 2017 News Desk

The Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights’ Chairperson, Nasreen Jalil, on Monday accused law enforcement agencies of abducting people and “asked” them to to investigate the missing persons case. “They [disappeared individuals] are not even presented in court and [only] their tortured corpses are found later,” she alleged. Jalil asked how anyone could obey the law if law enforcement agencies themselves do not abide by it. The committee further observed that cases of several missing persons have not even been registered. Senator Farhatullah Babar of the PPP added that the…

Imran Khan submits reply to ECP in contempt of court case

September 25, 2017September 25, 2017 News Desk

Imran Khan’s lawyer Babar Awan submitted the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) supremo’s reply to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the contempt of court case on Monday. The election body, in its short order, said that it would review the reply on September 27 and then give its judgement. The ECP was hearing a contempt of court petition against Imran Khan filed by party dissident and one of PTI’s founding members, Akbar S. Babar. The petition had argued that the PTI chief, in a reply to the commission in another case regarding…

Imran Khan demands early elections, says ‘Abbasi should seek fresh mandate’

September 24, 2017September 24, 2017 News Desk

Criticising the ruling party on several fronts, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairperson Imran Khan on Sunday demanded that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi seek a fresh mandate by holding early elections. “This is necessary for a democracy,” the PTI leader said during a press conference in Islamabad. “In order to save and strengthen the democracy, you [PM Abbasi] should move towards elections. Seek the people’s mandate.” During the press conference, Khan criticised the ruling party on several fronts, stating that the country’s foreign affairs were being affected. ‘Endangering Pakistan’ Khan said…

‘India mother of terrorism in South Asia,’ Maleeha Lodhi tells UN

September 24, 2017September 24, 2017 News Desk

Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi said that India is the mother of terrorism in South Asia, reported the state-run radio service on Sunday. In her response to the allegations of terrorism levelled against Pakistan by India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in her address at the UN General Assembly session in New York, Lodhi said India is using terrorism as a state policy. Exercising the right of reply to an earlier speech, Lodhi accused Swaraj of “indulging in an orgy of slander against Pakistan.” On Saturday, Sushma Swaraj in her…