Category: PAKISTAN

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday dropped two contempt petitions against Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan after accepting a written apology for his past statements in which Khan had accused the commission of bias. The PTI chief had finally appeared before the commission today to come clean — nearly two weeks after his non-bailable arrest warrants were issued — in connection with two contempt petitions filed against him. PTI counsel Babar Awan, Secretary General Jahangir Tareen and leaders Shafqat Mehmood and Naeemul Haque accompanied Khan at the ECP, DawnNews reported. The…

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in Pakistan to deliver a tough message on the importance of fighting extremists and driving them from hideouts on Pakistani territory. Tillerson arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday, a day after traveling to Iraq and Afghanistan in conditions of strict secrecy. He met with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Foreign Minister Khwaja Mohammad Asif and the heads of the army and intelligence services. Tillerson told Abbasi that Pakistan is “so important regionally to our joint goals of providing peace and security to the region…

ISLAMABAD: Amid growing concerns over the alleged disappearanceof a number of social media activists linked to the ruling party, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday announced plans to formulate a framework to monitor social media in order to prevent it from being used as a tool to malign national institutions and spread anarchy or extremism in the country. “The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has been directed to formulate a framework for social media monitoring in consultation with all stakeholders,” the interior minister said at a press conference. Responding to a question…

ISLAMABAD: The Fore­ign Office on Saturday reje­cted as speculative the reports that India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in her introductory meeting with the Pakistani ambassador to Delhi had called for Islamabad to review its position in convicted Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case. “During this interaction, no specific case came under discussion. Therefore, the reports appearing in the Indian media are speculative,” the FO said in response to reports about the meeting held earlier this week. Pakistan’s High Commis­sioner to India Sohail Mahmood assumed the charge of his assignment last month. Therefore,…

PPP Senator Sherry Rehman on Friday filed an adjournment motion in the Senate Secretariat seeking a discussion on irregularities worth Rs400 billion in projects initiated under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The motion states that the Auditor General of Pakistan has found “massive irregularities” in the Federal Government’s road projects. “What is most shocking is that these projects were initiated under CPEC,” the motion says. It further calls on the government to “initiate a full-fledged investigation to reveal a clearer picture of this serious issue.” The motion seeks that the…

Two coal miners lost their lives after a coal mine collapsed in Balochistan’s Harnai district on Thursday night. Seven others are still missing. The bodies of two coal miners were retrieved from the debris, while Levis sources told DawnNews that a search operation was still underway for the seven missing miners. Rescue workers and district administration officials are taking part in the operation. Poor working conditions inside coal mines in Balochistan claim the lives of miners on almost daily basis in Harnai, Sowrange, Dukki, Mach and other parts of the province, but often…

The chief of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), an offshoot of the Pakistani Taliban, has been killed in a US drone strike, a spokesman for the group confirmed to AFP on Thursday. “Chief of our Jamaat-ul-Ahrar Umar Khalid Khorasani, who sustained serious injuries in a recent US drone strike in Afghanistan’s Paktia province, succumbed to his injuries Wednesday evening,” JuA spokesman Asad Mansoor told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location. “At least nine close associates of Khorasani were also killed in the strike,” he added. Mansoor said a high-level meeting of JuA’s consultative council will be convened soon…

An accountability court on Friday indicted ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a reference related to Flagship Investments and other offshore companies. The court charged Sharif in absentia for holding assets beyond his known sources of income, and read out a charge-sheet to his pleader, Zafir Khan. Khan pleaded not guilty on behalf of Sharif, who is currently in London tending to his ailing wife. According to the charge-sheet, Sharif told the joint investigation team that he was a shareholder in 15 companies, including Flagship Invest­ments, Hartstone Properties, Que Holdings,…

ISLAMABAD: Two days after Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi distanced himself from the anti-Ahmadi tirade by retired Captain Mohammad Safdar on the floor of the National Assembly, PML-N president Nawaz Sharif has also distanced his party from it. “I declare it in categorical and unequivocal terms that all minorities living in Pakistan enjoy complete fundamental rights, including protection to their lives and property, under the Constitution and Islamic teachings,” Mr Sharif said in a statement issued from London and released to the local media by PML-N spokesman Senator Asif Kirmani here on Sunday. “Any…