PAKISTAN – Page 22 – OVERSEAS TRIBUNE

ISPR should refrain from commenting on state of the economy: interior minister

October 13, 2017October 13, 2017 News Desk

Ahsan Iqbal Interior Minister of Pakistan

Through a statement circulated by his public relations officer, Interior Minister Asan Iqbal on Friday said that the Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, should refrain from commenting on the country’s economic situation, DawnNews reported. The response seems to have been directed at an interview the military’s spokesman gave to a private TV channel the day earlier, in which he had said that: “If the economy is not bad, it is not doing so well either.” The remarks followed an address by army chief Gen Qamar Javed…

Jahangir Tareen did not disclose entire income to ECP, observes SC

October 12, 2017October 12, 2017 News Desk

The Supreme Court on Thursday told the counsel representing Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Jahangir Tareen that he had failed to convince the court that his client was exempted from paying tax on 18,566 acres of leased land. A three-member apex bench ─ 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…

Canadian-American family, kidnapped in 2012 in Afghanistan, recovered by Pakistan Army

October 12, 2017October 12, 2017 News Desk

Canadian Family Recovered by Pakistan Army

The Pakistan Army said on Thursday that it had recovered “safe and sound” a family of foreign hostages from the custody of a terrorist outfit after it received and acted on intelligence shared by the United States (US). An Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement today said the hostages included a Canadian man, his American wife and their three children. The hostages were recovered “through an intelligence-based operation by Pakistani troops and intelligence agencies.” “They were captured by terrorists from Afghanistan in 2012 and kept as hostages there,” the ISPR handout…

‘Fake’ list of MNAs with links to militants not an inside job: IB chief

October 11, 2017October 11, 2017 News Desk

LAHORE: The Intelligence Bureau’s (IB) probe to identify the culprit responsible for circulating a ‘fake’ list of 37 parliamentarians, mostly members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, who were alleged to have links with proscribed outfits, has established that it was not an inside job. “We have completed a departmental inquiry regarding the preparation and dissemination of the fake list of MNAs and found that none of our members are involved in it,” IB chief Aftab Sultan told Dawn on Tuesday. He said since the IB was party to the case, the…

Just how much does Nawaz Sharif own, according to himself?

October 9, 2017 News Desk

Some of Pakistan’s most prominent politicians have found themselves in the limelight for all the wrong reasons this past year, with corruption accusations against prominent names flying thick and heavy from power brokers and aspirants alike. As demands for the questioning and indictment of political personalities gain momentum, one among those accused has already paid a heavy price: former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has already been disqualified from holding public office in a landmark judgement handed down by the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case for not declaring his assets as…

‘Not afraid of arrests’: Maryam, Capt Safdar granted bail in NAB reference

October 9, 2017 News Desk

Maryam Nawaz, daughter of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, and her husband retired Captain Muhammad Safdar appeared before an accountability court in Islamabad on Monday in connection with a reference prepared against them by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Maryam arrived at the court amid tight security Monday morning, accompanied by senior PML-N leaders and ministers. Her husband, who was taken into custody by NAB upon his arrival to Pakistan, was brought to the court later. The son-in-law of Nawaz Sharif and his wife had arrived from London on Monday…

15 killed in accident on Quetta-Sibi highway

October 8, 2017 News Desk

QUETTA: Fifteen people, including three security personnel, were killed and 29 others injured in an accident on the Quetta-Sibi highway near the Dasht area of Mastung district, some 25km from here, on Saturday. Sources said that a passenger van coming from Sibi to Quetta collided with a bus coming from the opposite direction. All those who died in the accident were travelling in the van. After receiving information about the accident, police, Levies and Frontier Corps personnel rushed to the area and shifted the injured to the Quetta Civil Hospital.…

‘This isn’t about accountability, it is about revenge,’ Maryam Nawaz on NAB references

October 8, 2017October 8, 2017 News Desk

Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz on Sunday said that the graft cases against her family have nothing to do with accountability. Speaking to reporters in London before her departure to Pakistan, she said, “It has been exposed now and the whole world knows that this is not accountability; rather, it has turned into revenge now.” “I do not need to say anything here, the way things have been going on in the past year and a half has revealed the truth to the nation,” said Maryam who is expected…

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…