Thursday, February 8, 2018

Pashtun Tribes Stage Unprecedented Protest in Pakistan

#Pakistan - Terrorists killed more Pakistanis than Americans, underscores Bilawal Bhutto


Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the terrorists had killed more Pakistanis than they had killed Americans in the war on terror, ARY News reported.
“The allies forces of the US have failed to defeat Taliban in Afghanistan, while Pakistan has been fighting extremism all alone,” he said in an interview with Fox News, an American news channel.
He said Pakistan has seen 75 percent drop in terrorist activities, while in Afghanistan 45 percent of the country is not in control of the Afghan government.
The PPP chairman said US President Donald Trump’s tweet on New Year reflected emotions of “some of the American people.”
“This tweet sent the wrong message. It was deeply hurtful to the people of Pakistan, particularly those, like myself, who have lost their loved ones in this fight against extremism,” he said.
He said Trump conflated the aid while pointing towards the Coalition Support Fund which was given in exchange for services by Pakistan in fight against terrorism.
“When president Trump talks about aid and those $33 billion he is conflating the aid which is America’s taxpayer’s money and it’s their right how they spend it. But the Coalition Support Fund is actually in exchange for the services rendered by Pakistan in fight against extremism,” he said.
A surprise New Year’s day tweet by US President Donald Trump, in which he appeared to decree an end to US aid for Pakistan, had temporarily deteriorated relations between the allies.
Bilawal Bhutto said all of the NATO forces, all of the America’s might and the Afghan government all put together failed to defeat terrorism in Afghanistan.
He said Pakistan, Afghanistan and America had to work together, if they wanted peace in Afghanistan.
The US government supported the Taliban and the Mujahideen in Afghanistan war. They forced the Pakistani state and the government to support those forces, he reminded.
https://arynews.tv/en/us-failed-defeat-taliban-afghanistan-says-bilawal-bhutto/
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Trump's tweet ‘deeply hurtful to the people of Pakistan’, says Bilawal Bhutto

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has criticised a tweet sent out by US President Donald Trump was ‘deeply hurtful to the people of Pakistan.’
Trump, in January, had criticized the US for providing $33 billion in aid to Pakistan over the course of the past 15 years.
“They have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools,” Trump wrote in the tweet. “They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!”
“President Trump’s tweet, while I understand it reflects some of the emotions of the American people, it was deeply hurtful to the people of Pakistan, particularly those like myself who have lost loved ones in this fight against extremism,” Bilawal told FOX News.
“I feel, unfortunately, I don’t think the president intended to do so, but this tweet sends the wrong message.”
Relations between Pakistan and the US had strained after the former alleged that Pakistan had been supporting the Haqqani militant network, an Afghan insurgent group.
Bilawal also criticised the US for its past alleged support of the Taliban during the war between the Soviet Union and Afghanistan in the 1980s.
“The US government supported the Taliban and the Mujahideen in the Iran war,” Bilawal said. “They forced the Pakistani state and the government to support these forces. My mother warned the American president, George H. W. Bush, but I don’t want to fight about the past. I want to look forward.”

Bilawal proposes mechanism to resolve Pak-Afghan issues

Bilawal proposed a mutually acceptable verification mechanism to end the blame game between Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to a statement issued by the party.
Addressing scholars and researchers at the Woodrow Wilson think tank in Washington, Bilawal had said such a “credible” and “doable” mechanism was a way forward to address concerns about militants crossing borders with impunity that has disrupted peace in the region and tensed relations between the two neighbours.
“Extremists and militants of any persuasion who seek to advance their security and foreign policy agendas are a threat to peace and security and must not be allowed a foothold anywhere,” he had said.
The PPP chief had stressed that the Haqqani network must be dismantled and disarmed, but this could only be done by concerted and coordinated action by both Pakistan and Afghanistan based on a credible and verifiable mechanism, and not by resorting to blame game.
Among a number of topics, Bilawal spoke about the state democracy and human rights, mysterious disappearances, forthcoming general elections in the country, reforms in tribal areas, need for economic revival, and fighting militancy in a holistic manner.
The use of religion as a weapon of war in Afghanistan and turning a blind eye to the emergence of non-state actors in the name of religion was a grave strategic mistake, he had said.
Containing the consequences of disastrous policies of the past called for political will and sincerity of purpose which can come only by making a clean admission of the blunders made, Bilawal had said.
About US President Donald Trump’s tweets, he said these generated heat instead of throwing light on serious foreign policy issues. Important foreign policy issues could not be addressed through tweets, he had remarked.
The interactive session at the Woodrow Wilson institute was attended by former ambassadors, ex-State Department officers, researchers and scholars of peace and security issues in the South Asian region.
Party spokesperson Senator Farhatullah Babar and former senator Akbar Khwaja were also present. 
https://www.geo.tv/latest/180890-bilawal-bhutto-proposes-mechanism-to-resolve-pak-afghan-issues

#Pakistan - Bilawal Bhutto proposes mechanism to resolve Pak-Afghan issues

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal BhuttoZardari has proposed a mutually acceptable verification mechanism to end the blame game between Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to a statement issued by the party.
Addressing scholars and researchers at the Woodrow Wilson think tank in Washington, Bilawal said such a “credible” and “doable” mechanism was a way forward to address concerns about militants crossing borders with impunity that has disrupted peace in the region and tensed relations between the two neighbours.
“Extremists and militants of any persuasion who seek to advance their security and foreign policy agendas are a threat to peace and security and must not be allowed a foothold anywhere,” he said.
The PPP chief stressed that the Haqqani network must be dismantled and disarmed, but this could only be done by concerted and coordinated action by both Pakistan and Afghanistan based on a credible and verifiable mechanism, and not by resorting to blame game, he pointed out.
Among a number of topics Bilawal spoke about were the state democracy and human rights, mysterious disappearances, forthcoming general elections in the country, reforms in tribal areas, need for economic revival, and fighting militancy in a holistic manner.
The use of religion as a weapon of war in Afghanistan and turning a blind eye to the emergence of non-state actors in the name of religion was a grave strategic mistake, he said.
Containing the consequences of disastrous policies of the past called for political will and sincerity of purpose which can come only by making a clean admission of the blunders made, Bilawal said.
About US President Donald Trump’s tweets, he said these generated heat instead of throwing light on serious foreign policy issues. Important foreign policy issues could not be addressed through tweets, he remarked.
The interactive session at the Woodrow Wilson institute was attended by former ambassadors, ex-State Department officers, researchers and scholars of peace and security issues in the South Asian region.
Party spokesperson Senator Farhatullah Babar and former senator Akbar Khwaja were also present.
http://www.thesindhtimes.com/pak/bilawal-bhutto-proposes-mechanism-resolve-pak-afghan-issues/

US names three Pakistanis as 'terrorist facilitators'

The United States has named three Pakistanis as key "terrorist facilitators", saying they worked closely with a well-known backer of Al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Taliban known as Shaykh Aminullah.
The US Treasury placed Rahman Zeb Faqir Muhammad, Hizb Ullah Astam Khan, and Dilawar Khan Nadir Khan on its blacklist of "Specially Designated Global Terrorists," in an effort to disrupt the group´s ability to obtain and distribute financing.
All three were tied to Shaykh Aminullah, who has been on international terror blacklists since 2009.
US officials allege that Shaykh Aminullah turned the Ganj seminary, a boys school in Peshawar, into a training and recruiting base by Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The three men were involved in providing financial and logistical support, explosives, and technological aid to the three Pakistan and Afghanistan-based extremist groups, the Treasury said.
Rahman Zeb, it said, has been in charge of raising funds and materials for Lashkar-e-Taiba in the Gulf region, and helped Shaykh Aminullah travel to the Gulf in 2014.
Hizb Ullah was involved in Shaykh Aminullah´s seminary and helped him on various trips to the Gulf.
Dilawar, meanwhile, was a close assistant to Shaykh Aminullah, arranging his travel around Pakistan and handling his correspondence and financial transactions.
"Treasury continues to aggressively pursue and expose radicals who support terrorist organizations and run illicit financial networks across South Asia," said Sigal Mandelker, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
Last month, the United States imposed sanctions on six men said to be linked to the Afghan Taliban and the 'Haqqani Network', less than a month after US President Donald Trump ordered cuts in security aid to Pakistan over its alleged failure to crack down on terrorists.
Four of the individuals – Abdul Samad Sani, Abdul Qadeer Basir Abdul Baseer, Hafiz Mohammed Popalzai, and Maulawi Inayatullah – were designated for acting on behalf of the Taliban, while the remaining two – Faqir Muhammad and Gula Khan Hamidi – were sanctioned for acting on behalf of the Haqqani Network, the US Treasury Department stated. 
https://www.geo.tv/latest/180855-us-names-three-pakistanis-as-terrorist-facilitators