Pashtun rights activist released

ISLAMABAD: Manzoor Pashteen, a leading ethnic minority rights activist known for criticising the country’s powerful armed forces was released from jail on Tuesday, weeks after a court granted him bail.

He had rattled the country’s generals with his calls to end abuses against the Pashtun community. His Pashtun Protection Movement, founded in 2018, is notable for its direct verbal attacks on a military establishment which plays a dominant role in national politics. Last month, he was taken into custody on charges of sedition, hate speech, incitement against the state and criminal conspiracy.

After walking free, Pashteen told AFP his arrest was “not going to stop me from raising my voice for Pashtun rights”.

PAKISTAN INVITED FOR TALIBAN DEAL SIGNING

Qatar on Tuesday invited Pakistan to attend the signing of the landmark peace deal between the US and the Afghan Taliban in Doha on Saturday.

Qatar’s ambassador to Pakistan Saqr bin Mubarak extended an invitation to foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, staterun Radio Pakistan reported.

COURT ORDERS RELEASE OF FORMER PM ABBASI

Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was granted bail on Tuesday by Islamabad high court after months in detention on graft charges.

Abbasi was one of several senior political figures arrested in a corruption crackdown overseen by the government of his successor, former World Cup cricketer Imran Khan.