Pak charities lose plea to halt ouster
ISPR spokesman General Ghafoor urges Washington to leave Kabul as a friend of the region rather than a ‘failure;’ Imran says America recognised his stance on Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is kicking out 18 international charities after rejecting their final appeal to stay in the country, a move that an aid group spokesman said Thursday would affect millions of desperately poor Pakistanis and lead to tens of millions of aid dollars lost.
The majority of the shuttered aid groups are Us-based, while the rest are from Britain and the European Union, according to a government list seen by media.
Another 20 groups are at risk of also being expelled after authorities a few months ago singled out some 38 international aid groups for closure, without any explanation.
On Thursday, Pakistan’s Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari said on Twitter the 18 groups that were asked to leave had spread disinformation. “They must leave. They need to work within their stated intent which these 18 didn’t do,” she said.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army on Thursday threw its support behind the latest US efforts for a political settlement with the Afghan Taliban to end a 17-year-old war, urging Washington to leave Kabul as a friend of the region rather than a “failure.”
The comments by Pakistan’s army spokesman, Major-general Asif Ghafoor, came just after the US special representative for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, concluded a visit to the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.
“As much as we can, we will facilitate,” Ghafoor told a news conference in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, replying to a query about what Pakistan could do to help the United States negotiate a political settlement with the Taliban.
“What the US is expecting from us, and the foreign ofice is cooperating with, is that somehow they could have these negotiations with them (Taliban).”
Ghafoor added, “We wish that (the) US leaves Afghanistan as friend of the region, not as a failure.” He did not elaborate.
Khalilzad, an Afghan-born veteran US diplomat who served as George W. Bush’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq and the United Nations, was named by the Trump administration three months ago as a special envoy to negotiate peace.
His visit to Pakistan followed a request from US President Donald Trump to Prime Minister Imran Khan seeking assistance in moving forward peace talks.
The overture to Imran came after an exchange of barbed tweets between the leaders last month.
Washington has long been pushing Islamabad to lean on Taliban leaders, who it says are based in Pakistan, to bring them to the negotiating table.
It often accuses the south Asian nation of covertly sheltering Taliban leaders, an accusation Islamabad vehemently denies.
Imran met Khalilzad earlier in the week and also pledged to support a peace process with the Taliban.
Imran has said that the United States recognised his stance as how to bring back normalcy in Afghanistan.
Expressing his views during the cabinet meeting in Islamabad on Thursday, Imran said Pakistan has always played an active role to promote peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan and it felt “good” that the world powers particularly the United States, has recognised Pakistan’s contribution to this effect.
The premier said Khalilzad during his recent visit to Islamabad had very productive meetings with him and the foreign minister on the subject.
“Afghanistan issue cannot be resolved through use of the force, the resolution lies in the table talks with the stakeholders,” prime minister maintained.
Imran said Pakistan is in-touch with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Iranian leadership to bring peace in Yemen by bringing all the parties concerned to the negotiating table.
He said during his recent visit to Saudi Arabia, he had discussed the Yemen issue with the Saudi leadership and received a very positive response from them. He said Iranian Foreign Minister Jawwad Zarif also paid a visit to Islamabad and discussed the modalities for Yemen peace process.
Focusing on the Kartarpur corridor, the PM said Pakistan had taken a land mark initiative by inaugurating the Kartarpur crossing to facilitate the Sikh pilgrims to visit their sacred religious places in Pakistan.
Imran said no one should indulge in politics on such purely religious and public interest issues for seeking any political mileage. He regretted that Indian government is trying to politicize the Kartarpur initiative whereas the Sikh community all around the world has warmly welcomed Pakistan’s move.