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Afghanistan

Throwing money at the Talibs: $280 million from Pakistan, €50 million from Germany via the UN

2021-10-23

Qureshi Announces Pakistani Aid to Afghanistan [ToloNews] Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi after his Thursday visit to Kabul said his country supports the Islamic Emirate in bringing positive changes in financial and economic areas. Qureshi has also announced that his country will provide five billion Pakistani rupees in aid to Afghanistan to support its fragile economy. “Pakistan will provide nearly $280 million in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan,” he added. UNDP Launches Program to Help Prevent Collapse of Afghan Economy [ToloNews] The United Nations Development Program's (UNDP) new assessment shows that 97% of Afghan households could be below the poverty line before mid—2022 if Afghanistan’s economic crisis is not addressed. At the same time, the UNDP has launched a trust fund program to protect Afghanistan’s economy from collapsing and to help Afghans who lost their livelihoods after the recent political turmoil in Afghanistan. Germany has decided to support a special trust fund for Afghanistan, and it is putting in 50 million euros. The money will be channeled through three different routes: cash for public works programs; small grants to keep small businesses running and get start-ups off the ground; and temporary basic income for the elderly and vulnerable.

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India-Pakistan

US rejects Pakistan call to intervene in Kashmir issue

2010-10-23

Washington: Rejecting Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's call to President Barack Obama to raise the Kashmir issue during his India visit, the United States has reiterated it's a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan. 'Kashmir is an issue that we believe needs to be resolved between Pakistan and India,' State Department spokesman P. J. Crowley told reporters Friday hours after Qureshi asked Obama to 'redeem the pledge' he made as a candidate. Smart Diplomacy™ But he did not consider it inappropriate on the part of Qureshi to raise it during the just concluded US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue 'focused on expanding our bilateral relationship.' 'When we get together the United States or Pakistan can bring forward any issue that it wishes,' Crowley said. 'The Pakistanis have raised the issue of Kashmir with us before. This is not new.' 'Our understanding of the Pakistani view of this issue is well known,' he said. 'But at the same time, the United States policy is clear: We believe that this is ultimately an issue that has to be resolved between India and Pakistan.' Asked if the US was concerned about alleged human rights violations in Kashmir which have raised tensions between Pakistan and India, Crowley said 'We obviously have great concern about the situation in Kashmir.' The US, he said, talks 'both to our Pakistani friends and our Indian friends on this issue on a regular basis' and 'would like to see the situation in Kashmir resolved.' 'There is obviously too much tension and violence in Kashmir, which is why we continue to encourage both countries to resolve it through dialogue,' Crowley said.

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Afghanistan

Osama and Mullah Omar in Pak-Afghan Belt

2010-06-21

[Quqnoos] A top US official said on Saturday that Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar were hiding somewhere along the Pak-Afghan border Master of the obvious. They're not strutting around South Beach ... US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke was talking to media representatives after talks with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. Holbrooke added: "People all over the world should be more aware of the sacrifices Pakistani people and the army have made in pushing back militants in Swat, South Waziristan and other northwestern regions. He said that the US did not only increase aid to Pakistan's military but also extended its support to other sectors as well. Holbrooke claimed that the Obama administration was well aware of Pakistans energy demands and the issue was a top priority for the US. "In July, I'm expecting Secretary Clinton to visit Islamabad for a second session of the strategic dialogue," Qureshi told the joint news conference. They kill off some of their jihadi cannon fodder while our UAVs hunt down the senior bad guys flushed out of the underbrush. And the supply road to Afghanistan mostly stays open. No doubt there are less expensive ways to accomplish this, but in my ignorance I can't think of any.

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The Grand Turk

Turkey heaps pressure on Israel over Gaza

2010-06-08

[Al Arabiya Latest] Muslim leaders rallied round Turkey at a regional summit on Monday, backing their host's call for Israel to end its blockade of Gaza immediately and face international punishment for its deadly raid on an aid ship. Israel's storming of the Turkish ship and killing of nine Turks a week ago has loomed over the Eurasian and Middle East security talks in Istanbul, which began on Monday and will move to a full summit on Tuesday. "The time has come to lift the embargo on Gaza," Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told a joint news conference with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. "We don't want an open air prison in the world any more." Once close allies, Israel and Turkey's relations have been on a downward spiral since Erdogan began championing the Palestinian cause after an Israeli offensive in Gaza in 2008. The Turkish leader has said Israel would have to pay for killing Turks in the botched commando raid. "Israel has to pay the bill for the blood that has been shed by the martyrs," said Erdogan, who has become a folk hero in the Middle East for his attacks on Israel. The Syrian leader pledged to support Turkey in action and words in its campaign for an end to the blockade. "I would like to say Turkish blood is not different from Arab blood," Assad said. "Our blood is one, and this combination will eliminate the blockade of Gaza." Turkey received messages from support from other Muslim countries, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Pakistan, Qatar and, of course, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. "Pakistan condemned in the strongest possible terms the unjustified aggression shown towards the freedom flotilla," Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said. "We stand by you." It is doubtful whether the final declaration by the Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) forum will contain a condemnation of Israel, as the wording has to be reached by consensus, and Israel is a member. Though it decided against exposing any senior official to Turkey's fury at an international forum, Israel was represented by its consulate-general. CICA includes a diverse group of 20 countries, but many other countries' leaders, like Assad, have come as guests. While not expecting much from CICA, Turkey is using the chance to gather diplomatic support against Israel. On Wednesday, Arab League foreign ministers are due to meet in Istanbul for talks with their Turkish counterpart.

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India-Pakistan

Pakistan says 460 militants, 22 troops have been killed in Bajaur fighting

2008-08-16

Pakistan's interior ministry chief Rehman Malik said Friday that over 460 militants and 22 soldiers have been killed in more than a week of fighting in Bajaur tribal area bordering Afghanistan. More than 3,000 armed militants, most of them foreigners, are involved in the clashes in the troubled Bajaur tribal region, prime minister's advisor on interior told a Press conference. "Extremists wanted to establish their hold in Bajaur and the government had to take action," he said in Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province. "Until today 462 militants have been killed in Bajaur and a similar number have been injured. Twenty-two troops have been killed and some are missing in action," Malik said. The "major portion" of the militants were foreigners, Malik said, adding that they included "Afghans, Chechens, Yemenis and Afro-Asians." Provincial governor Owais Ghani said that around 219,000 people have been displaced from Bajaur, adding that the provincial government had set up nine camps to provide them shelter, food and medicines. Separately, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in Islamabad the operation in Bajaur tribal area will continue till the militants have been flushed out.

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India-Pakistan

Pak for 'out of the box' settlement on Kashmir

2008-07-13

Seeking an "out of the box" settlement to the Kashmir issue with India, Pakistan has said that the two countries need to go beyond the confidence-building measures and engage in serious dialogue to address the "real issues." "We have to look out of the box...We have to look at innovative ways of resolution (to the Kashmir issue). We have our minds open to such issues," Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Friday, while delivering a lecture at the Brookings Institution. "It is now our hope that the leadership of the two countries would not shy away from taking such steps and move beyond the CBMs to engaging in a serious dialogue to address the real issues, not only the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir," Qureshi said. He said that Islamabad has shown "flexibility," adding that there was "a general feeling and a public perception in Pakistan that a matching response should come from India." Qureshi said that India-Pakistan dialogue should "now move from resolving conflicts rather than lingering with them". All in Pakistan's favor, of course ... Replying to question on whether the Kashmir issue could be sorted out by the two countries in the next three to five years, Qureshi said that it is a long-standing problem, where there are no quick fixes or solutions. "We have to be honest. We have to be realistic. But the issue needs to be addressed. We cannot keep it under the carpet indefinitely," he said. "That is why we are building an environment of confidence for any resolution. But the most important thing is trust, belief. And that is what we are trying to do," he said.

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India-Pakistan

Taliban militants threaten to kill Pakistani hostages

2008-07-12

Militants will start killing a group of hostages if the government does not release several insurgent prisoners within a day, a Pakistani Taliban spokesman threatened Friday. A suspected militant leader is among those the Taliban want freed. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said his country does not negotiate with terrorists and will not capitulate to threats. "We will take action when it's required," he said after a speech at a think tank in Washington. The action they'll take will look remarkably like capitualion, but don't go calling it that. Call it a spade or something. Maulvi Umar, the Taliban spokesman, claimed the Taliban had kidnapped 29 people, most of them security forces. However, Hangu district official Haji Khan Afzal said only 16 or 17 people were being held. Oh, well. That's different then. Both sides have been negotiating over the captives, who Afzal said were taken in the wake of a militant siege of a local police station earlier this week in the country's volatile northwest. Officials said more than 100 militants surrounded the Doaba station to demand their associates be freed, and the siege ended after army troops showed up. But the militants have not dropped their demands. Umar insisted the government release seven militant prisoners, including a suspected top insurgent known as Rafiuddin, by 2 p.m. Saturday or the hostages would be slain. "It's our final warning," Umar said. On Thursday, Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik announced the arrest of Rafiuddin, an alleged deputy to top Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan.

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