Category: ENGLISH

The Election Commission of Pakistan on Sunday allowed Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) deputy-convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui to hand out party tickets for the upcoming Senate elections. Speaking to DawnNews, former ECP secretary Kanwar Dilshad said that MQM-P leader Dr Farooq Sattar will no longer be able to submit nominations for the Senate elections. Instead, the nominations would require the signature of Siddiqui. Soon after the ECP announced its decision, Sattar and other party leaders arrived at the election body’s office in Karachi. “I am the party convener, only I have the…

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ISLAMABAD: The second round of Pakistan-Afghanistan talks on an engagement plan on peace and security issues ended on Saturday without making any headway on its key elements because the Afghan delegation felt that their priorities were not being addressed. The two sides could not only agree on a joint statement to sum up the two-day proceedings, but gave divergent accounts about the outcome. The Pakistani version came through Foreign Office spokesman Dr Muhammad Faisal’s 12-word tweet that essentially said more needed to be done to bridge the difference of opinion…

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Former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Saturday he has made it clear that he would not serve in the ruling PML-N under the leadership of “juniors” — a reference to Maryam Nawaz who is widely tipped to assume the mantle of the party in the future. When questioned at a press conference in Taxila about his previous remark that Maryam lacked the experience to lead PML-N, Nisar in turn asked whether he had said anything wrong at the time. “You tell me, can I work under children?”…

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Life in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mardan district came to a halt on Friday as thousands of workers and supporters of religious parties took to roads to pressure the government into releasing the 31 men convicted in the brutal murder of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan student Mashal Khan, who was lynched in April 2017 after being falsely accused of blasphemy. Thousands of members of the Tahaffuz Khatm-i-Nabuwat Organisation, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) joined by locals participated in the protest that began at Pakistan Chowk after Friday prayers. A view of the…

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In the face of criticism from the Supreme Court and political spheres, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday commended the “professional” performance of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police referencing the headway made in the cases of Mashal Khan’s lynching and the murder of a minor girl in Mardan. Almost a week earlier, the chief justice had criticised KP police, saying: “We had heard that the KP police have become very efficient in the province, but [it seems] your incapability has made you dependent on others […] that is why so…

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An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Haripur is set to announce its verdict in the Mashal Khan lynching case on Wednesday amid tight security. ATC Jugde Fazal Khan Subhan is expected to announce a short verdict in the heavily guarded Haripur jail. Extra security arrangements have been made due to the sensitivity of the case, with roads leading to jail being closed. The jail administration has also banned the entry of visitors. “It is expected that a large number of relatives, friends, family members and supporters will gather outside the Haripur…

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Deliberating on the Elections Act 2017, which paved the way for disqualified prime minister Nawaz Sharif to regain presidency of the PML-N, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked a petitioner how having a party chief who is not eligible to contest elections would be in contradiction with the Constitution. Barrister Farogh Naseem, who is representing opposition MNA Sheikh Rashid, told the court that the law was passed only 17 days after Sharif’s disqualification by the Supreme Court in Panamagate case. Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar — heading the three-member bench hearing the case…

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As the protest sit-in demanding justice for slain tribesman Naqeebullah Mehsud entered its fifth day in Islamabad, leaders of the Mehsud community in Karachi threatened to announce a strike here if the government and law-enforcement agencies do not arrest former SSP Rao Anwar, who killed Naqeeb in a fake encounter, within a week. After the news of Naqeeb’s January 13 extrajudicial killing emerged, Karachi’s Mehsud elders set up a sit-in camp on January 18 at Sohrab Goth, under the banner of the Pashtun Qaumi Jirga, which continued for nearly two…

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LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed joined the PML-Nawaz on Sunday, according to sources. Mushahid held a meeting with former prime minister and PML-N President Nawaz Sharif at his Jati Umra residence today after which the decision was finalised. Talking to Geo News, Mushahid said he has accepted Nawaz’s invitation to join the party, adding that there has been no discussion on the Senate ticket. Reports had been circulating about Mushahid’s return to the PML-N, the party he left in favour of General Pervez Musharraf when the latter…

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LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday behaved ‘weirdly’ as he said “I am very dangerous” while responding to a question put by a media person. Mr Khan had arrived here to attend the Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital board of governors’ meeting. He made a [brief] stopover at Jahangir Tareen’s office in Lahore Cantonment. As he came out of the office, a journalist asked him whether he would appear before the NAB. The answer from the PTI chief was quite unexpected as he said he was very dangerous. Mr…

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BATKHELA/CHARSADDA/NOWSHERA: The Federal Investigation Agency has arrested a man suspected of being involved in child pornography in Batkhela area of Malakand. Also in the day, the Charsadda police claimed to have taken into custody two men on the charge of stripping and filming a girl. A senior official of the Malakand district administration told Dawn that a five-member FIA team visited the District Headquarters Hospital, Batkhela, as part of investigation into a child pornography and blackmail complaint. The official said the administration provided support to the FIA, which arrested three…

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KARACHI: The family of Naqeeb Ullah Mehsud, who was killed in a “fake encounter” last month allegedly by former SSP of Malir Rao Anwar, on Thursday ruled out any compromise with the suspended accused officer in the name of Diyat, or blood money, minutes after the reports of a possible deal between the two sides hit the news channels’ headlines. The news channels claimed through their unnamed sources that the family of Naqeeb had agreed to receive blood money to “pardon” former SSP Rao, the key accused in the murder…

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Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on Thursday questioned the Sindh Inspector General of Police A.D. Khowaja on the whereabouts of former SSP Malik Rao Anwar, who has been accused of being involved in the extra-judicial killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud. A three-member bench of the Supreme Court, presided by the chief justice, was conducting a suo motu hearing on the case. After being presented with an investigation report by Khowaja, the chief justice remarked: “The state has been blamed for his murder. Those who were responsible for providing security are being…

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