Zardari wants “clear terms of engagement”; Afghanistan, Pakistan, U.S. continue trilateral talks; U.S. urges reversal of new diplomatic travel restrictions; Bin Laden raid was a kill mission; China blames Islamists for Xinjiang violence; Karachi: thirty-five killed in last day; Roadside bomb kills two soldiers; JI deputy accuses government of pursuing “U.S. agenda”; Kayani denies army complicity in Balochistan human rights abuses; Police arrest fifty suspects; Punjab bars donations to banned groups during Ramadan.

 

 

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

  • On Monday, President Asif Ali Zardari told U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Marc Grossman that the U.S. and Pakistan needed to agree to “clear terms of engagement” if they were to continue the fight against terror without further straining relations. In the wake of the May 2 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, Pakistani officials have expressed concerns that further unilateral actions on the part of the U.S. could jeopardize cooperation between the two nations.[i]

  • On Tuesday, Islamabad will host the fourth round of U.S.-Afghanistan-Pakistan trilateral talks. The lead representatives present from each country will be the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Marc Grossman, Deputy Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Jawid Luddin and Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir.[ii]

  • On Monday, U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. had “raised . . . concerns” to the Pakistani government about the newly implemented travel restrictions on diplomats living in Pakistan. Toner said that although diplomats were able to travel when they had the correct documentation, “envoys should be able to travel freely in line with the Vienna Convention.” Toner said it was possible the U.S. would retaliate with a similar measure aimed at Pakistani diplomats in the U.S.[iii]

Bin Laden Raid

  • A new article in the New Yorker claims the U.S. Navy Seals who executed the raid that killed bin Laden did, in fact, have explicit orders to kill rather than capture. U.S. officials have insisted that bin Laden would have been captured alive if he had not resisted. The New Yorker article claims bin Laden would only have been captured if he had “conspicuously surrendered.” The anonymous source cited in the article insists that all those involved in the raid were clear that the plan was to kill bin Laden regardless of provisions for his capture.[iv]

China Blames Islamists for Attacks

Karachi

FATA

Balochistan

Organizations Banned from Collecting Ramadan Donations



[i] “Pakistan urges clear US ‘terms of engagement,’” AFP, August 2, 2011. Available at
[ii] “Pakistan, US, Afghanistan hold trilateral talks,” ET, August 2, 2011. Available at
[iii] “US complains of Pakistan curbs on diplomat travel,” AFP, August 1, 2011. Available at
[iv] “Osama Bin Laden: mission was to shoot to kill from the start,” Telegraph, August 1, 2011. Available at
[v] “China Points to Pakistan in Xinjiang Attack,” WSJ, August 1, 2011. Available at
[vi] “At least 35 killed in Karachi ‘bloodshed,’” AFP, August 2, 2011. Available at
“MQM stages walkout in NA over Karachi, Quetta situation,” Geo, August 2, 2011. Available at
“IG Sindh transfers nine top cops as death toll reaches 28,” ET, August 2, 2011. Available at
[vii] “Bomb kills 2 Pakistani soldiers near Afghan border,” AP, August 2, 2011. Available at
[viii] “JI opposes new regulation on tribal areas,” ET, August 2, 2011. Available at
[ix] “Insurgency: ‘Govt, not army, should talk to angry Baloch nationalists,’” ET, August 2, 2011. Available at
[x] “50 suspects arrested in Quetta operation,” ET, August 2, 2011. Available at
[xi] “23 banned outfits barred from collecting donations during Ramazan,” ET, August 2, 2011. Available at
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