Information minister says no clash between judiciary and parliament; Afghan High Peace Council head postpones visit to Pakistan; IMF calls on President Zardari to endorse “essential reforms” prior to receiving financial assistance; WHO urges Pakistani government to safeguard its polio vaccination teams; Pakistani authorities arrest Afghan nationals attempting to cross illegally into Iran; TTP to discuss whether PTI chair Imran Khan allowed to lead march in Waziristan protesting U.S. drone strikes; Army personnel arrest key TTP commander.
Contempt of Court Notice and Domestic Politics
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Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Wednesday that there was no clash between the judiciary and parliament and that the government respected the role of the judiciary. Kaira’s comments came in response to the Supreme Court’s decision on Wednesday to issue a contempt of court notice to Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf for defying a court order to reopen old corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. Kaira also expressed his hope that Ashraf’s fate would not be that of former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who was disqualified by the court for not complying with a similar order, and rejected the idea of holding early elections. Meanwhile, members of the Supreme Court Bar Association spoke out against the court’s contempt notice, saying it was based on political bias and strategy and undermined the institution itself. The Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) agreed with the court’s decision, with leader Javed Hashmi observing that the PTI would “foil every anti-judiciary conspiracy” led by the government.[1]
International Relations
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Salahuddin Rabbani, head of the Afghan High Peace Council, delayed his scheduled trip to Islamabad on Wednesday. Rabbani’s visit, aimed at starting negotiations with Taliban leaders based in Pakistan, is being postponed for two weeks. Although the delay was reportedly the result of Rabbani’s desire to make further preparations prior to the negotiations, Hameed Mubarez, another council member, said recent tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, resulting from incidents of cross-border shelling, made visits by Afghan officials to Pakistan politically difficult.[2]
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A draft report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) calls on Pakistani President Zardari to endorse “essential reforms” prior to receiving a new $11.3 billion loan from the IMF. More specifically, the report asks the Pakistani president to consider signing a letter of intent outlining the policies Pakistan intends to implement with the requested aid. Ordinarily, letters of intent are signed by a country’s finance minister, as was the case in 2008 when Pakistan last received IMF assistance. Pakistan’s failure to implement agreed-upon reforms then, however, led the IMF to withhold $3.4 billion in assistance. In recent weeks, an IMF delegation met with key Pakistani officials, including Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, to discuss a possible aid package, but the IMF is reportedly hesitant to provide financial assistance until Pakistan’s political situation is settled.[3]
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On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) urged the Pakistani government to ensure the safety of its polio vaccination teams and to reverse the Pakistani Taliban’s ban on vaccinations in Waziristan. At a meeting of the National Task Force for Polio Eradication in Pakistan, WHO regional director Dr. Ala Alwan praised Pakistan’s ongoing vaccination efforts but expressed concern that three areas—the Federal Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Quetta, and parts of Karachi—were vulnerable to a resurgence of the virus. Alwan also noted that Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts would be fruitless unless children in the Bara area of Khyber agency were vaccinated. Following the meeting, Alwan briefed President Zardari on the situation, encouraging him to make a greater financial contribution to the country’s Emergency Action Plan to eradicate polio.[4]
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On Wednesday, Levies forces arrested 13 Afghan nationals of Uzbek origin attempting to cross illegally into Iran through the Dalbandin area of Balochistan province. The suspects, who lacked travel documents, were taken into custody and transferred to a Levies station for further questioning.[5]
Militancy
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Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said on Thursday that the group will meet to discuss whether they will allow Pakistan PTI chairman Imran Khan to lead a march to Waziristan in September to demonstrate against U.S. drone strikes. Though Ehsan denied earlier claims by the Associated Press that the group would kill Khan if he led a march through Waziristan, the TTP spokesman noted that the group considers Khan an “infidel” due to his self-characterization as a liberal. Ehsan said the Pakistani Taliban leadership council will announce its decision a week before Khan’s expected arrival.[6]
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Army personnel arrested Ihsanullah Ihsan, an important commander of the TTP Swat, in the Akora Khattak area during an operation in the Marhati area of Nowshera, Punjab on Thursday. According to intelligence sources, Ihsan lived in Swat’s Shangla district and was a key associate and personal driver of Swat Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah.[7]
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One special operations forces member was killed on Thursday when he stepped on a landmine during a routine patrol in the Sandukhel area of Safi sub-district, Mohmand agency. A remote-controlled bomb also exploded during the patrol, though no personnel were injured during the incident. Unidentified assailants also blew up a girl’s primary school in Yakaghund sub-district. No casualties were reported.[8]
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A roadside bomb exploded in the vicinity of a private clinic on Kohat Road near Sikkim Chowk in Peshawar, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday. No casualties were reported. Unidentified assailants also killed an internally displaced person (IDP) and two others at Jalozai camp in Peshawar.[9]
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Two civilians were killed in separate incidents of violence in Karachi on Wednesday. Unidentified assailants killed a civilian in Bhains Colony and police found a body in Baldia.[10]
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Police arrested three suspects and seized explosives and a suicide bomber jacket in a raid conducted on a house in the Shalkot area of Quetta, Balochistan.[11]