Pervez Musharraf misses Monday trial; Special Court grants exemption, reschedules trial; Officials confirm Musharraf’s name will not be removed from Exit Control List (ECL); Defense Minister denies secret deal with Musharraf; Pakistan enlists help from Saudi Arabia to broker peace deal with TTP; Afghan Taliban confirm deaths of two high-level commanders in Quetta; Saudi foreign minister arrives in Pakistan; Indian Prime Minister to step down, urges closer ties with Pakistan; Dates of Strategic Dialogue with U.S. moved up; Report says 2013 bloodiest year in Karachi history; Seven prisoners injured in clash between Taliban groups in Peshawar jail; Nine dead in Khyber agency bomb blast; One dead in Orakzai agency bomb blast; One dead in LeJ attack on Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa school; Gunmen kill policemen in Peshawar, Islamabad; Two ASWJ members killed by gunmen; Five killed in Balochistan bomb blasts; five United Baloch Army members arrested in Quetta.
Musharraf Trial
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On Sunday, an attorney representing former President Pervez Musharraf stated that Musharraf would not appear at his trial scheduled for Monday due to his heart condition. Originally scheduled for Thursday, January 2, the court initially rescheduled Musharraf’s trial for Monday after the former president reportedly became ill on his way to the hearing. The special court has since granted Musharraf an exemption and adjourned the hearing until Tuesday. According to an article in AFP, the special court has also requested a copy of Musharraf’s medical report to explain his absence from the hearing.[1]
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On Saturday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif stated that the courts will decide whether former president Pervez Musharraf is guilty of treason. Pakistan’s Interior Minister also denied rumors that the government planned to lift the travel ban on Musharraf.[2]
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On Saturday, the former first lady, Begum Sehba Musharraf, requested that her husband’s name be removed from the Exit Control List (ECL) so that the former president could travel abroad for medical treatment. The Ministry of Interior, however, rejected the application because treason was a “non-bailable offense.” [3]
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According to a Saturday article in Geo News, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has dismissed rumors of a secret deal with Pervez Musharraf and stated that the former president’s name would not be removed from the Exit Control List (ECL).[4]
Taliban Talks
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A Monday article in the Express Tribune reported that Pakistan plans to enlist the help of Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al Faisal to help broker a peace deal with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Faisal, who arrived in Pakistan today, will meet with Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and Sharif’s Special Advisor on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, as well as key religious figures including Maulana Fazlur Rehman of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazlur (JUI-F) and Maulana Sami ul Haq of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S ).[5]
Afghan Taliban Assassinations
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On Monday, Taliban sources confirmed that unknown men killed two senior members of the Afghan Taliban on Thursday in the Nawey Adda area of Quetta. One of the deceased, Noorullah Hottak, was a member of the Taliban shura and served as the Taliban’s shadow governor in Afghanistan’s Zabul province. The other individual, Mullah Abdul Malik of Afghanistan’s Urozgan province, was responsible for making high-level appointments to the Taliban.[6]
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According to a Sunday report in the Wall Street Journal, the Afghan Taliban suspect that recent cross-border assassinations targeting high-level Afghan Taliban commanders have been carried out by Kabul’s security apparatus.[7]
Saudi Arabia-Pakistan Relations
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Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal is expected to meet with President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday and hold a press conference on Tuesday.[8]
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A Sunday article in The News stated that the visit of the Saudi Foreign Minister underscores Saudi Arabia and Pakistan’s commitment to improving bilateral relations and has nothing to do with former president Pervez Musharraf’s trial. According to the article, Pakistan expects that the renewed relationship with Saudi Arabia will help build up its foreign exchange reserves through trade and investment. Pakistan will also reportedly work to help normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.[9]
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A Sunday article in The News reported that Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will hold a meeting in January 2014 to sign bilateral security agreements relating to the transfer of prisoners, human trafficking and smuggling, and strategies to counter related activities.[10]
Indo-Pakistan Relations
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On Friday, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced that he will be stepping down after the next elections in India. He endorsed Rahul Gandhi and said that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Narendra Modi would be “disastrous” for India. He also said that better relations with Pakistan are crucial for the region and that a deal on Kashmir was close when Pervez Musharraf was in power in Pakistan.[11]
U.S.-Pakistan Relations
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According to a Monday report in The News, Pakistan and the U.S. have decided to move the date of the Strategic Dialogue from March to the last week of January. The News also reported that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry may visit Pakistan during the Strategic Dialogue talks.[12]
Domestic
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On Sunday, members of various religious organizations held a National Peace Convention in Islamabad to promote sectarian harmony in Pakistan. Religious groups, including the Muttahida Majlis Wahdatul Musilmeen (MWM), Sunni Ittehad Council, and Voice of Shuhada Pakistan, also criticized the government for trying to hold peace talks with the TTP. According to a press release, member organizations plan to establish a joint platform for all moderate political, religious, and social entities in Pakistan to serve as a counterbalance to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government.[13]
Militancy
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On Monday, ten people died and nine were injured in a bomb blast in the Tirah Valley area of Khyber agency. The attack was reportedly targeting an arms dump at the house of a local tribal leader. Three members of Lashkar-e-Islam reportedly died in the blast. It is unclear if the tribal leader also died.[14]
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According to data released by the Sindh Police and Rangers (Sindh), 2013 has been the bloodiest year in Karachi’s history, with 2,700 people killed and more than 40,000 reported incidents of crime. The data also highlighted extensive action by the Sindh police and Rangers, which carried out approximately 9,229 targeted raids, arrested 13,906 suspected criminals, and recovered 8,469 weapons. A similar article in the Express Tribune reported statistics from the “Pakistan Security Report 2013,” compiled by the Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), which contained similar information to the data released by the Sindh police. [15]
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On Sunday, seven prisoners were injured in a clash between two Taliban groups in the Peshawar Central Prison in a dispute over afternoon prayers. The Pakistani Army was called in to restore order at the Prison. The previous week, the Pakistani Army conducted an 18-hour long search of the prison following intelligence reports that Taliban incarcerated members had received bomb-laden jackets. No explosives were found during the investigation, however.[16]
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On Friday, a bomb blast at a madrassa in Mishti Mela, Orakzai Agency killed one person and injured three more.[17]
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On Monday, a suicide attack on a school in Ibrahimzai, Hangu district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa killed one student and injured two. The Ibrahimzai area is predominantly Shia, and a spokesman for the Sunni sectarian group Lashkar-e-Jahangvi claimed responsibility for the attack.[18]
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Unidentified gunmen killed a policeman in the Kohat Road area of Peshawar on Monday.[19]
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On Saturday, a bomb blast damaged the house of a police officer in Bannu, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa but caused no casualties.[20]
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On Sunday, police discovered explosives planted under a bridge in Amirabad, Charsadda district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. A Bomb Disposal United defused the explosives.[21]
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On Friday, police defused a bomb planted next to a power pylon in Amangarh, Nowshera district. In a separate event, police defused a bomb planted along a roadside in Waheedabad.[22]
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On Friday, Mufti Muneer Ahmed Muawiya, the general secretary of the Islamabad chapter of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) and another ASWJ member were shot to death in Islamabad.[23]
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On Friday, unidentified gunmen killed an Eagle Force policeman and injured another in Islamabad.[24]
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On Saturday, the capital police arrested two suspected terrorists in Islamabad and recovered 36 hand grenades, five kilograms of explosives, detonators, and other weapons.[25]
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On Saturday, a bomb blast near the Khezai Chowk area of the Western Bypass in Quetta injured Mir Majid Abro, a member of the Balochistan Assembly and Advisor to Chief Minister Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. In a separate event, a bomb blast in the Notal area of Naseerabad district of Balochistan killed two people.[26]
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On Saturday, a bomb blast in the Lehri district of Naseerabad, Balochistan killed one person.[27]
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On Saturday, a bomb planted in a motorcycle detonated and killed two people and injured several more in Bakthiarabad, Sibi district, Balochistan.[28]
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On Monday, a grenade attack on a police station injured a policeman in Quetta.[29]
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On Saturday, police arrested five United Baloch Army members in Quetta and seized anti-personnel mines, hand grenades, and bomb making materials.[30]
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On Friday, police raided a house in Toba Achakzai, Qilla Abdullah district, Balochistan and seized a massive cache of explosives including over 1,300 anti-personnel mines and 500 anti-tank mines.[31]
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On Friday, police in the Kili Janu area of Gulistan, Qilla Abdullah district, Balochistan arrested two suspected militants and seized a cache that included 2,500 Kalashnikovs.[32