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As Pakistan condemns Hamas leader’s assassination in Iran, thousands attend funeral prayers in absentia 

As Pakistan condemns Hamas leader’s assassination in Iran, thousands attend funeral prayers in absentia 
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Activists and supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party carry Palestinian flags as they attend an absentia funeral prayers for Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Karachi on July 31, 2024, after his assassination in an air strike. (AFP)
As Pakistan condemns Hamas leader’s assassination in Iran, thousands attend funeral prayers in absentia 
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This file photograph, taken and released by the Iranian foreign ministry on February 13, 2024, Hamas’ political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Doha. (AFP/File)
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Updated 31 July 2024
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As Pakistan condemns Hamas leader’s assassination in Iran, thousands attend funeral prayers in absentia 

As Pakistan condemns Hamas leader’s assassination in Iran, thousands attend funeral prayers in absentia 
  • Foreign Office says Israeli “adventurism” constituted a “dangerous escalation” in an already volatile region
  • Thousands offer funeral prayers in absentia for Ismail Haniyeh in Karachi, vow to raise their voices for Palestine
Updated 31 July 2024
SAIMA SHABBIR & NAIMAT KHAN
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ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: Pakistan on Wednesday condemned the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, expressing shock over the “reckless act” that coincided with the new Iranian president’s oath-taking ceremony as thousands attended his funeral prayers in absentia in the southern port city of Karachi. 

Iran’s state television announced the killing of the Palestinian leader early Wednesday. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards said Haniyeh and a security guard had been ambushed in their place of residence and an investigation was underway.

Haniyeh was in Iran for the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected reformist president Masoud Pezeshkian.




Activists and supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party carry Palestinian flags as they attend an absentia funeral prayers for Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Karachi on July 31, 2024, after his assassination in an air strike. (AFP)

“Pakistan condemns the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the Chief of Hamas Political Bureau in Tehran today,” the foreign office said in a statement, sending condolences to his family and the people of Palestine.

“We are deeply shocked by the timing of this reckless act, coinciding with the inauguration of the President of Iran, an event attended by several foreign dignitaries, including the Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan.”

The foreign office expressed “serious concern” over what it described as “growing Israeli adventurism in the region.”

“Its latest acts constitute a dangerous escalation in an already volatile region and undermine efforts for peace,” the statement said.

Separately, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, who heads a major Pakistani religious political party, announced funeral prayers in absentia for the “martyred” 62-year-old Hamas leader in Karachi on Wednesday. 

FUNERAL PRAYERS IN ABSENTIA




Activists and supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party offer absentia funeral prayers for for Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Lahore on July 31, 2024, after his assassination in an air strike. (AFP)

Thousands gathered at the city’s busy New M.A. Jinnah Road for the funeral prayers to pay tribute to the Hamas leader. 

Muhammad Hussain Mehnati, the head of the party’s Sindh chapter, said conscientious people worldwide should reject Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land.

“Ismael Haniyeh and other Palestinian leaders among tens of thousands sacrificed their lives in the glorious struggle,” he noted.

Mehnati praised the “ongoing Palestinian resistance against tyranny,” criticizing the US, the UK, and other nations for supporting Israel.

“I urge the Pakistani government and other Muslim-majority countries to actively assist the oppressed Palestinians,” he said.

The JI, which is holding a sit-in protest against inflation and rising energy costs, had planned to hold another demonstration in front of the Governor’s House in Karachi on Wednesday. 

However, it called off the protest, urging residents to attend Haniyeh’s funeral prayers in absentia.

The event was also attended by a large number of women. One of the participants, Dr. Hareem Khurshid, praised Haniyeh for resisting Israel’s military campaign and credited him for protecting the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

“We are happy because he embraced martyrdom and at the same time we are sad,” she told Arab News. “But we will never stop protesting and raising our voices for Palestine.”

INCREASING HOSTILITIES IN MIDDLE EAST

Haniyeh’s assassination comes amid an escalation of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which was blamed for an attack on the Israel-annexed Golan Heights that killed 12 children on the weekend.

On Tuesday night, Israel struck a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon, saying that it had killed Fuad Shukr, the head of Hezbollah’s military operations room.

Israel has promised to wipe out Hamas after the group conducted a deadly raid into settlements outside the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking hostages back to the Palestinian enclave.

Israel soon after launched a devastating military assault in Gaza and has since killed over 40,000 people, mainly civilians. Both sides have been trying to negotiate a hostage release agreement, which would include a cessation of fighting, with the help of the US and regional negotiators.

Haniyeh, normally based in Qatar, has been the face of Hamas’s international diplomacy as the war set off last year. Hamas said in a statement Haniyeh’s killing would “take the battle to new dimensions and have major repercussions,” while Iran also vowed to retaliate.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Israel had provided the grounds for “harsh punishment for itself” and it was Tehran’s duty to avenge the Hamas leader’s death as it had occurred in the Iranian capital. Iranian forces had already made strikes directly on Israel earlier in the Gaza war.

There was no comment nor claim of responsibility from Israel. In 2021, Israel assassinated Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran’s top nuclear scientist.

Topics: Ismail Haniyeh Hamas leader War on Gaza Pakistan Palestine Israeli war on Gaza

‘Beyond imagination,’ Pakistani PM says as November inflation slows to 4.9% year-on-year

‘Beyond imagination,’ Pakistani PM says as November inflation slows to 4.9% year-on-year
Updated 02 December 2024
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‘Beyond imagination,’ Pakistani PM says as November inflation slows to 4.9% year-on-year

‘Beyond imagination,’ Pakistani PM says as November inflation slows to 4.9% year-on-year
  • Sharif says inflation rate lower than government’s forecast, lowest in nearly six years
  • Last year Pakistan struggled through inflation as high as 38%,historic depreciation in currency
Updated 02 December 2024
Falak Mahmood Khan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said it was “beyond imagination” that Pakistan’s annual consumer inflation had slowed to 4.9% in November, lower than the government’s forecast and the lowest in nearly six years.

The finance ministry had projected inflation would slow to 5.8%-6.8% in November and ease to 5.6%-6.5% in December, it said in its monthly economic report published last week. The South Asian country slashed interest rates by 250 basis points earlier in November to help revive a sluggish economy amid a big drop in the rate of inflation.

Consumer inflation cooled from 7.2% in October, a sharp drop from a multi-decade high of nearly 40% in May 2023. Consumer prices in November rose +0.5% from October, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

“After 70 months, the inflation rate in Pakistan in November is at its lowest level. In 2018, it was 3.5% during the era of [Prime Minister] Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif, this month, it has reached 4.9%,” Sharif told his cabinet in televised comments.

“This is a great grace of God. It is beyond imagination. Because inflation is the only tool that increases poverty or brings relief. This is a record after 70 months, this decrease will reduce the burden on the poor.”

Pakistan's annual consumer price inflation rate slowed to 9.6% in August, the first single-digit reading in almost three years.

A last-minute IMF rescue package last summer had helped Pakistan avert a sovereign default but, to secure it, the country had to revise its budget, and raise interest rates, taxes, and electricity and gas prices.

As a result, during the period, Pakistan struggled through inflation as high as 38%, historic depreciation in its currency, and contraction of the economy.

A new 37-month $7 billion loan bailout was approved for Pakistan by the IMF in September.

Pakistani squash legend Jansher Khan inducted into PSA Hall of Fame

Pakistani squash legend Jansher Khan inducted into PSA Hall of Fame
Updated 02 December 2024
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Pakistani squash legend Jansher Khan inducted into PSA Hall of Fame

Pakistani squash legend Jansher Khan inducted into PSA Hall of Fame
  • World No.1 for 97 months through his career, Khan’s final professional title count of 99 is the greatest of any player since records began
  • Khan won the World Championships eight times, a record in the men’s game, and added six British Open titles to a glittering trophy haul
Updated 02 December 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Malaysian retired squash player Nicol David and Pakistani great Jansher Khan have been honored this week as the newest members of the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in Hong Kong, the body said on X. 
David and Khan became the third and fourth members of the PSA Hall of Fame, which was launched earlier this year to recognize the achievements of the game’s most influential characters, past and present. David and Khan have joined inaugural inductees Susan Devoy from New Zealand, and Jahangir Khan, another Pakistani legend, in the PSA Hall of Fame as the association continues to celebrate its greatest icons.
“Congratulations to Nicol David and Jansher Khan,” PSA said in a social media post showing a picture of the two receiving the honor on the eve of the Hong Kong Squash Open.


A key part of the Pakistani dominance of the sport throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Jansher Khan won the World Championships eight times – a record in the men’s game – and also added six British Open titles to a glittering trophy haul.
A World No.1 for 97 months throughout his career, Khan’s final professional title count of 99 is the greatest of any player since records began.
“I feel very happy … I’m very happy to come to Hong Kong, see my old friends. It’s an honor to get this award,” Khan said in a statement released by PSA. 
David is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of squash, with her career including an unprecedented eight World Championship titles and an unmatched 108-month reign as the World No.1. She also took home five British Open titles and won two Commonwealth Games gold medals. 
Since retiring, David has founded the Nicol David Organization, one of the Squash for Development programs that the PSA Foundation supports. The 41-year-old was announced as a member of the Laureus World Sports Academy – a recognized group of 69 sporting legends – in 2021.
“After doing so much in my squash career, you sometimes don’t realize how much you’ve done until the moment when you are given this opportunity to be recognized in a hall of fame,” David said in a PSA statement. “That’s when you you go ‘This is it!’ And I I feel amazing, it’s such an honor and I would like to thank PSA for honoring me.”
PSA Chief Executive Alex Gough said: “Nicol and Jansher are two of the most iconic figures in the history of squash and have both left a lasting legacy in the sport.
“Nicol inspired so many squash players – in Malaysia and across the globe – and her record of nine unbroken years at the summit of the world rankings will surely never be bettered. She is a fantastic ambassador for the sport and it was fantastic to see her honored with the title of Deputy Chef de Mission at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games this summer.
“Like Nicol, Jansher’s name will forever be linked to squash and the records he has amassed across the men’s game are nothing short of incredible. We are pleased to have had the opportunity to celebrate both players.”

Pakistan moves to enhance trade with Uzbekistan amid investment push in Central Asia

Pakistan moves to enhance trade with Uzbekistan amid investment push in Central Asia
Updated 02 December 2024
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Pakistan moves to enhance trade with Uzbekistan amid investment push in Central Asia

Pakistan moves to enhance trade with Uzbekistan amid investment push in Central Asia
  • Pakistan wants to consolidate its role as a pivotal trade and transit hub for landlocked Central Asian states 
  • In recent weeks, there has been flurry of visits, investment talks, economic activity between Pakistan and CARs
Updated 02 December 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Pakistan, Alisher Tukhtayev, and Pakistani Federal Minister for Commerce, Jam Kamal Khan, on Monday discussed avenues to enhance business opportunities and trade relations as Islamabad seeks to enhance investment ties with the Central Asian Republics (CARs).
Pakistan is pushing to consolidate its role as a pivotal trade and transit hub connecting the landlocked Central Asian states with the rest of the world, leveraging its strategic geographical position. In recent weeks, there has been a flurry of visits, investment talks and economic activity between officials from Pakistan and the Central Asian nations.
Pakistan and Uzbekistan signed a $1 billion deal to increase bilateral trade in February 2023 at the eighth meeting of the Inter-governmental Commission on Trade-Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation in Tashkent. The agreement was aimed at encouraging the exchange of goods and services. The outgoing Uzbek Ambassador to Islamabad, Oybek Usmanov, said in September this year the countries were aiming to announce a $1 billion trade and industrial cooperation roadmap in the near future.
“Both sides agreed to work closely to unlock the full potential of their relationship,” a statement from the Pakistani commerce ministry said after Khan’s meeting with Tukhtayev, who was appointed in October. 
During the discussion, Khan expressed his admiration for Uzbekistan’s infrastructure and rapid development. 
“The progress in Uzbekistan is remarkable, and I was particularly impressed by its railway system,” the minister said, underscoring the importance of learning from Uzbekistan’s advancements.
Khan also highlighted newly launched flights between Pakistan and Uzbekistan, noting that their high occupancy rates were a “sign of significant potential for collaboration.”
“He identified religious tourism and other sectors as areas ripe for growth and called for further efforts to facilitate travel. Stressing the need for a streamlined visa process, he advocated measures to ensure genuine visitors while maintaining rigorous scrutiny,” the commerce ministry said. 
Khan proposed partnerships with local airlines to boost trade and travel connectivity and suggested organizing business-to-business (B2B) interactions during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s upcoming visit to Uzbekistan, the dates of which have not yet been confirmed. 
“The idea of holding a business forum during the visit also featured prominently in their discussions,” the commerce ministry added. 
“Ambassador Tukhtayev agreed on the untapped potential of bilateral trade, emphasizing sectors like agriculture, food, pharmaceuticals, and tourism. He reassured the minister of the Uzbek Embassy’s round-the-clock availability to facilitate coordination and promote business ties,” the statement added.
Pakistan and Uzbekistan established diplomatic relations in May 1992. 
Uzbekistan is the largest consumer market and second biggest economy in Central Asia. It was the first Central Asian country with which Pakistan signed a bilateral Transit Trade Agreement (UPTTA) and bilateral Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) on 17 items. 
Bilateral trade with Pakistan (Jan-Dec 2021) amounted to $126.05 million, with $88.18 million exports to Pakistan and $ 37.87 million imports from Pakistan, according to the website of the Pakistani foreign office, which did not provide updated figures.

Topics: Pakistan Uzbekistan Ties

Traders welcome decision to keep Khunjerab Pass linking Pakistan, China open year-round

Traders welcome decision to keep Khunjerab Pass linking Pakistan, China open year-round
Updated 02 December 2024
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Traders welcome decision to keep Khunjerab Pass linking Pakistan, China open year-round

Traders welcome decision to keep Khunjerab Pass linking Pakistan, China open year-round
  • High-altitude Khunjerab Pass is closed from Nov. 30 to Apr. 1 each year due to harsh weather
  • This year, border crossing has been opened from Dec. 1 for all kinds of trade and transportation
Updated 02 December 2024
Nisar Ali

KHAPLU, Gilgit-Baltistan: In a first, the high-altitude Khunjerab Pass, the only land-connected route between China and Pakistan and a major trade station between the two nations, will remain open year-round for all types of trade and transportation, officials confirmed on Monday, with businesses welcoming the move. 
At over 4.600 meters above sea level, Khunjerab, which connects Gilgit-Baltistan with China’s Xinjiang region, is the highest paved international crossing in the world and an important gateway to South Asia and Europe. 
The pass is located in the Karakoram and holds a significant strategic position on the northern border of Pakistan, specifically in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Hunza and Nagar Districts. China mainly imports textiles, agricultural products and daily commodities through the pass, and exports plants and herbs.
Due to high altitude and harsh weather conditions, the border was previously open only between April to November and remained closed from December to March. Last October, however, Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing that the pass would be converted into an all-weather border.
“The Government of the People’s Republic of China has formally concurred to the year-round opening of the Khunjerab Pass,” a latest notification from Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
“Consequently, operation of the Khunjerab-Sost border crossing are hence forth expanded from 1st April – 30thNovember each year to year-round operation,” the statement said, instructing all relevant agencies and government departments to continue their operations at the port from Dec. 1. 
Confirming the development, Faizullah Faraq, the spokesperson for the Gilgit-Baltistan regional government, said authorities were “utilizing all resources” to clear the roads of snow on the Pakistani side to ensure smooth functioning of trade and transport activities. 
The Gilgit-Baltistan region in northern Pakistan, flanked by soaring mountain ranges and glaciers, is also a major tourist destination in the country. 
“The year-round opening of the border will also help in the promotion of tourism,” Faraq added. “The economic engagement of people of both regions [China and Pakistan] is associated with this border. So the local economy will be uplifted.”
Speaking to Arab News, Muhammad Iqbal, the president of the GB Importers and Exporters Association, welcomed the decision.
“The historic decision to keep the border open for the whole season will help boost import and export trade, and commerce between Pakistan and China,” he said. “For traders, this decision will ensure uninterrupted access to the Chinese market. This route will also give access to Central Asian and other countries and people-to-people contact between Pakistan’s G-B and China’s Xinjiang province will be enhanced.” 
Imran Ali, the president of the Gilgit-Baltistan Chamber of Commerce, said “new avenues of development” would be opened by keeping the border open throughout the year. 
“More than 20,000 people, including traders and laborers, are associated with this border, and due to this decision, business activities will be increased and traders and locals will directly get benefits,” he added.
According to APP, Pakistan’s state-run news agency, Khunjerab Pass recorded over 50,000 inbound and outbound passengers between Apr. 1 and the end of October, while import and export cargo volume reached 40,900 tones, up 42.6 percent and 72.7 percent year-on-year respectively.
China is a major ally and investor in Pakistan. The two countries collaborate on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a flagship project under China’s Belt and Road Initiative, with more than $65 billion pledged for road, rail, and other infrastructure developments in the South Asian nation.

Topics: Pakistan China Border Khunjerab Pass

Pakistan sectarian clashes toll reaches 133 since Nov. 21 — provincial government

Pakistan sectarian clashes toll reaches 133 since Nov. 21 — provincial government
Updated 02 December 2024
AFP
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Pakistan sectarian clashes toll reaches 133 since Nov. 21 — provincial government

Pakistan sectarian clashes toll reaches 133 since Nov. 21 — provincial government
  • A tribal jirga, or council of elders, had been formed to ensure a truce that has remained elusive so far
  • Government says bunkers set up by armed groups to be dismantled and heavy weaponry confiscated
Updated 02 December 2024
AFP

PESHAWAR: The death toll from sectarian clashes in northwest Pakistan has risen to 133, the provincial government said Monday, as tribal elders failed to ensure a truce between the feuding Sunni and Shiite Muslim communities.
Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country, but Kurram in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the border with Afghanistan, has a large Shiite population and the communities have clashed for decades.
At least “133 precious lives have been lost, and 177 people injured” in sporadic clashes since November 21, said a statement issued after a provincial cabinet meeting.
A tribal jirga, or council of elders, had been formed to ensure a truce that had remained elusive so far, it said.
“Bunkers set up by armed groups in Kurram will be dismantled and heavy weaponry ... will be confiscated,” the statement added.
The latest fighting broke out last Thursday when two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims traveling under police escort were ambushed, killing more than 40.
Since then days of fighting with light and heavy weapons have brought the region to a standstill, with major roads closed and mobile phone services cut as the death toll surged.
Anfal Hussain, who owns a pharmacy in Parachinar area, said “2024 has been extremely tough for Kurram” with dozens killed in clashes.
“I’ve been running this pharmacy for 11 years, but during the recent clashes the highway has been practically closed since October. This has caused significant shortages of food supplies and medicines,” Hussain, 36, told AFP.
“Many major illnesses cannot be treated in Parachinar’s hospitals, but they remain helpless due to the road closures,” he added.
A senior security official in the provincial capital Peshawar, speaking on condition of anonymity, on Friday told AFP that officials with the help of tribal elders were “close to achieving a truce,” after two earlier deals had failed to stymie the fighting.
“There are only two villages now where the sporadic firing is still taking place,” he said.
Police have regularly struggled to control violence in Kurram, which was part of the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas until it was merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said 79 people had been killed in the region between July and October in sectarian clashes.
The feuding is generally rekindled by disputes over land in the rugged mountainous region, and fueled by underlying tensions between communities from different sects.

Topics: parachinar

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