World

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Dissolves Parliament, Blocking an Effort to Remove Him

Published

3 years ago

April 3, 2022

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Dissolves Parliament, Blocking an Effort to Remove Him

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Prime Minister Imran Khan dissolved Pakistan’s Nationwide Meeting and known as for brand new elections on Sunday, blocking a no-confidence vote that had been broadly anticipated to take away him from workplace and plunging the nation right into a constitutional disaster.

The extraordinary transfer deepened the political turmoil that has gripped Pakistan after Mr. Khan, the worldwide cricket star turned politician, misplaced the backing of the nation’s highly effective navy and a coalition of opposition events.

The disaster has been escalating for weeks, however its newest flip threatens to destabilize the delicate democracy in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation that helps the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan and has struggled with instability and navy coups since its founding 75 years in the past. Nonetheless, even in a rustic accustomed to turmoil, Sunday’s occasions had been beautiful.

“By no means within the historical past of Pakistan has such a factor occurred,” mentioned Ashtar Ausaf Ali, the previous lawyer normal of Pakistan.

Opposition lawmakers lodged a petition difficult the transfer earlier than the nation’s Supreme Court docket, saying that it amounted to an “open coup towards the nation and the Structure.” Allies of Mr. Khan mentioned that the courtroom had no authority to intervene within the Legislature’s enterprise and repeated Mr. Khan’s latest declare that the vote is a part of a U.S.-backed conspiracy to oust him.

The Supreme Court docket of Pakistan scheduled a listening to for Monday, setting the stage for a showdown over the nation’s management.

Beneath Mr. Khan’s tenure, Pakistan has moved away from america, embracing a strategic partnership with China and nearer ties with Russia. If he manages to stay in workplace, his accusations that American officers tried to orchestrate a regime change in Pakistan will doubtless proceed to chill the connection between the 2 international locations.

However the deputy speaker, Qasim Khan Suri, an ally of Mr. Khan, rejected the movement for a no-confidence vote. He mentioned that Mr. Khan was nonetheless the prime minister and nonetheless had the facility to dissolve the Meeting.

In a televised speech on Sunday, Mr. Khan confirmed that he had ordered the Legislature dissolved and doubled down on his declare that opposition events had been colluding with American officers in a conspiracy to take away him from workplace. Mr. Khan has supplied no proof to help his claims, and American officers have denied the allegations.

Mr. Khan known as for early elections to resolve the political disaster, which members of his occasion have mentioned needs to be held inside 90 days.

“Put together for elections,” Mr. Khan mentioned. “No corrupt forces will resolve what the way forward for the nation will likely be.”

The transfer clearly took the opposition abruptly. Its chief, Shehbaz Sharif, held hasty conferences together with his occasion leaders as they tried to determine their subsequent steps.

“It’s been a tragic day in Pakistan historical past. Nascent democracy has been hit and broken in a really, very brutal manner,” mentioned Mr. Sharif, who had been anticipated to turn out to be the interim prime minister if Mr. Khan had been faraway from workplace.

Opposition lawmakers refused to depart the Nationwide Meeting constructing, apparently hoping to deliver strain on the Supreme Court docket to behave. A handful of lawmakers from Mr. Khan’s occasion waved their fists as they left the constructing, repeatedly shouting, “Imran Khan, your supporters are numerous in quantity.”

Forward of the Supreme Court docket listening to on Monday, Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial urged all political events to take care of regulation and order till a verdict is reached — alluding to fears that Mr. Khan would possibly whip up road agitation and even violence as he has performed up to now.

Getting ready for that chance, paramilitary troops and police have been deployed since Friday to successfully seal off the so-called Crimson Zone in Islamabad, the capital, which homes authorities buildings, together with the parliament.

Many constitutional specialists mentioned that the nation’s Supreme Court docket is prone to rule towards the deputy speaker’s rejection of the vote of no confidence.

“The constitutional gymnastics required to make this motion authorized would actually undermine the legitimacy of the courtroom,” mentioned Yasser Kureshi, a postdoctoral fellow in constitutional regulation on the College of Oxford.

Mr. Bandial added that a number of judges of the courtroom had expressed concern concerning the scenario after Mr. Khan dissolved the Meeting, casting doubt over the constitutionality of his transfer.

Nonetheless, that’s no assure that Mr. Khan will likely be ousted. The longer the courtroom takes to difficulty a verdict, the extra time Mr. Khan’s authorities should attempt to weaken the opposition forward of the subsequent normal election. Even when the courtroom deems the ruling occasion’s transfer on Sunday as unconstitutional, it may not permit for a no-confidence vote to happen by restoring the dissolved assemblies, pushing as an alternative for early normal elections to resolve the political disaster.

The Supreme Court docket can also be not above the fray in Pakistani politics and has usually discovered itself embroiled in controversies.

“Our Supreme Court docket has a tainted previous. From sanctifying navy takeovers, sending political leaders to gallows or assuming government authority clearly out of their area,” Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, a lawmaker with the opposition Pakistan Peoples Celebration, mentioned in a tweet.

Some analysts in Pakistan speculated that, because the disaster drags on, Mr. Khan might need members of the opposition arrested, on the grounds that they had been a part of what he claims to be an American conspiracy to take away him from workplace. Mr. Khan has led a rising crackdown on dissent, and opponents have accused him of concentrating on opposition members underneath the pretext of an anticorruption marketing campaign.

Standing outdoors the parliament’s chamber, one lawmaker from Mr. Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf occasion, Kanwal Shauzab, mentioned that arresting opposition members was a “chance” so long as it was performed “in accordance with the regulation of the land.”

“We’re not going to go after the opposition with none motive. It’s what they’ve performed. They must pay for their very own deeds,” she added.

Such arrests might scale back the bulk that had appeared poised to oust Mr. Khan. However his transfer Sunday appeared to danger costing him supporters of his personal. One outspoken lawmaker from his occasion, Aamir Liaquat Husain, resigned in protest, becoming a member of dozens of members of Mr. Khan’s coalition who’ve defected in latest weeks.

Making an attempt to go off such defections, the inside minister mentioned Tehreek-e-Insaf had the help of Pakistan’s establishments in dissolving the Legislature — an obvious reference to the navy, whose backing is taken into account vital to the survival of Pakistan’s civilian governments.

The navy had appeared to withdraw help from Mr. Khan late final 12 months after a dispute over its management and longstanding variations within the nation’s international coverage and safety agenda. Navy leaders, who’ve expressed curiosity in deepening Pakistan’s ties with america, have maintained that the navy stays impartial within the present political disaster.

However a spokesman for the military denied that it had been concerned in or supported Sunday’s developments. It was the primary time navy leaders had so brazenly urged that they didn’t help Mr. Khan’s bid to remain in workplace. To some, it raised the opportunity of navy intervention — a well-recognized sample in Pakistan’s historical past — ought to the political disaster drag on.

“Traditionally, the longer such a constitutional impasse carries on,” Mr. Kureshi mentioned, “the larger probabilities of some type of navy intervention.”

Christina Goldbaum and Salman Masood reported from Islamabad, Pakistan. Zia ur-Rehman contributed reporting from Karachi, Pakistan.

World

Sudan’s Military Recaptures Key City From Paramilitary Accused of Genocide

Published

2 hours ago

January 12, 2025

Press Room

Sudan’s Military Recaptures Key City From Paramilitary Accused of Genocide

The Sudanese military recaptured a key city in Sudan’s breadbasket region on Saturday, chasing out a paramilitary group that the United States accused last week of genocide.

Sudan’s information minister said the army had “liberated” the city, Wad Madani, while the military said that its troops were working to “clear the remnants of the rebels” from the area.

If the army can hold on to the city, it would be its most significant victory since the war started nearly two years ago. Experts said it would most likely shift the focus of the war northward to Khartoum, the capital.

Videos circulating online showed the army entering Wad Madani, which lies about 100 miles south of the capital. Local media reported that fighters with the paramilitary group, known as the Rapid Support Forces, or R.S.F., were fleeing the city.

The group’s leader, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, admitted defeat but vowed to soon recapture the city. “Today we lost a round; we did not lose the battle,” he said in an audio address to his fighters and the Sudanese people.

The victory brought joyous scenes in army-held parts of the country among Sudanese who hoped it might signal a turning point in a ruinous civil war that has led to massacres, ethnic cleansing and a spreading famine in one of Africa’s largest countries.

People massed on the battle-scarred streets of Khartoum, while church bells pealed in Port Sudan, the wartime de facto capital where many Sudanese have fled the fighting. Celebrations also erupted among exiled Sudanese in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The R.S.F. defeat came just over a year after the group seized Wad Madani in a victory that forced tens of thousands of people to flee and sent shock waves across Sudan. The group’s fighters went on to capture swaths of the country, far from their stronghold in Darfur in western Sudan.

But much of the most brutal fighting was in Darfur, where R.S.F. fighters massacred members of rival ethnic groups, according to human rights groups and the United Nations. Last week the United States formally determined that those killings constituted genocide, and it imposed sanctions on the R.S.F.’s leader, General Hamdan, who is widely known as Hemeti.

The United States also imposed sanctions on seven companies in the United Arab Emirates that it accused of trading gold and buying weapons on behalf of the R.S.F.

In recent months, the tide of the fight appeared to turn as the R.S.F. ceded territory in Khartoum and in parts of the east of the country. The military launched a counteroffensive in the area around Wad Madani, culminating in the recapture of the city on Saturday.

Still, it was too early to say if the victory would fundamentally change the course of the conflict. Since the first shots were fired in April 2023, the momentum of the fighting has swung back and forth, sometimes wildly.

The army and the R.S.F. were once allies, and their leaders joined to mount a military coup in 2021. But in the war between them, they have enjoyed the backing of different foreign powers.

The R.S.F. is supported by the United Arab Emirates, a wealthy Gulf sponsor that has supplied it with weapons and powerful drones, mostly smuggled into Sudan from neighboring countries.

The Sudanese military has obtained or bought weapons from Iran, Russia and Turkey. Both sides mine the country’s vast reserves of gold to finance the fight.

For ordinary Sudanese, the war has brought only misery, death and destruction, killing tens of thousands of people, scattering 11 million from their homes and setting off one of the world’s worst famines in decades.

The global authority on hunger, known as the I.P.C., reported last month that famine had spread to five areas in Sudan and was expected to reach another five in the coming months. In all, 25 million Sudanese suffer from acute or chronic hunger.

Both sides have committed atrocities and war crimes, according to the United Nations and American officials, although only the R.S.F. has been accused of ethnic cleansing.

World

Biden admin slammed for ‘waiting’ to declare genocide in Sudan

Published

3 hours ago

January 12, 2025

Press Room

Biden admin slammed for ‘waiting’ to declare genocide in Sudan

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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – The Biden Administration has been blasted by the incoming Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho., for “waiting” until the outgoing President had only 13 days left in office before declaring rebel actions in Sudan, a country torn apart by 21 months of bitter war, to be “genocide.”

Earlier this week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared that members of the Sudanese rebel group, the Rapid Support Forces or RSF, “have committed genocide in Sudan.”

In a statement, Blinken said, “The United States is committed to holding accountable those responsible for these atrocities. We are sanctioning RSF leader Mohammad Hamdan Daglo Mousa, known as Hemedti, for his role in systematic atrocities committed against the Sudanese people.”

BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN ACCUSED OF ‘TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE’ TO SAVE THE PEOPLE OF WAR-TORN, FAMINE-STRICKEN SUDAN

The Biden administration recently declared members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), committed genocide in Sudan. Pictured: U.S. President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images.)

Blinken made his rulings, he stated, because “the RSF and RSF-aligned militias have continued to direct attacks against civilians, have systematically murdered men and boys—even infants—on an ethnic basis, and (have) deliberately targeted women and girls from certain ethnic groups for rape and other forms of brutal sexual violence.”

The Secretary continued, “Those same militias have targeted fleeing civilians, murdering innocent people escaping conflict, and prevented remaining civilians from accessing lifesaving supplies.”

Blinken added that the African nation is suffering through “a conflict of unmitigated brutality that has resulted in the world’s largest humanitarian catastrophe, leaving 638,000 Sudanese experiencing the worst famine in Sudan’s recent history, over 30 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, and tens of thousands dead.”

Risch has held out that the situation in Sudan has been catastrophic for well over a year, and called into question the timing of Blinken’s declaration. In a statement earlier this week, he wrote, “It has been nearly a year since I introduced a resolution calling the atrocities in Sudan what they are: a genocide. Additionally, I first called for Global Magnitsky sanctions to be imposed against the RSF and Hemedti 263 days ago – and yet these sanctions still have not been leveraged.”

BIDEN TRAVELS TO AFRICA WHERE POLICIES WERE ‘OVER-PROMISED AND UNDER-DELIVERED,’ AMID MASSIVE CHINA EXPANSION

Fighters of the Sudan Liberation Movement, a Sudanese rebel group active in Sudan’s Darfur State which supports army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, attend a graduation ceremony in the southeastern Gedaref state on March 28, 2024. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images.)

Risch spoke to Fox News Digital, declaring, “The Biden Administration waited until it has less than two weeks in office to sanction RSF-affiliated companies and Hemedti for their crimes and to call atrocities in Sudan a genocide.”

Risch said, “This neglect to address the crisis in Sudan weakened America’s influence in the region and the world years ago. If the Biden Administration backed its rhetoric with action, Sudan would be in a better position today, more lives would be saved, and the foreign proxies exacerbating this conflict would be kept at bay.”

Risch added, “This war must end. Further instability in Sudan will only breed terrorism and regional turmoil, threatening global security. The U.S. and our allies must seek to end the killing and atrocities, end the malign actions by proxies, manage migration pressures from mass displacement and protect strategic interests like the Red Sea corridor.”

UAE, OTHER COUNTRIES REMOVED FROM INTERNATIONAL MONEY LAUNDERING WATCHLIST

People board a truck as they leave Khartoum, Sudan, on June 19, 2023. The U.N. human rights office said in a new report on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, that scores of people, including children, have been subjected to rape and other forms of sexual violence in the ongoing conflict in Sudan, assaults that may amount to war crimes. (AP Photo, File)

In a statement to Fox News Digital, the U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan, Thomas Perriello, said “Making an atrocity determination is an immense responsibility that the Secretary takes seriously. Such determinations are based on a careful review of the facts and the law. It requires information not only of certain acts but also that those acts were done with the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in substantial part, a racial, ethnic, national, or religious group. Information demonstrating intent is often difficult to find and assess.”

“Since the start of the conflict the United States has taken repeated action to promote accountability of the RSF for its atrocities conduct. The U.S. already had sanctioned five RSF leaders, including two of Hemedti’s brothers. We also determined in December 2023 that members of the RSF committed ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. So the designation of Hemedti and the genocide determination reflect a consistent effort to document and call out atrocities, acknowledge the suffering of victims and survivors, and pursue justice and accountability.”

In his declaration, Blinken announced new sanctions stating, “We are also sanctioning seven RSF-owned companies located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and one individual for their roles in procuring weapons for the RSF.”

The new Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, U.S. Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. (Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images)

The Treasury Department also sent out a statement, virtually simultaneously to the one from State, saying “the RSF’s ability to acquire military equipment and generate finances continue to fuel the conflict in Sudan.” Treasury stated one particular company in the UAE, owned by a Sudanese national “has provided money and weapons to the RSF.”

Other UAE companies sanctioned this past week have been accused by the Treasury Department of handling financial transactions, of being “an essential part of the RSF’s efforts to finance its operations”, and of importing IT and security equipment .

One gold company in the UAE has been sanctioned because it has allegedly “purchased gold from Sudan, presumably for the benefit of the RSF, and subsequently transported it to Dubai.” Additionally, Treasury claimed “the RSF’s procurement director and brother of RSF leader Hemedti maintained access to (the gold company’s) bank account in the UAE, which held millions of dollars.”

Women from El Geneina, West Darfur, weep after receiving news of their missing relatives in Ardamata, as they waited for them in Adre, Chad, November 7, 2023. Ardamata was the latest site of an ethnic purge led by the RSF and allied Arab militias against the ethnic African Masalit tribe. (Reuters/El Tayeb Siddig. )

“The United States continues to call for an end to this conflict that is putting innocent civilian lives in jeopardy,” Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo stated. “The Treasury Department remains committed to using every tool available to hold accountable those responsible for violating the human rights of the Sudanese people.”

In response to Fox News Digital questions involving UAE registered companies an official from its foreign ministry fired back, stating. “The UAE’s primary focus in Sudan remains on addressing the catastrophic humanitarian crisis. We continue to call for an immediate cease-fire and a peaceful resolution to this man-made conflict. In this regard, the UAE has already made absolutely clear that it is not providing any support or supplies to either of two belligerent warring parties in Sudan.”

The official continued, “the UAE takes its role in protecting the integrity of the international financial system extremely seriously. We remain committed to combating financial crime globally, enhancing international cooperation and developing strategies to address emerging risks.”

World

Soldiers' arrest 'evidence' of North Korean involvement in Ukraine war

Published

3 hours ago

January 11, 2025

Press Room

Soldiers' arrest 'evidence' of North Korean involvement in Ukraine war

Comments come after Ukrainian forces detained two North Korean soldiers fighting in Russia’s Kursk region who have since reportedly been sent to Kyiv for questioning.

A spokesperson for the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has said the arrest of two North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk region is “indisputable evidence” of Pyongyang’s involvement in the war.

The two unnamed men were captured by Ukrainian forces and have since reportedly been sent to Kyiv for questioning.

“They are held in proper conditions that meet the requirements of international law. The prisoners do not speak Ukrainian, English or Russian, so communication with them takes place through Korean interpreters in cooperation with South Korean NIS. At the time of his capture, one of the foreigners had a Russian military ID card issued in the name of another person registered in the Republic of Tuva,” said Artem Dekhtyarenko.

He also said that both men were receiving “full medical care”.

In his nightly video address, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the two North Koreans are being questioned by investigators with the help of Korean translators.

Zelenskyy said their capture was “not easy”, claiming that Russian and North Korean forces have tried to conceal the presence of North Korean soldiers on the battlefield, including by killing wounded comrades to avoid their capture and interrogation by Kyiv.

“Both are alive and have already been brought to Kyiv. Now these two are…talking to SSU investigators,” he said.

Zelenskyy went on to say their presence is proof of Russia, “doing everything to prolong and escalate the war.”

There has been no comment from Pyongyang about the capture of the two soldiers but North Korea hasn’t publicly confirmed it has sent troops to support Russia’s war effort.

A senior Ukrainian military official said last month that around 200 North Korean troops fighting alongside Russian forces in Kursk have been killed or wounded in battle.

The official was providing the first significant estimate of North Korean casualties, which came several weeks after Ukraine announced that Pyongyang had sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia to help it in its almost 3-year war against its much smaller neighbour.

The White House and Pentagon last month confirmed that the North Korean forces have been battling on the front lines in largely infantry positions. They have been fighting with Russian units and, in some cases, independently around Kursk.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy spoke to outgoing US President Joe Biden following the announcement of a new sanctions package on Russia’s critically important energy sector, according to Zelenskyy’s Telegram account.

The sanctions target more than 180 oil-carrying vessels that are suspected to be part of a shadow fleet utilized by the Kremlin to evade oil sanctions, as well as Russian energy majors, traders, oil field service firms and energy officials. Several of the vessels targeted are also suspected of shipping sanctioned Iranian oil, according to the Treasury Department.

“It is very important that America has now struck at Russia’s shadow tanker fleet and at companies such as Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz, which accumulate money for Putin personally. He must feel the price of his war, losing from his wallets,” Zelenskyy said, referencing two Russian energy giants blacklisted along with dozens of subsidiaries.

In response to the sanctions, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that “Washington’s hostile actions will not go unanswered,” but did not provide details of any planned countermeasures.

Cross-border strikes

And in Russia, Ukrainian drones slammed into apartment blocks in western Tambov province overnight, blowing out windows and damaging balconies in two five-story blocks, acting regional Governor Yegveniy Pervyshov said.

There were injuries, he said, without giving details.

Russia shot down 85 Ukrainian drones, mostly targeting the south and west, the Defence Ministry reported on Saturday.

At the same time, Russia attacked Ukraine with 74 drones overnight into Saturday, according to Ukraine’s air force.