Posted in News Briefs, tagged Swat, Terrorism on February 29, 2008 | No Comments »
A suicide bombing occurred today at a funeral for a police official in Swat Valley, killing at least 35 people and wounding 50, according to the latest newswire updates. According to Pakistan’s The News, the blast struck just after the funeral prayers for the “martyred” police officer, Javed Iqbal, who was killed in a roadside [...]
Posted in Backgrounders, tagged Elections on February 29, 2008 | No Comments »
An interesting perspective by Center for American Progress’ Caroline Wadhams on the elections in Pakistan.
Posted in Backgrounders, tagged Terrorism, Swat, FATA on February 28, 2008 | 2 Comments »
PBS Frontline presented an insightful program entitled, “Pakistan: State of Emergency,” a look into the NWFP/FATA region which has largely become a battleground between Pakistani security forces and Pakistani Taliban militants. Frontline/World reporter David Montero visited Swat Valley, “once the crown jewel of Pakistan’s tourism trade,” but now a haven for these extremists. In the [...]
Posted in News Briefs on February 27, 2008 | 3 Comments »
This morning, several Pakistan-related stories were prevalent in the news. However, the YouTube ban, a story that has developed over the past few days, especially piqued my interest. For those who aren’t aware, officials announced Sunday that the Pakistani government had ordered all internet service providers to block YouTube because it contained “blasphemous content, videos [...]
Posted in Events, News Briefs on February 26, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Yesterday, I attended a fascinating event at the Woodrow Wilson Center where Eric Bjornlund of Democracy International spoke of his observations while monitoring the Pakistani elections last Monday. Also on the panel were Hassan Abbas, a research fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and a former Pakistani government official, Hasan-Askari Rizvi, [...]
Posted in News Briefs on February 25, 2008 | 2 Comments »
A suicide blast in Rawalpindi today killed 8 people, including Pakistan’s top army medical officer, Lt. Gen. Mushtaq Ahmed Baig, reported newswires. According to Reuters, the general “was the most senior military officer killed by militants to date.” The NY Times reported, “The attack took place in a crowded, commercial neighborhood of Rawalpindi. The blast, [...]
Posted in News Briefs, tagged Coalition, PML-N, PPP on February 23, 2008 | 3 Comments »
On Saturday, the Daily Times reported that elected members of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) endorsed Makhdoom Amin Fahim, the party’s vice chairman, for their candidate as Prime Minister. The news agency cited a PPP official statement, which said, “In a meeting at the Zardari House in Islamabad, they also vowed an end to the [...]
Posted in Backgrounders, Events on February 22, 2008 | 1 Comment »
There are several noteworthy events coming up that I’d quickly like to highlight:
Today, (Friday), the Asia Society in New York City will be holding a panel discussion in conjunction with the South Asia Journalists Association (SAJA) beginning at 8:30 am (EST). The program is an hour long and can be caught live on webcast. People [...]
Posted in News Briefs, tagged Coalition, Musharraf, PML-N, PPP on February 22, 2008 | 2 Comments »
On Thursday, news sources reported that the Pakistan People’s Party, PPP, (technically the Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians), and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the two main victors of Monday’s election, agreed to form coalition governments. According to the NY Times, “The speedy accord, just three days after the overwhelming defeat of Mr. Musharraf’s party [PML-Q], [...]
Posted in News Briefs, tagged Elections on February 20, 2008 | 9 Comments »
The results from Monday’s election are official - not only did the opposition win, but elections were relatively free and fair, there was little reported violence, the Karachi Stock Exchange finished at significantly higher levels, and President Pervez Musharraf and the political party that backed him, the PML-Q, accepted defeat. These developments alone should [...]
