Posted in News Briefs, tagged Coalition, Terrorism, U.S. on July 4, 2008 | 6 Comments »
This past week, Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher paid a visit to Pakistan, and on Wednesday said that the country “had a raft of pressing problems on its plate,” following a meeting with Pakistani leaders in Islamabad. Reuters and the AP quoted him saying, “The problem Pakistani people face is the danger of [...]
Posted in News Briefs, tagged Coalition, Economy on July 1, 2008 | 13 Comments »
In an effort to control the country’s ballooning budget deficit, Pakistan’s government announced “plans to phase out politically sensitive fuel subsidies during the new financial year,” reported the Financial Times today. The news outlet added,
The government spent $2.4bn (€1.5bn, £1.2bn) during the fiscal year that ended yesterday to subsidize domestic fuel prices and protect consumers [...]
Posted in News Briefs, Op-Eds, tagged Terrorism, Coalition, Taliban, U.S. on June 26, 2008 | 5 Comments »
Although political developments (i.e. the Nawaz Sharif by-election controversy) caused quite a stir in media coverage of Pakistan this week, reports related to the militant and Taliban threat also garnered significant news attention. On Thursday, militants in the NWFP reportedly torched a state-owned hotel/ski resort in Swat. According to BBC News, “The nighttime attack follows [...]
Posted in News Briefs, tagged Coalition, Judiciary, Nawaz, PML-N, PPP on June 25, 2008 | 1 Comment »
On Wednesday, Pakistan’s Supreme Court postponed the by-election in the constituency where PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif would have run, before the controversial Lahore High Court ruling on Monday, [see previous post]. Following Monday’s development, supporters of Nawaz’s party reacted with outrage, and PML-N lawmakers staged a walkout from the National Assembly on Tuesday. According to [...]
Posted in News Briefs on June 23, 2008 | 4 Comments »
On Monday, media outlets reported that a high court in Lahore disqualified former Prime Minister and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif from contesting in this week’s by-election. According to Reuters, “Sharif was barred from the general election in February because he had been convicted for the hijacking of then army chief General Pervez Musharraf’s plane in [...]
Posted in Backgrounders, News Briefs, tagged Terrorism on June 22, 2008 | 5 Comments »
Media outlets reported that 16 Pakistani Christians were kidnapped by militants in the NWFP on Saturday, although sources reported that they were released hours later. News reports differed on the number of people kidnapped. Although several sources, including The News, reported that 25 Christians were abducted, more recent wire services confirmed that the number was [...]
Posted in News Briefs, Op-Eds, tagged Terrorism, Coalition, Musharraf, Taliban, Judiciary, U.S., NATO, Balochistan, Afghanistan on June 16, 2008 | 7 Comments »
It has been quite an eventful few days for Pakistan. First, following the end of the lawyers’ “Long March” [see related post] this past week, the movement’s top leader, Aitzaz Ahsan promised more protests today. Although he did not provide a future date for these protests, “his comments indicated that the lawyers did not intend [...]
Posted in News Briefs, tagged Taliban, U.S. on June 12, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Following a controversial U.S. air strike on a checkpost in the volatile Mohmand frontier region Wednesday, Pakistan “lodged a diplomatic protest,” accusing U.S.-led forces of launching a “completely unprovoked and cowardly act,” which killed 11 Pakistani soldiers. In response, reported news agencies, U.S. officials said Washington regretted the “reported loss of Pakistani life” but insisted [...]
Posted in News Briefs, tagged Taliban, Terrorism on June 10, 2008 | 3 Comments »
After a day filled with blogging and work, this CHUP editor was too spent to include a last-minute post on a significant development that occurred late yesterday, when government authorities and militants reportedly scrapped their widely covered peace deal. According to the Daily Times, the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik said on Monday that this decision [...]
Posted in News Briefs, tagged Coalition, Judiciary, Musharraf, Nawaz, Zardari on June 9, 2008 | 7 Comments »
About 1,000 Pakistani lawyers and political activists gathered on Monday for the beginning of the widely-covered cross country rally, dubbed the “Long March.” This march “was heralded by gatherings in major cities and is expected to culminate later this week with a rally and sit-in outside parliament” in Pakistan’s capital, noted the Associated Press. [...]
