U.S. Seeks Direct Access to National Command Authority

by Mariana Baabar (The News)

The U.S. State Department has sent a proposal to Pakistan that it would like to place a permanent official at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad to deal with Pakistan’s nuclear issues, and that this official would have direct access to the National Command Authority (NCA) Secretariat.

This request comes after a set of 11 demands earlier sent by the United States to Islamabad … The latest U.S. request was made public on April 9, but there was no reaction either from the home government or the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.

Posted on: 04/16/08

Hundreds Of Afghan Refugees Stranded on Way Home

by Reuters

Hundreds of Afghans seeking to return home from northwest Pakistan have been stranded because a tribal clash has closed down a road leading to Afghanistan, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday.

Ron Redmond, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said repatriations along the Peshawar-Torkham highway have been halted and would resume when the road reopens. More than 360 Afghan families who were cleared for repatriation from Peshawar have been unable to leave due to the roadblock, he said. The UNHCR has given food, plastic sheets and blankets to the most needy families, he told a news briefing.

Posted on: 04/16/08

Pakistani Coalition Reaffirms Pact on Sacked Judges

by Reuters

Pakistan’s ruling coalition renewed their pledge on Tuesday to restore the judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf who could reopen legal challenges to his rule.

The reaffirmation came at a meeting between Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and her political successor, Nawaz Sharif, another former prime minister overthrown by Musharraf in 1999, and other coalition leaders.

Posted on: 04/16/08

UN Probe Urged in Bhutto Killing

by Adaqat Jan (The Associated Press)

Lawmakers from Pakistan’s newly elected parliament have passed a resolution seeking a U.N. probe into the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, officials from her party said Tuesday.

The National Assembly, the lower house of Pakistan’s parliament, unanimously adopted the resolution late Monday, said Izhar Amrohvi, secretary for parliamentary affairs for the Pakistan People’s Party.

Posted on: 04/16/08

Partnership of Mutual Conviction

"We are going to continue our work with President Musharraf—and whatever that new government may be—on goals of our national interests, and we have a deep national interest in fighting violent extremists, breaking up those terrorist cells that may operate from Pakistani territory."
–U.S. State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack, statement at a daily press briefing, February 19, 2008

VS.

"[W]e should engage with Pakistanis on issues important to them, rather than just on those topics of interest to us. For the last three decades, our relationship has been transactional—and that’s how people in Pakistan have seen it. We must demonstrate to the people of Pakistan that ours is a partnership of mutual conviction, not American convenience; that we care about their needs and progress, not just our own interests, narrowly defined."
–Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, statement at Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Hearing on Pakistan, February 28, 2008