Imran Khan attracts US reaction as he faces terror charges

File photo of ex-PM Imran Khan. 

• The US says it backs the democratic order in Pakistan. 
• The US State Department spokesman says the US values longstanding cooperation with the country.
• Says the US considers a democratic Pakistan critical to the US interests.

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WASHINGTON: The United States said that it supported democratic principles in Pakistan after former prime minister Imran Khan, an outspoken critic of Washington, secured bail in a terror case filed against him for threatening Additional Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry during a public rally. 

"We support the peaceful upholding of democratic, constitutional and legal principles," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters on Thursday.

"The United States values our longstanding cooperation with Pakistan and has always viewed a prosperous and democratic Pakistan as critical to US interests."

The State Department spokesman declined to weigh in more specifically on charges against Khan, who was ousted in a parliamentary vote in April but hopes to stage a comeback in elections.
Khan has staged rallies to rail against his successor, Shehbaz Sharif, and has alleged a conspiracy against him orchestrated by the United States, allegations repeatedly dismissed by Washington as baseless. On August 25, Imran Khan appeared before an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad. The court granted his bail plea till September 1 against a surety bond worth Rs100,000. 

Think of Pakistan: Imran Khan to 'decision-makers and influencers' 

As he appeared before the ATC, he talked to the media outside the court, calling upon those "making and influencing" decisions to take Pakistan into account.  He asserted the world is making fun of the country over reports of him being booked in a terror case for intending to take legal action against officials whom he alleges are involved in the torture of his chief of staff Shahbaz Gill in prison. "Torture and sexual abuse was inflicted on Shahbaz Gill and when I said that I'll take legal action against the police officials involved and the magistrate who sent Gill into police custody despite torture being proven in court, I was booked in a terror case," he said. He said when news of this spread across the globe it gave an impression of Pakistan being a banana republic.

"They [the coalition government] are terrified of PTI's power [..] and are trying to get the head of the biggest party arrested in this case just for a technical knockout and to save themselves," he added.

The case

The PTI chair had staged a rally in the federal capital on August 20 to express solidarity with his chief of staff Shahbaz Gill after claims of torture in custody. He said that the additional sessions judge — who sent Gill into physical remand on the police's request — should brace herself for consequences. An FIR was registered against him under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act at the Margalla police station for threatening the judge and other senior officers of the Islamabad Police during the rally. A day after the registration of a case against him, Imran Khan secured transit bail till August 25 from the Islamabad High Court which directed him to approach the relevant forum for pre-arrest bail.

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Russia-US ties could break if Moscow gets 'terror sponsor' tag

Fast News

Ukraine reports widespread shelling and air attacks by Russia on scores of towns and military bases, especially in the east where Moscow is trying to expand territory, as fighting rages on day 171.

Almost one-third of Ukrainian territory needs to be cleared of mines and explosives, according to the latest estimates by the ecology ministry. (Reuters Archive)

Saturday, August 13, 2022

Russia says ties could break over terror sponsor declaration by US

Russia has told the United States that bilateral diplomatic ties would be badly damaged and could even be broken off if Russia is declared a state sponsor of terrorism, Russian news agency Tass cited a top official as saying.

Alexander Darchiyev, head of the North American department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that if the US Senate succeeded in passing a law to single out Russia, this would mean Washington had crossed the point of no return, Tass said.

Zelenskyy: EU should ban rich Russians from entering

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has issued a fresh call for European Union states to ban visas for Russian nationals to keep the bloc from becoming a "supermarket" open to anyone with the means to enter.

Zelenskyy said his proposal did not apply to Russians who needed help for risking their freedom or their lives by resisting Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin's policies.

"There must be guarantees that Russian killers or accomplices of state terror not use Schengen visas," Zelenskyy said in an address, referring to visas granting the holder access to the border-free Schengen Area that spans several EU states.

For live updates from Friday (August 12), click here

Source: Reuters

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Zelensky Condemns Russian 'Terror' After Damage to Nuclear Plant

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday accused Russia of using the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant "for terror" after the operator of the facility reported major damage at the site.

Energoatom, the operator of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the south of the country, said Saturday that parts of the facility had been "seriously damaged" by military strikes and one of its reactors was forced to shut down.

Friday's strikes had damaged a station containing nitrogen and oxygen and an auxiliary building, Energoatom said on the Telegram messaging service.

As hostilities raged on in the east and south of Ukraine, pro-Moscow authorities in the Russian-occupied Kherson region reported the assassination of a senior official.

And the head of Amnesty International's Ukraine office announced she had resigned from the organization over the group's publication of a controversial report that accused the country's military of endangering civilians.

Kyiv and Moscow have blamed each other for the attacks on the Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe's largest atomic power complex.

Zelensky, in his nightly address on Saturday, once again accused Moscow of terrorism, saying, "Russian terrorists became the first in the world to use the power plant...for terror."

The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog expressed alarm over the shelling at the plant. The strikes underline "the very real risk of a nuclear disaster," said Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

"Any military firepower directed at or from the facility would amount to playing with fire, with potentially catastrophic consequences," he added.

The European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell condemned the attack "as a serious and irresponsible breach of nuclear safety rules and another example of Russia's disregard for international norms."

Another assassination 

An official with the Russian occupying authorities in Kherson died in hospital after being shot on Saturday, Russian state media reported.

Vitalii Hura, "the deputy head of the Novaya Kakhovka administration in charge of the housing and utility sector, died from his wounds," Yekaterina Gubareva, the deputy head of Russia's civil-military administration in Kherson, wrote on Telegram, according to TASS.

The report said Hura had been attacked in his home and shot several times.

Another Moscow-appointed official was killed in the same region in June, reportedly by a bomb planted in his car.

There has been a spate of reported assassination attempts and attacks against pro-Kremlin officials in Ukrainian regions controlled by Russia.

Although Russia has seized a large swath of the Kherson region and part of nearby Zaporizhzhia in recent months, Ukraine's forces have reclaimed some territory.

In his address Saturday, Zelensky hit out at Amnesty International, comparing the rights group's accusations against Ukraine's military with its silence on Russia's actions.

Referring to the strikes on the Zaporizhzhia plant, he said that although they represented "one of the most dangerous crimes against Ukrainians and all Europeans...for some reason, there's still no report or even just a simple message from Amnesty International about it."

"It's a very eloquent silence, which points out, once more, a manipulative selectivity of this organization," he added.

Amnesty sparked outrage in Ukraine with the report published Thursday that accused the military of endangering civilians by establishing bases in schools and hospitals and launching counterattacks from heavily populated areas.

Amnesty report row

The head of Amnesty's Ukraine office quit the organization in protest.

"If you don't live in a country invaded by occupiers who are tearing it to pieces, you probably don't understand what it's like to condemn an army of defenders," Oksana Pokalchuk said on social media late Friday.

"And there are no words in any language that can convey this to someone who has not experienced this pain."

Pokalchuk said she had tried to warn Amnesty's senior leadership that the report was one-sided and failed to properly take into account the Ukrainian position but had been ignored.

Amnesty secretary-general Agnes Callamard expressed regret at her departure and paid tribute to her work. But the organization stands by its report.

On Friday, Ukrainian officials said three grain ships left Ukraine after the first in months sailed on Monday as part of a deal to avert widespread food shortages.

Another five cargo ships are due to leave the Ukrainian ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk on Sunday, said a statement from the Joint Coordination Centre of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the organization coordinating the operation agreed between Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Nations.

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Zelenskyy accuses Russia of 'terror' after nuclear plant strike

Fast News

Russian forces begin assault on two key cities in eastern Donetsk region, Ukraine's military and local officials say, as fighting enters its 165th day.

Kiev and Moscow have blamed each other for the attacks on the plant, Europe's largest atomic power complex. (Reuters Archive)

Sunday, August 7, 2022

Zelenskyy denounces Russia's 'terror' after damage to nuclear plant

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of using the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant "for terror" after the operator of the facility reported major damage at the site.

Energoatom, operator of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the south of the country, said that parts of the facility had been "seriously damaged" by military strikes and one of its reactors was forced to shut down.

Kiev and Moscow have blamed each other for the attacks on the plant, Europe's largest atomic power complex.

Zelenskyy, in his nightly address, once again accused Moscow of terrorism, saying, "Russian terrorists became the first in the world to use the power plant... for terror."

For live updates from Saturday (August 6), click here

Source: TRTWorld and agencies

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Terror attacks kill several soldiers, civilians in Mali

Fast News

The Malian army claimed to have killed 48 militants amid fighting while 15 soldiers and three civilians lost their lives in the attacks.

The Malian army said it had thwarted a "terrorist" attack at a town on the outskirts of the capital where a key base used by the ruling military is located. (AFP)

At least 15 soldiers and three civilians were killed in coordinated "terrorist" attacks in Mali, the chronically unstable country's army said, the latest deadly violence to rock the Sahel state.

In Kalumba, near the Mauritanian border, "the death toll on the friendly side is 12, including three civilians from a road construction company", the army said Wednesday in a statement.

The army death toll in Sokolo, in central Mali, was six with 25 others wounded, five of them seriously.

The army claims to have killed 48 attackers and "neutralised three terrorist pick-up trucks 15 kilometres (10 miles) from Sokolo with (an) estimated fifteen fighters and their equipment" destroyed, the statement said.

A third attack, in centrally-located Mopti ended without casualties overnight.

READ MORE: Attack on Mali military base repelled, situation under control: Army

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1rgpd8mrSg[/embed]

Intensified anti-terror operations

Over the weekend, Mali's army said it had thwarted a new attack on a military camp in the centre of the country, two days after a deadly suicide attack in a strategic garrison town near the capital.

It was the first time since 2012 that such coordinated attacks have taken place so close to the capital.

The Malian army has intensified its anti-terror operations in recent months, relying on what it describes as Russian instructors.

READ MORE: Mali to suspend UN peacekeeping mission rotations

Source: AFP

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