Free Republic

Pakistan’s foreign policy has been incoherent and inconsistent since its inception. It has suffered from a chasm between policy and strategy, xenophobic tendencies, domestic politics interfering negatively with the foreign policy process, and vice versa – including the unsettling influence of the military on civilian politics and the outsize impact of religious groups. Policy-makers, rather than focusing on the policy process and the outcomes, serially succumb to socio-religious pressures, intensifying policy volatility, and that volatility, read as vulnerability, opens Pakistan up to manipulation by stronger world powers. The result is that on the issues that Pakistan flags as central to...

Tens of thousands of Pakistanis protested on Sunday against the normalisation deal signed between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel, Anadolu reported. Mass rallies were held across Pakistan, including the capital, Islamabad, the port city of Karachi, northeastern city of Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Quetta, Faisalabad, Multan and Hyderabad. The protests were organised by the Milli Yakjehti Council, a political-religious alliance which called on the Pakistani people to join the protests and denounce “the controversial deal between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv”. In the city of Rawalpindi, thousands of citizens marched through the city streets led by Senator Sirajul...

Two Mississauga, Ont., men have been indicted for allegedly helping to run an international procurement network over a five-year period to traffic materials such as aircraft parts and satellite communications equipment to support Pakistan’s nuclear program. Father and son Muhammad Ahsan Wali, 48, and Haji Wali Muhammad Sheikh, 82, are among five men accused of being associated with an alleged front company called Business World, based in Rawalpindi, a city in northern Pakistan, according to the United States Department of Justice. The other three charged include another one of Sheikh’s sons in Pakistan, as well as one man in Hong...

At Least 12 Killed as Pakistani Military Plane Crashes During Routine Training - Reports © Sputnik / 03:17 30.07.2019(updated 03:20 30.07.2019) MOSCOW (Sputnik) - At least 12 people, including two pilots and three crew, were killed and 12 other injured after a small plane of the Pakistan Army Aviation crashed in the Rawalpindi city of Pakistan's Punjab province during a routine training flight, local media reported on Tuesday. Shortly after, a massive fire broke out at the crash site near the Rabi Center shopping mall, engulfing several houses and leaving at least 12 people injured, the News International newspaper reported,...

Brigadier Ali Khan, currently facing court martial for alleged links with the banned Hizbut Tahrir, had conspired with an air force pilot to bomb the General Headquarters with an F-16 jet during a conference of the corps commanders, reported BBC on Thursday. Brig Ali Khan was arrested last year on suspicion of having contacts with the Hizbut Tahrir. He has been accused of trying to stage a rebellion against the government and planning an attack on the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi. His family has denied the charges. Major Suhail Akbar, a prosecution witness, said in his statement that Khan and...

Islamabad - Another alleged blasphemer has become a victim of Pakistan's controversial religious laws, media reported on Saturday. The killing occurred on Friday, two days after the assassination of the minority affairs minister who had criticised the nation's blasphemy laws. The Dawn newspaper said Mohammad Imran was killed by masked gunmen in a shop near a bus stop in Danada village of Rawalpindi, a garrison city adjacent to the capital Islamabad. Imran had been charged with blasphemy in April 2009 for allegedly making insulting remarks about prophet Mohammed during a discussion in a village cafe. He and another defendant were...

Note: Photo included. NOTE The following text is a quote: Monday, May 31, 2010 Christian Woman Kidnapped in Pakistan Escapes Impoverished father had received ultimatum from employer who loaned him money By Dan Wooding Founder of ASSIST Ministries RAWALPINDI, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting that a Christian woman who was kidnapped, forced to marry a Muslim farmer and told to convert to Islam amid a dispute over a loan said today (Monday, May 31, 2010) she has returned home after weeks of “captivity and torture.” Sania James (Photo: Compass) Sania James, 33, was kidnapped April 5...

NEW DELHI: SNIPPET: "The US national, identified as Winston Marshal Carmichael, was detained late last night after CISF personnel found knife in his hand baggage during the security check when he was to leave for Doha in a Qatar Airways flight, official sources said. ( Watch Video ) Reminiscent of the case of terror suspect David Headley, arrested in Chicago in October last for allegedly plotting terror strikes in India, Carmichael is a convert from Christianity to Islam. The New York resident changed his religion some 40 years ago. Carmichael, who was flying to Doha in a Qatar Airways flight,...

SNIPPET: "The Taliban have struck again in the heart of Pakistan's military garrison city of Rawalpindi. A Taliban suicide assault team estimated at between three to five men entered a mosque in the city and opened fire on the worshippers and detonated their vests, killing 40 and wounding 83 more. The attack killed two senior generals and wounded another. Two of the members of the suicide assault team have been killed. The assault team was not interested in taking hostages or negotiations, according to the Pakistani military. "They exploded bombs inside the mosque," Major General Athar Abbas, the top military...

SNIPPET: "An Irish jihadist living in Pakistan’s Swat valley says he is preparing to wage war against British and allied troops in Afghanistan. Khalid Kelly, a former altar boy from the Liberties area of Dublin who used to be known as Terry, told The Sunday Times he is undergoing weapons training in Pakistan’s mountainous tribal region in order to fight jihad against the enemies of Islam. His dream is to face a British soldier in combat, although he would “settle” for an American, he said. “I’m already on the path to jihad. I’ve already picked up a gun and done...

<p>An explosion rocked the compound of a four-star hotel just off a main boulevard in Pakistan's garrison city of Rawalpindi on Monday and there were reports of casualties, police said. "According to initial reports the blast took place in the compound of the hotel. Our teams are there, they are updating us on the details," police officer Mohammed Akhlaq told AFP by telephone.</p>

Gunmen Open Fire Near Pakistan’s Army HQ ‘Intense’ gunbattle leaves top officers trapped inside, official says BREAKING NEWS NBC News and news services ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Gunmen have opened fire near the army's headquarters outside the capital of Islamabad, a Pakistani military official said Saturday. NBC News reported that the assault sparked a shootout and that "intense" fighting was ongoing. A senior army officer said troops were returning fire and top officers were trapped inside. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Note: The following text is a quote: LAHORE: Twenty-five explosive-laden vehicles have reportedly entered various major cities of the country, as the intelligence services launched search operations across all four provinces, a private TV channel reported on Monday. According to the channel, the vehicles could target sensitive government installments and other important buildings. The channel cited a notification issued by the Interior Ministry stating that suicide bombers along with the vehicles had entered Peshawar, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Quetta and Karachi. The ministry ordered provincial authorities to immediately conduct search operations and impound the vehicles before any terrorist incident took place....

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2009/s09010196.htm Friday, January 30, 2009 Pakistani Muslim mob demands death for Christian activist accused of ‘blasphemy’ By Dan Wooding and Sheraz Khurram Khan Special to ASSIST News Service RAWALPINDI, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- In an apparent attempt to influence court proceedings, a huge Muslim mob gathered outside a court in Rawalpindi on Friday, January 30, as it heard the case of Hector Aleem, a Christian activist, who was arrested on January 22 under Pakistan’s most abused blasphemy laws. Muslim protesters shouted slogans against Hector Aleem and demanded that the accused be given death sentence....

ISLAMABAD: Two massive explosions occurred on Monday in the cantonment area of the Pakistani garrison city of Rawalpindi. There were no details of casualties. The blasts were so powerful that they were heard in the nearby capital of Islamabad. The Aaj TV channel reported that the blasts had caused extensive damage to a building housing office of Income Tax department. Several ambulances were seen rushing to the scene of the blasts. Further details were immediately not available.

Attacks on nuclear power stations, oil and gas terminals, Canary Wharf and Heathrow’s control tower were being considered by leaders of the plot to blow up seven transatlantic airliners in mid-flight, a court was told yesterday. Documents found on computer memory sticks at the home of an alleged terrorist ringleader contained a list of targets across Britain – including the gas pipeline between Britain and Belgium. The man, Assad Sarwar, was said to be in contact with terrorist leaders overseas and visited Pakistan a month before his arrest as preparations for the airline attacks were being finalised. Peter Wright, QC,...

BLAST HEARD OUTSIDE BHUTTO RALLY IN PAKISTAN'S RAWALPINDI - REUTERS WITNESS PAKISTANI OPPOSITION LEADER BENAZIR BHUTTO IS SAFE - DAWN TV

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - A powerful bomb ripped through a bus carrying employees from the armed forces, while a device tied to a motorcycle went off in a commercial district near Pakistan's capital Tuesday, authorities and local media said. At least 15 people were killed in the blasts. The first bomb exploded on a bus traveling through Rawalpindi, a garrison city about seven miles southwest of Islamabad, killing at least 10 people, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said. In addition to the dead, several people were injured.

“Around 600 students of Jamia Hafsa and Jamia Fareedia have not returned to their homes after the Lal Masjid operation. These are the people called ‘missing students’ and they are hiding in madrassas and mosques in and around the two cities Islamabad and Rawalpindi. They are walking bombs and are determined to blow themselves up any time, anywhere,” said a source directly involved in the ongoing investigation of suicide blasts in the country.Lal Masjid prayer leader Maulana Abdul Aziz said that five to six hundred students of the two madrassas had been trained, equipped and brainwashed to carry out suicide...

Excerpt - ISLAMABAD, July 6 (Reuters) - Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's plane was fired on as it took off on Friday from a military airfield in Rawalpindi, an intelligence officer said, contradicting official denials. Musharraf's plane arrived safely in the southwestern town of Turbat, where the president visited flood victims, and the military denied there had been any attack. But an intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there had been an unsuccessful attempt on Musharraf's life, and no arrests were made. A Reuters photographer saw two large guns mounted on the roof of a two-storey house in the...