Monday, May 22, 2017

Video - Deaths confirmed after #Manchester Arena blast reports - BBC News

Video - 'Terrorist incident': Crowds flee Manchester arena, at least 19 killed & 50 injured

Video Report - Chaos inside Manchester Arena

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Video Report - 'We treat incident as terrorist, until we know otherwise' - Police on explosion at Manchester Arena

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Pakistan - ‘Why was PM silent at Riyadh summit,’ asks Imran

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan Monday criticised the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s ‘silence’ during the recent Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh.

Talking to the media on Monday, he said Nawaz Sharif should have commented on US President Donald Trump’s speech wherein he accused Iran of fuelling “the fires of sectarian conflict and terror” and called for its international isolation.
When parliament had decided through a unanimous resolution that it would not become party in any conflict in the Middle East, why did Nawaz not clarify his country’s position in front of the world, asked the opposition leader.
“It is not in Pakistan’s interest to become a part of others’ conflicts,” he commented.
He said there is a general consensus that Pakistan is a foreign policy disaster, adding that with the premier holding the additional portfolio as of the foreign minister as well, with such a poor foreign policy he should resign as the foreign minister at least.
“[Nawaz] should have talked about the plight of Kashmiris and Palestinians; instead he wasn’t even allowed to speak despite working on a speech for hours,” claimed Imran.
When asked to comment on the army’s version regarding its former chief Gen (r) Raheel Sharif heading the Saudi-led Islamic military coalition, Imran said during his meeting with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, he was told “Raheel’s role [in the coalition] will be to curtail conflict in Muslim world.”
Talking about the Supreme Court’s proceedings regarding the Panama case earlier in the day, the PTI chief said nowhere in the world does an elected prime minister facing a criminal investigation continue to hold office and represent the country abroad.
Commenting on the federal government’s ongoing crackdown against social media activists —some of them belonging to the PTI —he said the government is “shutting down democracy.”
Responding to reports that the suspects being detained by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) are involved in posting anti-army content on social media, he said “it is the federal government which is anti-army, as the Dawn Leaks issue proved, and not the social media activists.”
When asked about the party’s preparations for the upcoming elections, he said they are working hard to ensure that the next general elections have “neutral umpires”.
“[Asif] Zardari also now terms the last polls as ‘RO elections’ but when we were out protesting [against polls rigging] he sided with Nawaz,” lamented Imran, saying all political parties should first agree on all electoral procedures and then take part in the polls.
Earlier, before entering the Supreme Court for the Panama hearing, Imran lamented that the prime minister was not given a chance to speak during the Riyadh summit.
"The world does not respect those who do not respect themselves," he said.
http://nation.com.pk/national/22-May-2017/why-was-pm-silent-at-riyadh-summit-asks-imran

Pakistan Humiliated At Anti-Terror Arab-Islamic-American Summit In Riyadh

The first Arab-Islamic-American Summit, held this past Sunday (21 May) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was nightmarish for Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his delegation. The anti-terror summit, which aims to develop a security partnership against the threat of violent extremism, saw no mention of Islamabad among countries that are at the receiving end of, as well as combating, terrorism.
Sharif was not even called on to speak at the event, even as representatives of some other states took the stage. Sharif had reportedly spent, as per the Nation report, “nearly two and a half hours” preparing for a speech that was later not to be delivered.
To make matters worse for Pakistan, the United States President Donald Trump listed India as one of the victims of terrorism. This is exactly the opposite of the narrative that Pakistan has been trying to push for years. And it has come at a time when both India and Pakistan have locked horns over the Kulbhushan Jadhav case at the International Court of Justice.
Trump also did not schedule a meeting with Sharif, even as he met Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on the sidelines of the summit.
The Riyadh summit was a two-day convention attended by 54 leaders of the Arab Islamic worlds along with the US President to discuss security co-operation and to form a possible Arab-NATO coalition.
https://swarajyamag.com/insta/pakistan-humiliated-at-anti-terror-arab-islamic-american-summit-in-riyadh

'Why did Nawaz Sharif even go to Riyadh?': Pakistan humiliated at US-Arab-Islamic Summit



Media and Opposition leaders in Pakistan are criticising Nawaz Sharif after facing humiliation at the US-Arab-Islamic Summit.


Mortified - that is the word used by The Nation, a major Pakistani newspaper, on how Pakistani delegation, led by its prime minister Nawaz Sharif, looked like at the just concluded US-Arab-Islamic Summit in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh.
According to another story, published in The News today, "something has gone terribly wrong as the Summit didn't mention Pakistan's role against global terrorism and its prime minister Nawaz Sharif was not given chance to put forth the country's point of view' whereas Pakistan has lost over 70,000 civilians and 6000 security forces personnel in terrorism related violence."
The article that defines Pakistan as a 'frontline state' and the 'sole Muslim nuclear power' rakes up the Kulbhushan Jadhav case and says such a treatment becomes more pinching when you find that US President Donald Trump mentioned India in the list of terror victims but ignored Pakistan that "is trying to convince the world of New Delhi's role in fanning terror through spy-terrorist Kalbhushan Jadhav's case at International Court of Justice."
The article summed up the mood at the summit, "The popular sentiment among the majority of Pakistani media delegation was that of a total humiliation."
Pakistan's treatment at the summit has started making headlines in the country with opposition parties targeting Nawaz Sharif. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan has taken on Nawaz Sharif for letting Pakistan and other Muslim communities down with his ineffective presence at the global forum. We can feel the heat of the royal snub that Pakistan was given in Khan's words, "The most important thing is that he [Trump] did not even mention Pakistan, the country that fought America's war and lost 70,000 people".
A release by Pakistan's Foreign Office informs us that Nawaz Sharif did interact with "Saudi King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, President Donald Trump and other leaders from the Arab and Islamic countries", but if we go by the words of Imran Khan, Sharif wasn't even invited to speak. "Nawaz Sharif had practiced 6 hours for his speech at the Riyadh Summit but he wasn't even invited to speak. Why did Nawaz Sharif even go to Riyadh?" a Samaa TV report said.
And how can media and politicians in Pakistan forget about their Kashmir rant, something that defines the agenda of the country, its overzealous media and narrow-visioned politicians, back home or at global, multi-lateral forums.
So, being comfortably unmindful of Pakistan sponsored terror in Jammu & Kashmir and in India, that has taken over 45,000 lives in the state of Jammu & Kashmir alone, The Nation's article writes that "terming India a victim of terrorism was a deeply painful insult to innocent, unarmed Kashmiris who are fighting for their just cause of liberating their land from the oppressive India and facing worst kind of state terrorism at the hands of its armed forces."
Imran Khan, while blaming Sharif for disgracing Pakistan at the summit, said that "Nawaz Sharif should have talked about the plight of Kashmiris and Palestinians" and went on to criticise Donald Trump for praising India and for ignoring "the atrocities being committed by India against the Kashmiris."
Meanwhile, the geopolitical reality is every successive US government, including the present one of Donald Trump, sees Kashmir as a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and squarely blames Pakistan for promoting terror in India.
On May 11, in its 'Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community' report, the US Government blamed Pakistan for deteriorating India-Pakistan ties and batted for India's growing intolerance over Pakistan's state-sponsored terrorism. And in April, Gen HR McMaster, the US National Security Advisor, who was in Pakistan, bluntly told Pakistan to stop using terror as state policy.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/us-arab-islamic-summit-nawaz-sharif/1/960308.html