Skip to main content

Iranian FM arrives to discuss issue of abducted border guards

ISLAMABAD: Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif reached here on Tuesday night on an unscheduled trip to follow up on the issue of abducted border guards and discuss “certain regional developments”, according to diplomatic sources.

Mr Zarif, besides holding a meeting with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, is expected to call on Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Bajwa during his one-day trip.

Iranian Ambassador Mehdi Honardoost met FM Qureshi on Tuesday to discuss the hurriedly planned trip of Mr Zarif. Foreign Office spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal tweeted: “Iranian Ambassador in Pakistan called on FM at MoFA today #pakiranbrotherhood.”

A diplomatic source said the efforts for recovery of the abducted guards are on the top of Mr Zarif’s agenda. About 12 Iranian border guards were kidnapped by militants a fortnight ago from a post in Mirjaveh region close to the border with Pakistan’s Balochistan province. Jaish al-Adl, a terrorist group operating in the region, had claimed responsibility for their kidnapping. Iranian leaders believe that the militants transferred the guards to Pakistan after taking them hostage.

Mr Zarif and Mr Qureshi had earlier spoken over the phone regarding the matter immediately after the incident. During the conversation on that occasion, he had requested the Pakistani government to enhance security along the border by increasing troops deployment and other measures.

The Iranian foreign minister had also urged the Pakistani authorities to act swiftly to recover the hostages and arrest the elements behind the terrorist incident in accordance with “the previous understandings” between the two countries.

Similarly Iran’s top military commander Maj Gen Mohammad Hossein Bagheri had also after the incident called Gen Bajwa to urge intensification of efforts for search and rescue of kidnapped Iranian border guards.

Meanwhile, a source said the visiting foreign minister was expected to additionally raise the issue of Israel’s growing contacts with Muslim countries in what is being seen as an attempt to encircle Iran. There have also been rumours of a private Israeli jet visiting Islamabad, which have been strongly denied by the government.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2018



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/2Js58JM
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trump says he urged team to ‘slow’ COVID-19 testing

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was encouraging health officials in his administration to slow down coronavirus testing, arguing that increased tests lead to more cases being discovered. The president has claimed falsely on several occasions that surges of COVID-19 in several states can be explained by greater numbers of diagnostic tests. At his first rally since the outbreak forced nationwide shutdowns in March, Trump told the crowd in Tulsa, Oklahoma that testing was a “double-edged sword.” The United States — which has more deaths and cases than any other country — has carried out more than 25 million coronavirus tests, placing it outside the top 20 countries in the world, per capita. “Here is the bad part: When you do testing to that extent, you are going to find more people, you will find more cases,” Trump argued. “So I said to my people ‘slow the testing down.’ They test and they test.” It was not clear from Trump’s tone if he was playing to the crowd, who ...
Post a Comment
Read more

IT ministry forms panel to review social media rules

ISLAMABAD: While uproar against the new rules to regulate social media continues from various segments of society, including parliamentarians, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and civil society, the information technology ministry on Friday formed a committee to review the rules. The federal cabinet approved the rules on Feb 11, but later after opposition from various quarters, including companies that manage different social media platforms, the prime minister announced that a fresh consultation process would be launched over the Citizens Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules 2020. The committee formed by the IT ministry is headed by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Chairman Amir Azeem Bajwa while its members are Eazaz Aslam Dar, additional secretary of IT; Tania Aidrus, member of the Strategic Reforms Imple­mentation Unit, Prime Minister Office; and Dr Arslan Khalid, focal person on digital media at the PM Office. Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Ma...
Post a Comment
Read more

IS confirms Baghdadi’s death, vows revenge

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.—AP BEIRUT: The Islamic State militant group confirmed the death of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a statement on Thursday and named his replacement as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi. “We mourn you ... commander of the faithful,” said Abu Hamza al-Quraishi — presented as the group’s new spokesman — in an audio statement. Baghdadi, who led IS since 2014 and was the world’s most wanted man, was killed in a US special forces raid in Syria’s province of Idlib on Sunday. The group also confirmed the killing in another raid the following day of the group’s previous spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir. The statement said the group’s legislative and consultative body convened after the 48-year-old Iraqi-born jihadist chief’s death. “The Islamic State shura council convened immediately after confirming the martyrdom of Sheikh Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and the elders of the holy warriors agreed” on a replacement, said the seven-minute message. Little is known abou...
Post a Comment
Read more