Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf installed a loyalist and former spymaster as deputy army chief yesterday, handpicking his successor as leader of the military in a key step to restoring civilian rule.
General Ashfaq Kiyani, who has helped spearhead the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda and represented the president in crunch political negotiations, took up the position yesterday with a show of military pomp.
Kiyani, the former head of the Inter-Services Intelligence, received a guard of honor as he arrived at army headquarters in Rawalpindi, a military statement said.
"A ceremony was held at the general headquarters to formally welcome the newly appointed vice chief of army staff on assuming charge of the new appointment," a military statement said.
"A smartly turned out contingent of the Pakistan army presented a guard of honor to the vice chief of army staff," it said.
The army has described Kiyani as the designated successor to Musharraf, who has been army chief since the year before he seized power in a bloodless coup in October 1999.
Since then Musharraf has come under mounting pressure from his backers in Washington and the international community for a return to democratic rule.
The chain-smoking Kiyani has formed good relations with the US amid the Pakistani military's campaign to drive al-Qaeda and Taliban rebels from the troubled tribal belt.
Meanwhile, the death toll from fierce battles between militants and soldiers in a suspected al-Qaeda stronghold in the northwest has risen to 80, the army said yesterday.
Army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said about 60 suspected militants and 20 soldiers died in two major clashes on Sunday in North Waziristan -- 10 more guerrillas that he announced on Sunday.
A security official in Miran Shah, the region's main town, said army helicopters and jets bombarded militant positions in several villages in the region.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS