Pakistan has ordered all Save the Children’s foreign staff to leave the country within four weeks, in the wake of accusations linking the aid agency to a fake vaccination program used in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
Save the Children said it had received no explanation for the order, but a Pakistan intelligence report has linked the charity to Shakeel Afridi, the Pakistani doctor involved in the fake program as the US searched for the al-Qaeda chief.
The aid agency’s six expatriate staff have been asked to leave within four weeks.
“Earlier this week we got a call from special branch instructing us to send back all expatriate staff,” Save the Children spokesman Ghulam Qadir said.
“There were no reasons given. We are working with the government to comply with the instructions,” Qadir said.
“We will continue to operate in Pakistan and Save the Children is currently serving more than seven million children with 2,000 dedicated national staff,” he said.
“Our commitment is that we will continue to carry out our program activities to meet the needs and rights of the children,” he added.
Save the Children denied allegations that it introduced Afridi to the CIA.
“On Shakeel Afridi, our stand is very clear that there is absolutely no truth in it. There is no concrete proof to these allegations,” Qadir said.
Pakistani officials claim they have “concrete proof” backing up the story of Afridi, the doctor from the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan who confessed to the ISI, the country’s military spy agency, after being arrested last year.
Although Save the Children and the US government have always denied any relationship between the CIA and the aid organization, Pakistani officials say they are fully justified in expelling the few foreign staff still working in the country.
A Pakistani intelligence official said evidence had been found showing “spies” at the non-governmental organization had “engaged” Afridi, who is currently serving a 33-year jail term.
“Pakistan carried out a thorough investigation involving all our leading agencies,” he said. “It was one of the longest investigations in our history. It is a very serious matter and the foreign staff were asked to leave only after concrete proof was uncovered.”
The expulsions come despite lobbying by Western diplomats on behalf of a respected organization that has been working in impoverished areas of the country for decades, including during the devastating 2010 floods when it assisted more than 3 million people.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source