Pakistan's initiation of high-level talks with Israel prompted fury from Islamic hardliners who stormed out of parliament on Friday and called protests in major cities across the country.
But despite fiery rhetoric, the rallies held after Friday prayers were poorly attended, and newspaper commentators gave the landmark meeting between Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and his Pakistani counterpart Khursheed Kasuri a cautious welcome.
Thursday's meeting, held in Turkey, was the first-ever high-level contact between the two countries -- a direct response to Israel's recent removal of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip.
However, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Naeem Khan said there are no plans for Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York later this month -- a possibility which Shalom said he had discussed with Kasuri.
News of the meeting in Turkey surprised many people here, and hardline Islamic clerics from an influential, anti-US opposition bloc in Pakistan's parliament responded quickly with a call for protests in major cities across the country.
The rallies fizzled. At the largest, about 300 supporters of an opposition coalition of six Islamic parties, Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), gathered in the northwestern city of Peshawar. Smaller protests were staged by the coalition in Quetta and Karachi. At a rally in Rawalpindi, near the capital, only about one dozen people showed up.
MMA's chief, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, sharply criticized Musharraf, rejecting his government's insistence that Thursday's meeting does not signal imminent diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.
"The meeting between Kasuri and Israeli foreign minister is a first toward recognition of Israel," Ahmed told the rally in Peshawar. "Musharraf wants to sell the blood of Palestinians and we will not allow him to do it."
Also Friday, lawmakers from MMA staged a walkout of the lower house of the parliament, accusing the government of not consulting lawmakers before holding the talks.
Hoping to cool tempers, Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the decision to hold talks with Israel was based on a request from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He said Abbas wanted them to play a role in helping resolve the Middle East crisis.
"Pakistan has not recognized Israel," Aziz said, adding that "any such decision would be taken in supreme national interests after due consultation of the parliament."
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese