Pakistani and Afghan tribal chiefs were seeking ways yesterday to counter the violence dogging their countries, including offering talks to Taliban militants.
Tribal and political leaders were concluding a two-day jirga, or traditional council, set up to foster cooperation between the uneasy allies of the US.
The Taliban has gained strength in both countries and there have been increasing calls for dialogue with the insurgents as a means to ease the turmoil.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told the council on Monday that talks should be open to “sons of the soil willing to forsake the path of violence.”
MINI-‘JIRGA’
The meeting of some 50 leaders in Islamabad, dubbed a mini-jirga, is a follow-up to a much larger “peace council” in Kabul last year which vowed to fight terrorism together.
The idea for the jirga process had been hatched almost a year earlier during a White House meeting between US President George W. Bush, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and then-Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf.
The pledges of cross-border cooperation made last year have largely failed to materialize.
Karzai has accused Pakistan of secretly assisting the Taliban — a charge Islamabad rejects as an attempt to mask failures of the government and international community in Afghanistan.
Still, Qureshi said Pakistan’s return to full democratic rule — former army chief Musharraf resigned as president in August — had changed the equation in favor of cooperation against terrorism.
“A democratic polity draws its strength from the mandate of the people. It has a much greater chance of success than a dictatorship,” he said.
VIOLENCE
Violence in both countries has risen steadily since US-led forces drove the Taliban from power in Afghanistan in 2001.
Many militants fled to Pakistan’s border regions, where they have established bases and struck back with increasing success.
The Afghan government is seeking talks with elements in the Taliban leadership in an effort at reconciliation and the Taliban’s former ambassador to Pakistan said the two sides recently had contacts in Saudi Arabia.
SNUBBED
US officials, who are preparing to reinforce their troops in Afghanistan, have played down the significance of the talks.
However, some in Pakistan have seized on the Afghan initiative to push back against constant US pressure for a military crackdown in Pakistan’s wild tribal areas.
The Pakistan army is already involved in heavy fighting in two northwestern regions, but faces criticism because of civilian casualties and the destruction caused by airstrikes and artillery bombardments.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in 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
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was