Afghanistan’s parliament yesterday fired Afghan Minister of the Interior Mujtaba Patang, one of the country’s most powerful security chiefs, less than a year after he took office.
Patang lost a vote of confidence by 136 to 60 in the lower house of parliament over accusations of corruption and incompetence in the battle against Taliban insurgents.
“He’s lost the vote of confidence and I on behalf of the Wolesi Jirga [parliament’s lower house] request the president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to introduce another individual to the parliament for a vote of confidence,” speaker Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi said.
Patang, a former deputy interior minister and a career police officer, was dismissed a month after the Afghan government formally took responsibility for nationwide security from US-led NATO troops at a handover ceremony.
Parliament dismissed Patang’s predecessor, Bismillah Mohammadi, in August last year, allegedly for failing to stop a Taliban resurgence and cross-border shelling from Pakistan.
However, lawmakers approved Mohammadi’s nomination a month later as defense minister.
The Cabinet reshuffle at the time was interpreted as an effort by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to secure his power base before anointing a successor to stand in presidential elections in April next year.
In other developments, Karzai yesterday gave a lukewarm response to Pakistan’s invitation to visit Islamabad, setting conditions for any high-level talks designed to mend increasingly frosty relations.
Pakistan on Sunday sent its top diplomat to offer further assistance to Afghanistan’s efforts to reach a deal with Taliban insurgents to end 12 years of war.
Pakistani foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz held talks with Afghan Minister of Foreign Affairs Zalmai Rassoul and met Karzai to deliver the invitation from new Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif — already extended twice by telephone.
Yesterday, the president’s office said Karzai accepted the invitation “in principle.” However, Karzai said a high-ranking delegation could visit Pakistan only when the agenda is specified, initial preparations have been made and a “serious and effective struggle against terrorism and the peace process are on the top of the agenda.”
The West considers Pakistan’s support vital to achieving lasting peace in Afghanistan, but relations between the neighbors are mired in mutual distrust and accusations over Taliban.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of