Pakistan to ‘ascertain facts’ on Afghan minister using its passport

• Haqqani possessed a Pakistani passport till not too long ago: report.
• FO says the reply will come solely after info are ascertained.
• US officers are set to go to Pakistan to debate a number of issues.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan stated Thursday it would first verify info earlier than issuing a touch upon a report that claims that Afghanistan’s performing Inside Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani possessed a Pakistani passport till not too long ago.

In her weekly press briefing, International Workplace (FO) spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch stated: “I’ve seen the report on using a Pakistani passport by the Afghan minister. The matter can be answered after [ascertaining] the info.”

A report revealed in The Information as we speak revealed that Haqqani was issued a Pakistani passport for 5 years which he used to journey overseas, significantly to Qatar for negotiations with the USA for the signing of the Doha Settlement that resulted within the latter’s exit from Afghanistan.

The publication, by way of the inside ministry officers, learnt that these passports had been issued from totally different cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and Sindh.

In the meantime, two passport officers concerned in issuing Haqqani’s passport have been arrested, one in every of whom had retired from service by the point the motion was initiated towards him.

The problem across the minister utilizing the Pakistani passport comes at a time when Pakistan continues to repatriate unlawful foreigners, most of whom are undocumented Afghan migrants.

Baloch additionally briefed the presser about high officers from the USA visiting Pakistan this week.

“The main focus of those visits is just not solely Afghanistan. These visits are associated to the multifaceted facets of Pakistan-US relations,” she stated, including that Pakistan has determined to speak to America.

Pakistan and the US will conduct consultations over a number of points together with the state of affairs in Afghanistan, the FO stated final week.

Within the conferences between Pakistan and US officers, reservations of each side can be mentioned. “We can even talk about the problems on which we’ve objections.”

Up to date record of Afghans from US

The spokesperson additional shared that Pakistan has obtained an up to date record from the American authorities concerning the switch of Afghan nationals to the US.

Final month, a coalition comprising former high-ranking United States (US) officers and resettlement organisations issued an pressing enchantment to Pakistan, urging it to not deport Afghan people making use of to hunt refuge in and visas for the US.

The enchantment got here weeks after Pakistan introduced November 1 because the deadline for all undocumented migrants — a considerable variety of whom are Afghans — residing within the nation to both depart on their very own or face expulsion as soon as the ultimatum ends.

The inhabitants of the aforementioned migrants consists of roughly 20,000 or doubtlessly extra Afghans, who escaped their homeland following the Taliban’s return to energy in 2021. Many of those migrants in Pakistan are awaiting their functions for the US Particular Immigration Visas (SIVs) or refugee resettlement in the USA to be processed.

Commenting on common skirmishes on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the spokesperson stated: “There are sometimes misunderstandings between the border authorities. These misunderstandings are cleared by communication channels.”

She added that the Torkham border was opened for every kind of visitors yesterday.

Israels’ ‘barbaric assaults’

The FO but once more condemned the continual Israeli aggression within the Gaza Strip, stating that the state of affairs within the Strip is quickly deteriorating.

“No place in Gaza is secure for the general public,” Baloch stated.

The UN Safety Council should carry out its main duty below the Constitution, impose an instantaneous and unconditional ceasefire and shield the individuals of Gaza from an impending genocide, the FO spokesperson stated.

“We name on Israel’s backers to induce Israel to finish its barbaric assaults and inhumane siege towards Gaza,” she added.

The spokesperson additional acknowledged that Pakistan requires a world convention for long-term peace on the Palestinian query.

“Sturdy peace within the area will emerge from the internationally agreed two-state answer and from the creation of a safe, viable, contiguous, and sovereign state of Palestine on the idea of the pre-June 1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital,” she stated.

Baloch additionally spoke concerning the United Nations Secretary-Basic Antonio Guterres’s efforts for Palestinians.

The top of the UN warned that he expects “public order to fully break down quickly because of the determined circumstances” in Gaza, presently below relentless Israeli bombardment and invoked Article 99 of the UN Constitution for the primary time in his tenure owing to the gravity of the humanitarian disaster within the Strip.

‘Pakistani residents welfare high precedence’

In the course of the presser, Baloch commented on the current revelations concerning Dr Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist jailed in the USA for over a decade.

In line with her lawyer, the Pakistani physician has been sexually assaulted at the very least two occasions throughout her incarceration.

“The statements associated to Aafia Siddiqui are critical,” the spokesperson stated.

She additional added that Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has instructed that the matter must be taken up with the US Division of State and investigations must be carried out.

“The welfare of Pakistani residents is amongst our priorities,” Baloch reiterated.

She additionally spoke concerning the acid assault on former particular assistant to the prime minister Shahzad Akbar final week.

“Shahzad Akbar didn’t search assist from the Pakistani Excessive Fee on this regard,” she stated.

The FO strongly rejected the allegations of involvement of Pakistani companies within the incident. “Pakistan has religion within the British authorities’ investigation.”