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Arab News
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Arab News coverage moves Pakistani governor to fund treatment of teen separated from Indian mother
KARACHI: The governor of Pakistan's southern Sindh province, Kamran Tessori, has pledged to cover the medical expenses of a paralyzed Pakistani teenager who was separated from his Indian mother amid escalating tensions between the two countries, his office said on Thursday, following Arab News' coverage of the boy's story. Seventeen-year-old Muhammad Ayan was being treated at New Delhi's Apollo Hospital after a spinal injury he sustained during a 2023 gunfight between police and criminals in Karachi. He and his family were forced to leave India after the April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 tourists. India accused Pakistan of backing the assault. Islamabad has strongly denied the allegation. In the wake of the attack, both countries ordered each other's nationals to leave, exchanged gunfire in Kashmir, and imposed diplomatic restrictions, leaving many families stranded or divided. Among them was Ayan's family. His Indian mother, Nabeela, was unable to leave with them. The family returned to Karachi while she remained in New Delhi. 'Arab News is doing a good job. You should highlight the problems of the people and keep pointing toward the solution — which you people keep doing — then the problems move toward a solution. Ayan's case is an example of this. You pointed it out, and we are trying now,' Tessori told Arab News on Friday. 'If Ayan's treatment is not possible in Pakistan, then we are also contacting different countries to see where this treatment is possible. God willing, we will get it done wherever it is possible.' The Pakistani official urged India to put an end to its 'war mania,' pointing to several other cases such as Ayan's. There has been no immediate comment from the Indian side on Ayan's case. Arab News published a report earlier this week highlighting Ayan's separation from his mother and the abrupt end to his treatment in India, which prompted Tessori to take action. 'She was separated from us while crying, and we also came here with great difficulty, crying,' Ayan told Arab News, choking back tears. Ayan's father, Muhammad Imran, married Nabeela — his maternal cousin and a New Delhi resident — 18 years ago. She had been living in Pakistan on a visa that was periodically renewed, without ever obtaining Pakistani nationality. After the attack, the suspension of visa services invalidated the family's 45-day Indian medical visa, and Nabeela was left behind. Imran said that he had spent every last rupee in hopes that his son would walk again. But rising bilateral tensions made the family fearful while in India. 'I told them, 'I'm married (to her),' I pleaded, cried, and showed a lot of humility,' he said of his conversations with Indian authorities. 'But they said, 'No, write an exit and leave.'' For Ayan, the trauma of paralysis was compounded by the emotional shock of being separated from his mother. 'I went for treatment with hope, but that hope shattered because of the accident and the fact that my mother couldn't come with us,' he said. 'I was completely separated from a mother's love. We were far apart; it made me cry.' Kashmir has been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947. The region is divided between the two countries, though both claim it in full. They have fought two of their three wars over the disputed territory. Since 1989, several Kashmiri groups have carried out attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan. India accuses Pakistan of supporting these groups — a charge Islamabad denies, insisting it offers only diplomatic and political support to Kashmiris. Ayan's father thanked Arab News for highlighting his family's plight. 'They conveyed our words to higher officials, because of which Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori took notice,' he said on Friday. 'I am also very thankful to him, who promised to have my son treated anywhere in the world.'
Arab News
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Analysts warn Indian military action against Pakistan over Kashmir attack will endanger regional peace
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani foreign affairs and defense analysts on Wednesday condemned Indian media's 'warmongering' over the recent attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, warning that any military action by New Delhi would compel Pakistan to respond and hence, endanger regional peace. Twenty-six people were gunned down at a tourist site in Indian-administered Kashmir on Tuesday afternoon. The attack took place in Pahalgam, a popular resort town in the Anantnag district, where armed men emerged from forest cover and opened fire on crowds of mostly domestic tourists. India's defense minister reacted to the region's deadliest attack on non-combatants in decades, vowing a 'loud and clear' response will be given to those who carried out the attacks as well as those who planned it, while Pakistan expressed concern at the attack. A little-known militant group, the 'Kashmir Resistance,' claimed responsibility for the attack in a social media message, saying more than 85,000 'outsiders' had been settled in the region after arriving as tourists, vowing violence against such settlers. Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan since 1947, which they both claim fully but rule in part, and has been plagued by years of insurgent violence that New Delhi says is supported by Islamabad. Pakistan denies the accusations, saying it only provides diplomatic support to Kashmiris in their struggle for self-determination. Such attacks have historically strained ties between India and Pakistan. In 2019, a suicide bombing in Pulwama killed 40 Indian paramilitary personnel and triggered cross-border air strikes, pushing the neighbors to the brink of war. 'Placing blame on Pakistan in a knee-jerk reaction, without investigation or evidence, and even engaging in warmongering is truly unfortunate,' Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhary, a former Pakistani foreign secretary, told Arab News. He said the best course of action for India would be to probe the incident dispassionately, adding that Pakistan may even cooperate with the investigation. 'But they don't talk to Pakistan at all, I think that would help us all reach the actual perpetrators who must be punished,' Chaudhary said. Pakistan's foreign office, government officials and the defense ministry did not respond to Arab News' requests for comment. Meanwhile, geopolitical and defense analyst Lt. Gen. (retired) Ghulam Mustafa described the attack as a 'false flag operation,' alleging it was deliberately planned at a time when US Vice President JD Vance was in India. He criticized the Indian media's coverage of the incident. 'India has to do something because they have created significant hype around this issue,' Mustafa said. 'And now they must address it, likely through some form of action against Pakistan along the Line of Control.' Former diplomat Masood Khalid said it was a pity that the Indian media was in a state of frenzy and was accusing Pakistan without evidence. 'With over 700,000 Indian troops present in IoK [Indian occupied Kashmir], one wonders how the militants could make an ingress deep inside the occupied territory,' he questioned. Khalid hoped India would address the grievances of the people of Kashmir, saying that they were waging a struggle for their right to self-determination. Dr. Qamar Cheema, executive director of the Sanober Institute, a think tank that focuses on issues in Pakistan and South Asia, said there is a possibility that India may further downgrade relations with Pakistan given the sensitivity of the situation. 'Indian media, often echoing government views, can shape public sentiment that justifies military action against Pakistan,' Cheema explained. 'Especially as the Indian defense minister has already met with service chiefs.' 'WILL NOT TAKE IT LYING LOW' Chaudhary said that if India launched an attack anywhere in Pakistan, it would be 'most irresponsible.' 'I mean Pakistan has the capacity to defend itself and would not really take it lying low; therefore, they [India] must not get into this otherwise it can be very costly for this whole region,' he said. Khalid agreed. 'On its part, Pakistan will be fully prepared to respond to any aggressive move by India,' he said. A security official who spoke on condition of anonymity said India was diverting attention from the episode when the TRF had already claimed responsibility for the attack. 'Have the consequences of this hysteria been weighed? Pakistan, will not remain passive in the face of any action across its borders and the consequences will disturb regional peace,' he said.
Arab News
19-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
2001 - The 9/11 attacks by Al Qaeda
LONDON: The enormity of the events that unfolded in New York on that late-summer Tuesday in 2001 can be measured by the fact that few of the millions who witnessed the horror unfolding live on news broadcasts around the world will ever forget where they were that day. I was in the small port of Playa de San Juan on the Spanish island of Tenerife, making last-minute adjustments to the 7.5-meter boat in which I was about to set out in a rowing race across the Atlantic to the Caribbean island of Barbados. It was a beautiful day, with the sunlight shimmering on the surface of the gently undulating ocean. Ignorant of the events unfolding at that very moment 5,000 kilometers away across the Atlantic, I was strolling along the picturesque waterfront, heading back to my rented apartment from the small fishing harbor where the race fleet had been assembled, when a shout from one of the other rowers cut into my thoughts. He was standing on the other side of the road, in the doorway of a small restaurant that had become our unofficial race headquarters. He called me across and I went inside, blinking as my eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness. The bar was unusually busy for the time of day but no one was sitting at the tables. Instead they were standing, grouped in a semi-circle, staring up in near-silence at a TV suspended above the bar. It took a few moments to make sense of what I was seeing. There on the screen were the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, the establishing shot familiar to anyone who had ever seen a movie set in New York. Unfamiliar, though, was the sight of smoke billowing out of both towers. The image was difficult to comprehend. Could both buildings possibly have caught fire at the same time? Arab News' multi-page coverage captured the devastation of 9/11, a tragedy that reshaped the world. Then came the replay of the second strike, as United Airlines Flight 175 flew into the second, South Tower, slicing through the structure as though it were made of paper and disintegrating in a ball of orange flame, instantly destroying all hope that New York was in the grip of some kind of terrible but accidental calamity. Over the next few hours and days in Playa de San Juan, there was much discussion about whether it would be appropriate for the race, which all of us recognized to be an essentially frivolous exercise, to go ahead in the shadow of the disaster. Some of the rowers, including my teammate, argued for it to be scrapped. In the end, the race went ahead but my teammate's heart was not in it, and after a week at sea he dropped out and boarded one of the two yachts shadowing the fleet as rescue boats. Others, including me, subscribed to the 'if we change our way of life the terrorists will have won' argument, although to be honest my motive for pressing on was much more personal and selfish. I had trained insanely hard and had taken a leave of absence from my job as a journalist at The Times in London to take part in this race, in a boat I had spent the best part of a year building myself. To not go ahead was unthinkable. CIA's daily presidential briefing, headlined 'Bin Laden determined to strike in US,' warns of 'suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings.' American Airlines Flight 11 hits North Tower at 8:46 a.m.; United Airlines Flight 175 hits South Tower at 9:03 a.m.; American Airlines Flight 77 hits Pentagon at 9:37 a.m.; United Airlines Flight 93 crashes near Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania, at 10:03 a.m. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announces Operation Enduring Freedom, the imminent invasion of Afghanistan and the beginning of the 'War on terror.' Saudi Arabia cuts diplomatic ties with Afghanistan's Taliban government. FBI identifies all 19 hijackers: 15 Saudis, two Emiratis, one Lebanese and their leader, Mohammed Atta, from Egypt. America attacks Afghanistan to overthrow Taliban and dislodge Al-Qaeda. Taliban insurgency begins in Afghanistan. US-led coalition invades Iraq. Bin Laden admits responsibility for attacks. US Navy SEALs kill Bin Laden in his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan. 9/11 memorial completed at site of Twin Towers. The US withdraws all remaining forces from Afghanistan, ending a 20-year war and effectively paving the way for the Taliban to re-establish control over the country. In the end, most of us looked for moral guidance to the two Americans crewing the only US boat in the race, and they had no intention of backing out. In the days after the attacks, the US government told its citizens abroad to keep a low profile, advice to which one of the oarsmen, a native New Yorker, responded by going nowhere without the Stars and Stripes wrapped proudly around his shoulders. In the end, the race started as planned on Oct. 7, 2001. That same day, seemingly striking out in a blind rage, America attacked Afghanistan. The 9/11 attacks, Washington had concluded, were carried out by members of Al-Qaeda, a terror organization that was being sheltered by the Taliban, which had been in control of much of Afghanistan since 1996. Alone at sea, my mind was filled with the horrors that had unfolded, from the sight of trapped occupants of the Twin Towers, unable to face the fury of the flames, jumping to their deaths, to thoughts of the dreadful last minutes of the passengers on United Airlines Flight 93, struggling desperately to overcome the hijackers before their aircraft was flown into the ground near Stonycreek Township in Pennsylvania. Night after night, I lay flat out on the deck of the boat, exhausted after a day at the oars, gazing at the astonishing panoply of stars and wondering which of the aircraft I could see tracking west to east across the heavens was bearing America's instruments of revenge. A man stands in the rubble, and calls out asking if anyone needs help, after the collapse of the first of the twin towers of the World Trade Center Tower in lower Manhattan, New York on September 11, 2001. AFP When atmospherics allowed, I tuned into the Voice of America on the shortwave radio, and listened as the US launched its 'war on terror' and the world slipped steadily toward a disaster that ultimately would cost many more lives than the approximately 3,000 lost on 9/11. Having ousted the Taliban government, the authority of which had been recognized by a number of countries, the US and its replacement Afghan Interim Administration found themselves facing a Taliban reborn as an insurgency. America had embarked on what would become the longest war in its history. That 'forever war,' as President Joe Biden called it, lasted 20 years, only ending on Aug. 30, 2021, with the withdrawal of all remaining US forces in a deal that put the Taliban back in power. That entirely futile, 20-year circular excursion cost the lives of more than 7,300 US and allied troops and contractors, and 170,000 Afghan military, police, civilians and opposition fighters. More than 67,000 people in Pakistan also lost their lives. As for Osama bin Laden, the man who masterminded the attacks, he narrowly escaped US ground troops in Afghanistan in December 2001, and remained at large for almost a decade before American special forces found and killed him at his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in May 2011. Former US President George W. Bush, aboard Air Force One, speaks with New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Gov. George Pataki about the two planes that crashed into the World Trade Center and the one that hit the Pentagon. AFP In the meantime, as another part of the 'war on terror' announced by President George W. Bush in September 2001, a coalition of US-led forces invaded Iraq in March 2003, on the pretext that dictator Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. He did not. But the fallout from 9/11 settled over Iraq and the wider region like a black cloud of ash, smothering its economy, costing thousands of additional lives and, arguably, unleashing Al-Qaeda-allied Daesh and its ruinous bid to establish an extremist 'caliphate' across vast tracts of the Middle East. It was only after my feet finally touched dry land again that I realized the full extent of how the events of 9/11 had altered the world and, crucially, the dynamic between West and East. To my surprise — not to say dismay — my only son had joined the UK's Royal Marines, and in early 2003 he left for Kuwait prior to the invasion of Iraq. That spring, I spent many weeks huddled once again around a TV set, keeping my phone close and hoping not to receive the news that would devastate so many families, West and East, that year and for many more to come. Mercifully, my son survived. Not all of his companions did. After 9/11, nobody's world would ever be quite the same again.
Arab News
19-04-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
1996 - The bombing of Khobar Towers
RIYADH: June 25, 1996, was the day when trust was lost and an edifice was brought down. It was the day that rendered a tear in an evolving friendship. It was the day when a residential tower in Alkhobar, hosting soldiers from the international coalition that was enforcing a no fly-zone in southern Iraq after the liberation of Kuwait in 1991, was bombed. It was the day many things changed. News of the bombing — which killed 19 Americans and a Saudi citizen, and injured 498 people of various nationalities — came as a shock to many. It was only the second major terrorist attack in the Kingdom, after the siege of Makkah in 1979. Those affected directly by the bombing were left scarred for life, but those who felt its wider reverberations elsewhere went through a range of emotions that, for some, forever changed their worldview. I still have clear memories of the impactful day, of how I lived through the horror from afar. The news itself scared me because of the magnitude of the attack and because it had targeted Americans while I was studying in the US. My first thought was whether there would be an adverse reaction, because the aftermath of the Oklahoma bombing on April 19, 1995, was still fresh in my mind. I was in Boston, studying English, when the Oklahoma bombing took place. At that time, the first piece of news about the hunt for the bomber was the arrest of a Jordanian-American man who flew from Oklahoma on the day of the attack. Arab News' front page highlighted global outrage over Khobar Towers bombing and Saudi efforts to restore security. I still remember the suspicious looks from people on the subway on my way to school. I was not targeted physically or verbally but the looks were painful and a sense of distrust was evident. The subsequent arrests of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols came as a relief to many of us Middle Eastern students abroad. Later, I experienced similar feelings following the Alkhobar Towers bombing, and felt even worse after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. The Alkhobar bombing also left me with a surreal feeling that this could not happening. Meanwhile, most of us had to face questions from people who could not understand why it did. And there was no escape from the blame. Americans had been targeted, and while the country's citizens had been victims of previous terror attacks, the difference this time was the location: It happened in Saudi Arabia. I was living in the city of Detroit at the time, and of course we did not have Twitter or other social media in those days to provide quick updates on the attack. The internet was still something relatively new. Arabic TV channels were not available in the US at that time. The only source of information was what we read in American newspapers and saw on US TV channels. Other updates on the attack came from friends who had talked to their families back home. During this period of uncertainty, I remember being asked a lot questions by my university friends, many of whom could not point to Iran or Saudi Arabia on the map. Most of the time my answers fell short. One comment that sticks in my mind was from my university history teacher, who remarked with a smile: 'When we defend you, you kill us.' A huge truck bomb detonates outside a building housing US personnel in Alkhobar, killing 19 of them and a Saudi civilian. 13 Saudis and a Lebanese man indicted on terrorism charges by federal grand jury in Virginia. Saudi authorities say they have arrested 11 of the 13 Saudi suspects, who will be tried in the Kingdom. Federal judge rules Iran is responsible for the bombing and orders its government to pay $254m compensation to families of Americans who died. Ahmed Al-Mughassil, accused of being behind the bombing, arrested in Beirut and handed over to Saudi authorities. Another US court orders Iran to pay a further $104.7m compensation to 15 people injured in the bombing. That period we were living in, after the Gulf War in 1991, was witnessing a lot of change. The presence of US forces in Saudi Arabia was an unwelcome development to a segment of society that viewed their presence in the land of the Two Holy Mosques as an unannounced invasion. This narrative was widely distributed through the many cassette tapes featuring the words of famous clerics, who never stopped calling for the withdrawal of American forces and the closure of their military bases. My first impression, like that of many of my American friends, was that the Alkhobar attack was carried out by terrorists influenced by hate speech. But it was later revealed that Iran was indirectly behind it. Investigations slowly revealed a conspiracy to destabilize Saudi Arabia. This was not surprising to me, knowing that the Iranian regime has been on a never-ending mission to destabilize Saudi Arabia since Supreme Leader Ali Khomeini came to power in 1979. The main mission of the regime in Tehran was to export its ideology through proxy forces in neighboring countries. What scared me most at that time was that it had managed to do this through its arm in Saudi Arabia, Hezbollah Al-Hejaz, which claimed responsibility for the attack. Family members of the 19 US Airforce Airmen killed in the bombing weep during 5th Anniversary Remembrance Ceremony held in Virginia. AFP Iran is no stranger to sabotage and bad behavior in the region. It consistently attempts to brainwash young people in other countries into adopting its ideologies and turning against their own governments. We have seen how Tehran has managed to find a foothold in countries as far afield as the heart of Africa and South Asia. The demonstration by Iranian pilgrims in Makkah in 1987 comes to mind. I watched in horror on TV how they turned the Hajj religious event into chaos, attacking, killing and injuring many innocent pilgrims. I saw how they burned cars and beat to death police officers on the streets. Similar events happened in Madinah, where they also instigated riots and attacked pilgrims. A government with an ideology that does not care about sacred places and innocent lives for sure will not feel any sympathy when it directs its minions in the region to carry out such attacks. Iran will not remain calm and will not deviate from its main goal of destabilizing the region. It is still reaping what it sowed in Alkhobar and other areas. What has Iran gained since 1979 except chaos, war and economic sanctions?
Arab News
16-04-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Pakistan may import crude oil from US to lower tariff burden — official
KARACHI: Pakistan's government is mulling 'very good options' which range from importing crude oil from the United States (US) to abolishing tariffs on American imports, an official privy to the matter said on Wednesday, as Islamabad attempts to offset a trade imbalance that has triggered higher tariffs from Washington. US President Donald Trump has imposed a 10 percent baseline tariff on all imports to the US and higher duties on dozens of other countries. Pakistan faces a 29 percent tariff due to a trade surplus with the US of about $3.6 billion, although that is subject to the 90-day pause Trump announced last week. The US is the largest buyer of Pakistan's textile goods, importing goods worth $5.43 billion last year through June, according to State Bank of Pakistan. In return, cash-strapped Pakistan imported $1.88 billion worth of American goods, resulting in the trade imbalance. Countries are scrambling to find ways to lower their US tariff burdens, and Pakistan is no different. Pakistan's Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said last week Islamabad will send a high-level delegation to Washington to discuss the American tariffs. 'There have been talks of Pakistan potentially importing oil, soya been (oil) and cotton from the US. That's already it,' an official who spoke to Arab News on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media, said. The finance ministry did not respond to Arab News' request for a comment till the filing of this report. The official said the Pakistani delegation will inquire about the expectations of the American government regarding trade, which could include abolishing duties or non-tariff barriers against US products. 'Or they may ask us to buy more cotton from them,' the official said. A senior official from Pakistan's commerce ministry who spoke on condition of anonymity as well, said the discussions were at an 'immature stage' and further meetings would be held to finalize them. 'What decisions are taken, what we offer to them, all options are being examined,' he said. 'Everything is on the cards but what is finalized, that cannot be said right now.' Pakistan spends about $17 billion annually on oil imports, most of which come from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Pakistan is also counted among the largest buyers of cotton, which it uses as raw material for its huge textile industry. Most of Pakistan's cotton imports come from the US. As per official data, Pakistan spent more than half a billion dollars ($578 million) last year on the import of 204,890 tons of raw cotton and 119,845 tons of soya bean oil after the local harvest was found to be in poor quality. In 2023, Pakistan began buying discounted Russian crude oil banned from European markets due to Russia's war in Ukraine. Muhammad Waqas Ghani, head of research at the Karachi-based JS Global Capital Ltd., said Pakistan faces limitations in diversifying its product slate when it comes to Russian crude oil. He said this was because Russian crude oil yields a higher output of furnace oil. a less desirable fuel in the country's evolving energy mix. 'Importing US crude could offer access to a wider range of crude grades, better aligned with Pakistan's long-term goal of phasing out furnace oil,' Ghani explained. 'This move would also open doors for improved trade terms and potentially pave the way for tariff relief which is our primary objective for now.' 'OTHER VERY GOOD OPTIONS' Pakistan's cotton production has been hit hard by low quality of seeds and climate-induced calamities such as floods caused by excessive rains. 'Apart from that (US oil import) there are other very good options which are being discussed,' the official said. However, he confirmed that none of these options had been finalized yet as the delegation would want to meet the American officials and gauge Washington's expectations. 'Let's listen to them first,' he said. Pakistan's financial experts and independent think tanks have advised Islamabad to establish trade agreements with emerging economies such as Africa or the Central Asian Republics (CARs) or reinforce existing partnerships with China or the Middle East. Financial experts have also called upon the country to use America's imposition of tariffs as an opportunity and diversity its exports market to other regions to mitigate potential losses.
