President Obama signed a bill into law that could suspend a large chunk of US military aid to Pakistan; Karachi port faces severe congestion due to US ships carrying military hardware; PM Gilani reassures support for new provinces; 15 security officers k
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Whatsapp
  • Linkedin
  • Print
  • According to reports, US President Barack Obama has signed into law a bill that could suspend a large chunk of the $1.1 billion military aid to the country. The suspension is part of a massive $662 billion defence spending bill which President Obama signed on January 8, 2012 despite having “serious reservations” about some of its provisions. “The fact that I support this bill as a whole does not mean I agree with everything in it,” President Obama said in a statement issued by his office. 1

    Meanwhile, according to reports, the situation at Karachi port already struggling to cope with severe congestion, may worsen as a US vessel carrying military hardware, including about 350 heavy vehicles, for NATO/ISAF forces in Afghanistan sailed into the port on December 31, 2011. Another two ships with NATO supplies, including reefer containers with refrigeration system, are due in a few days. Terminals and areas around the port are already choc a bloc with hundreds of containers unloaded post Pakistan’s decision to block supply routes after drone attack that killed 24 soldiers. 2

    Reports noted that the Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has reiterated his commitment for the creation of new provinces, including a Saraeki province and asked the chief whip in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah to discuss it with allied parties and move a resolution in the House. The prime minister stated in the National Assembly in response to a point of order by Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan Abbasi of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N), “I am in full support of our province (Saraeki). If new provinces, including the Saraeki province, are not created during my premiership, then when it will happen,”. 3

    According to reports, on January 5, 2012, militants of Pakistan Taliban killed 15 security force members, they kidnapped last month close to the Afghan border. The mens’ naked bodies were dumped in Shiwa town in the North Waziristan region, said local residents Sada-u-Alla and Salam Khan. The Taliban has said that killing was in retaliation of a military action on 1st January. The slain men were members of the Constabulary Corp, a paramilitary outfit active in the border region with Afghanistan. 4

    In other developments, according to reports, amid speculations that the coalition government may be wrapped up or face a ‘big blow’ before Senate elections scheduled for March 11, the Pakistan People’s Party leadership decided on Thursday to hold them in mid-February, a senior party member told Dawn. The decision was taken at a meeting of the PPP’s core committee, jointly presided over by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at the Presidency. 5

    Top