Dushanbe summit pledges to curb drug trafficking; First Chinese-built frigate commissioned into Pakistan Navy; Six Christians killed by members of radical and banned Islamic sect
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Whatsapp
  • Linkedin
  • Print
  • Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia and Tajikistan, at a Four Nation Summit meeting in Dushanbe during the week agreed to intensify the fight against drug trafficking in the region. In a joint statement issued after the meeting, Presidents Asif Ali Zardari, Hamid Karzai, Dmitry Medvedev and Emomali Rakhmon expressed concern over the increasing narcotics trade, noting that it was one of the main sources of financing for militancy in the region. They also called on the international community to take “additional steps for a decisive fight against the narco-threat1.”

    PNS Zulfiquar, the first of the four F-22P frigates built by China at the Hudong Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai, was delivered to the Pakistan Navy and commissioned on July 30. The ceremony was attended by Pakistan Navy Chief Adm. Noman Bashir and Chinese navy and government representatives2.

    Six Christians were killed, several injured and properties destroyed in the Punjabi city of Gorja as members of a banned Islamic sect attacked the Christians over allegations that a Koran was defiled. Federal minister for minorities Shahbaz Bhatti stated that members of the banned Muslim organization Sipah-e-Sahiba were responsible for the incidents. Bhatti also clarified that there was no truth in the allegations that the Koran had been defiled3.

    In other developments, the Pakistan Supreme Court on July 31 denounced the successive military takeovers during the past four decades and declared Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s Emergency Order of November 3, 2007 imposing the emergency and the appointment of over 100 superior court judges, as illegal and unconstitutional. In the historic judgment, a 14-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry declared as unconstitutional Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar’s appointment as the Chief Justice of Pakistan after the imposition of emergency4. President Zardai and Prime Minister Gilani on their part welcomed the verdict and termed it a triumph of democratic principles in the country5.

    Top