Wary US unlikely to restore full Egypt aid soon

WASHINGTON: As Egypt prepares to swear in its fourth leader since 2011, a huge slice of $1.5 billion in US aid remains in deep-freeze amid fears the nation is sliding back into authoritarianism.

Former general Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will be crowned as the next president on Sunday after three years of political turmoil since the ousting of long-time iron-fisted leader Hosni Mubarak.

But far from welcoming Sisi as a step toward stability, some analysts are urging Washington to re-think its decades-old, military-based aid program amid concerns over human rights abuses and a crackdown on civil liberties.

In a sign of Washington´s unease, no senior US cabinet members will be attending the inauguration, with State Department Counselor Thomas Shannon asked to lead the delegation.

US officials announced in April they planned to resume some military aid to Cairo, suspended late last year, including 10 Apache helicopters for counterterrorism efforts in the Sinai peninsula.

But the aircraft remain in storage in the US, and a request to release some $650 million of the frozen aid has been put on hold in Congress by Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of an appropriations subcommittee.

Leahy said he was "extremely disturbed" by Egypt´s "flouting of human rights" and would not sign off on delivering the aid "until we have a better understanding of how the aid would be used."

But there are also no current plans to unblock the rest of the suspended 2014 funding, which includes some military hardware such as Harpoon missiles and parts for Abram tanks.

Under legislation penned by Leahy, Kerry has to certify Egypt is on the path to democracy before all the aid can be released.

"There´s no timeline for when we have to make additional decisions about the assistance we haven´t yet certified for Egypt," State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said, stressing there was "more work to do" and the administration was not "satisfied" about the pace of democratic progress.

While the US was ready to work with Egypt on badly-needed economic reforms, Harf was also non-committal on whether Washington would join a donors´ conference proposed this week by Saudi Arabia.

The Gulf kingdom, together with the United Arab Emirates, has vowed to pump some $10 billion into the Egyptian economy.

 

PEMRA ignores SC orders to restore Geo

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PERMA) has disregarded Supreme Court orders of restoring Geo channels on cable networks across Pakistan.

According to a report published in The News by Ahmad Noorani, Geo television has decided to knock on the doors of the Supreme Court again by moving a contempt of court petition against PEMRA after the apex court’s orders to restore Geo transmission were completely ignored.

The Supreme Court in its order on May 26 ordered PEMRA to restore Geo channels stating that cable operators did not have the authority to remove or reposition channels. Referring to its ruling in 2012, the apex court stated that channels can only be blocked if their license is suspended or cancelled by PEMRA.

Despite the Supreme Court orders, PEMRA has failed to take any action to restore Geo channels which cannot be seen in 90% of the country. People have been deprived of their favourite Geo channels over PEMRA’s failure to implement SC orders.

PEMRA fails to implement SC orders to restore Geo’s channels

ISLAMABAD: TV channels of Geo Network continue remain shut across the country, as Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) failed to implement the Supreme Court’s orders to restore Geo’s channels that had been illegally put off air by the cable operators.

In blatant violation of the Supreme Court’s judgment on Monday, the PEMRA remained completely unmoved due to mysterious reasons and failed to get the Geo News and other channels restored despite the fact that the apex court had declared that criminal proceedings would be initiated against those creating hurdles in restoration of transmission of the channels, writes Ahmad Noorani.

The Supreme Court has ordered that not only all the channels of Geo family shall be restored but also their position must not be changed/altered or obstructed.

Clearly knowing that not implementing the order will be contempt of court, the Pemra officials remained unmoved and Geo News and other channels of the group remained off air in majority of the areas of the country.

Cable operators in different cities refused to restore the Geo News transmission even when citizens informed them of the verdict of the Supreme Court penned down on Monday.But the Pemra officials remained indifferent to all these issues and the apex court’s orders.

PM committed to restore peace in Karachi: Mamnoon

KARACHI: President Mamnoon Hussain here on Monday said Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is committed to restore peace and security in the city and the government is making its best efforts on this account.
However, he said , certain political expediencies at local level are creating hindrances to proceed with the on-going targeted operation in the city to its logical end.
The President was talking to representatives of print and electronic media during an interactive session with them at the State Guest House.
Mamnoon Hussain said that he had a detailed discussion on Karachi situation with Sindh Governor Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan and he intended to have a similar meeting with the Chief Minister today.
He said that ensuring peace and security in the country and strengthening economy is the top priority of the government. Improving law and order situation in Karachi is essential for the revival and growth of the country's economy, he maintained. He said that Karachi has become a sanctuary for terrorists and other criminals because it has around 20 million population and more than 500 kutchi abadies. Had the law enforcing agencies taken it serious and reacted strongly , these abadies would not have emerged, he said.
Mamnoon Hussain said that the social and economic issues and challenges facing Pakistan these days and low scale of development are mainly because of repeated de-railing of democracy or creating hurdles in the democratic process over the last 66 years. In India, the democratic process smoothly moved on and as the result national institutions strengthened and flourished there. This contributed a lot to the development process of the country. The President described his visit to China as very successful.
He declared the economic corridor as a unique project of the present century which is being executed with the cooperation of China. Not only Pakistan and China but central Asia and entire Europe will benefit from the mega project. Later, the corridor will be expanded to Karachi from Gwadar.
He said two nuclear power plants being set up in Karachi in cooperation with China will generate 2200 MW electricity daily. Three more such plants will be set up in other areas of the city.
He said that China will also soon start the work on Lahore - Karachi Motorway.
China will purchase JF-17 thunder fighter aircraft from Pakistan for its air force. This will increase the demand for our aircraft in international market. China will sell to Pakistan JF-17 fighter helicopters and these will prove an effective tool in war against terrorism. China will also supply a submarine to Pakistan, he said.
He informed the media that China wanted to make investment in many projects in Pakistan. The investment by China will also create employment opportunities here.
He said Chinese authorities showed their concern over the security of the Chinese working in Pakistan and he assured them of a better security cover to the Chinese friends. Mamnoon Hussain said that he had discussed the issue with Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and suggested for a forming a special force to provide foolproof security to Chinese. To a question, he said Pakistan wanted its best relations with all other countries including United States and the neighbouring countries.
Mamnoon said that he is the Chancellor of 17 universities of the country and he would be working for the promotion of quality education and for better health facilities in nook and corner of the country.
He said that he was personally taking interest and supporting polio campaign in the country so that we can succeed in overcoming this menace at the earliest.