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WASHINGTON: Richard Olson, a former US ambassador to Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, was sentenced to three years of probation on Friday for violating federal ethics laws. 
The 63-year-old Olson was also fined $93,400 after pleading guilty to charges he misused his official position for personal gain. 
Olson, who served as the US envoy to Pakistan from 2012 to 2015, pleaded guilty in June of last year to making a false statement and violating laws governing lobbying for a foreign government. 
Olson was accused of helping the government of Qatar influence US policymakers shortly after retiring from the State Department in 2016. 
“US law prohibits senior officials — like the defendant — from representing a foreign government before any federal agency or from aiding or advising a foreign entity with the intent to influence the US government for one year after leaving their positions,” the US Attorney’s Office for Washington said in a statement. 
“The defendant took numerous steps to conceal these illegal activities, including deleting incriminating emails and lying to the FBI during a recorded interview,” it said. 
According to the US Attorney’s Office, Olson, while serving as the US envoy to Pakistan, also received favors and benefits from a Pakistani-American businessman identified in court documents only as “Person 1.” 
They included $25,000 paid to Olson’s then-girlfriend to help pay her tuition at Columbia University in New York and $18,000 in first class travel for the ambassador to attend a job interview in London. 
“One major favor was that the defendant agreed to lobby members of Congress on Person 1’s behalf with respect to weapon sales to Pakistan and Middle Eastern countries that Person 1 was trying to broker,” the US Attorney’s office said. 
According to The Washington Post, “Person 1” is Imaad Zuberi, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2021 for making illegal campaign contributions and other offenses. 
ISLAMABAD: Islamabad on Monday rejected a report in an international media outlet that a secret Pakistani arms sale, made for the purpose of supplying the Ukraine military, helped to facilitate a bailout from the International Monetary Fund earlier this year.
The Intercept, an online American nonprofit news organization, on Sunday published a report saying “economic capital and political goodwill” from an arms sales to the US played a key role in helping secure a badly-needed $3 billion short-term financial package from the IMF in June. The report cited two unnamed sources with knowledge of the arrangement, with confirmation from internal Pakistani and American government documents.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch rejected the report as “baseless and fabricated.”
“The IMF Standby Arrangement for Pakistan was successfully negotiated between Pakistan and the IMF to implement difficult but essential economic reforms. Giving any other color to these negotiations is disingenuous,” she said.
“Pakistan maintains a policy of strict neutrality in the dispute between Ukraine and Russia and in that context, does not provide any arms and ammunition to them. Pakistan’s defense exports are always accompanied with strict end user requirements.”
On February 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The move drew widespread condemnation from countries around the world and triggered sanctions by Western powers on Russia and Putin’s allies in the country. Pakistan remains one of the few countries in the world that have refrained from condemning Russia directly, though it has called for the use of diplomacy to resolve the crisis. 
Islamabad has also stated categorically that it does not want to be part of any bloc and repeatedly called for de-escalation.
“Pakistan is known as a production hub for the types of basic munitions needed for grinding warfare,” The Intercept report said.
“As Ukraine grappled with chronic shortages of munitions and hardware, the presence of Pakistani-produced shells and other ordinances by the Ukrainian military has surfaced in open-source news reports about the conflict, though neither the US nor the Pakistanis have acknowledged the arrangement.”
Records detailing the arms transactions were leaked to The Intercept earlier this year by a source within the Pakistani military, the outlet said, adding that the documents described munitions sales agreed to between the US and Pakistan from the summer of 2022 to the spring of 2023.
“Some of the documents were authenticated by matching the signature of an American brigadier general with his signature on publicly available mortgage records in the United States; by matching the Pakistani documents with corresponding American documents; and by reviewing publicly available but previously unreported Pakistani disclosures of arms sales to the US posted by the State Bank of Pakistan.”
The weapons deals were brokered, according to the documents, by Global Military Products, a subsidiary of Global Ordnance, a controversial arms dealer whose entanglements with less-than-reputable figures in Ukraine were the subject of a recent New York Times article.
Documents outlining the money trail and talks with US officials include American and Pakistani contracts, licensing, and requisition documents related to US-brokered deals to buy Pakistani military weapons for Ukraine, The Intercept said. 
ISLAMABAD: A neutral expert from the World Bank will take up on Wednesday the legal battle between Islamabad and New Delhi at The Hague over designs of two hydropower projects being built by India, Pakistani media reported on Monday.
The South Asian neighbors have been arguing over hydroelectric projects on the shared Indus River and its tributaries for decades, with Pakistan complaining that India’s planned hydropower dams will cut flows on the river which feeds 80 percent of its irrigated agriculture.
Pakistan, a lower riparian state, is specifically opposed to India’s construction of the 330-megawatt Kishanganga Hydroelectric Project on River Jhelum and 850-megawatt Ratle Hydroelectric Project on River Chenab in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. India says the construction of the two projects is allowed by the Indus Water Treaty signed between the two countries in 1960.
“Pakistan’s delegation comprising Pakistan’s commissioner of Indus Waters, top officials of the Attorney General’s Office, and a team of international lawyers hired by the Government of Pakistan would advocate the country’s case for justice,” a top official at the Attorney General’s office told The News, one of Pakistan’s largest English-Language newspapers.
The Indus Waters Treaty provides two forums for the settlement of disputes, the Court of Arbitration which addresses legal, technical and systemic issues, and a Neutral Expert who can only adjudicate on technical issues.
Earlier this year, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague rejected India’s objections to a Pakistan-initiated procedure over water use in the Indus River basin, reopening a procedure that had been blocked for many years.
Pakistan sought resolution through PCA arbitration proceedings in 2016, prompting India to request that the World Bank appoint a neutral expert under the terms of the treaty. India has boycotted The Hague court proceedings and questioned the competence of the court.
“In a unanimous decision, which is binding on the Parties and without appeal, the Court rejected each of the objections raised by India and determined that the Court is competent to consider and determine the disputes set forth in Pakistan’s Request for Arbitration,” the court said in a statement after its ruling earlier this year. 
It gave no details on when and how the case will continue, but added that it will address the interpretation and application of the bilateral Indus Water Treaty, notably the provisions on hydro-electric projects, as well as the legal effect of past decisions of dispute resolution bodies under the Treaty.
Pakistan has also been consistently raising its concerns in the Permanent Indus Commission since 2006 for Kishanganga and 2012 for the Ratle project. Pakistan also sought a resolution to the dispute in government level talks held in New Delhi in July 2015.
Pakistan has raised three objections to the Kishenganga project’s design, including that the project pond is 7.5 million cubic meters, which should be one million cubic meters. Pakistan also wants India to raise intake by up to 1-4 meters and spillways up to nine meters high.
On the issue of the Ratle Hydropower plant, Islamabad wants India to maintain the freeboard at one meter whereas India wants to keep it at two meters. In addition, India wants to keep the pond of 24 million cubic meters, but Pakistan wants it to be restricted to eight million cubic meters. Pakistan also wants the intake of the project to be raised by up to 8.8 meters and its spillways raised by up to 20 meters.
ISLAMABAD: As proceedings from Pakistan’s Supreme Court were broadcast live on Monday by state television for the first time, divisions between 15 judges of the top court became apparent over a law passed earlier this year that curtails the powers of the chief justice.
The live proceedings marked the beginning of the tenure of new Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, sworn in on Sunday upon the retirement of his predecessor Justice Umar Ata Bandial. Isa’s first order of business was to open for live broadcast hearings in multiple petitions against the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023, which curtails the discretion of the chief justice to take up any legal matter directly, commonly known as suo moto action, hear appeals, as well as his powers to entrust cases to his fellow judges. It instead proposes a three-member committee led by the chief justice to decide on such matters with majority vote.
The law was passed by Pakistan’s outgoing parliament in April but was struck down by the Supreme Court the same month. It had pitted the outgoing coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif against CJ Isa’s predecessor.
After taking oath on Sunday, CJ Isa constituted a full court bench, comprising all 15 judges of the apex court, to hear the petitions challenging the law. He told the court on Monday it was a “majority consensus decision” to telecast the proceedings live.
“There is a difference between liking a law and its constitutionality as many laws I don’t like either, but that doesn’t mean they are wrong,” CJ Isa, who is believed to support checks on the chief justice’s powers, said during the hearing, adding that the case did not relate to an individual’s rights but rather to the constitution and the rights of the Pakistani people.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, another judge on the bench, also argued that the law had bolstered the judiciary’s independence.
“Nowhere in the world does a chief justice have such powers and the powers of the chief justice should not be seen as the independence of the judiciary,” Justice Shah said, arguing that parliament, as it represented the people of Pakistan, had the right to legislate.
Justice Athar Minallah also questioned whether it was right to give unlimited powers to the chief justice to form benches without consulting others.
“The old system of bench formation vests all powers in one person,” he noted.
However, other judges like Muneeb Akhtar questioned parliament’s role in judicial and administrative matters of the Supreme Court.
“Can the parliament legislate regarding administrative and judicial matters of the Supreme Court and isn’t it against the doctrine of division of powers of institutions,” Justice Akhtar asked.
Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan also spoke about parliament “infringing” upon judicial powers, warning that such interference could undermine the judiciary’s independence.
“If the parliament interferes with the powers of the judiciary, then the independence of the judiciary will be destroyed,” he remarked.
The hearing of the case was adjourned until October 3.
Live proceedings of Monday’s Supreme Court Session are being seen as a curtain raiser to CJ Isa’s tenure, whose elevation has garnered nationwide interest given his reputation as a maverick judge and his hard-hitting judgments criticizing the role of the country’s powerful military in politics.
Among widely-discussed judgments during his judicial career, a ruling by CJ Isa in 2019 posed scathing questions about the role of the military and its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency in brokering a deal between religious activists and the then government.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was close to the then chief of the ISI Faiz Hameed, attempted to have Isa removed as a judge on charges of financial impropriety in 2018 — a charge that was thrown out in 2019 for want of evidence by his fellow judges.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani political party Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has called for a protest on Tuesday in the country’s southern port city of Karachi against the government’s decision to hike fuel prices last week, calling on citizens to take to the streets against the measure which is likely to exacerbate the country’s inflation woes. 
Pakistan’s finance ministry announced increasing the price of petrol by Rs26.02 per liter on Friday, with the price of the commodity breaching the Rs330 mark for the first time in the history of the inflation-hit South Asian country. This was the third fuel hike by the interim government of Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, and is expected to fuel further inflation, which was recorded at 27.4 percent year-on-year in August.
Pakistan’s move to hike fuel prices comes after it secured an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in June for a $3 billion bailout package. The loan helped Pakistan avoid a debt default but meant the South Asian country had to agree to tough conditions imposed by the IMF. The recent hikes in energy prices also come as part of it.
“I want to say to the 35,000,000 people of Karachi, if they stand with unity and take part in peaceful and disciplined protests, then an entire movement will begin in the country,” Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, the president of JI’s Karachi chapter, said in a video message.
“Hence we have decided, on Tuesday, September 19 at 5:00 p.m. everyone should come out of their homes onto the streets and turn off their motorcycles and cars and park them on the roads.”
 
 
Time to take action!
Join us in a battle against skyrocketing fuel prices!
On Tuesday, at 5 PM, I urge you all to switch off your vehicles on the road and record your protest. @NaeemRehmanEngr#FuelPriceProtest #TogetherWeStand
#EnoughIsEnough#PetrolDieselPrice pic.twitter.com/2gg1WSOBrd
 
The decision to hike fuel prices was taken weeks after angry citizens took to the streets in various parts of the country in August against the government’s move to increase the power tariff in July. Enraged citizens torched their power bills, saying that the increased tariff had rendered them unable to pay steep power bills. 
The protests will take place at a time when Pakistan’s economy is in a tailspin, as its currency depreciates against the US dollar and the country’s reserves dwindle. Pakistan has attempted to attract foreign direct investment to ward off its economic crisis and cracked down on smuggling and illegal hoarding and trading of US dollars to revive the economy. 
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top spot in the international ODI rankings will be up for grabs ahead of the 50-over Men’s World Cup in October-November, the ICC said on Monday, with Australia and India closing in on the number one ranking before the megaevent kicks off. 
According to the latest updated ICC ODI team rankings released on Sunday, Pakistan retained their top spot despite losing to India and Sri Lanka in the Super Four stages of the Asia Cup 2023 tournament. Babar Azam’s side have 3,102 points from 27 matches and a rating of 115. India, with 4,701 points are close behind with a rating of 115 but from 41 matches. Australia, with 3,166 points from 28 matches have a rating of 113 and sit at the number three spot.
India and Australia squandered their chances of clinching the top spot from Pakistan, the former after losing to Bangladesh in the Asia Cup Super Four stage and the latter by losing three back-to-back matches to South Africa. 
“Pakistan hold onto the No.1 spot at the end of Asia Cup 2023 despite their early exit and India’s thumping win over Sri Lanka in the final,” the ICC said in a report. “Australia too squandered their chance to go on top of the rankings after the series loss to South Africa.”
The only way Australia can head the ODI rankings before the World Cup begins is by whitewashing India when the two sides play a three-match ODI series from Sept. 22-27. If Australia start the series with two wins, they will go on top of the rankings until the final ODI at least.
India, on the other hand, are in prime position to steal the number one ODI spot from Pakistan by winning the first ODI against Australia at home, which takes place on Sept.22. 
“Rohit Sharma’s side are coming off a spectacular Asia Cup win and they could reach the No.1 position as early as Friday next week by defeating Australia in the first ODI in Mohali,” the ICC added. 
If India avoid a whitewash but still lose the series to Australia, Pakistan will remain the top-ranked side for the World Cup. Conversely, a 3-0 loss to Australia will see India slip to third position and Australia go on top.
For Pakistan to keep their number one spot ahead of the World Cup is a difficult ask, especially when Azam’s side have no official ODIs scheduled ahead of the megaevent. 
“They [Pakistan] could still regain the top ranking if Australia and India continue to lose, but the fact these two teams are scheduled to play each other at the end of the month means one of them would then re-claim the premier position,” the ICC added. 

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