Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridi, who helped the CIA hunt down Osama Bin Laden, was convicted of treason yesterday by a tribal court in northwestern Pakistan. He has been sentenced to 33 years in prison. Hassan Abbas, a former Pakistani government official, and P.J. Crowley, former Department of State spokesperson, discuss how the sentencing is sure to add new strains to an already troubled U.S.-Pakistan relationship.
Just over 15 years ago, Peter Arnett and Peter Bergen traveled to an isolated mud hut in the mountains of Eastern Afghanistan to interview the most notorious terrorist of all time, Osama bin Laden. Bergen, who produced the interview for CNN, has marked the anniversary with a new book that examines the ten-year search for the world’s most wanted man. Peter Bergen is the author of "Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden, from Nine-Eleven to Abbottabad."
The search continues for 140 people – 129 of them Pakistani soldiers – buried by an avalanche near the Siachen Glacier 12 days ago. Orla Guerin from our partner the BBC reports from the rescue site.
India test-fired a nuclear-capable missile last night, capable of reaching 3,100 miles and within range of China's key cities. India joins the U.S., China, Britain, France and Russia as the only nations with these kinds of weapons. David Sanger is the chief Washington correspondent for our partner the New York Times.
New details have come to light about the nine years Osama bin Laden spent on the run in Pakistan after 9/11. We now know he moved among five safe houses and fathered four children, at least two of whom were born in a government hospital. The information has come from a police report by the Dawn newspaper. Mubashir Zaidi is the head of Dawn TV, the Islamabad studio of our partner the BBC.
World leaders have called for closer cooperation to tackle the threat of nuclear terrorism at a summit on nuclear security in Seoul, South Korea. President Obama is among the world leaders in attendance. At the end of the summit there was a joint call to secure "vulnerable nuclear material". Lucy Williamson, a correspondent for our partner the BBC, joins us to discuss the Seoul summit and Obama's private meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani.
Pakistan was once the U.S.’s principal ally in the Afghanistan war. But tensions between the two countries have grown since the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad last May. Pakistan’s Parliament is currently debating the future of its relationship with the United States and President Obama is set to meet with Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in Seoul tomorrow. How will the U.S. move forward on Pakistan and how will strained relations between the two countries affect our current efforts in Afghanistan? Joining us is Christine Fair, professor at the Center for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University.
There are at least 100 reports of acid attacks in Pakistan each year, and they're overwhelmingly against women. This figure only accounts for the reported cases — it’s assumed that many more go unreported.
The Academy Award-winning documentary short film "Saving Face" looks at this phenomenon through the experiences of three people: Zakia, a 39-year-old woman whose husband threw acid on her after she filed for divorce; Rukhasana, a 23-year-old woman who was attacked by her husband and his family; and Dr. Mohammad Jawad, a plastic surgeon dedicated to healing the faces of the injured women.
Despite an apology from President Obama, protests and violence following the destruction of several Korans and other religious artifacts by U.S. troops have continued in Afghanistan and Pakistan. 30 people have been killed thus far, including four U.S. troops. As one of the most offensive possible acts, the unrest over this burning shows no signs of stopping.
Our partner the BBC has gotten its hands on a secret NATO report on the state of the Taliban. It shows Pakistan's security services are directly assisting the Taliban in Afghanistan and know where senior Taliban leaders are hiding. Joining us now is Bilal Sarwary, correspondent for our partner the BBC.
Ten years ago this week, Wall Street Journal South Asia bureau chief Daniel Pearl was abducted and killed by Pakistani militants. His grisly murder shocked the world, heralding the end of innocence for many foreign correspondents. It also became a rallying cry for those supporting the war on terror as well as those in Afghanistan and Iraq. But for those who actually knew Pearl, it was something else entirely.
We are accustomed to hearing about violence and instability in Pakistan, yet it remains a faraway place to most Americans. Yet what if Pakistan was home and its violence and uncertainty were part of the fabric of your life? And what if that violence one day claimed someone close to you? As a writer and as a Pakistani, Aatish Taseer has struggled all his life to understand his relationship with his country, with his ethnic homeland Punjab, and with his politically prominent father Salman Taseer, the governor of Pakistan's Punjab province. A year ago this week his father was assassinated just as he was finishing his first novel "Noon."
Since a NATO airstrike on November 26 accidentally killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at two military check points along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, the United States has had a difficult time maintaining its already strained relationship with Pakistan. "We’ve closed the chapter on the post-9/11 period," an anonymous senior United States official was quoted telling The New York Times. "Pakistan has told us very clearly that they are re-evaluating the entire relationship."
This week North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il died, a Pentagon investigation into airstrikes that killed 26 Pakistani soldiers heightened tensions between the U.S. and Pakistan, Countrywide was ordered to pay $355 million for discriminating against black and Latino borrowers, and a terrorism scandal in Iraq's second-highest office broke.
It's been a tumultuous year for U.S.-Pakistan relations. First came the arrest of a CIA contractor in Lahore who killed two Pakistani citizens, then the raid by U.S. special forces that ended in the death of Osama bin Laden. But relations hit a new low last month when a NATO air strike killed 26 Pakistani soldiers. A Pentagon report released Thursday says both countries share in the blame for the deadly attack, that Pakistani forces fired first.
A military investigation has found that the U.S. is in part responsible for killing 24 Pakistani soldiers in an errant airstrike along the Afghanistan border on November 26. The report also blames Pakistan for firing on U.S. and Afghan troops, saying the joint team returned fire in self-defense. The findings come at a time of deep mistrust between the two strategic allies. Adam Entous, national security correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, reports on the latest developments.
A crucial international conference on Afghanistan’s future began Monday in Bonn, Germany. Delegates from 100 nations are attempting to chart a long term course for the war-torn country, after international troops leave in 2014. But neighboring Pakistan, crucial to Afghanistan’s security, is boycotting the conference, following a NATO attack killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
Warren Weinstein is a veteran aid worker who was kidnapped by armed men in Lahore almost four months ago. Ayman al-Zawahiri and the Pakistan branch of al-Qaeda have claimed responsibility for this, and created a list of demands for his release. Among them are the end of U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, as well as the release of members of Osama bin Laden's family. However, it remains unclear if al-Qaeda actually has Weinstein in their custody.
Former journalist and human rights activist Sherry Rehman has been named as Pakistan's new ambassador to the United States. Rehman will replace Husain Haqqani, who resigned amid accusations he was involved in an effort to engage the U.S. to curb the Army's powers in Pakistan. Haqqani allegedly sent an anonymous memo sent to Admiral Mike Mullen after the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistani in May. The memo requested Washington’s help in diminishing the power of the Pakistani army. In recent days, a Pakistani-American businessman has said he was instructed to write the memo by Haqqani.
A satirical music video by the pop rock band Beygairat Brigade which openly mocks the military, nationalist politicians, and religious conservatism in Pakistan has become an internet sensation with more than 400,000 views in a few short weeks. “Aalu Anday,” which means “Potatoes and Eggs,” encourages open thought and a repeal of the country's anti-blasphemy laws.