U.S. Charges Two Men with Illegal Lobbying for Pakistan

Two Pakistani-American men were charged Tuesday with being on the payroll of Pakistan’s ISI and illegally lobbying the U.S. government over the issue of Kashmir on behalf of Pakistan, according to reports. The men are charged in connection with a front group in the United States that Pakistani intelligence has allegedly operated for 20 years, funneling money to lawmakers and lobbying Congress and the White House.

One of the men charged, Syed Fai, lives in Virginia and was arrested on Tuesday. The other, Zaheer Ahmad, is in Pakistan and is being sought. Fai is the director of the Kashmiri American Council, which the FBI alleges is financed by the Pakistani military to lobby U.S. lawmakers against India’s control over much of Kashmir. The FBI alleges that “Fai and his council received more than $4 million from the Pakistani government since the mid-1990s. The FBI said that in 2009, the council’s projected budget called for $100,000 in contributions to members of Congress,” according to the Wall Street Journal. Ahmad is alleged to have organized contributors to the council in Pakistan, who would then be reimbursed by Pakistan’s military.

The allegations come at a tense moment in U.S.-Pakistan relations, which have deteriorated since the May raid that killed Osama bin Laden and the diplomatic stand-off over the arrest of a CIA contractor in Pakistan earlier this year.

Mapuche Juvenile Processed Under Antiterrorism Law

 On Saturday, April 30th, a Mapuche juvenile (either 16 or 17, depending on the report) was detained and, ultimately, arrested and processed for four crimes under Chile’s Antiterrorism Law. Specifically, the youth was processed for having violated the arson, association (with terrorists), attempted terrorist murder and armed robbery sections of the Antiterrorism Law.

Although the investigation is still pending, the Temuco Court of Appeals met on May 3rd and granted the youth his freedom. This decision upheld what the lower court had granted and came despite arguments from the Chilean prosecutor seeking continued detention as the proceedings continue.

The arrest and processing were controversial for a number of reasons, one of which is because, according to José Venturelli, the European Secretariat of the Ethical Commission Against Torture, the arrest and processing violates the commitments made by the Chilean Government to the Mapuche with respect to terrorism charges. In addition, according to Venturelli, the arrest appears to be in violation of international law.

Thus far, the media coverage of the event has been scarce and this site is aware of no comments made by any Chilean Government officials on this issue at this time.

In addition to being processed under the Antiterrorism Law, there were also allegations made by Jorge Huenchullan — the werken of the community where the arrest took place — of abuse and coercion at the time of the arrest. At the time of this writing, those allegations have neither been corroborated by other witnesses, nor denied by the Chilean Government.

Strengthen of Nigeria Borders

Jonathan said that Nigeria will strengthen its borders with neighbors.

ABUJA—PIQUED by expanding occurrence of trans-border offense and terrorism around Nigeria, President Good luck Jonathan yesterday said that the country would take specific steps to make stronger security cooperation with neighboring countries.

He also added that the move was to check trans-border crime and terrorism in the West African sub-region.He expressed his distress at reports of an attempted revolution in Niger, and said the sub-region would not be familiar with such interference in Niger or anywhere else in West Africa.

Jonathan was speaking to President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger Republic at the opening of bilateral talks between designations of the two nations at State House.Jonathan said that the Terrorism and trans-border crime create a serious security threat to all our countries, so we will strengthen border patrols and other areas of cooperation with our neighbours, to guarantee the safety of our citizens.

On food security for the two countries, the President told President Issoufou that Nigeria had plenty of gas and was going to establish plants to produce fertilizer suitable for the different types of soil in the country, and invited Niger to communicate with significant officials to make sure that appropriate fertilizer was produced for their country.

China to climb anti-terrorism collaboration with Pakistan

To ensure regional peace and stability (IANS) China would step up its anti-terrorism cooperation with Pakistan, Xinhua reported Wednesday.

Foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told that China and Pakistan have copied tremendous cooperation in anti-terrorism. He added these words while vowing that China will carry on making stronger its collaboration with Pakistan and jointly breaking down on the 'three evil forces' of terrorism, independence and radicalism.

Foreign ministry spokesman praised the achievements of Pakistan that has made so far in fighting terrorism and also said that the country is a significant frontline state in the international fight against violence and has made terrific contributions in the region. 

China blamed the terrorists who trained in Pakistan for an attack in its far-western Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region that killed six people and 15 injured, on Monday. State-run Xinhua news agency confirmed a collection of religious extremists led by 'culprits trained in overseas terrorist camps' were behind the weekend attack on civilians in the Xinjiang region. 

The early investigation has shown that the heads of the group had educated the skills of producing explosives and firearms in overseas camps of the terrorist group 'East Turkistan Islamic Movement' (ETIM) in Pakistan before entering Xinjiang to organize terrorist activities, the government of Kashgar city said in an online statement.