Veteran journalist Azaz Syed has revealed how former spymaster General (retd) Faiz Hameed’s arrest took place.
On his YouTube show Talk Shock, Azaz said that Superintendent Adiala jail Mohammad Akram had multiple phones, one of which was an outdated Chinese-made phone used to exchange messages between former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and the former Chief of Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) Faiz Hameed.
“The phone was so outdated that the latest technology that the intelligence agencies deployed could not initially trace its calls,” Azaz claims.
He said that information was sent to intelligence that Mohammad Akram received calls from one number many times; after the number was checked, Faiz was apprehended, and intelligence agencies recovered the phone.
He further revealed that “Former Chief Justice Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar was also contacted through these phones.”
While commenting on Akram’s arrest, Syed predicted he would be a sworn witness against Imran Khan and Faiz Hameed.
Azaz said, “It will be a confessional statement someday”.
“When all evidence was showed to Faiz Hameed, he was shocked and disturbed”, Azaz claimed, adding that caught red-handed, he did not get the option to deny what he had done.
A rally of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), scheduled to be held in Islamabad on August 22, has been postponed and rescheduled for September 8 after the local government revoked the No Objection Certificate (NOC) and sealed the road, putting security on high alert.
PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Khan commented on the notification, stating that it was done on founder PTI Imran Khan’s advice. He said, “We postponed the jalsa following a meeting with the PTI founder in Adiala jail,”
PTI Secretary Genaral Omar Ayub stated, “We have received information that the government is conspiring to spread anarchy under cover of the jalsa”.
Chief of Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rahman has denied that he is forming an alliance with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and said that his party will continue political activities on their own.
While speaking to the media at Dera Ismail Khan, he said, “Our alliance experience in the past has not been good, so we will continue our struggle on our own.”
He further stated, “We are talking to the PTI on an issue basis instead of entering into a political alliance.”
Fazlur Rehman made it clear that the party is not hostile to the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) or Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
The party led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman believed in launching an effort to achieve the rights of the oppressed people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan, staying within the constitution.
In an interesting development, Pakistani citizen Farhan Asif was taken into custody in Lahore for being involved in spreading fake news which sparked far-right racist riots in the United Kingdom a few weeks ago.
During the last few weeks, Britain witnessed dangerous, widespread, violent riots as a result of misinformation about the identity of the alleged attack that killed three young girls on July 29.
The riots targeted immigrants, Muslim communities, asylum centres and numerous mosques as well.
The UK police authorities said that they had arrested over 1,000 people in connection with the weeks-long riots in England.
The Lahore police stated that the suspect was arrested in the DHA area of Lahore and handed over to the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cybercrime wing for interrogation.
Geo News reported that the suspect works for a news platform based in Pakistan. He has already confessed to the interrogators that he once published a story on his news website that went viral.
Background
On August 8, BBC’s Marianna Spring reported about the involvement of a Lahore man in spreading misinformation regarding the Southport stabbing.
The BBC report was followed by an ITV report stating that Farhan Asif was the owner of the website which misquoted the name of the stabber as Ali Al-Shakati and declared him an immigrant from Syria, who had arrived in the UK on a boat. Later, a UK court announced that the name of the teenager charged with the murders was Axel Rudakubana, who turned out to be a British national.
ITV said that they couldn’t find out who is the real owner of the website but Farhan Asif has “a significant role in a network of news websites that have promoted falsehoods.”
Dawn’s sources in Pakistan said that the person identified in the ITV report was a freelancer working for Channel3Now, which collects crime-related news from the UK and the USA and republishes the stories for the sake of clicks and advertisements.
The BBC report also cracked down on people attached to Channel3Now and asserted that it was actually “a commercial operation attempting to aggregate crime news while making money on social media”. The analysis of the website also showed that all the the freelance writers were recruited from several countries, including Pakistan and India.
The BBC report elaborated that there are “more than 30” people in the US, UK, Pakistan and India who work for the site, which usually recruits freelancers.
According to ITV, Channel3Now regularly publishes sensational news stories under the garb of being an American-style TV channel.
However, BBC quoted Kevin as saying that Farhan Asif in particular was not involved in the false Southport story, which the site has publicly apologised for, and blamed there UK based team for that.
Wider disinformation network
Even though the report speculated that the website had links with Russia, it could not come up with a proof for that. Marianna Spring stated, “I did not find any evidence to substantiate claims that Channel3Now’s misinformation could be linked to the Russian state. [A] person claiming to be from Channel3Now‘s management told me that the publication of the false name “shouldn’t have happened, but it was an error, not intentional”.
Atika noted that there are chances of website be linked to Srivastava Group, an Indian company that ran a vast network of anti-Pakistan fake news websites, which was unearthed by the EU DisinfoLab in a 2019 investigation.
In an interview with British media outlet ITV at Adiala jail through his lawyer, former Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulated Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK) Keir Starmer on his election victory and sought help disseminating awareness of democracy being at risk in Pakistan.
Founder Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said, “I urge PM Starmer and his cabinet, who assumed power through the genuine will of the people without any electoral manipulation, to imagine if their overwhelming victory was stolen”.
“Picture a scenario where a party that barely won 18 seats usurped your mandate, where your party symbols were stripped, and your leaders were imprisoned or tortured until they switched allegiances or left politics altogether. Imagine homes broken into and women and children abducted in the dead of night.” Khan stated.
“I am in a seven feet width and eight feet length prison which is usually allocated for death penalty perpetrators and terrorists,” he said, a statement that has been refuted by the government multiple times.
“Surveillance is permanent, and privacy has been torn apart. Despite these hurdles, I am getting energy from exercise, prayer, and study,” Khan concluded..
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Qaiser apologised to the people of Pakistan on July 20 for extending the tenure of former Army Chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa.
“I apologise to the nation for granting an extension to General Bajwa. It was a mistake that we deeply regret,” said Qaiser on Samaa TV.
In 2019, former Prime Minister Imran Khan approved an extension of then-Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa’s tenure for another three years in a notification which stated, “The decision has been taken in view of the regional security environment.”
The former Speaker of the National Assembly admitted that the decision backfired on the party. Qaiser also hinted at starting peaceful protests if party founder Imran Khan faces a military trial.
He further suggested that legal international avenues like the International Court of Justice (ICJ) could be explored if the situation arises.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has strongly criticised Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah’s remarks against the Punjab government’s decision to raise electricity prices, calling it “foolish.”
On Monday, while addressing a ceremony, Murad Ali Shah said that such “strange announcements” put them (Sindh govt) in a fix. “We (Sindh government) find it difficult how to respond to these foolish statements. But I don’t want to get into politics,” he added.
Likewise, another Sindh minister, Saeed Ghani, also questioned the Punjab government’s policy, asking, “What will happen after two months of relief to the people of Punjab?”
However, Maryam Nawaz expressed disbelief at the Sindh CM’s comments, remarking, “I laughed when I heard someone say it’s foolish to reduce electricity prices. Isn’t it foolish to pocket money from corruption and spend it on protocol, planes, helicopters, and convoys while denying relief to the public?”
Last week, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif announced a relief package for the people of Punjab: Rs 14 per unit of electricity will be reduced for two months.
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar has responded to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Sher Afzal Marwat’s claim of holding a rally on August 22 in Islamabad, saying that there are low chances that the opposition will be granted permission for the rally.
Talking on Geo News’ ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath’, Tarar stated, “Considering their violent track record, I don’t think they will be allowed to rally in the federal capital.”
Tarar also blamed PTI for not holding a peaceful protest, citing the context of the May 9 riots. He added, “One has to prove that they are peaceful.”
“They also came here when Pervaiz Khattak was Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) with heavy machinery aiming to remove obstacles,” the minister concluded.
Earlier, Marwat said, ‘’We will show the High Court’s permission if the police file a case against us after the August 22 power show.”
Former Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar on Monday confirmed that he had been in contact with former ISI Chief Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed; however, journalist Ansar Abbasi revealed that he categorically denied any wrongdoing or connection with May 9 riots.
“I swear that I have nothing to do with May 9, PTI and its politics,” revealed Saqib Nisar.
He said that the allegations against him are “totally nonsensical.” The former CJP also clarified that he attended Gen Faiz’s daughter’s wedding ceremony and has been exchanging routine pleasantries and wishes on various occasions.
He recalled that when he and his family visited northern areas of the country, the general was “very kind to look after them.”
The CJP also recounted that Gen Faiz used to meet his registrar besides occasionally sending him “for eyes only” messages during his tenure as the Chief Justice.
“I have nothing to worry about,” he said, revealing that he is returning to Pakistan on September 5th.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi and his sister Aleema Khan exchanged harsh words during the Toshakhana case hearing at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, Express Tribune has reported.
An uproar flared up in the family section of the prison, where women’s voices were heard arguing loudly, interrupting Imran Khan’s conversation with journalists thrice.
The dispute started after Aleema Khan commented about a female lawyer in court, to which Bushra Bibi and her daughters responded, upon which a heated conversation escalated, and both exchanged hard-hitting words.
Meanwhile, Bushra Bibi’s granddaughter started crying as the argument unfolded.
Outside the jail, Aleema talked to journalists to take a swipe at PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat. “Imran Khan just shook hands with Sher Afzal Marwat, he did not hug him,” Aleema stated.
She accused Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa of trying to eliminate PTI and Imran Khan. “As Qazi Faez ends his tenure, the election results will crumble.” Faez Isa and Chief Justice Islamabad High Court Amir Farooq are a part of the London agreement plan, which facilitates Nawaz Sharif, she alleged.
