Peshawar:
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Wednesday claimed that the federal government expressed its willingness to initiate conversations with Afghanistan through the provincial government.
In a speech with journalists after an event in connection with the framing of new rules and regulations in the provincial assembly, Chief Minister Gandapur said the center in principle agreed that KP made contact with Kabul.
“In these conversations some representatives will be theirs and some of ours. Even [Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran] Khan has said that negotiations with Afghanistan should move forward, “Gandapur told journalists.
However, he emphasized that provinces do not have the authority to conduct dialogue with abroad. “This authority rests on the federal government and the foreign office,” he said. He claimed that the center had conveyed a message to him to start contact with Afghanistan.
The minister also complained that his passport has remained blocked since May 9, 2023. “This is the situation in the country – a ministerial passport has been blocked. I have applied, but they did not issue me one,” he noted.
He also claimed that he has not been allowed to meet the PTI founder, but insisted that he would still follow the instructions if ordered. “If my chairman [Imran] Directs me, I’m going to Afghanistan, even without a passport, ”he said.
Warrants
The District and Sessions Court in Islamabad on Wednesday issued arrest warrant for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur in the long-term spirits and weapons recovery case after he failed to appear in court.
During a consultation, Judge Magistrate Mubashir Hassan Chishi Gandapur’s application for an exemption from personal appearance and instructed that he was arrested and presented to the court on September 17, in the case registered against him at the Bara Kahu police station.
Gandapur’s lawyer Raja Zahoorul Hassan requested the court to suspend Warrants. The court rejected the placement and said, “You are producing the defendant and I will cancel Warrants.” He said a junior lawyer could have requested a new consultation date that would be scheduled.
In previous hearings, the court noted that it had given K Gandapur plenty of opportunity and warned that a judgment could be sent in his absence if he did not appear. “No further relief will be awarded if the statement is not registered before July 21,” the magistrate said in a written order.
The case dates back to October 2016, when the Islamabad police allegedly recovered five Kalashnikov attack rifle, a gun, six magazines, a bulletproof vest, alcohol and three tear gas shells from a vehicle belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-In-Insaf (PTI) leads near Bani Gala.
Gandapur has consistently denied the allegations and stated that he traveled with two licensed Kalashnikov rifles and that there was a valid weapons license in the vehicle. He also claimed that the bottle allegedly contained alcohol that actually contained honey.
