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THE STANS
Pakistani Kashmiris want India border opened for flood relief
by Staff Writers
Muzaffarabad, Pakistan (AFP) Sept 22, 2014


Pakistan appoints new spy chief
Islamabad (AFP) Sept 22, 2014 - Pakistan on Monday named a new head of its main intelligence agency, considered the second most powerful official in the military after the army chief.

The naming of Rizwan Akhtar as director general of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) agency comes as a protest movement to topple the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif enters its second month.

His appointment will be closely scrutinised for any clues over how it may affect the current impasse and civil-military relations, in a country where the security establishment has traditionally wielded heavy political influence.

   It was announced in a      tweet by army spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa 
along with the promotions of other senior army officers. The current ISI chief Zaheer-ul-Islam is due to retire on October 1.

The final decision on appointing the chief rests with the prime minister, who was presented with a list of names to chose from.

Akhtar, who was also promoted from major-general to lieutenant-general, previously headed the paramilitary Rangers force in the southern province of Sindh, where he oversaw a major operation against criminal syndicates and Taliban militants in the city of Karachi that began last year.

The operation has reduced crime levels but was criticised by human rights activists over allegations of extra-judicial killings and torture.

From 2007-2010 Akhtar was posted in the restive South Waziristan tribal district along the Afghan border, a refuge for militant groups including the Pakistani Taliban.

Pakistan-controlled Kashmir's parliament on Monday called upon India to open the de facto border separating the two sides of the disputed territory to allow rescue officials to reach residents hit by devastating floods.

Monsoon-induced flooding has wreaked havoc on both sides of the Himalayan region, which is divided between the two nuclear-armed rivals.

Its effects have been particularly devastating in Srinagar, the capital of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir where thousands of people lost their homes and were stranded for weeks without aid.

The floods, which hit on September 7, also caused devastating economic losses running into billions of dollars to the area's famed carpet exporters, with separatists heavily criticising New Delhi's response.

The government of Pakistan's Azad Jammu Kashmir issued a resolution calling for the United Nations to intervene, which was passed by the parliament of the nominally autonomous territory.

"The government of Pakistan should contact the United Nations and government of India to open the ceasefire line to supply the relief goods to the flood victims for their rehabilitation," the resolution by the 49-member house said.

"India has left helpless Kashmiris alone. Hundreds of dead bodies are lying unattended and thousands of people are missing, there is no arrangement for edibles.

"So this meeting (calls on) the UN to send international agencies to the Indian-held Kashmir to help the victims," it said.

Separately, the union representing traders involved in business across the border also demanded the opening of the Line of Control (LoC) which splits the region in two.

"The United Nations should open the LoC for the relief activities to enable us to go and help the flood victims," Gohar Kashmiri, president of the Intra-Kashmir traders union, told a press conference.

Since 1989 fighting between Indian forces and rebels seeking independence or a merger of the territory with Pakistan has killed tens of thousands, mostly civilians.

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