Posted on 10/20/2009 9:47:31 PM PDT by STARWISE
Pakistani newspapers are buzzing with reports that the son of Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi works for Sen. John Kerry, man of the hour in helping resolve Afghanistan's elections dispute.
A spokesman for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee told POLITICO that Zain H. Qureshi has served as an intern in Kerry's personal Senate office. He said it was his understanding that the internship has concluded. He didn't immediately know the duration of Qureshi's work in Kerry's office.
A business card circulating on Pakistani sites describes Zain Qureshi as a legislative fellow in Kerry's Senate office.
Pakistani media are portraying the association between the Pakistani envoy's son and the Senate Foreign Relations committee chair as problematic, and fodder for ongoing Pakistani suspicion about recently passed U.S. legislation that provides for $7.5 billion in US assistance to Pakistan over the next five years.
Pakistani military leaders have criticized the "Kerry-Lugar-Berman" bill as attempting to infringe on the South Asian nation's sovereignty.
Domestic critics have also portrayed Pakistani civilian leaders including Foreign Minister Qureshi and Ambassador Husain Haqqani as complicit in giving the nod to the legislation.
Qureshi couldn't immediately be reached. The cell phone on his business card now belongs to another subscriber, and his Senate email bounced back.
Well, well. Lookie here!
I’m betting Tuhreza had an extra dose of medicinal rum-soaked raisins after Jacque F’n Kerry received his shout-out affirmation from TOTUS Tuesday.
and of course, those raisins in the Finest rum
He's such a priggish, ruling class fool.
Why the long face, John ?
Political observers in the federal capital point out that the foreign minister might have been aware of the John Kerry-Lugar Bill’s formative stages through Mr. Zain H Qureshi. If that was the case the analysts have reason to ask as to what was the rationale of foreign minister’s rushing to Washington to seek “ clarification” or in-depth briefing from the horse’s mouth. If all this was Act One of a melodrama, Act Two was rushing back to Islamabad with John Kerry’s assurance. Based on that was foreign minister’s rhetorical statement in the parliament.
The analysts say, supporters of the Bill are trying to weave a tale which at best can be termed as cow-and-bull story. They point to the posture of our ‘His Excellency’ in Washington, our ambassador Hussain Haqqani who sounds more like John Kerry’s spokesman than Pakistan’s envoy.
Whatever the shades and shadows, the debate over the John Kerry-Lugar Bill will enter decisive phase very soon with foreign ministry cutting a sorry figure with embarrassment writ large on the faces of those trying to defend the Bill in the forefront”, one analyst observed.
Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi with US Senator John Kerry at Prime Minister House on 16-12-2008.
13 April 2009
Pakistan has told an influential visiting U.S. senator that Washington should not put conditions on a massive aid package expected for Pakistan.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's office Monday said he told U.S. Senator John Kerry that "aid with strings attached would fail to generate the desired goodwill and results in Pakistan."
Kerry, who heads the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has backed legislation that would triple U.S. non-military aid to Pakistan, to $1.5 billion a year for five years. The measure would also require Pakistan to make measurable progress in fighting terrorism and militancy.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi (L) and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman U.S. Senator John Kerry talk before their meeting at foreign ministry in Islamabad April 13, 2009. The United States should not put conditions on an expected substantial increase in U.S. aid to its ally Pakistan, Pakistan's prime minister told visiting. Kerry on Monday.
Sounds like some bluster, cross communicating, diversions and confusion definitely occurring .. just what we need with a nation with nukes.
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Excerpt:
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Genuine Pakistani concerns about the Kerry-Lugar bill have been summarily dismissed thanks to arrogant US congressmen, a politicized Pakistani ambassador in Washington, and an inept pro-US elected government in Islamabad that has lost the trust of a majority of Pakistanis.
US Vice President Joe Biden should seriously look into who turned his brilliant idea into a huge blunder.
When the Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi stood in Washington last night to say, ‘This is a historic document’ and tried to act excited, a distinct look of confusion was visible on the faces of the two Americans standing to his right and left: Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Congressman Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
For a second it seemed as if both Mr. Kerry and Mr. Berman were looking at Mr. Qureshi and saying to themselves, ‘Is this guy for real?’
There is a reason why the two seemed distrustful of the minister.
Only a few hours earlier the Pakistani Foreign Minister addressed a press conference with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton where Mr. Qureshi appeared far more excited about the Kerry-Lugar aid bill than his host.
[Ms. Clinton had to point out a couple of times she couldn’t be more ‘eloquent’ than the Pakistani minister in describing the aid bill.] At one point, Mr. Qureshi rebuffed a Pakistani journalist who said Pakistanis back home were concerned about offensive language in some clauses.
“I’m very glad that they [Americans] have no intentions of micromanaging Pakistan, nor will Pakistan permit micromanagement,” Qureshi said. “Never will we allow any compromise on Pakistan’s sovereignty.”
But no sooner he returned to Islamabad than he was back on the plane to Washington. He had no choice, especially after an uproar in the country where a clear majority in the parliament, media, the public opinion and in the armed forces accused his government of accepting humiliating language that stops short of accusing Pakistan of running terrorist training camps and continuing to proliferate nuclear knowhow, both of which are accusations not backed by any evidence except unsourced US media reports and noise on the US think-tank circuit.
The language in at least one clause is carefully drafted to push the civilian government to pick up fights with the military on issues ranging from officer promotions to excluding military input from nuclear-related policy.
So when Mr. Qureshi was back in Washington acting excited all over again, both Kerry and Berman were understandably unsure whether they should believe the minister or wait for him to go to Islamabad, get an earful again and come back with more reservations.
But a far more serious issue is how Washington’s establishment appears to have dismissed genuine Pakistani concerns with a mere ‘explanatory’ note. You just have to admire the sense of humor behind naming this piece of paper a ‘joint explanatory statement’ that will be attached to the Kerry-Lugar bill.
http://pakalert.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/urgent-an-explanatory-note-from-washington-to-pakistan/
At a campaign event in California, John Kerry said that “In our education, if you make the most of it and you study hard and you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart you can do well; if you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”
That image was sent to Jim Quinn, Conservative Pittsburgh talk radio host, by some of his listeners stationed in Iraq at the time.
Is it really too much to expect the U.S. Congress to actually hire Americans as their staffers instead of people tied to foreign governments?
Other than tipping off his home government as to what was up with legislation they are interested in, I have no doubt this guy’s job consisted of plagiarizing CRS reports, taking long and expensive lunches and hitting the early happy hours (did I say happy hours as in alcohol? — don’t tell the folks back home!).
I guess Pakistan is starting to put moles in our government.
Does this have anything to do with the recent reports that CAIR has been planting moles as staffers in congressional and senate offices?
“Skerry idiot always has to stick his hand into some foreign intrigue.”
Only if he can harm American interests by doing do.
SENATOR KERRY: “. . . I remember Christmas of 1968 sitting on a gunboat in Cambodia. I remember what it was like to be shot at by Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge and Cambodians, and have the President of the United States telling the American people that I was not there; the troops were not in Cambodia. I have that memory which is seared—seared-in me. . .”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2365905/posts?q=1&;page=101
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=107006724
And we have the Aussies bailing A-stan.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2367295/posts
Congrats Obama, you managed to f*^$# everything up within one year of office.
So true .. he (or Ter=ezz=a) can’t handle
being out of the spotlight.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi
IMAGE
Actor - Zain Qureshi IMAGE
Location: London
Height: 5'11" (180cm)
Weight: 12st. 3lb. (78kg)
Role Types: Middle Eastern, Mixed Race, Pakistani
Languages: English, Urdu, Arabic
I have yet to find Zain’s image, but it appears
to be true. Many sources report it.
http://article.wn.com/view/2009/10/21/Pak_Foreign_Minister_Qureshis_son_served_as_Kerrys_intern/
Yes...what I meant, however, is whether his son is also an actor. I have found no references linking the word “actor/model” to the son of Shah Mehmood Qureshi. Guess we will have to wait to see if Zain comes “to a theater near you” -— or whether he pursues a career in politics.
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