Where *Can* PIA Fly?

A few months ago, with much fanfare, PIA unveiled a number of nonstop flights between Pakistan and the US. This was exciting news, since it cut down travel time between the two countries to 16 hours. And almost as soon as the flights were announced, they were canceled - because of "security concerns" (that all-encompassing term that hides a million sins of racism and discrimination).

Now, apparently, Europe is following suit. The EU is preparing to ban all PIA planes except for Boeing 777s:

A senior official at the Pakistan High Commission in London told the Pakistan International Airlines headquarters in Karachi that the European Union would bar all PIA aircraft, except for Boeing 777s, from flying to 27 European countries after March 8 because of safety concerns.

This, despite the fact that:

A seven-member Pakistani team of PIA and Civil Aviation officials had just returned from Brussels, where they made a “successful” presentation to the EU’s Air Safety Commission on February 22. They said that in addition to this, last week, a three-member European Air-Safety Committee expressed satisfaction with the measures taken by the airline to improve safety. “The team carried out an audit of our facilities and found that everything was in order.”

Are we near the day when PIA will only be able to fly within Pakistan?

Goodnight

From The Daily Times:

Wagah | Rest in peace

Indian BSF Company Commandant Pardeep Katyal (4th L) is joined by All India Anti-Terrorist Front Chairman Manjinder Singh Bitta (2nd L) and others as they pay tribute to Samjhota train victims before giving their bodies to Pakistan. AFP

Pakistanis Making Money Off Guantanamo

The prison at Guantanamo Bay is currently perhaps the strongest symbol of US imperialism and hypocrisy. I've noted before that Pakistanis are the plurality of detainees at Guantanamo. You would think that this should make Guantanamo a special cause for us, and something we should absolutely refuse to participate in.

Well, you'd think wrong. Apparently, Pakistani bounty hunters "delivered" 18 Uighur Chinese to the US government, 13 of whom are now being detained at Guantanamo Bay. From Daily Times:

Pakistanis ‘sold’ 18 Uighurs to US

WASHINGTON: Eighteen Uighur Chinese, 13 of whom are now in solitary confinement at a prison camp in Guantanamo, were delivered to the US by Pakistani bounty hunters. According to a Washington Post report, the Muslim Chinese dissidents were “sold for bounty by Pakistanis in 2002”. The men had just arrived from Afghanistan, where they said they had received limited military training because they opposed the Chinese government control of their native region. They said they were never aligned with the Taliban or the Al Qaeda. Five of the Uighurs were released in 2005 by a military review panel...

Shame on us.