Kerry to host Afghan and Pakistani officials in Brussels

Trilateral talks

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will host the head of Pakistan’s Army, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and the foreign secretary, Jalil Abbas Jilani, along with Afghan president Hamid Karzai and Afghan Defense Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss the stalled peace negotiations with the Afghan Taliban (Reuters, NYT, AP, The News). The meeting will come a day after NATO foreign ministers gather to talk over their countries’ roles in Afghanistan after the alliance’s combat mission ends in December 2014.

The office of President Karzai say their patience is running out with Pakistan, which they accuse of failing to play its role in negotiations between the Afghan government and Taliban leaders, many of whom have sought sanctuary in Pakistan (AFP).

Meanwhile, seven militants were killed in a NATO airstrike in southern Ghazni Province on Tuesday (Pajhwok). Nine deminers were kidnapped in the Maiwand district of southern Helmand Province (Pajhwok). And the Afghan government says it is negotiating for the release of eleven foreigners who are being held by the Taliban after their NATO-contracted helicopter crashed in the eastern province of Logar on Sunday afternoon (Reuters).

Power court

There has been much focus on Pakistan’s first transition from one democratically elected government to the next, but in another major development, Pakistan’s judiciary has grown in strength exponentially over the past five years to become an important political player (WSJ). Led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Pakistan’s judges have prosecuted government officials and even opened a case against the country’s powerful intelligence agency.

Former president Pervez Musharraf appeared before an antiterrorism court in Rawalpindi on Wednesday, where he was accused of involvement in the assassination of then-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in December 2007 (ET/AFP, Dawn). The court granted him permission to meet with his lawyers regarding the accusations. Musharraf is currently under house arrest at his fortified compound outside Islamabad and is not allowed any visitors.

Football madness

And in other breaking news, Barcelona may be getting close to beating Manchester United as the most loved football team in Pakistan (Dawn). While their parents were probably wooed by United, today’s generation of young Pakistani adults find themselves drawn to the Catalans, at least according to the most reliable sources: social media statistics.