Month: August 2024

SHIGAR: Mountaineer Murad Sadpara, who was leading the K2 cleanup expedition this year, has passed away after getting seriously injured during his way back from Broad Peak mountain.

The rescue team, which left the base camp earlier today, has reached Camp One and confirmed Sadpara’s death.

Days after successfully retrieving the body of Hasan Shagri — a mountaineer who had died last year from the extreme height of K2 and bringing it to the base camp — Sadpara had embarked on another expedition to summit Broad Peak, the 12th highest in the world at 8,051 metres (26,414 feet), with a Portuguese mountaineer.

On their way, the Portuguese mountaineer had gotten sick and the pair decided to return to base camp.

Unfortunately, on their way back, Sadpara was seriously injured after a rock hit his head at Camp One.

Sadpara’s body has been shifted to the Japanese camp, and it will be moved to the base camp by 2pm today from where it will be transported to Skardu via an army helicopter, rescue sources said.

Two more climbers have reached the base camp by helicopter. Four members of the rescue team had left the base camp at 1am on Monday.

President Asif Ali Zardari has expressed deep sorrow over Sadpara’s passing, while extending his deepest sympathies to the mountaineer’s bereaved family members.

The president recognised Sadpara’s achievements in mountaineering and prayed for his forgiveness and strength for his grieving family.

Last year, Sadpara had brought down the body of an Afghan mountaineer from Camp Three.

The 35-year-old mountaineer used to spend his time mountain climbing in summers and driving tractors in winters. He has three daughters and a son.

Turkey was seeking to bring together Monday Horn of Africa rivals Somalia and Ethiopia for the second round of talks in Ankara aiming to ease tensions between them, a Turkish diplomatic source said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan separately met with his counterparts from Somalia and Ethiopia early on Monday.

“The parties are not meeting with one another,” the Turkish diplomatic source said.

“The Turkish delegation is conducting shuttle diplomacy under the coordination of our minister,” the same source added.

The two neighbours have a history of stormy relations and territorial feuds. They fought two wars in the late 20th century.

These tensions were exacerbated earlier this year when Addis Ababa signed a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland that gives Ethiopia — one of the largest landlocked countries in the world — long-sought-after sea access.

In return, Somaliland — which unilaterally declared independence from Somalia in 1991, a move not recognised by Mogadishu — has said Ethiopia would give it formal recognition, although these assertions have not been confirmed by Addis Ababa.

Under the January 1 pact, Somaliland agreed to lease 20 kilometres (12 miles) of its coast for 50 years to Ethiopia, which wants to set up a naval base and a commercial port.

Fidan announced “good progress” during July talks and said he remained hopeful for the future, during press conference alongside the two neighbours’ foreign ministers.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also involved in the diplomatic efforts for reconciliation between the two sides as he held separate phone calls with Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed at the weekend.

Turkey is pushing for diplomatic and economic influence in Africa, at a time when many countries in the continent are turning away from their former colonial rulers.

Over Erdogan’s two decades in power, Ankara has consolidated its foothold on the continent, quadrupling its number of embassies there.

Turkey has already announced plans to launch an oil and gas exploration mission off the coast of Somalia, similar to the one it is carrying out in Libyan waters.

Ankara has signed defence agreements with a number of states spanning the breadth of the continent, including Somalia, Libya, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Ghana.

“To avoid any suspicions or excuses for disrupting the work of the government… I resigned from the position of vice president for strategic affairs last week,” Zarif said on social media platform X, less than two weeks after newly-elected reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian chose him as his deputy.

Zarif cited several reasons for his resignation, most notably his disappointment with the line-up in the newly-proposed 19-member cabinet. “I am ashamed that I could not implement, in a decent way, the expert opinion of the committees (responsible for selecting candidates) and achieve the inclusion of women, youth and ethnic groups, as I had promised,” he said.

Pezeshkian on Sunday presented his cabinet, which included one woman, to parliament for approval. The proposed list drew criticism from some among Iran’s reformist camp, including over the inclusion of conservatives from the government of late President Ebrahim Raisi.

Zarif pointed out that he also faced pressure after his appointment as vice president because his children hold US citizenship. An Iranian law enacted in October 2022 prohibits the appointment of those “who themselves, their children or their spouse have dual citizenship” to sensitive jobs and positions.

The $32-billion megaproject Nusantara was widely expected to be inaugurated on August 17, Indonesia’s Independence Day, but building delays and funding woes have cast doubt on the schedule.

Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, still hailed the city-in-progress, which is expected to be fully ready in 2045. “Not all countries have the opportunity, have the ability to build their capital starting from zero,” he said.

According to Jokowi, the city is “being built with the concept of a forest city, a jungle city, a city full of green” in eastern Borneo island. But environmentalists have warned the rapid development of the new capital will hasten deforestation in one of the world’s largest stretches of tropical rainforest.

Jokowi — who started to work from the future capital several weeks ago — brought Several officials to Nusantara for the cabinet meeting, including his successor Prabowo Subianto.

Prabowo pledged to continue the capital-to-be once he takes office in October, removing any doubt over his willingness to carry out Jokowi’s legacy project.

Jokowi resurrected the long-shelved plan to relocate the capital soon after taking office in 2019 after experts warned Jakarta — the megacity of 12 million people — was sinking.