PISJ-ES principal refuses to vacate post

November 21, 2013

PISJ-ES

Jeddah/Riyadh, Nov 21: The principal of the Pakistan International School Jeddah English Section (PISJ-ES), who was sacked by the Pakistan ambassador earlier this week, has rejected allegations against her and refused to vacate her position.

Sehar Kamran has instead accused Mohammad Naeem Khan, Pakistan’s ambassador, of playing politics because she is a member of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) that was defeated in the recent elections by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Khan fired Kamran Tuesday following several allegations against her including corruption, mismanagement of funds, gross indiscipline, favoritism and using her political connections to get the job in 2008. Khan appointed Imran Raza Khan as acting principal with immediate effect.

Kamran allegedly refused to allow the new acting principal to enter the school premises on Wednesday morning, ordered that the school close early and that it would remain close on Thursday, a move that angered some parents.

“We received a message to pick up the children around 10 a.m. The school belongs to the community. It is not her personal property to do what she likes with it,” said Imran Abasi, a parent. He said it took him almost an hour and a half to find his children.

Another parent, Khalid Cheema, said: “Parents do not want a political personality as principal.”

However, Arshad Javaid, also a parent, claimed that “90 percent of the parents are with Kamran and want her to run the school.”

The school’s link officer, Sohail Ali Khan, went to the school to pacify parents and said it would be open on Thursday. He said the decision to terminate Kamran had been taken by the governments of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and was in accordance with Saudi regulations.

Aftab Khokhar, the Pakistan consul general, said Kamran’s decision to shut the school was illegal. He said the consulate would ensure that the school remains open and the Pakistan ambassador’s orders implemented.

Kamran rejected the allegations against her and lashed out at the embassy officials.

“I’ve served Pakistan for more than 21 years with honesty, love and loyalty. I’ve always worked for the development of Pakistan. I’ve served this school with my expertise and love for more than six years,” she said.

Kamran accused the ambassador of firing her because of her political affiliations. She said the officials had acted in an “unscrupulous” manner following the establishment of the government under the PML-N, and because she is a member of the PPP.

Kamran is the first woman to enter the upper house of Pakistan’s Parliament and won a senate election. The allegations were from people “playing high level politics ... and trying to destroy the image of Pakistan,” she said.

Some Pakistani parents and students came out in support of Kamran and held a demonstration at the Saudi Ministry of Education. The parents said they met with Khalid Al-Harthy, director of Foreign Education for the Western Region, and claimed he sent a letter to the Riyadh Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Education Ministry “for a decision.”

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Naveeda Shahzad
 - 
Sunday, 19 Aug 2018

Why a political worker was appointed as principal of Pakistani School?

Was it a favour to her by Zardari govt?

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News Network
March 16,2020

Cairo, Mar 16: Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman said G20 summit will work to combat coronavirus and coordinate efforts to ease its economic burdens, state news agency SPA said on Sunday.

In a phone call with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Salman discussed international efforts to fight the flu-like disease, saying the next G20 summit, which will be hosted by the Kingdom, will work on finding medical solutions, SPA added.

The G20 Summit is an annual gathering of representatives of the world's largest economies.

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News Network
January 6,2020

Dubai/Washington, Jan 6: Tens of thousands of Iranians thronged the streets of Tehran on Monday for the funeral of Quds Force commander Qassim Suleimani who was killed in a US air strike last week and his daughter said his death would bring a "dark day" for the United States.

"Crazy Trump, don't think that everything is over with my father's martyrdom," Zeinab Suleimani said in her address broadcast on state television after US President Donald Trump ordered Friday's strike that killed the top Iranian general.

Iran has promised to avenge the killing of Qassim Suleimani, the architect of Iran's drive to extend its influence across the region and a national hero among many Iranians, even many of those who did not consider themselves devoted supporters of the Islamic Republic's clerical rulers.

The scale of the crowds in Tehran shown on television mirrored the masses that gathered in 1989 for the funeral of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

In response to Iran's warnings, Trump has threatened to hit 52 Iranian sites, including cultural targets, if Tehran attacks Americans or US assets, deepening a crisis that has heightened fears of a major Middle East conflagration.

The coffins of the Iranian general and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was also killed in Friday's attack on Baghdad airport, were passed across the heads of mourners massed in central Tehran, many of them chanting "Death to America".

One of the Islamic Republic's major regional goals, namely to drive US forces out of neighbouring Iraq, came a step closer on Sunday when the Iraqi parliament backed a recommendation by the prime minister for all foreign troops to be ordered out.

"Despite the internal and external difficulties that we might face, it remains best for Iraq on principle and practically," said Iraqi caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, who resigned in November amid anti-government protests.

Iraq's rival Shi'ite leaders, including ones opposed to Iranian influence, have united since Friday's attack in calling for the expulsion of US troops.

Esmail Qaani, the new head of the Quds Force, the Revolutionary Guards' unit in charge of activities abroad, said Iran would continue Suleimani's path and said "the only compensation for us would be to remove America from the region."

ALLIES AT FUNERAL

Prayers at Suleimani's funeral in Tehran, which will later move to his southern home city of Kerman, were led by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Suleimani was widely seen as the second most powerful figure in Iran behind Khamenei.

The funeral was attended by some of Iran's allies in the region, including Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Palestinian group Hamas who said: "I declare that the martyred commander Suleimani is a martyr of Jerusalem."

Adding to tensions, Iran said it was taking another step back from commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal with six major powers, a pact from which the United States withdrew in 2018.

Washington has since imposed tough sanctions on Iran, describing its policy as "maximum pressure" and saying it wanted to drive down Iranian oil exports - the main source of government revenues - to zero.

Talking to reporters aboard Air Force One on the way to Washington from Florida on Sunday, Trump stood by his remarks to include cultural sites on his list of potential targets, despite drawing criticism from US politicians.

"They're allowed to kill our people. They're allowed to torture and maim our people. They're allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people. And we're not allowed to touch their cultural sites? It doesn't work that way," Trump said.

Democratic critics of the Republican president have said Trump was reckless in authorizing the strike, and some said his comments about targeting cultural sites amounted to threats to commit war crimes. Many asked why Soleimani, long seen as a threat by US authorities, had to be killed now.

Republicans in the US Congress have generally backed Trump's move.

Trump also threatened sanctions against Iraq and said that if US troops were required to leave the country, Iraq's government would have to pay Washington for the cost of a "very extraordinarily expensive" air base there.

He said if Iraq asked US forces to leave on an unfriendly basis, "we will charge them sanctions like they've never seen before ever. It'll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame."

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News Network
April 18,2020

Dubai, Apr 18: Saudi Arabia has reported 1,132 new coronavirus cases, taking the total number of confirmed COVID-19 patients to 8,274, the Ministry of Health revealed on Saturday.

The ministry has also announced five more deaths from the virus, taking to 92 the Kingdom’s death toll.

Recoveries
As for recoveries, 280 new recoveries were reported, pushing the total number of patients recovered to 1,329.

The ministry revealed that 79 per cent of today’s cases are expatriates and that 65 per cent of the cases were detected through intensified and active COVID-19 screening in densely-populated areas.

A total of 201 patients of Saturday’s cases have contracted the disease due to being in contact with existing cases, the ministry added.

The new infected cases have been placed under complete isolation and they are receiving necessary medical care, an official from the ministry said.

He affirmed that medical teams are intensifying efforts and screening tests in workers' neighbourhoods and accommodations in order to limit the spread of the disease.

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