Asked by: John Denham (Labour - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of Pakistan to encourage it to extend its recent military action against militants to include Lashkar-e-Janghevi.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK and Pakistan have a shared interest in the battle against terrorism and we will stand together to tackle terrorism and the extremism that sustains it. The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has discussed with Prime Minister Sharif on a number of occasions the Government of Pakistan’s efforts to tackle terrorism. Prime Minister Sharif has pledged that his Government’s counter terrorism activity is directed against all militant groups. The Pakistan authorities have publicly stated that that they intend to tackle terrorists of all hues without any discrimination. We continue to encourage Pakistan to ensure that it takes a comprehensive approach to dealing with terrorists. The UK effort on counter-terrorism is supported by intensive diplomatic work, both bilaterally and multilaterally in concert with key partners such as the United States and the European Union. Collectively, we are working to support the development of strong institutions and machinery of Government in Pakistan to deliver a sustainable approach to countering terrorism and tackling all forms of terrorism.
Asked by: John Denham (Labour - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to multilateral institutions to encourage the government of Pakistan to extend its recent military action against militants to include Lashkar-e-Janghevi.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK and Pakistan have a shared interest in the battle against terrorism and we will stand together to tackle terrorism and the extremism that sustains it.
The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has discussed with Prime Minister Sharif on a number of occasions the Government of Pakistan’s efforts to tackle terrorism.
Prime Minister Sharif has pledged that his Government’s counter terrorism activity is directed against all militant groups. The Pakistan authorities have publicly stated that that they intend to tackle terrorists of all hues without any discrimination. We continue to encourage Pakistan to ensure that it takes a comprehensive approach to dealing with terrorists.
The UK effort on counter-terrorism is supported by intensive diplomatic work, both bilaterally and multilaterally in concert with key partners such as the United States and the European Union. Collectively, we are working to support the development of strong institutions and machinery of Government in Pakistan to deliver a sustainable approach to countering terrorism and tackling all forms of terrorism.
Asked by: John Denham (Labour - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the government of Pakistan on that country's strategy to prevent further attacks by Lashkar-e-Janghevi.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK and Pakistan have a shared interest in the battle against terrorism and we will stand together to tackle terrorism and the extremism that sustains it.
The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) have discussed with Prime Minister Sharif on a number of occasions the Government of Pakistan’s efforts to tackle terrorism.
Prime Minister Sharif has pledged that his Government’s counter terrorism activity is directed against all militant groups. The Pakistan authorities have publicly stated that that they intend to tackle terrorists of all hues without any discrimination. We continue to encourage Pakistan to ensure that it takes a comprehensive approach to dealing with terrorists.
The UK effort on counter-terrorism is supported by intensive diplomatic work, both bilaterally and multilaterally in concert with key partners such as the United States and the European Union. Collectively, we are working to support the development of strong institutions and machinery of Government in Pakistan to deliver a sustainable approach to countering terrorism and tackling all forms of terrorism.
Asked by: John Denham (Labour - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in other states taking military action in Iraq and Syria on possible ISIS influence in Pakistan.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK and Pakistan have a shared interest in the battle against terrorism. We are playing an active role internationally to combat ISIL, cooperating with our closest allies and partners, including the Gulf states.
The UK Government remains fully committed to working in partnership with Pakistan to tackle terrorism and violent extremism. We regularly discuss counter-terrorism issues with Pakistani officials.
There are media reports of limited rhetorical support for ISIL in some parts of Pakistan in the form of leaflets and graffiti. A statement in early October by the Pakistani Taliban, an umbrella group, expressing support for ISIL was followed shortly afterwards by a second expressing the group’s loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar. In mid-October, some media reported that a small group of Pakistani Taliban leaders had pledged personal allegiance to ISIL.
Asked by: John Denham (Labour - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in Pakistan on the activities of ISIS in Pakistan.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK and Pakistan have a shared interest in the battle against terrorism. We are playing an active role internationally to combat ISIL, cooperating with our closest allies and partners, including the Gulf states.
The UK Government remains fully committed to working in partnership with Pakistan to tackle terrorism and violent extremism. We regularly discuss counter-terrorism issues with Pakistani officials.
There are media reports of limited rhetorical support for ISIL in some parts of Pakistan in the form of leaflets and graffiti. A statement in early October by the Pakistani Taliban, an umbrella group, expressing support for ISIL was followed shortly afterwards by a second expressing the group’s loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar. In mid-October, some media reported that a small group of Pakistani Taliban leaders had pledged personal allegiance to ISIL.
Asked by: John Denham (Labour - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the prevalence of recruitment of new members to ISIS in Pakistan.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK and Pakistan have a shared interest in the battle against terrorism. We are playing an active role internationally to combat ISIL, cooperating with our closest allies and partners, including the Gulf states.
The UK Government remains fully committed to working in partnership with Pakistan to tackle terrorism and violent extremism. We regularly discuss counter-terrorism issues with Pakistani officials.
There are media reports of limited rhetorical support for ISIL in some parts of Pakistan in the form of leaflets and graffiti. A statement in early October by the Pakistani Taliban, an umbrella group, expressing support for ISIL was followed shortly afterwards by a second expressing the group’s loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar. In mid-October, some media reported that a small group of Pakistani Taliban leaders had pledged personal allegiance to ISIL.
Asked by: John Denham (Labour - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in Gulf States on the funding of Al-Qaeda and ISIS-affiliated groups in Pakistan by such states and private sources based in those states.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK and Pakistan have a shared interest in the battle against terrorism. We are playing an active role internationally to combat ISIL, cooperating with our closest allies and partners, including the Gulf states.
The UK Government remains fully committed to working in partnership with Pakistan to tackle terrorism and violent extremism. We regularly discuss counter-terrorism issues with Pakistani officials.
There are media reports of limited rhetorical support for ISIL in some parts of Pakistan in the form of leaflets and graffiti. A statement in early October by the Pakistani Taliban, an umbrella group, expressing support for ISIL was followed shortly afterwards by a second expressing the group’s loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar. In mid-October, some media reported that a small group of Pakistani Taliban leaders had pledged personal allegiance to ISIL.
Asked by: John Denham (Labour - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the level of support for ISIS in Pakistan.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK and Pakistan have a shared interest in the battle against terrorism. We are playing an active role internationally to combat ISIL, cooperating with our closest allies and partners, including the Gulf states.
The UK Government remains fully committed to working in partnership with Pakistan to tackle terrorism and violent extremism. We regularly discuss counter-terrorism issues with Pakistani officials.
There are media reports of limited rhetorical support for ISIL in some parts of Pakistan in the form of leaflets and graffiti. A statement in early October by the Pakistani Taliban, an umbrella group, expressing support for ISIL was followed shortly afterwards by a second expressing the group’s loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar. In mid-October, some media reported that a small group of Pakistani Taliban leaders had pledged personal allegiance to ISIL.