‘Blood on his hands': Pakistan turn on Donald Trump over Nobel Peace Prize furore
A former Pakistani opposition leader has claimed Donald Trump's hands are 'stained with blood', calling for his nation to withdraw its Nobel Peace Prize nomination for the US president.
Over the weekend, Pakistan revealed it would formally recommend Mr Trump for the prestigious award for his role in resolving the recent conflict with India.
News of the nomination arrived just before Mr Trump confirmed US strikes on nuclear sites in Iran.
The fast-developing situation has since evolved into a tenuous ceasefire between Iran and Israel, which saw Republican congressman Buddy Carter nominate the US President for the Nobel Peace Prize on Tuesday 'in recognition of his extraordinary and historic role in brokering an end to the armed conflict'.
The ceasefire appeared to hold after the first night with Mr Trump lambasting both sides in the aftermath of the US' attack on Iran's nuclear sites over the weekend.
While the US President called it an 'obliteration' of Iran's nuclear capabilities, bombshell reports have since emerged that the nation's nuclear program remains intact.
'President Trump's influence was instrumental in forging a swift agreement that many believed to be impossible,' Mr Carter wrote in the letter.
'President Trump also took bold, decisive actions to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions and ensure that the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism remains incapable of acquiring nuclear weapons.'
Nobel Peace Prize nominations can come from heads of state down to politicians serving at a national level, international courts of law as well as university chancellors and professors of social science, history, philosophy, law and theology, directors of foreign policy institutes, past recipients of a Nobel prize and members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
But the support in Pakistan appears to be wavering after the US' actions in Iran.
On Saturday, Pakistan's government praised President Trump's 'great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship', adding he was a 'genuine peacemaker'.
On Sunday, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the US attack on Iran, stating the move violated international law.
'The unprecedented escalation of tension and violence, owing to ongoing aggression against Iran is deeply disturbing,' Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
'Any further escalation of tensions will have severely damaging implications for the region and beyond.'
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a statement that he had contacted Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and 'conveyed Pakistan's condemnation of the US attacks'.
It comes as thousands protested in the streets of Pakistan's biggest city Karachi against the US and Israeli strikes.
Pakistani politicians have also called for their government to withdraw their nomination.
President of Pakistan's Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party and former leader of the opposition Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman called for his nation to withdraw its nomination.
'President Trump's claim of peace has proven to be false; the proposal for the Nobel prize should be withdrawn,' Rehman told party members at a meeting on Sunday.
'Trump has supported the Israeli attacks on Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and Iran. How can this be a sign of peace?
'How can a man with the blood of Afghans and Palestinians on his hands claim to be a peacemaker?'
Similarly former senator Mushahid Hussain said on X: 'Since Trump is no longer a potential peacemaker, but a leader who has wilfully unleashed an illegal war, Pakistan government must now review, rescind and revoke his Nobel nomination!'
Veteran politician Afrasiab Khattak posted on X: 'The sycophancy adopted by Pakistani ruling elite in nominating President Trump for Nobel Peace Prize is not part of normative conduct in international diplomacy. It was most embarrassing to announce the nomination hours before Trump ordered to bomb Iranian nuclear sites.'
In more bad news for Mr Trump, senior Ukrainian politician Oleksandr Merezhko withdrew his Nobel Peace Prize nomination for the US President, claiming he'd lost 'any kind of faith' that he could end the war in Ukraine.
Mr Merezhko nominated Trump in late 2024, telling The Telegraph he believed it would help the then president-elect to follow through on his promises of ending the war.
In May 2023, Mr Trump said he could settle the war between Russia and Ukraine in '24 hours', a claim he repeated 53 times throughout the campaign according to a CNN fact check.
He walked the claim back in an interview with Time, saying he 'said that figuratively, and I said that as an exaggeration, to make a point'.
'Obviously, people know that when I said that, it was said in jest, but it was also said that it will be ended,' he added.
Since taking office, Mr Trump has had a disastrous meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office, while Russia and Ukraine appear to be no closer to peace as the US President's attention turns to the Middle East.
In a letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Mr Merezhko wrote: 'This appeasement of aggression encourages Putin to continue the attack. Trump just turns a blind eye to all of it.
'I lost any kind of faith that Trump will deliver in any of his promises.'
Of Mr Trump's actions in the Middle East, Mr Merezhko said: 'I understand his position in relation to Israel. It is the right thing to do in order to help Israel to survive because Iran has said they want to destroy Israel.
'I wish he would do the same for Ukraine. Russia also wants to destroy Ukraine. Russia and Iran help each other. Trump should be consistent and help Ukraine.'
However, Mr Trump has renewed support from Israel to achieve his coveted Nobel Peace Prize aspirations.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon warned Iran that any violation to the fragile ceasefire will be met with a 'forceful response'.
But he also praised Mr Trump for his involvement in the ceasefire, saying he 'deserves' a Nobel Peace Prize.
'I think we should thank him for his leadership, for the brave decision that he took, and to recognise the effort of the United States.'
Mr Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize several times during his presidencies, but has yet to win the award.
It's a fact he is well aware of judging by a post last Friday on Truth Social after he announced a peace deal between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.
'I won't get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do,' Mr Trump wrote.
'I won't get a Nobel Peace Prize for this, I won't get a Nobel Peace Prize for stopping the War between India and Pakistan, I won't get a Nobel Peace Prize for stopping the War between Serbia and Kosovo.
'No, I won't get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do, including Russia/Ukraine, and Israel/Iran, whatever those outcomes may be, but the people know, and that's all that matters to me.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Advertiser
25 minutes ago
- The Advertiser
Deadly strikes in Gaza as Trump flags possible truce
At least 34 people were killed across Gaza by Israeli strikes, health staff say, as Palestinians face a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and ceasefire prospects inch closer. The strikes began late on Friday and continued into Saturday morning, among others killing 12 people at the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, which was sheltering displaced people, and eight more living in apartments, according to staff at Shifa hospital where the bodies were brought. Six others were killed in southern Gaza when a strike hit their tent in Muwasi, according to the hospital. The strikes come as US President Donald Trump says there could be a ceasefire agreement within the next week. Taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office Friday, the president said, "We're working on Gaza and trying to get it taken care of." Talks have been on again, off again since Israel broke the latest ceasefire in March, continuing its military campaign in Gaza and furthering the Strip's dire humanitarian crisis. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, fewer than half of them believed to still be alive. They were part of some 250 hostages taken when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking the 21-month-long war. The war has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. It says more than half of the dead were women and children. There is hope among hostage families that Trump's involvement in securing the recent ceasefire between Israel and Iran might exert more pressure for a deal in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is riding a wave of public support for the Iran war and its achievements, and he could feel he has more space to move towards ending the war in Gaza, something his far-right governing partners oppose. Hamas has repeatedly said it is prepared to free all hostages in exchange for an end to the war, while Netanyahu says he will end the war only when Hamas is disarmed and exiled, something the group has rejected. Hungry Palestinians are enduring a catastrophic situation in Gaza. After blocking all food for two-and-a-half months, Israel has allowed only a trickle of supplies into the territory since mid-May. Palestinians have been shot and wounded while on their way to get food at newly formed aid sites, run by the American and Israeli backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to Gaza's health officials and witnesses. Palestinian witnesses say Israeli troops have opened fire at crowds heading towards the sites. Israel's military said it was investigating incidents in which civilians had been harmed while approaching the sites. At least 34 people were killed across Gaza by Israeli strikes, health staff say, as Palestinians face a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and ceasefire prospects inch closer. The strikes began late on Friday and continued into Saturday morning, among others killing 12 people at the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, which was sheltering displaced people, and eight more living in apartments, according to staff at Shifa hospital where the bodies were brought. Six others were killed in southern Gaza when a strike hit their tent in Muwasi, according to the hospital. The strikes come as US President Donald Trump says there could be a ceasefire agreement within the next week. Taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office Friday, the president said, "We're working on Gaza and trying to get it taken care of." Talks have been on again, off again since Israel broke the latest ceasefire in March, continuing its military campaign in Gaza and furthering the Strip's dire humanitarian crisis. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, fewer than half of them believed to still be alive. They were part of some 250 hostages taken when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking the 21-month-long war. The war has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. It says more than half of the dead were women and children. There is hope among hostage families that Trump's involvement in securing the recent ceasefire between Israel and Iran might exert more pressure for a deal in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is riding a wave of public support for the Iran war and its achievements, and he could feel he has more space to move towards ending the war in Gaza, something his far-right governing partners oppose. Hamas has repeatedly said it is prepared to free all hostages in exchange for an end to the war, while Netanyahu says he will end the war only when Hamas is disarmed and exiled, something the group has rejected. Hungry Palestinians are enduring a catastrophic situation in Gaza. After blocking all food for two-and-a-half months, Israel has allowed only a trickle of supplies into the territory since mid-May. Palestinians have been shot and wounded while on their way to get food at newly formed aid sites, run by the American and Israeli backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to Gaza's health officials and witnesses. Palestinian witnesses say Israeli troops have opened fire at crowds heading towards the sites. Israel's military said it was investigating incidents in which civilians had been harmed while approaching the sites. At least 34 people were killed across Gaza by Israeli strikes, health staff say, as Palestinians face a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and ceasefire prospects inch closer. The strikes began late on Friday and continued into Saturday morning, among others killing 12 people at the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, which was sheltering displaced people, and eight more living in apartments, according to staff at Shifa hospital where the bodies were brought. Six others were killed in southern Gaza when a strike hit their tent in Muwasi, according to the hospital. The strikes come as US President Donald Trump says there could be a ceasefire agreement within the next week. Taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office Friday, the president said, "We're working on Gaza and trying to get it taken care of." Talks have been on again, off again since Israel broke the latest ceasefire in March, continuing its military campaign in Gaza and furthering the Strip's dire humanitarian crisis. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, fewer than half of them believed to still be alive. They were part of some 250 hostages taken when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking the 21-month-long war. The war has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. It says more than half of the dead were women and children. There is hope among hostage families that Trump's involvement in securing the recent ceasefire between Israel and Iran might exert more pressure for a deal in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is riding a wave of public support for the Iran war and its achievements, and he could feel he has more space to move towards ending the war in Gaza, something his far-right governing partners oppose. Hamas has repeatedly said it is prepared to free all hostages in exchange for an end to the war, while Netanyahu says he will end the war only when Hamas is disarmed and exiled, something the group has rejected. Hungry Palestinians are enduring a catastrophic situation in Gaza. After blocking all food for two-and-a-half months, Israel has allowed only a trickle of supplies into the territory since mid-May. Palestinians have been shot and wounded while on their way to get food at newly formed aid sites, run by the American and Israeli backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to Gaza's health officials and witnesses. Palestinian witnesses say Israeli troops have opened fire at crowds heading towards the sites. Israel's military said it was investigating incidents in which civilians had been harmed while approaching the sites. At least 34 people were killed across Gaza by Israeli strikes, health staff say, as Palestinians face a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and ceasefire prospects inch closer. The strikes began late on Friday and continued into Saturday morning, among others killing 12 people at the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, which was sheltering displaced people, and eight more living in apartments, according to staff at Shifa hospital where the bodies were brought. Six others were killed in southern Gaza when a strike hit their tent in Muwasi, according to the hospital. The strikes come as US President Donald Trump says there could be a ceasefire agreement within the next week. Taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office Friday, the president said, "We're working on Gaza and trying to get it taken care of." Talks have been on again, off again since Israel broke the latest ceasefire in March, continuing its military campaign in Gaza and furthering the Strip's dire humanitarian crisis. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, fewer than half of them believed to still be alive. They were part of some 250 hostages taken when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking the 21-month-long war. The war has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. It says more than half of the dead were women and children. There is hope among hostage families that Trump's involvement in securing the recent ceasefire between Israel and Iran might exert more pressure for a deal in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is riding a wave of public support for the Iran war and its achievements, and he could feel he has more space to move towards ending the war in Gaza, something his far-right governing partners oppose. Hamas has repeatedly said it is prepared to free all hostages in exchange for an end to the war, while Netanyahu says he will end the war only when Hamas is disarmed and exiled, something the group has rejected. Hungry Palestinians are enduring a catastrophic situation in Gaza. After blocking all food for two-and-a-half months, Israel has allowed only a trickle of supplies into the territory since mid-May. Palestinians have been shot and wounded while on their way to get food at newly formed aid sites, run by the American and Israeli backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to Gaza's health officials and witnesses. Palestinian witnesses say Israeli troops have opened fire at crowds heading towards the sites. Israel's military said it was investigating incidents in which civilians had been harmed while approaching the sites.
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Iran holds funeral for military commanders and scientists killed in Israel war
Hundreds of thousands of mourners have lined the streets of downtown Tehran for the funeral of the head of the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), as well as other top commanders and nuclear scientists killed during Iran's 12-day war with Israel. The caskets of IRGC chief General Hossein Salami and the head of the group's ballistic missile program, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, were among a group of caskets driven on trucks along Azadi Street on Saturday as people in the crowd chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel". Salami and Hajizadeh were both killed on the first day of the war, June 13, as Israel launched strikes it said were intended to destroy Iran's nuclear program. State media reported more than 1 million people turned out for the funeral procession, a number that could not be independently confirmed. However, the dense crowd packed the main Tehran thoroughfare along the entire 4.5-kilometre route. There was no immediate sign of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the state broadcast of the funeral. Khamenei, who has not made a public appearance since before the outbreak of the war, has in the past held prayers for fallen commanders over their caskets before the open ceremonies, later aired on state television. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was on hand, and state television reported that General Esmail Qaani, who heads the foreign wing of the Revolutionary Guard, the Quds Force, and General Ali Shamkhani were also among the mourners. Shamkhani, an adviser to Khamenei who was wounded in the first round of Israel's attack and hospitalised, was shown in a civilian suit leaning on a cane in an image distributed on state television's Telegram channel. Over 12 days before a ceasefire was declared on Tuesday, Israel claimed it killed about 30 Iranian commanders and 11 nuclear scientists, while hitting eight nuclear-related facilities and more than 720 military infrastructure sites. More than 1,000 people were killed, including at least 417 civilians, according to a Washington-based human rights group. Iran fired more than 550 ballistic missiles at Israel, most of which were intercepted, but those that got through caused damage in many areas and killed 28 people. Saturday's ceremonies were the first public funerals for top commanders since the ceasefire, and Iranian state television reported that they were for 60 people in total, including four women and four children. Khamenei's last public appearance was made on June 11, two days before hostilities with Israel broke out, when he met with Iranian parliamentarians. On Thursday, however, he released a pre-recorded video in his first message since the end of the war, filled with warnings and threats directed toward the United States and Israel, the Islamic Republic's longtime adversaries. The 86-year-old claimed victory over Israel, and downplayed US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites as having not achieved "anything significant". The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, Rafael Grossi, has characterised the damage done by American bunker-buster bombs to Iran's Fordow nuclear site, which was built into a mountain, as "very, very, very considerable". AP
News.com.au
4 hours ago
- News.com.au
Rwanda, DR Congo sign peace deal in US after rebel sweep
Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo signed a peace agreement Friday in Washington to end fighting that has killed thousands, with the two countries pledging to pull back support for guerrillas -- and President Donald Trump boasting of securing mineral wealth. "Today, the violence and destruction comes to an end, and the entire region begins a new chapter of hope and opportunity," Trump said as he welcomed the two nations' foreign ministers to the White House. "This is a wonderful day." The agreement comes after the M23, an ethnic Tutsi rebel force linked to Rwanda, sprinted across the mineral-rich east of the DRC this year, seizing vast territory including the key city of Goma. The deal -- negotiated through Qatar since before Trump took office -- does not explicitly address the gains of the M23 in the area torn by decades of on-off war but calls for Rwanda to end "defensive measures" it has taken. Rwanda has denied directly supporting the M23 but has demanded an end to another armed group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which was established by ethnic Hutus linked to the massacres of Tutsis in the 1994 Rwanda genocide. The agreement calls for the "neutralization" of the FDLR, with Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe saying the "irreversible and verifiable end to state support" to the Hutu militants should be the "first order of business." The process would be "accompanied by a lifting of Rwanda's defensive measures," Nduhungirehe said at a signing ceremony at the State Department. But he added: "We must acknowledge that there is a great deal of uncertainty in our region, and beyond, because many previous agreements have not been implemented." His Congolese counterpart, Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, highlighted the agreement's call for respecting state sovereignty. "It offers a rare chance to turn the page, not just with words but with real change on the ground. Some wounds will heal, but they will never fully disappear," she said. The agreement also sets up a joint security coordination body to monitor progress and calls vaguely for a "regional economic integration framework" within three months. - Trump takes credit - Trump has trumpeted the diplomacy that led to the deal, and started his White House event by bringing up a journalist who said he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize. Speaking to reporters earlier Friday, Trump said the United States will be able to secure "a lot of mineral rights from the Congo." The DRC has enormous mineral reserves that include lithium and cobalt, vital in electric vehicles and other advanced technologies, with US rival China now a key player in securing the resources. Trump said he had been unfamiliar with the conflict as he appeared to allude to the horrors of the 1994 Rwanda genocide, in which hundreds of thousands of people, mostly Tutsis, were killed in just 100 days. "I'm a little out of my league on that one because I didn't know too much about it. I knew one thing -- they were going at it for many years with machetes," Trump said. The agreement drew wide but not universal praise. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the deal "a significant step towards de-escalation, peace and stability" in the eastern DRC and the Great Lakes region. "I urge the parties to honour in full the commitments they have undertaken in the Peace Agreement... including the cessation of hostilities and all other agreed measures," Guterres said in a statement. The landmark agreement was also praised by the chairman of the African Union Commission. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, who witnessed the signing of the deal in Washington, "welcomed this significant milestone and commended all efforts aimed at advancing peace, stability, & reconciliation in the region," a statement said. But Denis Mukwege, a gynecologist who shared the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end the DRC's epidemic of sexual violence in war, voiced alarm about the agreement, saying it effectively benefited Rwanda and the United States. The deal "would amount to granting a reward for aggression, legitimizing the plundering of Congolese natural resources, and forcing the victim to alienate their national heritage by sacrificing justice in order to ensure a precarious and fragile peace," he said in a statement ahead of the signing. Physicians for Human Rights, which has worked in the DRC, welcomed the de-escalation but said the agreement had "major omissions," including accountability for rights violations.
