Pakistan

Centurion, September 26: With the help of brilliant century by Shoaib Malik, Pakistan posted mammoth 302 runs on board in the 6th match of ICC Champions Trophy 2009.

After losing three wickets early, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf consolidated Pakistani innings brilliantly. Duo guided Pakistan towards big total with 206 runs partnership.

Malik smashed 128 runs while Yousuf scored 87 in just 88 deliveries. They rescued Pakistan from 65/3 and put their side on driving seat.

New York, September 26: Pakistan is contemplating appointment of veteran diplomat and former foreign secretary Riaz Mohd Khan as its special envoy on Indian affairs, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said here today.

“Yes, we are considering very senior former diplomat, former foreign secretary – a gentleman called Riaz Mohd Khan,” Qureshi told CNN-IBN, referring to reports that Pakistan was to name a special envoy for informal talks with India.

Khan held the post of Foreign Secretary from 2005 to 2008 and retired from it citing personal reasons.

Peshawar, September 26: Two separate suicide car bombings Saturday rocked Pakistan’s volatile northwestern region, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens more, police and witnesses said.

A suicide attacker detonated his explosive-packed vehicle at a busy commercial area of provincial capital Peshawar, hours after a bomber exploded his truck at the gate of a police station in Bannu town.

Seven people were killed at the scene while two succumbed to their injuries at the hospital. At least 85 more were injured, senior police officer Abdul Ghafoor Afridi said.

Islamabad, September 26:A car bomb exploded in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar Saturday, killing at least seven people and injuring another 30, hours after a suicide bombing outside a police station in the restive North West Frontier Province (NWFP) killed six people, police said.

Explosives packed in a car went off just around midday outside a busy commercial centre in Peshawar’s Saddar area, one of the main routes to the army-controlled neighbourhood in the city, police said.

Islamabad, September 26: In a frontal attack on his inveterate foe, Nawaz Sharfi, ex-military leader Gen. Parvez Musharraf has labelled the former premier as a ‘closet Taleban’.

In an interview with the ABC News, Musharraf recalled Sharif’s alleged meetings with Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and described him as “abrasive and confrontational”.

“He has never been on good terms with any president of Pakistan, so I don’t know what kind of mental make-up he has. But the man is abrasive against the other power brokers of Pakistan,” he said.

Islamabad, September 26: At least four people were killed in a suicide attack on a police station in restive north-west Pakistan, television station GEO TV reported Saturday.

The attackers used a pickup truck to carry out the attack in Bannu in North-West Frontier Province. The area near the border with Afghanistan is a stronghold of the radical Islamist Taliban.

The report added that at least 20 other people were injured in the incident and many of them were in a critical condition.
–Agencies

Islamabad, September 26: Pakistan is set to replace India in the Interpol’s executive committee, elections for which will be held next month.

The director-general of Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Tariq Khosa, would be the country’s candidate for one of the two seats allotted to Asia in the committee. Khosa confirmed that he was Pakistan’s nominee for the seat.

The terms of India and Korea, the current members representing Asia in the committee, end in October.

New York, September 25: Pakistan is a country in the world where exist no law against corruption. This is what anti-corruption watchdog “Transparency International” says. Its 2009 Global Corruption Report, released on Wednesday, Transparency International portrays Pakistan amongst the most corrupt nations in the world.

Islamabad, September 25: Mounting new attacks on militant hideouts in Pakistan, a US drone fired missiles killing 12 extremists in a house in North Waziristan close to the Afghan border.

The drone fired several Hellfire missiles at the militant hideout, suspected to belong to Afghan Taliban warlord Jalaludin Haqqani at Danday Darpakhel near Miranshah, a key town in North Waziristan Agency.

Nine militants were killed instantly in the attack late on Thursday night, while three bodies were pulled out of the debris today, according to local reports.

Islamabad, September 25: Pakistan’s Taliban movement is stronger than ever despite the killing of its top commander and will stage more suicide attacks if the army launches another offensive against it, a top militant has claimed. Qari Hussain Mehsud, known for training Taliban suicide bombers, met with an AP reporter Thursday at a secret location in North Waziristan, near the Afghan border, just hours before a U.S. missile strike hit the tribal region and killed 12 people.

Islamabd, September 25: Militants in Pakistan have attacked and killed tribal elders who were involved in setting up armed militias to try and protect their communities against the threat of the Taliban.

At least nine people were killed in one attack in the north-west, when militants ambushed a convoy that was travelling to meet security officials. The three vehicles were sprayed with gunfire. At least four elders were among the dead. Reports say that residents rushed to the scene and attacked the militants, stopping them from killing survivors.

Islamabad, September 25: Pakistani authorities have said that 26/11 mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed was not under house arrest as was being claimed earlier.

Officials claimed there was still no credible evidence to take action against Saeed for the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.

Earlier, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had said that Saeed had been arrested following the filing of FIRs against him. But Saeed’s lawyer denied the arrest, saying an appeal had been filed in the Lahore High Court.

New York, September 25: In a startling volte face, Pakistan admitted Thursday that Hafiz Saeed, the alleged mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks had not been arrested as had previously been thought, saying this would ‘take time’.

New York, September 25: With the US Senate passing a landmark bill to triple the non-military aid to Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari today said a stable and prosperous Pakistan is the world’s greatest hope against the spread of terrorism.

“A stable, prosperous Pakistan is the world’s greatest hope against the spread of extremism and terrorism,” he said during a meeting of Friends of Democratic Pakistan group here.

Islamabad, September 25: A US drone attack has killed 10 militants from a network fighting Western troops in Afghanistan at their compound in Pakistan’s tribal belt, officials said.

The strike from a suspected US spy plane yesterday was the fourth this month in North Waziristan, where militants linked to Taliban and Al-Qaeda who are fighting against 100,000 US and NATO troops in Afghanistan are said to be hiding.

Lahore/New Delhi, September 24: Hafiz Saeed, who India holds to be mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, is not under house arrest and is a free man, his lawyer said Thursday, adding he had appealed against the two new cases filed against him by the Pakistan government.

“He is not under arrest. He is a free man and going about his work,” lawyer A.K. Dogar told Indian TV news channel CNN-IBN.

Islamabad, September 24: Abdul Qadeer Khan, the disgraced scientist who mentored Pakistans nuclear programme, has declined to comment on the veracity of a letter he is supposed to have written to his wife five years ago. The publication of the missive has raised fresh concerns about his role in nuclear proliferation.

“I cannot comment on the report of Sunday Times because I have so far not gone through it,” Dawn quoted him as saying Thursday.

Islamabad, September 24: Militants have killed seven tribal chiefs in Pakistan’s Bannu district, TV channels reported Thursday.

The seven dead tribal elders were members of peace committee bodies supporting the Pakistani government against militants.

The dead bodies of the killed tribal chiefs were found from various parts of Bannu Thursday morning.

Four dead bodies have been moved to the Bannu District Hospital.

The reports said over 400 pro-government tribal chiefs have been killed by Taliban fighters since 2004.

—Agencies

Islamabad, September 24: The lack of anti-graft laws makes Pakistan one of the most corrupt nations in the world and is coming in the way of foreign investments in the country, global anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI) says.

“How can one expect from any donor to come forward to assist Pakistan from its current financial crisis, when there exists no law against corruption?” TI said in its 2009 Global Corruption Report released Wednesday.

Islamabad, September 24: Pakistan on Wednesday again appeared to be speaking in twin voices. While on one hand, the Prime Minister and President of that country said that they want to resume dialogue with India and improve ties, on the other hand, Interior Minister Rehman Malik has accused New Delhi of promoting terrorism in his country.

“Yes, it is true. The terrorists arrested from Swat and tribal areas of the country have confirmed Indian involvement in terrorist activities in Pakistan,” Online news agency quoted Malik as telling a private TV channel.

Mingora, September 24: More than a year after locking doors and ripping down racy posters because of Taliban threats, cinema is once again attracting excited men in Pakistan’s Swat valley.

Mingora, the capital of the northwest district formerly overrun by Islamist gunmen determined to enforce sharia law and ban entertainment, is now seeing hundreds queue up to watch re-runs of Pakistani films.

“I love the big screen. It’s a lot of fun. The curse (Taliban) is almost finished,” 21-year-old mechanic Abid Khan told AFP inside the Swat Cinema.

Islamabad, September 24: A Pakistani national who arrived here from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been diagnosed with swine flu, a media report said Thursday citing hospital sources.

The patient was taken to a hospital on suspicion of contracting swine flu after he arrived at the Benazir International Airport from Sharjah Wednesday night.

The doctors at PIMS hospital confirmed the patient was suffering from the viral disease.

Islamabad, September 23:At least six people, including two women, were killed in northwestern Pakistan Wednesday after neighbours clashed over annoying cellphone calls, police said.

The gunfight took place following a heated argument between the two groups in the Sarobi Bandai village of Karak district.

The two sides had a brawl four months ago when one of the families received a series of calls from a boy from the other family. The issue propped up again Wednesday.

Islamabad, September 23: Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said he will adopt a “positive approach” for his meeting with his Indian counterpart S M Krishna on the sidelines of UN General Assembly in New York.

Qureshi told state-run PTV that he hoped his engagement with Krishna will be meaningful.

The two Foreign Ministers are expected to meet after talks between Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir.

New York, September 23: Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has urged the US to reimburse the $1.6 billion dollars spent on fighting extremism in his country’s tribal areas.

Zardari made the demand during two separate meetings here with US officials, including special Af-Pak envoy Richard Holbrooke, DawnNews reported.

The US pays Pakistan for the anti-militant operations from a special account called the Coalition Support Fund. Pakistan has not been paid for more than a year.