Pakistan

Islamabad, June 24: The Pakistani president has rejected British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s description of the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan as the ‘crucible for global terrorism.’

“I think sometimes people say things they don’t understand or mean but I think his concern is genuine and I appreciate the concern,” Asif Ali Zardari told ITV’s News at Ten.

He also denied any knowledge of militant training camps in Pakistan, saying it was an “old thought” among British intelligence that thousands of radicals were arriving in Britain.

Islamabad, June 24: Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a review petition filed by Indian national Sarabjit Singh and upheld the death sentence given to him for his alleged involvement in bomb attacks in 1990.

A three-member bench led by Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed dismissed Sarabjit’s review petition on merit and upheld the death sentence awarded to him by an anti-terrorism court in 1991. The apex court gave its verdict after his counsel failed to appear in court.

Islamabad, June 24: Two suspected US drone strikes killed at least 52 militants in Pakistan’s tribal district of South Waziristan, where the Pakistani military plans to launch offensive against the chief of local Taliban, intelligence officials said.

The attacks came hours after a militant leader who had defected from Pakistani Taliban head Baitullah Mehsud was assassinated by an “infiltrator” in the adjoining district of North West Frontier Province.

London, June 23: High-ranking Pakistani officials were behind the killing of eleven French ship-building engineers in Karachi seven years ago, two French judges have ruled.

Until now al-Qaida had been blamed for the bomb attack on a bus in 2002 that killed 11 engineers and three Pakistanis.

Islamabad, June 23: Pakistan’s army offensive in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan heated up Monday, with militants attacking three security force bases and military jets responding with airstrikes that killed at least 21 people, intelligence officials said.

The overnight and early morning clashes follow artillery attacks Sunday on suspected militant hideouts in two towns in the northwest that killed 27 fighters, officials said. Elsewhere in the volatile region, a citizens’ militia killed seven suspected militants.

Islamabad, June 23: Pakistan’s Interior Ministry Chief Rehman Malik says Maunalan Fazalullah a pro-Taliban leader in Swat valley has been surrounded by Pakistani troops.

“By and large we know the location where he [Fazalullah] is hiding,” Malik told reporters in Islamabad.

This is while some other reports suggest that the notorious leader may have been killed during recent offensives against the insurgents in the valley.

Islamabad, June 22 : Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik has warned the Taliban to leave the country, since the government will not rest until the last one was eliminated from the country’s soil.

Talking to reporters here last evening, Mr Malik said Taliban were neither Muslims nor Pakistanis. The nation had already said ‘no’ to the outfit and now they must leave Pakistan, he added.

Islamabad, June 22: The Pakistani army has exceeded expectations in its offensive against Taliban fighters in northwestern Pakistan, effectively marshaling arms, tactics and political support. But the tougher challenge will be preventing the extremists from returning, or from regrouping elsewhere.

“The key question is whether the army can hold the ground afterward,” said Urmila Venugopalan, a South Asia expert with the defense analysis group Jane’s.

Pakistan army says dozens of Taliban…Pakistan’s struggle against militants
U.S. appeals to China to help stabilize Pakistan

Dubai, June 22: Pakistanis residing in the UAE observed the 56th birth anniversary of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) assassinated chairperson Benazir Bhutto at her home in Dubai on Sunday in a simple but dignified manner.

The event was organised by Benazir’s family and attended by her daughters, Bakhtawar and Asifa. The home was decorated with large portraits of Benazir and verses in her admiration.

Hundreds of PPP supporters, including women and children, from all walks of life and from all over the country had gathered at the lawns of the residence at 10am.

Dubai, June 22: If it were in a position to do so, Al Qaeda would use Pakistan’s nuclear weapons in its fight against the United States, a top leader of the group said in remarks aired on Sunday.

Pakistan has been battling al Qaeda’s Taliban allies in the Swat Valley since April after their thrust into a district 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the capital raised fears the nuclear-armed country could slowly slip into militant hands.

Islamabad, June 22: Military jets and artillery pounded suspected militant hide-outs in two towns in Pakistan’s northwest on Sunday, killing 27 fighters, officials said. Elsewhere in the volatile region, a citizens’ militia killed seven suspected militants.

As the violence raged, President Asif Alil Zardari claimed the entire country backs the battle against the extremists.

The military has stepped up strikes in the past week on suspected militant bases in Bajur, where violence has spiked again almost five months after the military declared victory after a monthslong offensive.

Islamabad, June 21: Just as New Delhi was getting used to the idea that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s next bilateral meeting with Pakistan on the sidelines of the NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) summit in Egypt would be with Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and not as expected with President Asif Ali Zardari, here is another surprise.

Mr. Gilani has said he is undecided about going to Sharm-al-Shaikh despite an earlier announcement by the government that he would lead the delegation to the summit.

Swat, June 20: The refugees hurried down the deserted road in the searing midday heat, their suitcases clattering on the tank-scarred tarmac. Waving white flags, they crossed one ghostly village after another. Shuttered shops, destroyed buildings, stray dogs panting in the shade were all passed as the group veered around ­craters in the road.

Pakistan, June 20 :The federal government is apparently clueless about the stand taken by the top legal counsel of the Sindh administration against Nawaz Sharif in the Supreme Court, calling for upholding his conviction in the plane hijacking case. Neither Attorney General Latif Khosa nor the presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar has any idea why the Sindh government’s senior lawyers have gone against the federal stand, which seeks undoing of Nawaz Sharif’s sentence.

Chuprial, June 20: Pakistani troops backed by jet fighters and artillery have killed about 50 militants in a volatile northwestern tribal region near Afghanistan where the country’s top Taliban leader is believed to be entrenched with thousands of his fighters, officials said Saturday.

Islamabad, June 20: Pakistani ground troops moved into Taliban-controlled areas and engaged in the first gunbattle of a new offensive in the volatile northwest, as an aerial and artillery bombardment pounded other targets.

Officials said action did not represent the start of a full-scale operation in the tribal belt along the border with Afghanistan, but that most troops were now in place for when the orders came.

New York, June 20: A three-member United Nations panel was set up to investigate the facts and circumstances of the murder of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, but not the crime itself, the UN said Friday.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he had informed by letter Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari that the Commission of Inquiry will begin work July 1 for a period of six months.

But the UN said it will not be a criminal investigation, which is the responsibility of the Pakistani government.

Lahore, June 19: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif said terrorism cannot be linked to Islam and there is a need to focus on the root cause that leads to violence, Online news agency reported Friday.

Sharif made the remarks during his meeting with former Pakistani president Rafiq Tarar and religious scholar Maulana Tariq Jameel here.

“We will have to work together – beyond party political considerations to face this challenge. Every one has to play one’s role in this regard,” said Nawaz.

They also discussed the prevailing political situation in the country.

Islamabad, June 19: When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh goes to Sharm-al-Shaikh for the Non-Aligned Movement meeting, it will not be President Asif Ali Zardari from Pakistan who he will meet on the sidelines to take forward the process launched at Yekaterinburg, but Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani.

Earlier this week, after the meeting in Russia between Mr. Singh and Mr. Zardari, officials on both sides said the two leaders would meet again in July on the sidelines of the NAM summit, preceded by a meeting between their foreign secretaries.

Islamabad, June 19: A militant leader who broke away with Pakistan’s Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud has accused him of killing former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, a media report said Friday.

Haji Turkistan Baetani, former right-hand man of Mehsud, claimed that Mehsud had planned the assassination of Bhutto.

Baetani told Geo TV that he heard Mehsud say, “I have moved two of my associates to Rawalpindi (for) slaying Mohtarma B.B. (Benazir Bhutto).”

Islamabad, June 19: In a sudden development, President Asif Ali Zardari has decided not to attend the NAM Summit in Egypt next month, apparently to avoid another meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh whose blunt public comments appear to have annoyed Pakistan.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani will lead the Pakistani delegation to the Summit at Sharm-el Shaikh on July 15, the Foreign Office announced, a day after Singh had told reporters that he and Zardari would be meeting on the sidelines of the Summit.

Islamabad, June 19: Denying that Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) founder Maulana Masood Azhar has been placed under house arrest in Bahawalpur, Pakistani authorities have said his whereabouts are unknown and he might have fled to the Waziristan region. But some intelligence officials believe that Azhar could be living under the protection of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Following the June 17 arrest of five JeM activists from Punjab’s Sialkot district, there were rumours that among them was Azhar, whom the Indian government wants extradited.

Islamabad, June 19: Pakistan said on Thursday that the country looked forward “to a productive meeting between the foreign secretaries” (of Pakistan and India) to be held next month.

Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said: “We hope they will be able to take up all issues and that the outcome of their meeting will lead to a resumption of dialogue.”

Islamabad, June 18: President Asif Ali Zardari has decided to drop out of a proposed meeting with prime minister Manmohan Singh, apparently unhappy over his blunt public comments telling him that Pakistan’s soil should not be used for terrorist activities against India.

However, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit told the weekly news briefing today that prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani would lead the Pakistani delegation to next month’s NAM summit to be held in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Islamabad, June 18: Pakistan’s nuclear weapons formed the cornerstone of its deterrence doctrine and would be retained at all costs, a top military commander said Thursday.

‘No amount of coercion, direct or indirect, can force us to compromise on this core interest,’ Online news agency quoted General Tariq Majid, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, as saying while addressing the convocation of the National Defence Course, Armed Forces War Course and Allied Officers War Course at the National Defence University here.