Pakistan

Lahore, December 10: The five “high value” terror suspects arrested in the eastern city of Sargodha are US nationals with links to the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed and were allegedly planning terror attacks in Pakistan, a senior police official said today.

All five youths were on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s “watch list” and were nabbed after police received a tip-off about their suspicious activities, Sargodha district police chief Usman Anwar said.

Islamabad, December 10: Pakistani police say they have arrested five foreign nationals, including a Swede and a Pakistani-American, on suspicion they were plotting a militant attack.

The five were arrested today at the house of a member of the banned militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad in Sargodha, about 200 kilometres south of Islamabad in Punjab province, district police chief Usman Anwar said.

“We have arrested five foreigners in a raid,” he said.

The five had been staying at the man’s house since November 30, he said.

Islamabad, December 10: Five young Americans detained in Pakistan, which is fighting an increasingly violent Taliban insurgency, wanted to join a holy war and were in contact with militants through the Internet, officials said on Thursday.

The five men, students in their 20s from northern Virginia, were detained this week in the city of Sargodha in Punjab province, 190 km (120 miles) southeast of Islamabad, security officials said.

Hyderabad, December 10: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif vowed to struggle against any move made to destabilise the democratic set up of the country.

He was talking to reporters after condoling with former Sindh minister Dr Irfan Gul Magsi and Tando Allahyar District Nazim Rahila Gul Magsi on the demise of their father and veteran politician, Raees Allah Bux Magsi.

Washington, December 10: Five American Muslims from the Washington area who went missing have been detained in Pakistan as US authorities were investigating their motive for leaving the country, US officials and a Muslim group said.

Islamabad, December 10: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday presented the details of President Asif Ali Zardari’s Swiss accounts.

Sindh Advocate General, meanwhile, submitted the list of criminal cases against nearly 8,000 activists of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) including its top leadership who were pardoned under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

Karachi, December 10: What the mighty Americans, NATO and Pakistan could not achieve in past eight years, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) self-exiled London-based chief Altaf Hussain, claimed that his party would eliminate terrorism from Pakistan in ten hours if provided the opportunity.

This astonishing declaration was made by Altaf while delivering a telephonic addresses from London to a big rally at the Karachi Press Club.

Islamabad, December 09: Strike To Be Observe In Multan TodayMULTAN: Lawyers and businessmen are observing strike today in Multan after yesterday’s terror attacks. Schools should remain close in Qasim Bela. Investigations regarding the suicide attack on Spy agency are in progress.

Security has been tightened up in the city. Lawyers will do the boycott of courts today, where as business community people decided to remain close their businesses, all school are closed in Qasim Bela.
–Agencies

Islamabad, December 09: Pakistan Muslim League (N) chief Nawaz Sharif said the country is passing through testing times calling all parties to forget differences and avoid blame mongering for the sake of national unity.

Talking to media at Magsi House after offering condolences to the bereaved family of PML-N leader Allah Bux Magsi, he said the major cause of existing problems is lack of supremacy of the parliament. “Those countries where an individual takes all major decisions face such problems,” Nawaz said.

Islamabad, December 09: Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud has claimed that his militants have not lost their morale due to the major military offensive in the South Waziristan tribal region and said they have “conserved” their energy to take on the army when it snows.

“We will wait till January for our offensive since we are stronger during the snowing season,” said Hakimullah, who was made chief of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan after his predecessor Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone attack in August.

Islamabad, Dec 09: Pakistan has acquired the first of four airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft from Sweden, an air force spokesman said on Wednesday, in a move to match the capabilities of its main rival, India.

The Saab-2000 AWACS aircraft was handed over to the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) on Tuesday.

“The aircraft landed at one of the PAF’s main operating bases, marking the achievement of a major milestone in the overall modernisation plan of PAF,” the spokesman said in a statement.

Islamabad, Dec 09: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is reportedly sending a team to Pakistan to look for more information regarding David Coleman Headley, the alleged American terror suspect of Pakistani origin who was arrested in Chicago in October.

Headley has been accused of planning an attack on a Danish newspaper after it ran cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, and of his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks

Islamabad, December 09: Taliban militants have used a ceasefire agreement between the Pakistani security forces and North Waziristan Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadur to remobilise and expand their operations.

As the military began its offensive against militants in South Waziristan in mid-October, those aligned with Pakistan’s Tehrik-e-Taliban began launching terror attacks in Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier Province.

Washington, December 09: Having witnessed five devastating terror strikes in the last couple of days, both the Pakistani civilian leadership and the intelligence have blamed India for the attacks, which according to analysts is a deliberate attempt on part of Islamabad to wash their hands off taking the responsibility for initiating stern action against the actual perpetrators.

Analysts believe that the government was blaming the recent attacks on India in an effort to shift attention from their inability to provide adequate security cover to people of the country.

Karachi, December 09: Thousands of people have held rallies across the major cities in Pakistan to show their opposition to the ongoing militancy in the country.

About five thousand activists belonging to Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Pakistan’s third largest political party, marched in streets of Karachi to condemn what they called the “growing Talibanization” in the country, a Press TV correspondent reported on Tuesday.

The party activists demanded that the government chalk out a comprehensive strategy to root out militancy and terrorism from the nuclear-armed country.

Chennai, December 09: DMK President and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today greeted Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on the occasion of her 64th birthday.In a fax message to Ms Sonia, a copy of which was released to the press here, Mr Karunanidhi said under her able, dynamic and selfless leadership, the Congress party has been winning a number of laurels.

”The country has been making tremendous strides of advancement and the UPA Government at the Centre has set a role model for a Coalition Government in the Indian politics”.

Islamabad, December 09: Two employees of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission were injured when the vehicle they were travelling in was targeted with a roadside bomb in the country?s troubled northwest today.

The blast occurred in Lakki Marwat district of North West Frontier Province, officials were quoted as saying by Geo News channel.

A technician and the vehicle?s driver were injured in the attack, they said. Both men sustained minor injuries and were taken to a nearby hospital. The windows of the vehicle were shattered by the blast.

Islamabad, December 09: The Indian military presence and the Indian government’s decision to allow tourists to visit the Siachen glacier are harming the Siachen eco-system. Glacial lakes have started forming in the region and the increased human activity might pose a risk to Pakistan’s food security in the long run, the director-general of the Pakistan Meteorological department, Qamaruz Zaman Chaudhry, has said.

Chaudhry said Pakistan’s agriculture was dependent on the Himalayan glaciers and the Indian army’s presence was causing damage to them.

Islamabad, December 09:The FBI is sending a team to Pakistan and India as part of an inquiry into a Chicago man accused of plotting against a Danish newspaper and sizing up targets ahead of last year’s deadly terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India’s financial capital.

Pakistan’s role in alleged plots spanning three countries has increasingly come under scrutiny as new details emerge about the case and suspect David Coleman Headley’s links to the country.

Islamabad, December 09: President Asif Ali Zardari allegedly gained financial benefits worth billions of dollars when graft cases against him were dropped under a law that has now expired, according to documents submitted by Pakistan’s anti-corruption watchdog to the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

The documents provided by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) showed that Zardari had been accused of illegally amassing assets worth USD 1.5 billion and Rs 22 billion, mainly during the period when his slain wife Benazir Bhutto was the Premier in the 1990s.

Lahore, December 08: The death toll in a twin suicide bombing at a crowded commercial hub here rose to 49 today, with several people succumbing to their injuries and more bodies being dug out of the rubble.

Among those who died in last night’s attack on Moon Market in Allama Iqbal Town area were 29 men, 13 women and seven children, said district administration chief Sajjad Bhutta.

Another 180 people were injured and 62 of them are still being treated in hospitals, he said.

Islamabad, December 08: Two blasts ripped through an ISI office within Multan cantonment in Pakistan’s Punjab province today, injuring several people.

The first blast occurred shortly before noon and was followed soon by a more powerful explosion, witnesses said.

Military police cordoned off the area and prevented people and the media from approaching the site of the blast.

? ? ?Zafar Ahir, an editor of Jang newspaper who witnessed the blasts, said the target of the attack was an ISI office.

“More than half of the ISI office has been destroyed.

Islamabad, December 08: With mounting pressure from the opposition and the media on the Pakistani president, chances are that Asif Ali Zardari may step down and give his job to Premier Yousuf Gilani, in order to later take his place as premier.

According to Pakistan’s Foreign Policy magazine in its latest issue, “Zardari could ‘pull a Putin’, whereby he cedes power to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and then, as head of his party, makes a play to have himself elected to that post (as prime minister).”

Lahore, December 08: Twin blasts at a market in eastern Pakistan killed up to 48 people as militants struck back amid an army offensive against the Taliban, but the country’s president said the bombings would not deter the government in its campaign.

Meanwhile, a U.S. missile strike early Tuesday killed at least three people in a troubled northwestern tribal region near the Afghan border, two intelligence officials said.

Islamabad, December 08: Pakistani intelligence officials say a U.S. missile strike has killed at least three people in a troubled northwestern tribal region near the Afghan border.

The two officials said the two missiles early Tuesday destroyed a car carrying three people in a village near Mir Ali, which is a main town in North Waziristan.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly to the media.

Pakistan is a key ally of Washington in its war on terror but it has opposed such attacks, saying they were counterproductive.