Pakistan

Karachi, October 07: Although the Congress has recently approved the tripling of aid to Pakistan to the amount of 1.5 billion dollars a year, many Pakistanis remain suspicious of the US and its intentions.
“This bill should be considered a document of slavery for Pakistanis,” Nihal Hashmi, a lawyer, told IslamOnline.net.

“We have accepted humiliating conditions imposed by the US just for 1.5 billion dollars aid whereas we have lost over 40 billion dollars in the last eight years of the so-called war on terror.”

Islamabad, October 06: Former Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri on Tuesday said that terrorists are the enemy of entire nation and they deserve no concession whatsoever.

In a brief telephonic interview to Aaj News c said the operators and organizers of the terrorist acts want to shatter the very integrity of county.

Kasuri that difference in political agendas of the political parties notwithstanding they are expected to get united against the terrorists.

Islamabad, October 06: A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has rejected the bail application of one of the seven suspects facing trial in connection with the Mumbai attacks, which India has blamed on the banned militant outfit LeT.

Judge Baqir Ali Rana, who is conducting the trial of the seven suspects booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act, denied bail to Younas Anjum yesterday. The court noted that it had
already declined bail to another suspect named Jamil Ahmed.

Islamabad, October 06: The Obama administration has told Pakistan to either propose a practicable alternative to its drone attacks on high-value targets with n al Qaeda and Taliban links in Pakistan’s tribal areas orstop publicly criticising such attacks.

Diplomatic sources inIslamabad said themessage was conveyed by American special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke during his recent Islamabad visit.

Islamabad, October 06: The Pakistani Taliban Tuesday claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at UN World Food programme (WFP) offices in Islamabad.

The Monday afternoon attack, which killed five employees of the WFP, prompted immediate closure of all UN offices across the country “until further notice”.

A Taliban spokesman told reporters by phone that his group was behind the bombing carried out by a suicide attacker who entered the WFP building disguised as a paramilitary soldier.

Islamabad, October 06: Pakistan on Tuesday said all private guards posted at the UN food agency’s Islamabad office, where a suicide blast killed 5 people, have been taken into custody for questioning, claiming that their negligence enabled the bomber to enter the building in the garb of a security man.

It blamed the Taliban for carrying out the attack that killed five people, including an Iraqi national and two women, at the heavily-guarded World Food Programme (WFP) office in the heart of Islamabad yesterday and warned that the group could launch more such strikes.

Islamabad, October 06: Pakistani troops captured 11 militants during search operations in the restive Swat valley while four soldiers were injured when militants raided a security forces camp in the tribal belt, authorities said on Monday.

Ten militants were captured by troops during a search operation at Baqi Banda and Dhand in Swat. Another militant was apprehended during a search operation at Aligrama, the military said in a statement.

Washington, October 06: Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi on Monday said terror sanctuaries are no longer acceptable in his country and his government is determined to take strong action against terrorists even as he acknowledged that there are elements in Pakistan who are sympathetic to the extremists.

“The sanctuaries that they had are no longer acceptable to the people of Pakistan,” Qureshi told the popular NPR Radio’s Morning Edition shortly after a suicide attack at the UN food agency’s office in Islamabad killed five persons.

Washington, October 06: The latest suicide attack in Pakistan, killing five UN aid workers, shows that Pakistani Taliban can still hit soft target in relatively high-security zones despite indications that it has become weak, a prominent US think tank said on Monday.

“This attack — the first suicide bombing in Islamabad in months — shows that the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) can still hit soft targets in relatively secure areas. However, there are several indicators that the TTP is weakening,” Stratfor, an American global intelligence company said.

Washington, October 06: A top Republican leader Tuesday cautioned that Pakistan, in particular ISI, would change its behaviour with respect to terrorists once again if it got an inkling that the United States is about to leave Afghanistan.

“I guarantee you, if we send the signal to Pakistan that we’re leaving, I can only imagine the adjustments that will be made in Pakistan — Pakistani government’s behaviour, including the ISI if they think we’re leaving,” Senator John McCain said in an interview to Fox Business.

Islamabad, October 06: Pakistan blamed Taliban militants Tuesday for the deadly suicide bombing at the U.N. food agency’s heavily fortified compound in the capital as authorities detained some of the guards posted outside to try to determine how the attacker gained entry.

The suicide bomber, who killed five people at the World Food Program’s Pakistan headquarters Monday afternoon, was dressed as a security officer and was allowed to enter — apparently bypassing the normal security procedures — after asking the guards outside if he could used the bathroom.

Sararogha, October 06: Flanked by heavily armed fighters, the new leader of the Pakistani Taliban sat on a blue blanket, amiable and relaxed as he cracked jokes and mixed in threats of vengeance for deadly U.S. airstrikes.

One day later, a suicide bomber attacked a U.N. office in Islamabad.

Hakimullah Mehsud met with reporters Sunday for the first time since winning control of the militant group, quashing speculation that he had been slain in a succession struggle following the killing of his predecessor in a U.S. drone attack.

Islamabad, October 06: IN WHAT is likely to be its sternest challenge yet, Pakistan’s military is poised to launch a major offensive in the coming days against militants in the remote mountainous terrain of South Waziristan, long rumoured to be the hiding place of Osama bin Laden.

Islamabad, October 06: Misbah-ul-Haq is one of thousands of Pakistani students who managed to get admission to British universities to pursue their post-graduate studies.

He applied for the visa four months before beginning of his academic year and was supposed to attend the ongoing fall semester.

His dreams have been dashed because his visa application has been pending with the British High Commission in Islamabad for months.

“I kept expecting a call from the High Commission people till a week before the beginning of fall semester,” he told.

Lahore, October 06: I am not in a position to confirm or reject Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif’s deal with the Saudi royal family, a channel quoted Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Abdul Aziz Al-Ghadeer as saying on Monday.

According to the channel, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Nawaz’s decision whether to contest polls or not was Pakistan’s internal matter. He was speaking at a ceremony held to mark the 79th national day of the kingdom at Saudi embassy in Islamabad.

Hyderabad, October 06: A child was injured in a blast occurred in an auto garage located near District Council Hyderabad in Kacha Qila area.

According to a private TV channel, the incident happened when a man identified as Sikandar Hussain parked his car in the garage for repair work. A mechanic named Shahzad found a hand grenade and pulled the pin resulting in the blast.

He was injured in the blast and shifted to the hospital for medical treatment. The blast was so powerful that its voice heard from 3 to 4 kilometers from the site of the blast.

Islamabad, October 06: Five people, including two women and an Iraqi national, were killed and four injured in a suicide bomb blast at the United Nations World Food Programme office here on Monday.

The UN reacted strongly to the incident and immediately closed down all its offices in Pakistan.

“Preliminary investigation shows that the bomber had disguised in the uniform of the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary,” Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters at the site of the explosion.

Islamabad, October 05: Five people, including a foreigner, were killed when a suicide bomber detonated himself inside the lobby of the UN World Food Programme office in an upscale locality of this Pakistan capital.

The UN temporarily suspended its operations following the attack that was condemned by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Ishrat Rizvi, national information officer for the UN Information Centre in Islamabad, said: “We have temporarily suspended our operations in Pakistan due to the security risks to the UN staff.”

Islamabad, October 05: Three people, including a foreigner, were killed Monday in a suicide bomb blast at the UN World Food Programme office in an upscale locality of this Pakistan capital.

The UN temporarily suspended all its operations. Ishrat Rizvi, national information officer for the United Nations Information Centre in Islamabad, said: “We have temporarily suspended our operations in Pakistan due to the security risks to the UN staff.”

Islamabad, October 05: Britain’s home and defense secretaries have arrived in Pakistan, amid growing public opposition to Islamabad’s security cooperation with the West.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson and Defense Secretary Bob Ainsworth are to meet with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and other top ministers in the two-day visit.

They saidd they plan to discuss ways to promote counter-terrorism and defense cooperation between Pakistan and Britain.

Islamabad, October 05: The United Nations says it has temporarily closed its offices in Pakistan following the attack on the World Food Program office in the capital of Islamabad.

UN spokesman Ishrat Rizvi said no specific threat had been received and the move was a precaution following Monday’s attack that killed three people.

—Agencies

Islamabad, October 05: Former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf says that the US and Pakistani intelligence services were closing in on Osama Bin Laden five years ago but suddenly lost track.

Musharraf, who is currently on a lecture tour of the US, told students and delegates at a college in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Friday that both Pakistani and US intelligence have failed to collect any details regarding Bin Laden’s whereabouts.

Islamabad, October 05: Pakistan’s new Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud has met journalists, ending speculation about his death, and vowed to avenge drone attacks and the killing of his predecessor Baitullah Mehsud.

Hakimullah Mehsud met reporters Sunday in the country’s tribal area for the first time since gaining control over the militant outfit, Dawn reported Monday.

His dramatic appearance finally ended speculation that he was killed in a leadership battle within the militant group, sparked by the August slaying of Baitullah Mehsud in a missile strike.

Islamabad, October 05: Two Pakistani women and one foreign national were killed Monday in a bomb blast inside a United Nations office in the capital Islamabad, senior police officials said.

“Three people, one of them a foreigner, were killed in the explosion,” senior Islamabad police official Tahir Alam told reporters at the scene. He did not reveal the nationality of the dead foreigner.

Bani Amin, deputy inspector general of Islamabad police operations, said earlier on local television that two of the dead were Pakistani.

Islamabad, October 05: The United States has long suspected that much of the billions of dollars it has sent Pakistan to battle militants has been diverted to the domestic economy and other causes, such as fighting India.

Now the scope and longevity of the misuse is becoming clear: Between 2002 and 2008, while al-Qaida regrouped, only $500 million of the $6.6 billion in American aid actually made it to the Pakistani military, two army generals tell The Associated Press.