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.
Washington, September 23: New Delhi has charged that Islamabad’s disruptive role in the Taliban insurgency alongwith aid for the Afghan Taliban provided by Pakistan’s spy agency has complicated the military situation in Afghanistan, with India’s foreign minister asserting “they are still together”.
“They are a tandem,” External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Islamabad, September 22: Pakistan appears to be setting the tone for the first high-level contact with India in two months, with its top leadership asserting it wanted improved sub-continental ties in the interest of peace and development.
At a meeting with former US president Bill Clinton in New York Monday, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said the resumption of the sub-continental composite dialogue was in the best interests of the region.
Islamabad, September 22: After days of dillydallying, the Pakistan government on Tuesday finally confirmed the arrest of Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed.
Addressing reporters in Multan, Prime Minsiter Yusuf Raza Gilani confirmed Saeed’s arrest saying, “He has been arrested. We are ready to cooperate with India and want to solve all the issues existing. We will not allow any terrorist to us Pakistan soil for their activities.”
Islamabad, September 22: The police in Lahore have confined Hafiz Saeed, founder-leader of the Jamat-ud-Dawa/Laskhar-e-Taiba, to his house, but not arrested or detained him, his lawyer said on Monday.
Saeed, against whom two cases were registered last week under the Anti-Terrorism Act, was prevented from leaving his house to lead the Eid prayers at the Gaddafi stadium, his lawyer A.K. Dogar said.
“No warrant served”
Lahore, September 22: Over 350 Indian Sikh pilgrims, in Pakistan to attend the death anniversary of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, have urged New Delhi and Islamabad to allow pilgrims to travel without visas.
The Sikhs, travelling under the aegis of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee, arrived here Monday and would be visiting Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib situated in Narowal district of Pakistan.
The Sikhs urged both the governments “to abolish the visas for the pilgrimages”, Geo TV reported Tuesday.
Peshawar, September 22: Suspected Islamist militants blew up a girls school close to the main city in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, police said. The school was empty at the time of the blast and no one was injured.
A timed explosive device is believed to have caused the explosion that badly damaged the school on the outskirts of Peshawar, police officer Hamdullah Khan said.
Lahore, September 22: A jobless man who put his young daughter on sale in the city of Hyderabad has received an overwhelming response in the form of financial assistance and offers of employment a day later.
Muhammad Ayub, who has been jobless for two years now after he was sacked from a state electricity company, offered to sell his daughter so that his family could make ends meet.
Ayub sat in front of the Hyderabad Press Club and made his offer. His daughter and other family members were with him when he announced his decision.
Peshawar, September 21: Police officers foiled a plan to assassinate a regional education minister in northwestern Pakistan when they engaged four militants in a gunbattle Monday that ended with a teenage suicide bomber blowing himself up, police said.
An informant tipped off officers that insurgents had gathered in a government high school in North West Frontier Province after midnight and were planning to kill provincial Education Minister Sardar Hussain Babak and attack government installations and security forces, police officer Noor Jamal Khan said.
Islamabad, September 21: Former Pakistan president and military ruler Pervez Musharraf has said he would return to the country “when circumstances improve”.
Speaking to Geo TV from Philadelphia, Musharraf said he would return home under pleasant circumstances.
He said that he won’t “retaliate against those who are demanding to try him”.
Police in Islamabad had on Aug 10 registered a criminal case against Musharraf following the orders of Islamabad Additional Sessions Judge Mohammad Akmal Khan.
Islamabad, September 20: Ilyas Kashmiri, a militant commander who fought in Jammu and Kashmir in the 1990s and is believed to have been killed in a recent US drone attack, was once rewarded by Pervez Musharraf for “slitting the throat” of an Indian Army officer in 2000, a media report said today.
Kashmiri, a commander of the Harkat-ul-Jehad al-Islami, was reportedly killed in a drone attack in North Waziristan last week.
Peshawar, September 20: The Pakistani government has extended the detention of Taliban leader Sufi Mohammed by 30 days, the Online news agency reported.
The decision against the chief of the banned Tehrik-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammedi, was taken Saturday by the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) government.
Sufi Mohammed, who is currently lodged in the Peshawar Central Jail, was arrested along with his three sons by the security forces in Peshawar.
Islamabad, September 20: Anti-terrorism court in Islamabad conducting the trial of 7 suspects linked with the Mumbai attacks,including LeT commander Zakiur Lakhvi, adjourned the hearing till 26th Sept even as a chargesheet was filed against one of the accused.
In a bid to procrastinate the trial related to 26/11 carnage, the hearing of the seven suspects including Lashker-e-Taiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi has been adjourned till 26th September by an anti-terrorism court in Islamabad.