Islamabad, September 20: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday asked India to come forward for negotiations to resolve the Kashmir dispute ‘so that there could be lasting peace in the region’.
“We want to resolve the Kashmir dispute peacefully and invite India for negotiations, a gesture that it has continued to ignore,” Gilani said in his address at an iftar party he hosted for Kashmiri leaders at the Prime Minister’s House.
Islamabad, September 20: Pakistan’s army says a Taliban commander known for beheading opponents has died in custody from wounds sustained during his capture last week.
The army media center says Sher Muhammad Qasab died in custody Sunday. Qasab’s three sons were killed in the gunbattle with security forces in the Swat Valley when he was arrested.
Qasab is an Urdu-language word meaning “butcher.” He was given the title because of his ruthlessness toward enemies. He had a $121,000 bounty on his head.
The arrest was the third from the army’s list of the 10 most-wanted Swat militants.
Islamabad, September 20: Pakistani families uprooted by conflict with the Taliban face a miserable Eid Al Fitr, with no cash to splash on celebrations and longing to return to homes they fear no longer exist.
“All I want is to go back home this Eid,” said Khalida Bibi, a 10-year-old girl standing in a queue to collect packages from the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in the Jalozai camp for displaced people in northwest Pakistan.
Islamabad, September 20: The leader of the Taliban movement issued a warning to Western troops in Afghanistan that their “unequivocal defeat” is imminent and they should learn the lessons of history.
Weeks before the eighth anniversary of the US-led invasion that toppled the Taliban regime, Mullah Omar painted Afghanistan as a graveyard for “colonial” troops.
In a statement issued to mark the Muslim festival of Eid, he referred to “huge casualties and sagging morale” among the more than 100,000 NATO and US-led troops in Afghanistan fighting Taliban-linked insurgents.
Islamabad, September 20: Hafiz Saeed is under investigation for his alleged role in the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan said on Saturday, but also underlined that there was not yet enough evidence to implicate him in the case or arrest him, and that it would not be rushed into acting against him on Indian “dictation.”
Seven 26/11 suspects arrested: PakistanIslamabad, September 19: President Asif Ali Zardari has said Pakistan was determined to prosecute anybody “who is inclined towards aggressive mindset” in the wake of mounting international pressure to take action against Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed.
Pakistani authorities today said they have arrested seven suspects in the 26/11 Mumbai attack case. The arrested included Zakir-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarar Shah, according to TV reports.
Authorities added that boat used by the suspects to carry out the attacks has been seized.
Islamabad, September 19: Former President Pervez Musharraf has said that nuclear assets of Pakistan are in safe hands and there is no danger of militants taking
over them.
Musharraf, currently on a lecture tour of the United States, stated this while addressing students at Trinity University in San Antenio in Texas.
In his lecture, Musharraf also advocated far-reaching solutions to the issue of terrorism, including settling the Kashmir and Israel-Palestine problems.
He said that India as well as Pakistan and Afghanistan faced extremist troubles.
London, September 19: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has again blamed terrorist attacks on “non-state actors and supporters of dictatorship” in Pakistan.
In remarks made ahead of what he described as coming “leadership level” talks in New York, Zardari also called for “meaningful progress” toward resolving the dispute with India over Kashmir.
“Terrorist attacks are always directed at democracies. They are also directed against the peace process with India that we have initiated,” he told an audience at the International Institute of Strategic Studies here Friday.
Peshawar, September 19: A bombing at a mosque in northwest Pakistan killed a prominent Sunni Muslim official just hours after a suicide attack in a nearby Shiite Muslim-dominated village left 29 dead, police said Saturday.
It was not immediately clear if two were linked, but the mosque bomb Friday was the third blast in the area in two days, underscoring the relentless security threat in a region riddled with Taliban and al-Qaida and simmering with sectarian tension.
Islamabad, September 19: President Asif Ali Zardari said Pakistan was determined to prosecute anybody “who is inclined towards aggressive mindset” in the wake of mounting international pressure to take action against Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed.
Zardari, who made a reference to Saeed having been slapped with fresh charges, however, refused to go into the details saying investigators were in a better position to comment on the JuD chief’s case.
Karachi, September 19: The Thatta police was directed by a division bench of the Sindh High Court comprising Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Mohammad Ather Saeed to protect a Hindu girl who embraced Islam and married a Muslim man.
Earlier the bench heard the counsel for petitioner Ayesha who maintained that being an adult lady, she married to a Muslim man after embracing Islam. She maintained that the Jhirk police in district Thatta lodged an FIR of abduction etc on a complaint filed by her father Sham Lal, brother Khem Chand, and others.
Islamabad, September 19: Muslims offered Jumatul Wida with religious solemnity and fervour and offered special prayers for unity and prosperity of the country and Ummah.
Prayer leaders offered special prayers for welfare of Pakistan and Muslim Ummah. Hundreds of people from different parts of the two cities offered Juma prayer at Faisal Mosque.
Prayer leaders in sermons highlighted the significance of Jumatul Wida and Ramazan. They urged the faithful to make a solemn pledge to follow the teachings of Islam in letter and spirit.
Islamabad, September 19: Pakistan has slapped two new cases on Hafiz Mohammad Saeed in a move high on symbolism but low on legal ammunition since neither relate to the Mumbai terror attacks.
“Two cases have been registered against Hafiz Saeed for delivering speeches against the government, holding unlawful congregations and inciting people to wage jihad against anti-Islamic forces and appealing to them for generous donations,” a senior Pakistani police official told The Telegraph. The cases were registered in Faisalabad on Wednesday.
Islamabad, September 18: A suicide bomber has blown up an explosives-laden car at a market in a Shia dominated town in the northwest Pakistan, killing at least 30 people and injuring 70 others.
The deadly incident happened on Friday morning at Hangu road near the city of Kohat, 150 km southwest of Islamabad, a Press TV correspondent reported.
Sources said dozens injured people had been moved to the medial facilities in Ustazai and others nearby towns.
Lahore, September 18: A woman has moved the Lahore High Court to seek Pakistani nationality for her husband from India.
Justice Mian Saqib Nisar of the Lahore High Court (LHC) Thursday admitted for hearing the petition filed by Shazia Zia, a resident of Lahore who sought Pakistani nationality for her Indian husband, Daily Times reported Friday.
The judge, after admitting the petition, referred it to the LHC chief justice for constituting a larger bench to proceed on the petition.
Lahore, September 18: Three people have been arrested for selling pirated editions of former Indian minister Jaswant Singh’s book “Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence” in this Pakistani city, authorities said.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) raided two shops in Defence Housing Authority and arrested three people for selling the pirated editions of Jaswant Singh’s book, Daily Times reported Friday.
A countrywide crackdown has been launched on publishers and bookstores selling fake editions of Jaswant’s book.
San Antonio, September 18: Former Pakistani president and military ruler Pervez Musharraf has admitted that he committed a mistake by sacking Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
Musharraf Thursday said at a lecture at Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas: “Now, after seeing the incidents following his dismissal from the office I realised that I shouldn’t have done that.”
Islamabad, September 17: Some “friendly countries” played a role in the ouster of former president and military ruler Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik has admitted but he stressed that “it cannot be termed as a deal”.
“Few of our friendly countries levelled the surface for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan and negotiations were held with Musharraf on transfer of power with their reference. But it can not be termed as a deal,” Malik told Ary News in an interview.
Islamabad, September 17: A retired Army captain was arrested by a team of police and intelligence operatives from the outskirts of the Pakistani capital for his alleged links with an “anti-state network”.
The suspect was arrested during a raid yesterday in the Rawat area.
The retired captain, who lives in a posh area in the heart of Islamabad, served in the artillery wing of the Pakistan Army before he was forced to retire.
He also contested elections to a seat in the National Assembly or lower house of Parliament in the capital, the Dawn newspaper reported today.
London, September 17: Pakistan will “pursue and chase” militants to the finish, President Asif Ali Zardari has said claiming killing of Baitullah Mehsud had left the Taliban leadership in disarray.
“Baitullah’s killing has led to significant division among the Taliban ranks in Pakistan” Zardari said in an interview to ‘The Financial Times’.
The Pakistani President said as a result of continuing pressure mounted by the army on militants, Taliban’s suicide bombing network had been disrupted and there was “considerable decrease” in acts of terror.
Islamabad, September 17: Accepting that New Delhi is unlikely to make any concessions in the New York meetings of the foreign secretaries and ministers, Pakistani foreign minister on Thursday (September 17) Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the talks will not be unconditional.
Qureshi said that he was not expecting any breakthrough on improving ties with India but that he will make Islamabad’s stance clear.
External affairs minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart are likely to meet in New York on the sidelines of the UNGA on September 26.
Islamabad, September 17: President Asif Ali Zardari and his predecessor Pervez Musharraf are still learning the perils of living in the age of media.
Known for speaking first and thinking later, both are now both are having to eat up words that escaped their lips and went on to create their own separate firestorms.
General (retired) Musharraf is now denying that he ever told a television interviewer that he diverted U.S. funds meant for “the war on terror” to strengthen defences against India, and that he did this in the “national interest”.
Islamabad, September 17: Pakistan killed 10 insurgents and arrested a militant commander accused of beheading troops in the northwestern Swat Valley, notching up more successes in an offensive that has been welcomed at home and in the U.S., an army spokesman said Thursday.
Sher Muhammad Qasab was captured this week at an undisclosed location in the valley, said Col. Akhtar Abbas.
Islamabad, September 17: Pakistan arrested a wanted militant commander accused of beheading troops in the Swat Valley, notching up another success in an offensive in the northwestern region that has pushed backed many of the insurgents, an army spokesman said on Thursday.
Sher Muhammad Qasab was captured this week at an undisclosed location in the valley, said Col. Akhtar Abbas
He had a bounty of Pakistani Rs 10 million ($121,000) on his head.
Karachi, September 16:Amid reports of clashes today between minority Christians and security forces in parts of Pakistan over mysterious death of a youth from the community, human rights activists have asked the government to review the controversial Blasphemy law under which the deceased was held.
Officials of the Sialkot district jail where Fanish Masih alias Robert (20) was detained claimed that he committed suicide by hanging himself yesterday.