Pakistan

Islamabad: Pakistan on Saturday filed a chargesheet in Adiala Jail in connection with last year’s Mumbai terror attacks case. The chargesheet names Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and its chief Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi as the main plotter and mastermind behind the deadly terror strikes. The chargesheet has also named Zarar Shah and three other accused in the case.

Pakistan has for the first time officially agreed to the involvement of LeT in the attacks. The document also shows Lakhvi as the accused who is in the custody of Pak authorities.

Islamabad, July 18: Pakistan’s top court has overturned opposition leader Nawaz Sharif’s conviction on hijacking charges stemming from 1999, clearing the last obstacle to his running for office.

On 12 October that year, the then prime minister removed General Pervez Musharraf from his post as army chief and refused to allow his plane to land. The army revolted and ousted Mr Sharif in a bloodless coup. In its ruling yesterday, the Supreme Court said there was no evidence to support the hijacking conviction.

Islamabad, July 18: Pakistan on Saturday filed a chargesheet in Adiala Jail in connection with last year’s Mumbai terror attacks case. The chargesheet names Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and its chief Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi as the main plotter and mastermind behind the deadly terror strikes. The chargesheet has also named Zarar Shah and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed as other accused in the case.

The document also shows Lakhvi as the accused who is in the custody of Pak authorities.

Islamabad, July 18: Seven militants were killed and 11 injured in an air attack by security forces Saturday in northwest Pakistan, a media report said.

Fighter jets bombarded the hideouts of militants on receiving a tip-off regarding presence of Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban, in Upper Orakzai Tribal Agency, GEO TV reported.

–Agencies

Islamabad, July 18: Pakistani fighter jets flattened a suspected Taliban hide-out in the northwest early Saturday, killing six associates of a top local Taliban leader, intelligence officials said.

Pakistan has targeted Baitullah Mehsud and his commanders in recent months in various tribal regions. Mehsud is accused of orchestrating the killing of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and launching a string of suicide attacks across the country.

Karachi, July 17: Former Pakistan opener Aamer Sohail, a director in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), is planning to quit over differences with chairman Ijaz Butt on the implementation of his project to develop the game.

Sohail, a key PCB official, said he had not resigned yet and would take a decision in a day or two.

In fact, there have been reports that Sohail has already resigned over differences with Butt and another senior PCB official and former Pakistan captain and wicket-keeper Wasim Bari.

Islamabad, July 17: The conspirators, who killed former premier Benazir Bhutto, wanted to “provoke” her supporters with her assassination so as to hasten the process of “balkanisation” of Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari has said.

Pakistan approached the UN to probe the assassination of Bhutto as it wanted to uncover the conspiracy to “balkanise” the country, Zardari told the three-member UN Commission of Inquiry probing the facts and circumstances of his wife’s assassination here yesterday.

Islamabad, July 17: Two soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing and two Islamist militants died in a raid on their bunkers in Pakistan’s north-western districts of Swat and Dir, the army said Friday.

Thousand of military and paramilitary troops launched an operation in the districts two months ago to expel the local Taliban, who backed out of a purported deal with the government to implement Islamic law and moved dangerously close to the capital, Islamabad.

Islamabad, July 17: A Pakistan Air Force fighter jet crashed killing its pilot while on a routine night training mission, an official statement said on Friday.

The PAF statement said the jet crashed near a village located 105 km southwest of Punjab’s Sargodha, where a key airbase is located.

The pilot, Squadron Leader Saud Ghulam Nabi, was killed in the crash, the statement said.

There was no loss of life or property on the ground.

An inquiry has been ordered by Air Headquarters to determine the cause of accident.

–Agencies

Islamabad, July 17: Hailing the decision of India and Pakistan to resume dialogue, media here today said credit must go to both sides for “seizing the moment and breaking the impasse” and that they should build on the “breakthrough” achieved in the meeting between the two Prime Ministers.

The influential Dawn newspaper, in an editorial titled “A Step Forward”, said “considerable give and take” will be required by both countries in the days to come.

Islamabad, July 17: Ahead of her visit to India, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has assured Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari of America’s continued support for the democratic government in Islamabad.

Clinton visit: Hotel Taj Palace turned into fortressIn a telephone call to Zardari late last night from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, Clinton said the US will continue to rally the world to support the government and people of Pakistan, especially with regard to the rehabilitation of people displaced by recent military operations against militants.

Islamabad, July 17: The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani to ensure that perpetrators of Mumbai attacks be brought to justice while Gilani has assured for the creation of an atmosphere of mutual trust and confidence.

A joint statement issued after the meeting between two premiers said Pakistan would do everything in its power to bring perpetrators of Mumbai attacks to justice.

Both sides agreed to share real time credible information about future terrorists attacks.

Islamabad, July 17: Pakistan’s Supreme Court Friday acquitted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the 10-year-old plane hijacking case lodged against him by the government of General Pervez Musharraf, a media report said.

A five-member bench of the apex court, which heard the case June 18 and reserved its verdict, unanimously acquitted the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader declaring earlier court decisions invalid, media reported.

Waziristan, July 17: Pakistani fighter jets pounded Taliban positions killing five militants and two civilians in the restive South Waziristan tribal region and the adjacent Jandola area, reports said today.

Warplanes shelled two compounds occupied by militants in Sararogha and Ladha areas of South Waziristan Agency, killing five militants and injuring six others.

The militants fired several rockets at Khechi village in the Jandola region.

Two women were killed and a child was injured when a rocket hit their house, the newspaper reported.

Islamabad, July 17: Pakistan’s top court acquitted opposition leader Nawaz Sharif on Friday of hijacking charges stemming from the 1999 coup against his government, clearing the last obstacle to Sharif’s running for office.

Sharif was banned from office after being found guilty of hijacking Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s plane in 1999. Sharif was prime minister at the time, while Musharraf was the head of Pakistan’s army. Sharif has insisted the ban was politically motivated.

Islamabad, July 17: Clad in a low-cut dress and heavily made-up, 16-year-old dancing girl Shabnam used to spend her nights twirling gracefully for locals and tourists in Pakistan’s Swat valley.

Famous for its beautiful, pale-skinned women, bejewelled dancers of Swat would beguile at house parties, stag nights and hotels, and Shabnam was just 12 when she followed her mother and sisters into the sometimes steamy profession.

Islamabad: President Asif Ali Zardari and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will meet on Friday to discuss issues crucial to cooperation between the country’s two top political parties.

Zardari, who is also co-chairman of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, travel to Lahore, capital of Punjab province, for the meeting with Sharif, chief of the Pakistan Muslim League-N.

Political sources said the meeting would be held at the Raiwind farm house of the Sharif family near the provincial capital.

The two last met about eight months ago.

Islamabad, July 17: Pakistan approached the United Nations to probe the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto as it wants to uncover the conspiracy to “balkanise” the country, president Asif Ali Zardari said yesterday.

“We approached the UN because, firstly, we wanted transparent and above-board investigations so that there are no accusations of bias,” Zardari told the three-member UN commission of inquiry probing the facts and circumstances of his wife’s murder.

Islamabad, July 16: The UN commission set up to investigate the assassination of Pakistani former prime minister Benazir Bhutto opened its first inquiries in Islamabad on Thursday and held talks with her widower.

Bhutto, the first woman to become prime minister of a Muslim country, was killed in late December 2007 in a gun and suicide attack after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near the capital Islamabad.

Islamabad, July 16: The Pakistan government has requested the Supreme Court to suspend the hearing of the detention of Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JuD) chief Hafeez Mohammad Saeed for a week.

It cited the unavailability of Attorney General, Sardar Latif Khosa as the reason for the request, the Dawn reports.

Islamabad, July 16: Hectic discussions continued between Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan ahead of meeting of Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday to review progress on Islamabad’s action to punish those behind the Mumbai terror attacks.

Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon held several rounds of meetings yesterday with his Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir and met Gilani late last night to prepare the ground for the meeting of the two principals.

Islamabad, July 16: Pakistan’s army claims to have killed a most wanted militant commander in the clashes that erupted in the tribal area northwest of the country.

Security forces managed on Wednesday to kill the leader of militant Peochar Abu Laith group during the ongoing search operation against the remaining militants in Swat and Malakand divisions.

Another militant commander, identified as Ismail, surrendered himself to security forces in the village of Goal Sakhra, while locals in Sandoka village, near Thana, captured three insurgents and handed them over to authorities.

Islamabad, July 15: Pakistan’s dilly dallying attitude over prosecuting Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JuD) chief Hafeez Mohammad Saeed, the prime accused in the 26/11 Mumbai carnage, has served a heavy blow to the much awaited dialogue between India and Pakistan on the margins of the NAM summit here, as the Foreign Secretary level talk between both the nations have failed to produce any substantial results.

Islamabad, July 15: The Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz (PML-N) is not optimistic about any talks between party president Nawaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari in the near future.

Speculations about a thaw in the relationship between both leaders gained momentum when Zardari called Sharif recently.

In his telephonic conversation, Zardari reportedly thanked Sharif for his party’s unconditional support to the government on the issue of mass displacement of people due to the military offensive in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

Islamabad, July 15: Violence has flared in Pakistan’s northwestern Swat valley amidst the return of thousands of people displaced by recent military operations, with eight militants killed in an exchange of fire with security forces.

The militants were killed during a gun battle that erupted last night while troops were conducting a search operation in Kabal, a former stronghold of the Taliban, TV news channels reported on Wednesday.