Pakistani army will hand over security responsibilities in the insurgency-hit Balochistan province to paramilitary forces within two months after battalion deployed in the restive Sui town returns to the barracks, its chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has said.
Demanding an end to the American drone attacks in the restive tribal belt, Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has said Pakistan was trying to secure the spy plane technology from the United States and seeking enhanced intelligence- sharing so that it can act on its own against militants.
Pakistan on Tuesday test-fired a newly developed short-range surface-to-surface missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, the military said. The Hatf-9 missile, with a range of 60 km, can "carry nuclear warheads of appropriate yield with high accuracy," the military said in a statement. The "multi-tube ballistic missile" system had been developed to add "deterrence value to Pakistan's strategic weapons development programme at shorter ranges," it said.
Pakistan on Thursday said US drone attacks in its tribal belt had become a "core irritant" in bilateral relations and top Pakistani leaders have clearly conveyed this position to their American counterparts. "Drone attacks have become a core irritant in the counter-terrorism campaign," Foreign office spokesperson Tehmina Janjua told a weekly news briefing.
Pakistan's Law minister Babar Awan resigned on Wednesday to appear as the government's counsel in a case in the Supreme Court seeking a review of the death sentence awarded to former premier Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. President Asif Ali Zardari, who also heads the ruling Pakistan People's Party, recently asked the apex court to review the death sentence awarded to Bhutto in 1979.
With United States-Pakistan relations at an all time low, the top American diplomat in Islamabad has called for a 'renewal' of ties with Islamabad, even as he called India a 'natural friend'."America and Pakistan need to work together on common issues, and we have many. It remains vital to us both to see progress in Pakistan and the region, in the interest of peace, stability, and prosperity of Pakistan and its neighbours," US Ambassador to Pak Cameron Munter said.
Former President Pervez Musharraf has abandoned plans to return to Pakistan from self-exile in Britain after the military leadership "cold-shouldered" his demands for extra security to counter multiple threats to his life from militant outfits like Al-Qaeda and Taliban.
British Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday called on India and Pakistan to strengthen their peace process and trade relations, saying the time is ripe for the two countries to replace the mistrust of the past with opportunities for mutual progress.Cameron, who made a day-long visit to Islamabad at the invitation of Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, said Britain wants a strong relationship with both India and Pakistan.
Cameron will focus on education, trade and national security in his discussions with the Pakistani leaders.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh that Kashmir and other longstanding issues have to be addressed "earnestly" and noted their meeting was a "win-win" event.
Pakistani intelligence officials have arrested Indonesian Al-Qaeda operative Umar Patek, suspected to be involved in the deadly 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people. Patek, a member of the Jemaah Islamiyah terror network, was captured by the Inter-Services Intelligence recently, an unnamed officer of the spy agency told The News.
Pakistan's hardline Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday escaped an assassination bid by a suicide bomber, who blew himself up near a police post in the country's restive northwest, killing at least seven people and injuring 18 others.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will be accompanied by ex-premier Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and several of his cabinet colleagues, including Interior Minister Rehman Malik, for his visit to Mohali on Wednesday to watch the World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan, a media report has said.
An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan on Saturday put off its ruling on a plea by prosecutors to declare Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving attacker involved in the 2008 Mumbai attack, and terror suspect Fahim Ansari as "proclaimed offenders" or fugitives till March 26.
Pakistani authorities have declined India's request to send an inquiry commission to interrogate Lashkar-e-Tayiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six other suspects charged with involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. India had sent an official letter expressing its willingness to allow a Pakistani commission to visit India to interview key officials linked with the probe into the 2008 Mumbai terror strike that killed 166 people.
It hasn't been a smooth drive for Pakistan's first woman cabbie, but Zahida Kazmi is happy to have made a dent in a male-dominated profession. Kazmi took up taxi driving following her husband's death in 1992, when she had to take on the responsibility of single-handedly raising six children.
After inducting advance fighter jets from China, Pakistan plans to buy six state of the art submarines from the neighbouring country in an apparent bid to boost its under-sea warfare capabilities. Islamabad is planning to buy six submarines outright with options of joint development of conventional submarines with China, The Express Tribune reported.
An emotionally-charged meeting of Pakistan's Cabinet on the day Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti was assassinated almost ended in the "near collapse" of government after several ministers accused it of inaction in the face of rising lawlessness, a media report said.
Foreign Office spokesperson Tehmina Janjua said in a statement that the US report "Avoiding water wars in South and Central Asia," released on February 22, acknowledges that dams India is building in Jammu and Kashmir "will limit supply of water to Pakistan at crucial moments."
The US has informed Pakistan that American national Raymond Davis, arrested for gunning down two men in Lahore, has diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention and Pakistani courts do not have the jurisdiction to hear his case, diplomatic sources said.
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