Taliban militant leader Baitullah Mehsud, accused by the Pakistan government of being involved in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, is set to dispatch a delegation to meet Pakistan People's Party co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari to condole the death of the former premier, a news report has said. "The delegation, comprising prominent tribal elders and religious scholars from South Waziristan, will deliver a written condolence letter from Mehsud to Asif Zardari," it said.
Britain's Scotland Yard, which probed the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto, on Friday handed over a report on its findings to the Pakistani police. Officials said that the head of a three-member team of British detectives, which arrived in Islamabad on Thursday, handed over the report to senior Pakistani police officials.
The Scotland Yard team spent a little more than two weeks in the country, during which the they visited the site at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi where Bhutto was attacked, reviewed forensic and technical evidence and questioned eyewitnesses and doctors who treated her. They also reconstructed the attack on Bhutto several times.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf returned to Islamabad on Tuesday from a four-nation visit to Europe during which he attempted to shore up support for his controversial regime.
Aitezaz Shah, a 15-year-old suicide bomber arrested last week along with one Sher Zaman in Dera Ismail Khan town of North West Frontier Province, was handed over to Punjab Police on Tuesday and brought to Rawalpindi.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has ruled out any possibility of rigging in the upcoming general elections and said his government has made "fool-proof" arrangements to put Pakistan on the path to "true democracy".
The CIA director described Pakistan's role in the war on terror, saying "The United States has not had a better partner in the war on terrorism than the Pakistanis. The turmoil of the past few weeks has only deepened that cooperation," he said, adding the two countries now had 'even more clearly mutual and common interests'.
Congressman Gary Ackerman, New York Democrat and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, introduced the resolution, which was voted 413-0.
The ruling Pakistan People's Party on Friday condemned as 'despicable' the claim by an Indian author -- that its late party chairperson Benazir Bhutto had confided to him -- that she participated in the nuclear black market.In a statement, PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the claim that Bhutto had "made such an acknowledgement to an obscure journalist is a tasteless and cheap exploitation of her tragic assassination".
Asking the Pakistan government to create a level-playing field for a credible and transparent elections next month, Britain has said Islamabad should use the period to "build confidence in the democratic process".
The spokesman said, "We confirm that, at the request of the Pakistan government, a small team of officers from the MPS Counter Terrorism Command will be traveling to Pakistan to provide support and assistance in the investigation into the death of Benazir Bhutto." Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday night announced that he has sought help from the Scotland Yard for the investigations into the assassination of Bhutto.
Asserting that there was no option but to postpone Pakistan's general election due to the law and order situation created by former premier Benazir Bhutto's assassination, President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday said that the army would be deployed across the country to ensure fair and peaceful polls. "I had always wanted the polls to be held as per schedule on January 8. But the new date is absolutely reasonable," he said in an address to the nation.
The Election Commission has postponed the elections in the wake of the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi on December 27.
Pakistan is confident Australia's cricket tour in March and April can go ahead despite security fears, officials said on Tuesday.
An emergency meeting of the poll panel chaired on Monday by Chief Election Commissioner Qazi Muhammad Farooq sought reports from poll officials in the four provinces about the impact of the protests on election arrangements.
According to the Constitution, a person has be at least 25 years old to become a member of the Parliament. Thus, Bilawal is ineligible to be the chairperson of the PPP. Under the law, he cannot hold any party position till he turns 25.
Indo-Pak Samjhauta Express, which was suspended due to security reasons in the wake of the assassination of former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto, resumed its service on Sunday. The decision was taken after consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of External Affairs and railway officials of Pakistan, another official said. No decision has been taken on the resumption of services of the Thar Express.
At least 13 people were killed in violent protests in various parts of the country that erupted after Bhutto was killed in Rawalpindi on Friday evening.
'There is no way what is happening, in terms of stopping me from taking private cars or using tinted windows or giving jammers or four police mobiles to cover all sides, could happen without him.' After the October bombing, she accused elements in the government and security services of trying to kill her and asked President Musharraf for 'basic security.'
It was being speculated that the polls could be postponed following the assassination of Pakistan People's Party chief and former premier Benazir Bhutto on Thursday.
The report said death squads were allegedly constituted for the mission and that a cell comprising a 'Punjabi volunteer' of the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi carried out Bhutto's assassination.
Adrian Levy , co-author of the recently-published Deception- Pakistan, the United States and the Global Nuclear Weapons Conspiracy, told rediff.com in an exclusive interview that an honest investigation into the assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto may reveal the hand of the country's military behind it.
Bhutto's husband Asif Zardari and her three children, who arrived in Islamabad late on Thursday night, had a brief chance to see the body before the plane left for Sukkur near Lakarna.
Benazir Bhutto had too many elements against her -- anti-US, pro-Al Qaeda jihadi elements, the Zia-ul Haq loyalists, junior members of the Pakistan army and, possibly, the Pakistan air force.
'Some of his decisions were not so good, but his intentions were always guided by a deep national interest.'
Some promises made in Benazir Butto's new manifesto strike at the very root of Musharraf's power base while others -- including handing over control of the Military Initelligence and the nuclear arsenal to the prime minister -- go even beyond that.
Bhutto, who was scheduled to go on a four-day trip to Dubai where her husband Asif Ali Zardari, her daughter and her mother currently live, was stopped at the international airport in Islamabad.
A committee formed by former premier Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and her political rival Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party has completed 80 per cent of its work on drawing up the charter of demands, which is expected to be completed on Thursday.
There is strong evidence to support the charge of high treason against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf and his punishment could be either the death penalty or life imprisonment, the Pakistan government's top law officer said on Wednesday.
Pakistan's new President Asif Ali Zardari offered prayers on Thursday at the grave of his slain wife and former premier Benazir Bhutto in Sindh, his first such visit since taking over the highest Constitutional post.
Malala was dressed in Pakistani salwar kameez and dupatta. She was smiling and looked happy as he was greeted at the airport.
Pakistan journalist Hamid Mir on issues like Musharraf's compulsions in resorting to this extreme measure, conducting elections and restoring democracy in Pakistan, whether its nuclear weapons are in danger of falling into extremists' hands and what the ramifications for India would be.
By indulging in agitation, Bhutto, the leader of Pakistan People's Party, is "strengthening the impression that she is sure of her party's defeat in the elections", Musharraf said at a farewell meeting with members of the outgoing assembly of Punjab province. "The politicians, including Benazir Bhutto, who are pursuing agitational politics, should do away with it and focus on electioneering so that elections could be held in a peaceful atmosphere," he said.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the 'Gen-Next' politician of Pakistan, has said that his Pakistan People's Party would get back entire Kashmir from India.
Undeterred by the government's ban on public meetings under emergency rule, former premier Benazir Bhutto-led Pakistan People's Party on Wednesday vowed to go ahead with a planned rally in the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi on Friday.
"God forbid, if Pakistan implodes? It will have far-reaching repercussions not just on our region but the wider world community," Bhutto said in an interview published in the latest issue of Hello magazine. Bhutto also spoke about her dream of eliminating militant groups to usher stability in crisis-ridden Pakistan and her desire to work with India and Afghanistan.
Former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto is eyeing several key posts in the proposed interim set up to conduct general elections in the country.
Three men from Punjab province were taken in for questioning on Saturday night after being linked to a car from which an attacker allegedly threw a grenade at Bhutto's motorcade.
Seeking to lower temperatures, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday said Pakistan is not talking of war or vengeance and that dialogue is the solution for all issues in the region.
Paksitan's People's Party nominee Fehmida Mirza, a loyalist of slain former Premier Benazir Bhutto, was on Wednesday elected the first woman Speaker of Pakistan's National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament. 51-year-old Mirza, who has been thrice elected to Parliament, won 249 of the 324 votes cast by the newly-elected members of the National Assembly.
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