Pakistani people would foil any attempt to overthrow the elected government, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Friday as speculation mounted in the country of possibility of a silent coup.
Diplomatic circles in the US were expecting "low-level participation" by Pakistan in the crucial conference beginning on Monday in the German city, Dawn News channel reported, quoting its sources.
Admitting that the 'memogate' scandal has raised questions about the strength of Pakistan's civilian government and the influence wielded by the powerful military, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said it was "ridiculous" to link President Asif Ali Zardari to the controversial note. questions. It doesn't take much to be able to raise those questions," Khar said. She was responding to a query about the 'memogate' controversy.
The Pakistan government is considering the possibility of making compromises in its efforts to obtain an apology from the US for a cross-border NATO air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last year, according to a media report on Thursday.
On Thursday morning, Gilani appeared before a seven-judge bench that is hearing a contempt of court case initiated against the premier for refusing to act on orders to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
Pakistan's Anti-Narcotics Force has named Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's son as an accused in a case of alleged irregularities in the import of controlled drugs, prompting the premier to say that he was being punished for backing President Asif Ali Zardari before the judiciary.
Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf is expected to appear in Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday to face a contempt charge but the government has no plans to reopen graft cases against the President, an aide to the premier said on Monday. "The prime minister is expected to go to the court on Tuesday. However, there is no change in the government's position -- that the cases against President Asif Ali Zardari will not be revived," the aide said.
Pakistan on Friday test fired nuclear-capable Hatf-7 cruise missile with a range of 700 km that can hit targets in India. The test of the "indigenously developed multi-tube" cruise missile system was successful, said a statement issued by the military. The Hatf-7 or Babur missile has stealth capabilities and can carry nuclear and conventional warheads, the military said. The test was witnessed by Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee Khalid Shameem Wyne.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday said he was prepared to resign if the issue of approaching Swiss authorities for reopening graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari was resolved by his departure.
Barack Obama has said that he had ruled out involving Pakistan in the raid on Osama bin Laden's hideout because it was an "open secret" that certain elements inside Pakistan's military, and especially its intelligence services, maintained links to the Taliban and perhaps even al-Qaeda, sometimes using them as strategic assets against Afghanistan and India.
The Pakistan government has announced it would posthumously confer the Hilal-i-Pakistan, one of the country's highest civilian honours, on late United States Special Representative Richard Holbrooke.
Pakistan government is expected to confer posthumously one of the country's highest civilian awards for bravery on slain Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, who was lauded by President Asif Ali Zardari as a symbol of tolerance, harmony and respect for minorities.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani was on Monday indicted by the Pakistan Supreme Court on contempt charges for refusing to revive graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, a move that may force the beleaguered leader to quit. Gilani, 59, the first Pakistani prime minister to be arraigned for contempt by the apex court, pleaded not guilty in the packed court room.
A seven-judge bench led by Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk issued the order on Thursday afternoon after hearing arguments from Gilani's lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan, who argued that the premier had not committed contempt by acting on the apex court's orders as the president had complete immunity from prosecution within Pakistan and abroad.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and the United States have reasons to be gratified by the turn of events in the country with regard to the memogate scandal. B Raman analyses
Kashmir Solidarity Day will be observed in Pakistan on February 5, as it has been every year since 1990. The propaganda that is being organised is on predictable lines.
The ruling Pakistan People's Party has authorised Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to dissolve his jumbo cabinet and form a smaller council of ministers amid demands for political reforms from the opposition and international donors.
'The army has been open about its determination to keep the PML-Nawaz out of power at all costs.' 'Both the military and the higher judiciary have indicated a preference for Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik e Insaaf,' says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan Desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Beleaguered Pakistan government appears to be in no mood to tone down in the battle of attrition when Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani appears before the Supreme Court on Thursday in compliance with its direction. Gilani, who is already involved in a tussle with the powerful army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, is unlikely to offer apology to the court which has issued a contempt notice for failing to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, sources said.
Hours after Pakistan Supreme Court on Monday issued a contempt notice to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the leaders of ruling coalition decided that he should appear in the apex court on January 19 in the matter relating to reopening of corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Wednesday underlined Pakistan's commitment for "friendly, cooperative and good" neighbourly relations with India as she met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi and handed over an invitation to him from Yousuf Raza Gilani.
As confrontation mounted between the Pakistan government and the army on the one side, and the judiciary on the other, opposition leader Nawaz Sharif said holding immediate polls was the only was out of the crisis.
Pakistan's ruling coalition leaders have decided to call an urgent session of parliament on Thursday in the wake of a warning from the Supreme Court that action could be taken against the president and prime minister for failing to reopen high-profile corruption cases.
A carefully modulated exercise is evident from the reports emanating from Beijing on the current visit of Pakistan's army chief Ashfaq Kayani, says B Raman
The ruling Pakistan People's Party has decided to hold the general election and the polls to the Senate ahead of schedule against the backdrop of rampant speculation that the government may not be able to complete its tenure, according to media reports on Friday.
Pakistan may appoint Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir as its next High Commissioner to India to replace current incumbent Shahid Malik, whose term is set to end in June.
Hina Rabbani Khar is set to become Pakistan's first woman foreign minister, with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani recommending her elevation as a full-fledged minister, ahead of the Indo-Pak Foreign Minister-level talks in July.
This is the fifth mercy petition from Sarabjit, who was sentenced to death for alleged involvement in a string of bombings in Punjab in 1990 that killed 14 people.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yosuf Raza Gilani has accused an unnamed lawmaker of being in touch with 'memogate' scandal blower Mansoor Ijaz, hinting that there was a conspiracy against President Asif Ali Zardari
In what could be a prelude to a possible operation in North Waziristan against the Al Qaeda militants holed up there, Pakistani military commanders have met with the President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, a move termed by a leading daily in Islamabad as "far from routine".
Two top United States security officials are traveling to Pakistan on Tuesday to meet the country's civil and military leadership and press for more aggressive action against Al Qaeda-allied groups. Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon Panetta and the National Security Advisor General James Jones, who are embarking on a visit to Islamabad, will meet President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani, Army Chief General Ashfaq Kiyani.
Pakistan's political and military elite have been shaken by damaging disclosures about the country's foreign policy and internal politics in hundreds of secret US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks, with the media screaming "WikiWreaks havoc" and "WikiLeaks bombs rock Islamabad".
Amid a controversy over a secret memo sent to the then United States military chief to prevent a possible military coup in Pakistan, the spokesperson of Admiral Mike Mullen said that the former top general never met the Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz and does not know him.
Pakistan's ruling Pakistan Peoples Party on Wednesday denied that former President Pervez Musharraf was given a "safe exit" after his resignation under a negotiated settlement guaranteed by "international and local" stakeholders, saying that no such deal was struck.
Pakistan on Friday expressed its satisfaction over a United Nations panel's report on the killing of former premier Benazir Bhutto, saying it had vindicated its stand that former dictator-turned-president Pervez Musharraf's regime was responsible for her assassination in 2007.
According to a report in The Dawn, a prestigious Karachi daily, the operation that killed Osama bin Laden was carried out jointly by Pakistan's security forces and the Central Intelligence Agency.An official of the security forces, who is based in Peshawar, told the daily, "It was a joint operation between the CIA and Pakistani security forces."The Dawn quoted the official as saying, "It (operation) was carried out on very precise information."
Newly-appointed PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf said improving Pakistan cricket's image, which has taken a beating due to allegations of match-fixing, is his top priority.
The Pakistan government on Tuesday did not retain Ijaz Butt as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, and appointed Zaka Ashraf.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has accused the army, which covertly supports the 2008 Mumbai attacks perpetrator Lashkar-e-Tayiba, of playing a double game in the ongoing war on terror, and an "abundance of evidence backs him up," Bruce Riedel, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer, has said.
Pakistan prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's lawyer on Wednesday said he feared that would not get a fair trial in the contempt case and that the government could not act on the supreme Court's orders to revive graft cases against Asif Ali Zardari as long as he was the president.
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