A top US diplomat on Thursday said Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was based in Pakistan's tribal belt and senior Taliban leaders operating from Quetta were playing a key role in fomenting unrest in Afghanistan, prompting Islamabad to dismiss the charges as "mere speculation".
The hearing in the appeals of the 17 Indians sentenced to death for killing a Pakistani man was adjourned for the third time by a Sharjah Court of Appeals on Wednesday. The court fixed September 1 for the next hearing. "The court did not accept an interpreter arranged by the Indian embassy as he had not been cleared by the United Arab Emirate's ministry of justice," said Bindu Suresh Chettur, the lawyer for the 17 Indians.
Former Pakistani military dictator Pervez Musharraf possibly knew about slain Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his place of hiding, an eminent British journalist who reported for years from Afghanistan and Pakistan for the New York Times has claimed.
He said China understands India's concerns over the issue.
With its new army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa set to take charge, Pakistan has asserted that focus will remain on country's eastern border with India, even as the US nudged Islamabad to keep the pledge of not allowing use of its soil for terror attacks against neighbours.
India boycotted Pak National Day event over invitation to Hurriyat leaders.
Pakistani officials confirmed the development while the US embassy spokesperson refused to comment, saying the information 'appears to be only hearsay', The News daily reported. Some diplomats in Islamabad were aware of the Taliban operation but were not ready to speak on record. One of the hijacked helicopters had already been sold to an unidentified customer in Afghanistan, the report said.
The Blinken visit indicated that the Biden administration is still somewhat tentative about the specifics of its relations with India, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, who has served multiple stints at India's embassy in Washington, DC.
Former Pakistani ambassador to Afghanistan and former chief secretary of the North West Frontier Province, Rustam Shah Mohmand, tells Aditi Phadnis that the United States is part of the problem in Afghanistan.
Pakistan poses a 'bigger' security challenge than Afghanistan for the United States and the rest of the world, a top American diplomat has said. Christopher Dell, who currently runs the US embassy in Kabul, said Pakistani Taliban groups had formed a common front to attack North Atlantic Treaty Organisation troops in Afghanistan. "Pakistan is a bigger place, has a larger population, it's nuclear-armed. It has certainly made radical Islam a part of its political life," he said.
An Indian national has been arrested in Spain for alleged links with the al-Qaida and India has sought consular access to him, Indian government said here on Wednesday. The name of the arrested Indian has been given as Jangeet Singh, sources said citing information received from the Indian embassy in Spain.
American intelligence agencies have for the first time directly linked the suicide attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul to Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence and indicated that it might have been authorised by the top officials as those involved in assisting militants were not renegades, a media report said in New York on Friday.
Displaying anger at the Kabul embassy blast in which "elements" based in Pakistan were involved, New Delhi on Monday said the incident had vitiated the atmosphere putting the dialogue process "under stress" and asked Islamabad to address its concerns.
India should do what we can to ensure that our two friends do not get into a confrontation that is meaningless and ultimately damaging to everyone including us.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday assured Denmark that the perpetrators of the 'wanton act of terrorism' near the Danish Embassy in Islamabad would be brought to justice. Qureshi made the assurance during a phone call to his Danish counterpart Per Stig Moller, said a statement issued by the Foreign Office. The Pakistani minister strongly condemned the attack and termed terrorism a 'scourge that is threatening the whole human society'.
The latest request from Washington had suggested that the official who would be permanently posted in the US embassy in Islamabad to deal with nuclear issues should have direct access to the National Command Authority Secretariat, The News reported on Monday.
India on Monday conveyed its concern to Pakistan over the recent spurt in border ceasefire violations and the attack on its embassy in Kabul for which ISI has been blamed.
After Prime Minister Manmohan Singh conveyed his concern over the Indian embassy attack in Kabul, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani met Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Colombo and discussed the incident for which Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence has been blamed.
Pakistani pacer Mohammad Asif's 19-day ordeal eventually came to an end on Thursday after the authorities in Dubai decided to release him from detention for carrying contraband drugs. He will be deported to Pakistan on Thursday night or early Friday morning, Dr Zafar Ali, media chancellor of the Pakistan Embassy in UAE, said.
Pak PM Gilani said he would conduct an investigation into the attack on India's mission in Kabul.
India on Thursday said it has received no information from Spain on the identity of the terror suspects held in Barcelona last week.
India is worried about Pakistan getting the Taliban to ignite trouble in Kashmir, observes Ramesh Menon.
Police said there is no terrorism element in the incident.
India is seeking details of the arrest of two of its nationals in Spain in connection with an alleged terror plot, officials said in New Delhi on Sunday.
It is unlikely Brigadier Raja Rizwan was working for RA&W, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
The envoy emphasised that 'peaceful relations' with all Pakistan's neighbours, including India, were accorded 'high priority' in the foreign policy vision outlined by the incoming leadership in Pakistan.
Pakistan has announced that it would send a top civil-military delegation to Saudi Arabia to assess security situation after Riyadh's request that it join a coalition to defend Yemen's president.
Al Qaeda terrorist Moazam Musa Matwali Atta was killed by Pakistani forces in Waziristan, bordering Afghanistan was released on a stolen letterhead.
The US President was received by Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz when he arrived in his limousine from\nthe highly-guarded US embassy, where he reportedly rested last night along with wife Laura Bush
As a result of which Pakistan would have to make arrangements for all USD 700 million (around Rs 46 hundred crore) to purchase eight F-16 from the United States.
Pak military officers were involved in the attack on the Indian Consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif in which assailants attempted to storm the mission building.
The US should make it clear to Pakistan that Indian support for Afghanistan's stability poses no threat to its interests
The US has the distinction of destroying a flawed but functioning State thrice since 1979. Pakistan has been their constant accomplice, explains Shekhar Gupta.
Imran, 29, gave a hoax warning to the US Consulate in Karachi to avenge two relatives of the girl he is in love with.
The JuD's Muslim Medical Mission would request the Pakistani government for help in this regard.
The United States on Thursday designated Al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent, a regional branch of the global terror network, as a "foreign terrorist organisation" and added its chief Asim Umar on the list of global terrorist.
'I feel that any terror strike at this juncture is not on the cards.' 'The reaction would most likely be military in nature and possibly using their special forces or attack helicopters,' says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd), who spent four years at our embassy in Islamabad.
'Pakistan's trump card is that it is the only credible guarantor on the horizon who can reasonably assure the Western world that Afghanistan will not again become the revolving door for international terrorism.' 'Trust Pakistan to play this card optimally,' explains Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
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