Earlier in the day, Nawaz Sharif resigned from the prime minister's office following disqualification from the Supreme Court in the Panamagate verdict.
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.
The ruling Pakistan People's Party on Saturday unveiled a package of sweeping constitutional reforms aimed at curbing President Pervez Musharraf's powers, including those of dissolving parliament and appointing the chiefs of the armed forces. The party, however, remained mum on reinstating judges sacked by Musharraf during emergency last year, an issue that has strained ties with coalition partner Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League N, which quit the cabinet.
Pakistan President and PCB Patron-in-Chief Asif Ali Zardari has announced an award of Rs 500,000 for the highest-scorers and top wicket-takers in each game of the ongoing three-match ODI series in India.
In a breakthrough that could end the political uncertainty in Pakistan, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party have agreed on a power-sharing deal to form a new coalition government after intense negotiations following a fractured poll verdict.
The Bush administration has said it continues to support embattled President Pervez Musharraf, whose allies were routed in Pakistan's general election, while maintaining that Washington has no role in the formation of a new government in Islamabad.
'Will Imran compromise with the army? We are all human beings. We all compromise.'
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.
'It is typical of China's strategic deception of making virtue out of necessity,' observes Rup Narayan Das.
India and Pakistan have a real opportunity to take relations forward after the exit of President Pervez Musharraf, feels Adrian Levy, co-author of Deception: Pakistan, the United States and the Global Nuclear Weapons Conspiracy.
Despite a last-minute US mediation, the leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition have failed to reach a deal on restoring deposed judges, increasing the probability that ministers belonging to former premier Nawaz Sharif's party might quit the Cabinet on Monday.
With the 30-day deadline for restoring the judges expiring on Wednesday, senior leaders of the two parties, including Sharif and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, are trying hard to sort out their differences on modalities. Some progress was made during the talks, but there were unresolved issues, Sharif said adding, he expects the negotiations to conclude on Thursday.
A total of 328 MPs of the 342-member National Assembly were sworn in by outgoing Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain, after which the House offered special prayers for slain former premier and Zardari's wife Benazir Bhutto who was killed in a suicide attack on a pre-poll rally in December. Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif, who did not contest the election, watched the proceedings from the gallery reserved for guests.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday met President Mamnoon Hussain here and discussed the current political crisis caused due to anti-government protests spearheaded by opposition leader Imran Khan and cleric Tahirul Qadri, demanding the premier's resignation.
An overwhelming majority of Pakistanis believe their country is moving in the wrong direction and 59 per cent would rather have Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif as president instead of Asif Ali Zardari, a survey has said. Eighty-eight per cent of the respondents in the poll conducted by United States-based International Republican Institute said Pakistan is moving in the wrong direction, while 73 per cent said the economic situation had worsened in the past year.
Several members of the opposition PML-Q, which is aligned with Pakistan's embattled President Pervez Musharraf, have publicly urged the former military strongman to step down and some have even said they will vote in favour of an impeachment motion against him.
Polling started in Pakistan's National Assembly and four other provincial centres on Tuesday to elect a new president who will replace incumbent Asif Ali Zardari in September.
Pakistan's ruling coalition on Monday appeared to be on the verge of a split after the PPP failed to reach an agreement with its key ally PML-N on the contentious issue of reinstating dozens of judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf during last year's emergency. Three days of talks in London between Pakistan People's Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and their close aides ended in deadlock on Sunday due to differences on the modalities fo
Reversing its earlier stand in an apparent bid to provide stability, Nawaz Sharif's PML(N) on Sunday decided to join the PPP-led coalition government and the two parties agreed to re-instate all the judges sacked by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf within a month of assuming power. The long-time foes clinched a power-sharing deal etching the contours of the new government at a one-to-one meeting between PPP chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Sharif.
In a stern message to Pakistan, the United States has asked it to shed its policy of "using insurgents" like the Lashkar-e-Tayiba as a strategic tool and warned that if it cannot deliver against terrorists, the US may be impelled to use "any means" at its disposal.
Pakistan will hold the next presidential election on September 6, two days before the end of the term of incumbent President Asif Ali Zardari.
TV footage showed Zardari coming out of his house and embracing his younger daughter Aseefa before getting into a black Landcruiser.
Bilawal has said the reality is that his party does not have a mandate to form a federal government.
Wasim Qadir, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)-backed candidate who defeated PML-N's stalwart Sheikh Rohail Asghar from Lahore's National Assembly-121 constituency, joined the PML-N after a meeting with Maryam Nawaz, daughter of the party supremo Nawaz Sharif, at her residence.
Pakistan's top civilian and military leadership knew about Osama bin Laden's presence in the country much before the US Navy SEALs killed him in a raid in 2011, the nation's then defence minister has claimed.
The Bilawal Bhutto-led Pakistan Peoples Party which won the third largest number of seats in the National Assembly in the elections appears to be split on whether to join a coalition government or sit on Opposition benches.
Locals drove Das to a hospital in nearby Mirpur Mathelo where he was treated for his wounds.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday publicly released the details of assets of key politicians, including that of Prime Minister Khan.
At least 14 people were killed and over 30 injured on Friday when a suicide bomber blew himself up amid scores of worshippers attending Friday prayers at a Shia madrassa on the outskirts of this city in Pakistan's restive northwest, officials said.
The main opposition Pakistan People's Party today decided to boycott next week's presidential election, saying it was left with no other option after the Supreme Court ordered the advancing of the poll.
Former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has said he would prefer going to jail rather than appear before Pakistan's anti-corruption watchdog that is investigating graft charges against him.
The dead were identified as belonging to Punjab province. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.
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 real purpose of President Obama writing to President Zardari,' Husain Haqqani tells Rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa, 'was to seek a turnaround on terrorism -- that Pakistan, whatever its grievances, cannot have jihadi groups operating openly on its soil.'
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the 'Gen-Next' politician of Pakistan, has said that his Pakistan People's Party would get back entire Kashmir from India.
Hassan Rouhani, a moderate cleric who was a surprise winner in the recent elections, took oath on Sunday as Iran's seventh president at a ceremony attended by a galaxy of world leaders, including Vice President Hamid Ansari, with which he has pledged to expand ties.
At least seven people were killed on Thursday in Pakistan in two separate blasts, including a suicide attack on the Pak-Afghan border apparently targeting soldiers.
At least 53 people have been killed and nearly 140 injured in Pakistan in separate attacks, including a deadly suicide bombing in restive Quetta city.
PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif is still in the race for the prime ministerial slot despite his party not securing a simple majority in the Feb 8 general elections in Pakistan, some PML-N leaders said on Monday.
At least five Chinese nationals were among the six persons killed on Tuesday when an explosive-packed vehicle rammed into their bus in Pakistan's troubled northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, officials said.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances