First look of Benazir Bhutto with members of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has promised to lift the emergency on December 15, a day earlier than he had previously announced, and claimed the upcoming general elections in the country would be "absolutely" free and fair.
President Pervez Musharraf has admitted that he's negotiating with all political outfits in Pakistan, including the parties of former premiers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif.
The Senate also allowed introduction of another bill drafted by the Leader of Opposition to provide for the ratification by the Upper House of all treaties, contracts and trade protocols signed by Islamabad with other governments.
Dr Shirin M Mazari, an Islamabad-based analyst, speaks of terrorism and violence in Pakistan and what Pervez Musharraf's presidency has done for the country.
The former prime minister also expressed apprehension of President Musharraf continuing in office and still wearing his uniform as Chief of the Armed Forces.
Former pakistan president Pervez Musharraf has described as a "mistake" his decision to promulgate the National Reconciliation Ordinance, a graft amnesty that was recently struck down by Pakistan's Supreme Court.
Asking India to provide evidence of those it suspects to be behind the Mumbai serial blasts, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday night said his government was prepared to extend "full cooperation" in apprehending the perpetrators.
They will discuss regional and international issues and review 'means to further deepen and broaden the bilateral ties between the US and Pakistan', the White House said.
As for the decision of who fills what post, that's going to be up to the Pakistani government and ultimately the people to decide, the US said.
Musharraf is widely believed to have chosen former ISI chief Lt Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani as his successor to head the Army, says Newsweek in its upcoming issue.
Last year, Musharraf declared Ifikhar Muhammad Chaudhry a non-functional chief justice of Pakistan. This year, he is becoming the first non-functional President of the country. Some close friends have already advised Musharraf to step down quietly, but the General is still confident that his hand picked army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kyani will rescue him soon.
The generals are worried about Washington's warm overtures to India and fear that soon they will be abandoned again, the magazine's international editor Fareed Zakaria said in the article.
"Whatever the solution is, certainly the people of the region need to have a voice in it, however the two sides choose to resolve it," McCormack added.
The ordinance, issued late in the night, gives a more structured character to the NCA, which was originally set up in February 2000 to address concerns about the safety of the nuclear arsenal. Under the original set-up, the chief of the NCA was the head of the government or the Prime Minister. The ordinance, issued by Musharraf, names the President as the chairman of the NCA and the prime minister as the deputy chairman.
The deposed premier, who was ousted in a military coup in 1999, said that after returning to the country on September 10, he would lead his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in the campaign
Pak Army officers write to Musharraf on the sacking of CJ issue.
"Musharraf has got a situation at home where there is a certain amount of sympathy in some places for, if not Al Qaeda, then certainly for the people who are more inclined to Islam."
Our focus is not on substance, but communicating how we did not shake hands and how we made angry faces. This is what India's foreign policy has become, notes Aakar Patel.
An official statement said the blast caused no casualties or damage to property.
Musharraf meets US commander over Afghan allegations
The European Union should adopt a "balanced" approach on the Kashmir issue and play an "active" role in dispute resolution between India and Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf said on Wednesday.
"US has continued to be concerned with the violence in Kashmir and Powell spoke about it on Thursday to Musharraf," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said the concept of suicide attacks was against the spirit of Islam and his government was determined to fight terrorism in all its manifestations.
More than 40 people were killed in violence in Karachi last week that was sparked off after the arrival of suspended Chief Justice Iftikar M Chaudhry.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said he would raise India's concerns on terrorism when he meets Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in Havana next week on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement Summit.
Pakistan's cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan has described President Pervez Musharraf's policy on the conflict-torn tribal region bordering Afghanistan as a "disaster"
Fidel Castro of Cuba figures in the list along with Hu Jintao of China as the most corrupt dictators.
The Pakistani president will be in New York to address the UN General Assembly on September 24.
In the first significant comment by anyone from the government about the imminent impeachment process in Pakistan, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan said it is the political vacuum that exists there that 'greatly worries us'.Maintaining that the situation was evolving in such a manner that nobody could quite reach a conclusion, Narayanan said they thought President Musharraf's impeachment might not take place.
General Pervez Musharraf will meet members of Pakistan's senate and assemblies in the United Arab Emirates and the former president who was forced to quit office is weighing his options to float a political party, after the expiry of a two-year ban on him from taking part in active politics.
Conduct fair polls or quit by July 31, the two exiled prime ministers have told Musharraf.
Addressing senior Indian editors at the end of his three-day visit, Musharraf said agreements mean nothing in different environment and different leadership.
We will have to work on our own to stave off the danger. Nobody will come to our rescue, he was quoted as saying.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said the recent meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Kashmiri leaders was a "movement forward" in resolving the Kashmir issue.
Indian Ambassador to the United States Meera Shankar has said it is not India but the US that has to respond to the recent revelations by former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf that American military aid provided to Pakistan for its war against terror during his tenure, had been diverted to strengthen its defenses against India.
