Fate of Pakistan's civilian government remained unclear on Friday in the midst of its standoff with the powerful military and the Supreme Court which is expected to give a ruling on Monday that could determine the outcome of the current political crisis.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari returned home from Dubai early on Friday, hours before Parliament reconvenes for a special session to discuss SupremeCourt's warning that it could take action against him and the Prime Minister for failing to reopen high-profile graft cases.
Raising the political stakes, cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan on Thursday warned that his party would come out on the streets if the judiciary is "ambushed" by the civilian government in Pakistan on the issue of reopening graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday departed on a one-day private visit to Dubai amidst a standoff between the civilian government and the powerful military on the memo scandal.
Pakistan's beleaguered President Asif Ali Zardari is ready to resign and call an early general elections if parties in the ruling coalition wanted him to take such a step, according to a media report on Thursday.
Amidst continuing tensions between Pakistan's government and the powerful army over the memo scandal, President Asif Ali Zardari has said that no one had sought his resignation to defuse the political crisis, making light of suggestions that the military had offered him an "escape" route.
Manmohan Singh will be the first Indian PM to travel to Islamabad since 2004. Amir Mir reports
The Pakistani judicial commission investigating the memogate scandal on Wednesday issued a notice to President Asif Ali Zardari to present his views on the issue at the next hearing on January 9.
Rehman Malik, senior advisor to Pakistan prime minister on internal affairs, was on Friday sworn in as a federal minister by President Asif Ali Zardari following his re-election to the Senate weeks after he was forced to step down for his alleged British citizenship.
Some people in government circles believe that the rehabilitation of the Katas Raj temple and its holy pond has been ordered in view of the likely visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Chakwal, reports Amir Mir
Setting the stage for a fresh slugfest with an assertive Supreme Court, Pakistan government on Tuesday asked it to review its order for reopening graft cases against the President and said the cabinet has not taken any decision to write to Swiss authorities over the issue.
In a major setback to Pakistan's embattled government, the Supreme Court on Friday ordered a time-bound probe into the memo scandal, a decision that could add more pressure on President Asif Ali Zardari and Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani.
The strategy for the next week's US visit of Islam was finalised during a high-power meeting co-chaired on Wednesday by President Asif Ali Zardari and Premier Raja Pervez Ashraf, and attended by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman Gen Khalid Wynne, army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and the naval and air force chiefs.
Three months after Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari announced $1million donation for Ajmer dargah during his visit to the country, the shrine authorities are still waiting for the release of the money.
In the first such meeting after his sudden return from Dubai, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari reviewed the political situation in Pakistan with premier Yousuf Raza Gilani, even as the government dismissed as "speculative" reports that he planned to travel to London.
Zardari held meetings with leaders of the ruling Pakistan People's Party and Muttahida Qaumi Movement hours after he flew into a Pakistan Air Force base in Karachi early Monday morning.
Indian death row prisoner in Pakistan Sarabjit Singh has filed a fresh appeal to President Asif Ali Zardari seeking mercy on the occasion of that country's Independence day on August 14, his lawyer Awais Sheikh said on Thursday.
Pakistan's powerful army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani does not support President Asif Ali Zardari's "no-first-use" nuclear policy, according to US diplomatic cables released by whistle-blower website WikiLeaks.
Pakistan's ailing President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday scotched speculation that he could be ousted under a constitutional provision that provides for the removal of a president on the ground of "physical or mental incapacity".
Some secretarial staff from the presidency have flown to the United Arab Emirates amid speculation that a presidential camp office was being set up at Pakistan's ailing President Asif Ali Zardari's private residence in Dubai. This is the second batch of officials from the presidency to go to the UAE since Zardari travelled to Dubai on December 6 to seek treatment for a heart condition
Asif Ali Zardari, who is undergoing treatment in Dubai for heart complications, would need two weeks of rest before returning home, Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has said, dismissing rumours about a "quiet coup" and the President's offer to resign.
A seemingly innocuous statement issued by a military institute of cardiology asking people not to go abroad for treatment of heart diseases has raised questions about whether the Pakistan Army had an inkling of President Asif Ali Zardari's plans to travel to Dubai.
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.
However, the President was stable and out of danger as the stroke and internal bleeding were not "life threatening", The News daily quoted its sources as saying.
President Asif Ali Zardari's son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has quietly stepped in to assume a larger role in the affairs of the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) as his father recovers from a heart condition in a hospital in Dubai.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who suddenly left Islamabad for Dubai reportedly to undergo some regular medical tests, is said to be on his way out, apparently under pressure from the powerful army.
Quoting unnamed officials from the Obama administration, The Cable blog of Foreign Policy magazine said that growing expectations inside the US government are that Zardari may be on the way out. A former US official told the Cable that parts of the US government were informed that 56-year-old Zardari had a "minor heart attack" on Monday night and flew to Dubai via air ambulance.
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.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk reminded Attorney General Irfan Qadir that former Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani had been convicted for contempt and sentenced for refusing to act on the apex court's orders to revive the corruption cases.
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.
Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's ambassador to Washington, has been summoned to Islamabad following reports that he sought United States help to rein in the country's powerful generals in the wake of the raid that killed Al QaeOsama bin Laden. He has offered his resignation to defuse a growing controversy at home that threatens to aggravate already precarious relations between Pakistan's military and its government.
Former Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday resigned from both Parliament and the ruling Pakistan People's Party and launched a scathing attack on President Asif Ali Zardari, saying he had "sold" out his values to cling to power.
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 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 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.
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.
The stay order issued by the President was received by jail officials in the southern port city of Karachi on Thursday morning.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh conveyed to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari that India's concerns on terrorism have to be addressed and anti-India activities have to be stopped there if the people of India were to support and sustain progress in bilateral relations with Islamabad.
Days after the Supreme Court gave nod to Pakistani prisoner Khalil Chishti to visit his country, Press Council Chairperson Justice Markandey Katju has appealed to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to grant freedom to Sarabjit Singh, who is lodged in a jail there. In a letter addressed to Zardari, he said, "The Indian Supreme Court had recently allowed Chishti to go back to Pakistan. I, therefore, appeal to you in the name of humanity to release Sarabjit Singh," he wrote.
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.
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