The ruling Pakistan Peoples Party's top leadership has decided to contest the Supreme Court's move to frame contempt charges against Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, according to a media report on Friday. Gilani's lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan is likely to file an appeal in a few days against the apex court's order summoning the premier on February 13 for the framing of contempt of court charges for failing to act on orders to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. T
President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday took 'serious note' of the arrest of an 11-year-old Christian girl in the Pakistani capital on a charge of blasphemy and called for a report from the Interior Ministry within 24 hours.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani met on Friday. This is their second meeting since the memo scandal that sparked off a tense stand-off between the civilian and military leadership. The informal meeting between Zardari and Kayani at the presidency took place after the ceremony to award Nishan-e-Imtiaz to Admiral Asif Sandila.
In yet another embarrassment for the beleaguered Pakistan government, the Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended the licence of a lawyer close to President Asif Ali Zardari, as Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani faced the possibility of a case being filed against him for alleged misuse of authority.
A five-judge bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa issued the show cause notice under Article 204 of the Constitution, which relates to contempt of court, and observed that the premier should comply with the court's repeated orders and approach Swiss authorities to reopen the cases against the President.
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.
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.
Manmohan Singh will be the first Indian PM to travel to Islamabad since 2004. Amir Mir reports
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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'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 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.
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