In what could raise questions about his ability to rule Pakistan, a newspaper has claimed that Asif Ali Zardari, the country's leading contender for presidency, was suffering from severe mental problems as recently as last year.
The crisis encircling Pakistan's fragile ruling coalition reached a boiling point on Sunday with the Pakistan People's Party refusing to comply with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's demand on reinstating sacked judges within a deadline and the ally also not enthusiastic about supporting Asif Ali Zardari for presidency.
Heeding his party's wishes, Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday decided to contest the September 6 Presidential election, but the ruling coalition appeared to be heading for a deeper crisis over the issue of reinstatement of judges sacked by former President Pervez Musharraf.However, the crisis in the government, triggered by the second largest partner of the coalition Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif threatening to pull out .
Pakistan's Supreme Court directed the government on Thursday, to send a letter to Swiss officials for reopening the graft cases against Asif Ali Zardari with the Prime Minister's approval by 1 pm, after a Swiss prosecutor said the cases could not be reopened as the President enjoys "absolute immunity" as a head of state.
Chief of Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor on Saturday sought to allay Pakistan's apprehensions over the positioning of troops along its border by asserting that India was never a threat to its neighbour.
Fatima had the first launch of Songs of Blood and Sword: A Daughter's Memoir at Clifton Gardens at the exact spot in the port city of Karachi where her father Mir Murtaza Bhutto was killed nearly 14 years ago.
Pakistan appears to be reconciled to a long haul in clinching a civil nuclear deal with the US with President Asif Ali Zardari today saying it took nine years for India to secure an atomic pact with Washington.
Former Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif has threatened to pull his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party out of the ruling coalition and "sit in the opposition" if judges sacked by former president Pervez Musharraf are not reinstated by Friday.
Welcoming the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Russia, the United States on Tuesday said it is encouraged by the resumption of the Indo-Pak dialogue, which was stopped in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks.
As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets President Asif Ali Zardari in Russia, premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has sought early resumption of the stalled dialogue process between India and Pakistan to address long-standing issues like Kashmir.
In the first top-level contact since the Mumbai terror attacks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday during which he is understood to have made it clear that Pakistan should take concrete action against terrorism directed against India.
Pakistan's main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has asked the government to put former President Pervez Musharraf on trial for allegedly being responsible for the assassination of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party leader Benazir Bhutto in 2007.
"President Asif Ali Zardari and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in a bid to prolong their rule at the Centre and in the province of Punjab, respectively, are following American policies and have turned Pakistan into a US colony," he said.
Close on the heels of the killing of two abducted Sikhs by Taliban in the restive tribal belt, the case of kidnapping of a Pakistani Hindu has come to light.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari today said his government was determined to eliminate Taliban militants from the region but promised to make every effort to keep collateral damage to the minimum.
Obama, who called Zardari on Tuesday evening, held a "detailed conversation covering several important subjects," said an official statement.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was obviously so impressed by her meetings with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari that she ventured into the White House briefing room after sitting in on the meetings between President Barack Obama and the two leaders, to express her optimism that a solid alliance had been formed committed to crushing the Taliban and other extremist elements destabilising the region.
Pakistan Peoples Party chief Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Nawaz Sharif on Friday failed to break the deadlock over modalities for impeaching Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and reinstating deposed judges.
Contradicting Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's claims, United States President Barack Obama has suggested that Osama bin Laden is still alive and he is operating under the assumption that the Al Qaeda leader is not dead. Addressing a town hall meeting in the central state of Missouri, the US President also reiterated his administration's position that Al-Qaeda and the Taliban "are the single most direct threat to our national security interests."
President Asif Ali Zardari has assured the United States that the Pakistan government will not allow anybody to challenge its writ or run a parallel administration in any part of the country. Zardari gave the assurance to US Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke during a telephonic conversation, the Daily Times reported on Friday.
Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has reportedly decided to move an impeachment motion against President Pervez Musharraf immediately on his return from Saudi Arabia, a move that will force the President to quit rather than be thrown out.Local daily, The News, quoted sources as saying that the decision was conveyed by Zardari to all relevant foreign players, including the Saudis. Zardari had issued instructions to party leaders to start work.
A resurgent Taliban in Pakistan's northwestern Swat valley on Monday vowed to enforce Islamic laws across the country while ruling out the possibility of laying down arms, following the implementation of Sharia in the region.The Sharia or Islamic law regime approved recently by President Asif Ali Zardari will not be confined to Malakand division, which includes Swat, and the Taliban wants the system to be enforced in other parts of Pakistan, Taliban spokesman said.
Pakistan's parliament on Monday endorsed a move to enforce Islamic laws in the restive northwestern Swat valley, which is largely controlled by the Taliban, and asked President Asif Ali Zardari to accord approval to the measure to usher in peace across the country.The National Assembly or lower house of the parliament adopted a resolution recommending that President Zardari should accord approval to the Nizam-e-Adal Regulation to implement Shariah or Islamic laws in Swat.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari is on shaky grounds, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is pro-America and Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani is doing well in taking military action against terrorists in his country, a top Republican Senator said on Monday.
Describing India as a 'mature democracy,' Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said there is no threat to Pakistan from it, even as he sought resumption of the composite dialogue process stalled since the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
The meeting of the PPP's central executive committee came a day after the presidency and party snapped all contacts between them in the wake of Zardari's comments in an interview with PTI describing Musharraf as a relic of the past who is standing between the people of Pakistan and democracy. The party's federal ministers and the chief ministers of the PPP-led governments in Balochistan and Sindh provinces also attended the meeting held at Zardari House in Islamabad.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has snapped informal talks with the ruling Pakistan People's Party, following its co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari's stinging comments describing him as a 'relic of the past and an unelected and non-democratic President', Pakistani TV news channels reported on Friday. During his interview with PTI, Zardari described Musharraf as a relic of the past, who was standing between the people of Pakistan and democracy.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday made it clear that the composite dialogue with Pakistan would not be possible until Islamabad shows 'visible results' with regard to the investigation in the Mumbai terror attacks. The Prime Minister said that Islamabad should convince New Delhi about their 'sincerity and determination' to deal with the menace of terrorism.
The international community, including India, must offer the Pakistan government all the help and encouragement that it needs to fight and root out the menace of radical extremism, or else the terrorists will spread their tentacles far and wide -- including, eventually, into India.
Two months after resigning as Pakistan Cricket Board's Director-General, Javed Miandad on Monday returned to the post with more powers and the backing of PCB patron-in-chief and the country's President Asif Ali Zardari.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that Pakistan is ready to wage a thousand-year war with India over the Kashmir dispute
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday said the world's superpowers will have to soon make 'serious decisions' about the Kashmir issue, claiming that regional peace is closely linked to the resolution of the decades-old issue with India."The time will soon come when all the world's superpowers (and countries) in this region will have to sit and talk about Kashmir and make serious decisions. I believe the victory will be that of the Kashmiris," he said.
The crucial talks between the top leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition ended inconclusively on Friday, with Pakistan People's Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari seeking more time from his ally Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif, to consider the modalities for reinstatement of the deposed judges. Sharif said that his party remained committed to the restoration of the judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf, by May 12. Zardari did not talk to the media.
The world public must applaud the people of Pakistan for fighting authoritarianism and taking a major step towards real democratisation through an independent judiciary.
In an effort to consolidate its grip on internal security affairs, the Pakistan government on Tuesday carried out a major revamp of the country's intelligence agencies, transferring the political wing of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence to the civilian Intelligence Bureau. As part of the revamp, carried out by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the intelligence agencies would no longer be required to send secret reports to President Pervez Musharraf.
Sanam Bhutto, the sister of Zardari's slain wife Benazir Bhutto, had denied giving any interview to journalist Daphne Barak which was the basis of the reports in the Pakistani media, presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said in a statement issued in Islamabad on Wednesday.
Amid speculation that the Pakistan People's Party was opposed to restoring deposed Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry as he could scrap a law granting amnesty to party leaders, President Asif Ali Zardari has said he was never against the sacked judge.
The deal between President Asif Ali Zardari and Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif does not herald a solution to the instability of the nuclear-armed Pakistan nor does it ensure the Obama administration's primary objective of tamping down the Taliban insurgency, a media report said today.
Zardari was confident that Sharif would not dare to come on the roads himself. The Pakistan government repeatedly informed Sharif about the threat of 'suicide bombers', but Sharif was undeterred.
Even as the talks between leaders of Pakistan's coalition government on restoration of deposed judges remain inconclusive, co-chairman of Pakistan People's Party Asif Ali Zardari has said the reinstatement would be brought about through a constitutional package. The PPP calls for reinstatement of judges through a constitutional package, but the PML-N insists that they should be restored through a parliamentary resolution, as initially agreed by the two parties.
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