Pakistan will formally respond within a week to India's dossier on the Mumbai attacks by describing the information provided in it as "scanty and insufficient" and by renewing its offer for a joint probe into the terrorist strike, a media report said today.
Pakistan on Wednesday shared the Indian dossier on Mumbai attacks with the visiting Saudi intelligence chief and briefed him on the "progress" of its own probe into the incident, as Riyadh sought united efforts by the country's political forces to "de-escalate" tension in the subcontinent.
According to Pakistan's National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) list, which was updated on Tuesday, JuD and FIF were among 70 organisations proscribed by the ministry of Interior under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.
The Pakistan government has sought a report from officials on how Indian Minister Jairam Ramesh "strolled" into Pakistani territory at the Wagah border, violating rules and regulations last week, a media report has said.
Pakistan will not act on the request for legal aid by Ajmal Amir Iman, the lone gunman captured for the Mumbai attacks, unless it is proved that he is a Pakistani national, interior ministry chief Rehman Malik has said.
Pakistan, which is yet to admit that Ajmal Amir Kasab is its national, said it will respond by Wednesday to a letter written by the lone terrorist captured during the Mumbai attacks in which he has sought legal assistance from it.
The delegation is scheduled to take up these matters with Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik, a close aide of President Asif Ali Zardari, and other senior officials on Tuesday. The team is visiting Pakistan to seek the country's 'agreement to work through Interpol to help identify terrorists worldwide, including those behind the deadly November 26-29 terrorist bombings in Mumbai', said a statement from Interpol.
The arrests, made over the last three months, included 115 Saudis and 21 foreigners.
The Pakistan government today banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the front organisation for the outlawed LeT blamed for the Mumbai attacks, after the UN Security Council declared it a terrorist outfit and sealed its nine offices in Sindh apart from rounding up over 20 of its activists.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday confirmed the arrest of Hafiz Saeed, chief of the banned organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa.
But the ISI chief did not retire giving the impression that he has won General Asim Munir's trust, notes Rana Banerji who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
Initially the visa will be offered for two weeks, an official said. Currently, nationals of 35 countries are granted visas on arrival at entry points, including Bahrain International Airport and King Fahad Causeway. The visitors should carry a valid passport and a return ticket and provide either hotel reservation details or family contacts in Bahrain for visas on arrival.
Pakistan's hockey team leaves on Monday for the World Cup in New Delhi amid warnings from a security expert that there is a genuine threat to the players' safety in India.
"Some of their most prominent goals were to carry out suicide attacks against public figures; oil installations and refineries and military bases inside and abroad," the ministry said.
The attack in Lahore, where a group of armed gunmen took policemen at a training academy hostage, bears resemblance to the Mumbai terror attacks, Pakistan Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said on Monday.
Prisoners facing death row in Pakistan, including Indian national Sarabjit Singh, are likely to get a reprieve with the government "actively considering" a proposal to convert capital punishment into life imprisonment. "A summary prepared by the interior ministry is at an advanced stage and a final decision is expected within a few days," a source was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper.
The interior minister said Shehbaz had not submitted any medical documents for travelling abroad or specified the treatment for his illness.
Such migrants often find their dreams shattered as they face a lot of hardship, including torture, at the hands of agents and others who exploit them on knowing about their illegal status, they said.
Dawn News channel had on Wednesday quoted its sources as saying that Pakistani investigators had completed the initial investigation into the dossier provided by India on January 5 and found that the Mumbai attacks were not planned in Pakistan.
Pakistan is expected to respond to the Indian dossier on the Mumbai attacks on Thursday after wrapping up its investigation, extending the earlier deadline set by it to complete the probe by two days.With a 10-day deadline for the completion of a preliminary probe expiring on Tuesday, Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik held a meeting to review progress made so far in the investigation.There was no official word on the meeting.
During a meeting in Islamabad, Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik told Indian High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal about the inquiry being conducted by a three-member team into the information provided by New Delhi on the Mumbai attacks and other aspects of Pakistan's probe, official sources said. Pal, who sought the meeting with Malik, told PTI that the interior ministry chief had briefed him on the steps "already taken by the government by Pakistan.
The Pakistan government has sealed offices of Al-Amin Trust in Karachi and Lahore and frozen several bank accounts as part of its ongoing crackdown on groups added to a UN Security Council list of terrorist organisations subject to sanctions.
Television reports said at least 3 people had been injured in the blasts that went off as a music show was in progress in the Al-Hamra Complex near the stadium.
Those affected include baggage handlers, security agents, drivers, cleaners and clerks. Most have been suspended from their jobs after an investigation by security agencies on the orders of the Interior Ministry last May.
A senior police official probing the suicide attack on former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto's convoy in Karachi has been removed in the wake of objections raised by her Pakistan People's Party. DIG (Investigation) Manzoor Mughal, who was heading the probe, has applied for leave and will no longer be handling the probe, Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said.
A two-member delegation from Pakistan will inspect the venues and other arrangements for the team's tour in November-December.
Indian national Ram Prakash, freed after serving a 10-year prison term in Pakistan on charges of spying, was on Tuesday sent back to jail after Indian authorities at the Wagah border refused to accept him for 'not possessing valid travel documents'.According to Prakash, the Indian High Commission in Islamabad did not send his documents to the Indian authorities at Wagah. The High Commission claimed that they had not been officially informed by Pakistani authorities.
Intelligence reports submitted to the interior ministry say that jihadi elements, including the al-Qaeda, are planning abductions of senior officials and top leader to seek the release of detained militants.
The head of the murdered American hostage Paul Johnson was found in a freezer in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
Fifteen of these groups took part in sectarian violence, while the rest are jehadi outfits fighting against Western interests, the Daily Times quoted officials as saying.
Thai govt to tame Muslim youths with football
A suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his explosive-laden motorcycle into a bus carrying Pakistan Air Force personnel, killing eight of them and injuring 40 others, in the second such attack this week in Punjab province.
Hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad steamrolled over one of Iran's best known statesman to win the presidency on Saturday in a landslide election victory that cements conservative control over nation's politicial leadership.
Indian national Ram Prakash, freed last week after serving a 10-year prison term in Pakistan on charges of spying, was on Monday repatriated following a mix-up that delayed his return home.
Dev Kumar was killed on the spot in the attack in Nimroz province. Four other ITBP personnel and an Afghan policeman were injured in the attack that took place at around 4.30 pm (5.30 pm IST), Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Zenarai Bashari said.He said the attack took place during the movement of a convoy of Border Roads Organisation personnel, who are engaged in construction of the Zaranj-Delaram highway.The injured have been hospitalised.
Five people were killed and several wounded in the shootout Monday.
The boat, whose capacity was 100 people, was overloaded.
The Pakistan hockey team has got the green signal to travel to India for the upcoming Asian Champions Trophy slated to be held in Chennai from August 3.
