A week before Pakistanis vote in the parliamentary elections, the "vast majority" -- 75 percent -- want President Pervez Musharraf to leave office, with his approval rating touching a new low of 15 per cent, the Washington Post reported.
In another strong indication how difficult it would be for the former military ruler to cling on to power, the poll found that the two main opposition parties -- the Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) -- had a combined backing of an overwhelming 72 per cent.
Ruling out fleeing Pakistan, embattled President Pervez Musharraf said the killing of Pakistan People's Party leader Benazir Bhutto upset his "plan" under which he would have wielded control over key portfolios of security, foreign and defence while she would be the prime minister. In an interview to the Channel Five, Musharraf said that it was not his nature and training to be a mere spectator and leave things unfinished.
''In terms of the investigation itself by Scotland Yard, we view this as a credible investigation by independent, outside experts,'' State Department spokesman Tom Casey said. ''We don't have any reason why we would question the validity of their assessment,'' he added.
Zardari explained to journalists who met him in Bhutto's ancestral village of Naudero that he, like the Congress President, wanted to take a back seat and let the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leadership decide things.
Bhutto's return after the Presidential election, expected to take place before October 15, adds to the political turmoil in Pakistan.
Boucher said the Bush administration was satisfied with investigations carried out by Pakistani authorities along with the Scotland Yard.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf held a detailed meeting with co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party Asif Ali Zardari and reportedly sought unanimity of views on host of issues.
Former premier Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N on Wednesday said that it would finalise its response, to a constitutional reforms package drawn up by its ally Pakistan People's Party to clip the sweeping powers of President Pervez Musharraf, by Thursday.A committee formed by Sharif to examine the package met for the second time in the day and its chairman Raja Zafrul Haq said the panel had completed reviewing two-thirds of the contents of the package.
Former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto has won British and American support for her efforts to enter into a power-sharing 'deal' with President Pervez Musharraf before the forthcoming general elections.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has no plans to visit slain former premier Benazir Bhutto's ancestral village to offer condolence to her family, but her party has said he would not be welcome even if he were to come.
Amid tight security, 19 year-old Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday returned to his alma mater Oxford, days after appealing to the media to respect his privacy so that he can continue his studies.
"Why would I be informing her about all these intelligence reports that we have against her, the threat to her? Why would I be doing that? I can't prove it legally, I can't prove my innocence legally. But I can prove it only through what I stand for as a person," he said.
In a sign of growing rancour between Pakistan's ruling coalition partners, Pakistan People's Party chairman Asif Ali Zardari has lashed out at Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president Shahbaz Sharif for not taking steps to release his friend, who is in a Punjab jail for nine years on charges of drug smuggling. The PML-N president has reportedly turned down the request though his party is in power in Punjab.
Addressing a crowded press conference, Bilawal, flanked by Zardari and Fahim, said that he would continue the struggle to restore democracy in Pakistan with as much vigour as his mother desired. Now that he was the leader, PPP's "long and historic struggle for democracy will continue with new vigour," Bilawal said, adding, "My mother always said that democracy is the best revenge".
A single-judge bench of the Sindh high court gave the verdict in response to a review petition filed by the PPP leader's lawyer. The court acquitted Pakistan's former high commissioner to Britain Wajid Shasmul Hassan who was also an accused in the case.
Pakistan's ruling coalition on Monday appeared to be on the verge of a split after the PPP failed to reach an agreement with its key ally PML-N on the contentious issue of reinstating dozens of judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf during last year's emergency. Three days of talks in London between Pakistan People's Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and their close aides ended in deadlock on Sunday due to differences on the modalities fo
No one was injured in the pre-dawn blast damaged the building in Yakatoot area of Peshawar, the capital of the North West Frontier Province.
An angry mob attempted to set ablaze Hindu temples and Sikh gurdwaras in a southwestern Pakistan province over alleged desecration of a holy book in Sindh, local media reported on Monday.
Zardari also said that though President Pervez Musharraf had a role to play in the new set-up, the Pakistan People's Party would think about impeaching him when the ruling coalition achieves a two-thirds majority in parliament. The PPP co-chairman refused to give a firm commitment that he would become the prime minister but said he would assume the office if the need arises. Zardari had last month nominated Yousuf Raza Gillani for the post of premier.
Bhutto was killed in a gun-and-bomb attack during an election campaign rally on December 27, 2007 outside the Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi.
Bhutto had been handed down a seven-day detention order on November 13 at the residence of a Pakistan People's Party leader in Lahore to prevent her from leading a 'long march' to Islamabad against the emergency. Jahangir, the chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, was put under house arrest in her residence in Lahore shortly after President Pervez Musharraf proclaimed the emergency on November 3.
Clad in a black traditional sherwani, Gillani, the country's 25th prime minister and the first premier from the Pakistan People's Party who is not a member of the Bhutto family, was administered the oath by Musharraf in the central hall of the Aiwan-e-Sadr or presidency in Islamabad. The ceremony was delayed by almost an hour as Gillani had gone to Karachi on Monday to attend the wedding of his son and had to rush back to the federal capital on Tuesday.
Pakistan People's Party co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari has categorically said that Yousuf Raza Gilani will be the country's new prime minister for five years and not for three months. Zardari said that he himself is not interested in the job, as is being implied. Local daily The News quoted him as saying that Gilani slept in Adiyala jail without any proper bed for three months but he never contacted his powerful friends and influential relatives for help.
Benazir said an interim government must be set up by taking all parties into confidence. The former prime minister said the government had discussed setting up an interim political arrangement with her, but the issue of the caretaker prime minister was yet to be discussed, the Daily Times reported.
The PML-N, which is set to form a coalition government in Pakistan with the PPP, on Monday said it is opposed to senior PPP leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim being made the prime minister because of his apparent proximity to the military regime. Senior PML-N leader Khwaja Muhammad Asif said his party has "serious objections" to Fahim being made the prime minister.
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.
Talks between aides of President Pervez Musharraf and former premier Benazir Bhutto on forming a caretaker set-up to supervise Pakistan's general elections have been stopped by the government till the Supreme Court decides on the military ruler's re-election in uniform.
"Papa, I've been shot," were the last words of a 15-year-old boy who died after being struck by a stray bullet from aerial firing as frenzied celebrations rang across Pakistan over its cricket team's Champions Trophy triumph.
Over 14 people were injured on Saturday when angry members of the Pakistan People's party clashed with the police, blocked roads and forced closure of shops to protest against Thursday night's attack on the convoy of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto that killed 165 people. Groups of PPP supporters, some of them waving the party's flag, pelted stones, burnt tyres and caused traffic snarls at Safoora Goth, University Road, Sachal Goth, Lyari, Mauripur Road, Gadap areas.
Almost all security measures agreed to by the government and the Pakistan People's Party for the homecoming of former premier Benazir Bhutto were compromised due to the massive turnout of her supporters.
Through the night, private vehicles and ambulances ferried the wounded and dead to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Aga Khan University Hospital and others where utter chaos prevailed as doctors struggled to attend to the hundreds of victims.
Bhutto, who was making a grand homecoming after eight years in self-exile, was rushed from the site of the blasts to her home, Bilawal House, soon after the explosions past Thursday midnight, Pakistan People's Party spokesman Farhatullah Babar said.
Musharraf and Aziz had both asked the Pakistan People's Party chief to defer her homecoming and the government had said she faced a threat from pro-Taliban militants, especially rebel leader Baitullah Mehsud.
Intelligence reports suggest that underworld don Dawood Ibrahim is in Pakistan, that country's former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has said. She said if a Pakistan Peoples' Party government came to power it will honour its commitment to India and extradite Dawood Ibrahim, who is allegedly the mastermind behind the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.
Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is determined to return to Pakistan from self-exile on October 18, the Pakistan People's Party said in Islamabad on Monday. The government had asked Bhutto to postpone her homecoming till the Supreme Court decides on petitions against President Pervez Musharraf's re-election and a law giving Bhutto amnesty in graft cases. PPP spokesperson Sherry Rehman there was no confusion about the two-time prime minister's return programme.
India and Pakistan could set aside the Kashmir issue to be resolved by a future generation while they focus on trade and economic ties to improve bilateral relations, PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has said.
The Pakistan prime minister will be from Pakistan People's Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz joint secretary Siddique-ul Farooq said on Friday.
One of India's most seasoned diplomats on Pakistan, who has had extensive and deep interaction with the Pakistani elite, told rediff.com, "Americans are likely to encourage a deal between the PPP and Musharraf. But we will have to wait and watch."
Bhutto said she was expecting the National Reconciliation Ordinance -- which would grant amnesty to political leaders in corruption cases -- to come out on Thursday.
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