Amid clamour to try him for treason, former President Pervez Musharraf who has been living outside Pakistan since mid-April, has said he will return to the country only when conditions are "pleasant".
Pakistan's new Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani on Saturday offered a dialogue to militants who lay down their arms, saying ending terrorism is his first priority. He also pledged to reinstate the judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf during emergency last year. Unveiling a slew of populist measures in his first policy statement after securing an unprecedented unanimous vote of confidence, Gillani told the National Assembly that terrorism is the biggest problem.
In a frank admission, former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has said he made a "mistake" by sacking Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry nearly two years back.
Indian Ambassador to the United States Meera Shankar has said it is not India but the US that has to respond to the recent revelations by former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf that American military aid provided to Pakistan for its war against terror during his tenure, had been diverted to strengthen its defenses against India.
Pakistan's incoming government should convert the death sentence of Indian national Sarabjit Singh into life imprisonment on "humanitarian grounds" and ensure his early release, caretaker Human Rights Minister Ansar Burney said on Monday. President Pervez Musharraf had on March 19 deferred the hanging of Sarabjit, scheduled for April 1, by 30 days after receiving an appeal for clemency from the Indian government and the condemned man's family.
The United States today said it is taking seriously revelations by former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf that aid provided by America for the war against terrorism was diverted during his tenure to strengthen defences against India.
India on Monday said it was not surprised over former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's admission -- of use of United States' military aid against it during his tenure -- and asked countries providing such help to be 'extremely responsible'. "It doesn't come as a surprise. We have been arguing for some years now that the only problem we have with the US military aid to Pakistan is its misuse against us," Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said.
Speaking to media persons outside his South Block office in New Delhi, Tharoor said: "We know Pakistan has been misusing US aid for years. I am not surprised by former President Musharraf's statement. This confirms India's stand on the misuse of aid. The United States should monitor aid given to Pakistan more carefully."
Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has vowed never to visit India again after being denied a visa by its government.
A Pakistani court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking the registration of a police case against former president Pervez Musharraf and his close aides for the "murder" of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti.
Musharraf had deposed Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and other judges after he imposed emergency in November 2007. The judges had challenged the constitutional validity of the emergency imposed by him. Musharraf had replaced the judges with a hand-picked judiciary, who also validated his re-election as president.
Clinton said that a stable relationship between India and Pakistan would also help promote long-term stability in Afghanistan. She added that the recent elections in Pakistan had proved the Bush administration's policy towards Pakistan wrong.
Javed, who arrived from Kolkata early in the morning, visited Sarnath and the Banaras Hindu University and took a boat ride in river Ganga before winding up his visit.
Zubaida Jalal, a former minister in Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's cabinet, was defeated in Monday's parliamentary polls, television channels reported.
Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf, who was recently booked by the police for illegally detaining scores of judges during the 2007 emergency, has said that he will return to Pakistan very soon.He said he had been busy making the rounds of the international academic circuit delivering lectures and would return to Pakistan as soon as he finished his commitments. Pakistan's Supreme Court declared the emergency imposed by Musharraf in November 2007 as unconstitutional.
The United States has refused to confirm or deny reports claiming Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has rebuffed top intelligence officials of the Bush administration, on proposed American operations inside Pakistan, including joint operations.
Amid Western concern over deteriorating security situation and Pakistan's ability to hold free and fair polls, President Pervez Musharraf arrived in London on a three-day visit during which he will meet British Prime Minister Gordon Brown among others.
Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani "gave his word" on Sunday to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz that his government will not extend any help to former president Pervez Musharraf to defend himself in any court of law as they agreed to bridge the "trust deficit" between the parties.
A 14-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry issued the notice while reviewing a decision made by Musharraf's hand-picked judges that validated the emergency and the sacking of the judges.
Senior leaders of Bhartiya Janata Party L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj on Friday termed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's talks with his Pakistani counterpart Gilani as a complete surrender of the national interests.
India and Pakistan were close to sealing an agreement on Kashmir and other contentious issues between the two countries when President President Pervez Musharraf was in power. "...I had told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and he had agreed, of course. It was his turn to come to Pakistan and we had decided that if he comes and there is no signature on at least one out of those three, if not all the three, it would be a total flop and that must never happen," he said.
The Scotland Yard team, probing the assassination of former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto, is facing difficulties and demanded the slain leader's post-mortem.
Former President Pervez Musharraf has no immediate plans to return to Pakistan and resume political activities, one of his close aides has said.
Caretaker Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz Khan said that President Pervez Musharraf, Nawaz Sharif, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, former federal ministers Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Ejaz-ul-Haq, Amir Muqam and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and former Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi faced threats to their lives from extremists.
"There is no possibility of extremists coming into the government in Pakistan and therefore taking over the (nuclear) assets...through the political or the democratic system," he said.
Sharif also urged other parties to boycott the elections.In the event of a collective response, the credibility of the January 8 elections could be seriously called into question. Sharif said that after three days of mourning, he would chalk out a strategy to challenge Musharraf's rule but he rebutted suggestions that he could gain political mileage from her demise.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Friday lifted the six-week-old state of emergency and revived the Constitution as part of efforts to counter criticism by the world community and opposition parties which have expressed apprehensions that the upcoming elections would not be free and fair.
A report, titled 'Threat to VVIPs, politicians, foreign missions and military installations', said terrorists could carry out suicide attacks disguised as women or as military or police personnel.
"I have to come through the political process, through the process of elections. But I think it's very good - it's very good because I think I will have that legitimacy which I never had."
The Pune terror attack was only to be expected once the government announced its decision to resume official-level talks with Pakistan. That the Islamic jihadi and extremist elements in South Asia, as a whole, are opposed to any reconciliation between India and Pakistan is by now well established. The attempts on the life of former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and the assassination of Benazir Bhutto were part of the same agenda.
In a big blow to Musharraf, Pakistan was suspended from the Commonwealth despite last-minute assurances from the dictator that he would soon lift the state of emergency.
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.
Khan was imprisoned by the government last week under terrorism charges after trying to lead a student protest in Lahore.
Pakistan is bigger than Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and North Korea combined. There's 156 million people. They have 24 to 55 nuclear weapons. They have not only the bomb, the thermonuclear device, they have the missile that can couple with the bomb, and it can fly all the way to the Mediterranean.
Bhutto's planned long march, which will traverse a distance of nearly 300 km, is expected to be the PPP's largest show of strength since her homecoming rally in Karachi on October 18 that was marred by a suicide attack, which killed nearly 140 people and injured hundreds more.
The Pakistan government on Saturday reappointed another four judges sacked by former president Pervez Musharraf, taking to 12 the number of justices restored since Wednesday amid allegations that it was pursuing a policy of 'selective' reinstatement. The four judges of the Lahore high court, who were among 60 deposed during last year's emergency, were administered oath by provincial Chief Justice Syed Zahid Hussain Bukhari at a simple ceremony in the eastern city.
Pakistan's National Assembly on Wednesday endorsed the proclamation of the emergency by President Pervez Musharraf amidst a boycott by opposition lawmakers and a protest by Pakistan People's Party workers.
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.
'Some members of the judiciary are working at cross purposes with the executive and legislature in the fight against terrorism and extremism, thereby weakening the government and the nation's resolve and diluting the efficacy of its action to control this menace,' it added.
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 .
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