President George W Bush on Friday assured Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of the US administration's continued support for the democratic government in Pakistan in the wake of former President Pervez Musharraf's resignation.
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.
Government ministers, Human Rights Watch pointed out, have repeatedly indicated that should the Supreme Court rule Musharraf's election illegal, the military could suspend the Constitution, impose martial law and fire the judges.
Even as it sought to 'internationalise' the Jammu and Kashmir situation, Pakistan said on Thursday it was committed to improving relations with India and resolving all outstanding issues in a just and peaceful manner for the progress and prosperity of the two countries.
As Pakistan is gripped by a volatile situation following a crackdown on Taliban militants, question marks hang over whether former President Pervez Musharraf, who is currently on a trip to Europe, will return home or not.Musharraf is not expected to return to Pakistan from a foreign lecture tour in the near future, said his close aide Major General (retired) Rashid Qureshi.Musharraf left Pakistan for a private visit to Saudi Arabia on April 19.
President Pervez Musharraf had warned slain Benazir Bhutto that her life would be in danger if she did not extend him political cooperation prior to her return to Pakistan, a new book has revealed.Referring to a conversation between Bhutto and Musharraf in September 2007, which was recorded by United States intelligence agencies, Pulitzer Prize winning US journalist Ron Suskind's book The Way of the World, has disclosed the President's veiled threat to the former premier.
Last year, Musharraf declared Ifikhar Muhammad Chaudhry a non-functional chief justice of Pakistan. This year, he is becoming the first non-functional President of the country. Some close friends have already advised Musharraf to step down quietly, but the General is still confident that his hand picked army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kyani will rescue him soon.
Musharraf also directed the Sindh province government to hold an inquiry and submit a report within 48 hours
Beleaguered President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday summoned Pakistan's National Assembly, lower house of Parliament, on August 11 during which the ruling coalition is likely to bring forward an impeachment motion against him. Musharraf signed a summary convening the Assembly on Monday, officials said without specifying the agenda.
Ruling out his resignation, President Pervez Musharraf has decided to face impeachment proceedings to be initiated against him by Pakistan's ruling coalition and vowed to defend himself before Parliament. Awami Muslim League leader Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, a close confidant of Musharraf, said the President was determined to fight back.
Pakistan government has put on hold an order to bring the powerful ISI under the control of the interior ministry that had raised hackles of the President and the military, saying further deliberations are needed on "coordinating intelligence efforts".
The medium-lift helicopter, which was carrying Musharraf's spokesman Rashid Qureshi and other security and staff officials, was following the President's aircraft when it crashed near Gari Dupata town after catching fire
Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has been accused by a former air force chief of "ruining" a $ 1.2 billion deal for acquiring surveillance aircraft from Sweden's Saab firm for "possible kickbacks".
Coming under 'immense pressure' from the defence establishments, the Pakistan government has withdrawn its decision to place the Inter Services Intelligence under civilian control, leading newspapers reported on Monday.Less than 24 hours after moving to clip the wings of the Inter-Services Intelligence, the government issued a clarification stating that its earlier notification that the body had been placed under direct control of the Interior Ministry was 'misunderstood.'
Pakistan's Election Commission on Monday issued the final list of five candidates for the October 6 presidential poll. The candidates include Pervez Musharraf, Mohammedmian Soomro, Wajihuddin Ahmed, Makhdoom Mohammad Amin Faheem, Faryal Talpur.
The decision was taken by the Opposition alliance, the All Parties Democratic Alliance, headed by Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N at a meeting in Peshawar.
Leaders of the All Parties Democratic Movement termed the amendment 'a clear violation of the Constitution.'
The Committee to Protect Journalists has sent a letter to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to protest against the brutal attacks on journalists by security personnel during the arrival of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad.
At least nine policemen and a civilian were killed and 25 others injured in a massive explosion near the controversial Lal Masjid, minutes after thousands of Islamic hardliners demanded the public hanging of President Pervez Musharraf at a meeting to mark the shrine's storming by the Pakistani military.
In a touching and inspiring speech Aitzaz Ahsan asked how America can talk about democracy in Pakistan but not raise its voice against the illegal decision of President Pervez Musharraf to sack Pakistan's chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's reluctance to crack down on radical religious schools and curb Islamabad's support for Taliban militants in Afghanistan has strengthened religious fundamentalists in the country, according to a media report.
Making the announcement, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told Parliament that the Interior Ministry will be asked to 'move a summary to President Pervez Musharraf to commute the sentence of those on death row to life imprisonment'. Under Pakistan Constitution, the President has powers to commute sentences.
India on Monday asserted its "entire nuclear technology has been developed indigenously and action consistent with responsible behaviour."\n
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.
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.
Former Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif on Saturday said President Pervez Musharraf must be held accountable for all his actions as thousands of protestors gathered near Parliament in Islamabad to demand the restoration of judges sacked by the embattled ex-military ruler.
Ratcheting up pressure on the Pakistan government, thousands of lawyers demanding reinstatement of judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf during last year's emergency, led a protest to a heavily fortified Islamabad on Friday where authorities sounded a high alert amid fears of violence.The protesters, who have accused the new government of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of wavering on its election promise of restoring the judiciary, have threatened to continue.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday asked President Pervez Musharraf to address a joint sitting of the parliament as it is mandatory for him to do so under the constitution.
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 combative audience at a conclave in New Delhi on Saturday night cornered former President Pervez Musharraf over terrorism emanating from Pakistan and the aggressive leader retaliated by accusing Indian agencies of fomenting trouble in his country. He also asked India to 'overcome the burden of history' and not indulge in blaming each other but move forward with the peace process. Musharraf also evaded a direct reply to a query on shielding underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
Pakistani security forces on Thursday came under a stinging attack from former president Pervez Musharraf for not reacting swiftly to the strike on the Sri Lankan cricket team and taking the terrorists head-on.
Pressing for Musharraf's ouster, Mohammad Hasham Babar, the secretary general of the party which is a part of the Pakistan People's Party-led ruling coalition, said the president has destroyed almost all the institutions in the country, including the judiciary, during his dictatorship. He has to go out. We do not want him. Whether he goes out of the country or he is prosecuted in the country, there are only two options," Babar told PTI in Delhi.
Pakistan's disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan has turned against embattled President Pervez Musharraf, who pardoned him for proliferation activities four years ago, blaming him for the various problems confronting the country that had 'gone to the dogs'. Khan, confined to his home in Islamabad for the past four years by Musharraf after he admitted to proliferating nuclear secrets, claimed he had never done anything illegal.
Tariq Fatemi, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States, said President Pervez Musharraf's failure to rout terrorism in Pakistan was largely because he did not have popular support, as the war on terror was seen by the people as 'America's war.'
Naveed Musharraf, the president's brother, and Irum Bilal Musharraf, his daughter-in-law, have reportedly given donations to Obama instead of Bush's Republican Party's presumptive candidate Senator John McCain.
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.
The Babur or Hatf VII missile can carry conventional as well as non-conventional nuclear warheads.
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.
President Pervez Musharraf has welcomed resumption of the composite dialogue process between India and Pakistan, hoping it would lead to "some fruitful and substantial" conclusion. Musharraf, who has supervised several rounds of talks with India, was given a presentation by the foreign ministry during a meeting attended by Foreign Minister Qureshi, Foreign Secretary Bashir and other senior officials, on the eve of the two-day talks to be held.
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