Pakistan

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Pakistan's Strife Grows as New Gov't Waits in the Wings

Restaurant bomb, airstrikes kill at least 17

(Newser) - A series of airstrikes on a Pakistan compound believed to be sheltering Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters killed at least 16 today, AFP reports, a day before the country's incoming government is to be sworn in. The declining security comes after a bomb exploded last night in an Islamabad restaurant crowded...

20 Dead in Pakistan Blasts
20 Dead in Pakistan Blasts

20 Dead in Pakistan Blasts

Many more injured after bombings at police headquarters, residential area

(Newser) - Two suicide explosions killed at least 20 people in Lahore early today, Reuters reports. One bomb devastated the city's federal police headquarters. "We're trying to evacuate the wounded trapped under the debris," said an official. The second blast occurred when two men blew themselves up in a pickup...

Pakistani Parties Spurn Musharraf, Forge Coalition

Leaders plan to reinstate judges deposed by president

(Newser) - Pakistani opposition parties formed a coalition today that snubbed President Pervez Musharraf. The alliance of ex-PM Nawaz Sharif and the late Benazir Bhutto's party will also reinstate the judges deposed by Musharraf last year. Having opposed Musharraf's reelection bid, the judges are also likely to challenge his presidency in court,...

Bhutto's Party Delays PM Decision
Bhutto's Party Delays PM
Decision

Bhutto's Party Delays PM Decision

Meeting ends without expected nom; Bhutto widower will decide

(Newser) - Benazir Bhutto's party deferred its choice for PM candidate today, adding greater uncertainty to Pakistan's volatile political landscape, Bloomberg reports. Makhdoom Amin Fahim, the Pakistan People's Party's No. 2 and a longtime Bhutto loyalist, had been expected to take the top job today. But a meeting of the party's newly...

Indian 'Spy' Freed After 35 Years
Indian 'Spy' Freed After 35 Years

Indian 'Spy' Freed After 35 Years

Trader languished in Pakistani prisons after case was forgotten

(Newser) - An Indian prisoner has finally come home after spending 35 years on death row in Pakistan on spying charges, the BBC reports. Trader Kashmir Singh was greeted by his family and hundreds of well-wishers as he crossed the border back into India. "I have got a new life,"...

Lahore Navy School Blast Kills 6
Lahore Navy School Blast Kills 6

Lahore Navy School Blast Kills 6

Suicide attack comes as chair of Joint Chiefs meets Musharraf

(Newser) - A suicide attack at one of Pakistan's premier military academies has left at least seven people dead and 19 injured. The blast in the parking lot of Lahore's Naval War College set off explosions in the gasoline tanks of neighboring cars and sparked a fire, Reuters reports. Today's bombing, the...

Pakistan Suicide Bomber Kills 39
Pakistan Suicide Bomber Kills 39

Pakistan Suicide Bomber Kills 39

Attack marks third violent incident in as many days

(Newser) - A suicide bomber killed at least 39 people today gathered at an outdoor meeting of tribal elders in northwest Pakistan, Reuters reports, in the volatile country's latest bout of violence. The attack, which left scores of others wounded, occurred as the elders finalized security plans to “take steps against...

Pakistan Charges 5 in Bhutto Murder

Top Taliban leader and others accused of plotting assassination

(Newser) - Police in Pakistan have filed charges against five men, including the country’s top Taliban commander, accusing them of planning the December assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the AP reports. President Pervez Musharaff had named the Taliban leader (and suspected al-Qaeda operative), Baitullah Mehsud, days after the attack, but today’s...

35 Dead in Suicide Bombing at Pakistan Funeral

Service for police superintendent targeted

(Newser) - At least 35 people were killed and at least 60 injured today when a suicide bomber struck a funeral in northwest Pakistan' near the border with Afghanistan, the AP reports. The funeral in the Swat Valley drew 800 mourners for a police official killed today by a roadside bomb in...

Bush Push for Musharraf Angers Pakistan

Media turns on US as Washington supports beleaguered president

(Newser) - His political future might be in doubt, but Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is still receiving forceful backing from the Bush administration after his party's drubbing in parliamentary elections—and it's angering Pakistanis, reports the New York Times. "I’ve never seen such an irrational, impractical move on the part...

Missile Hits 'al-Qaeda Haven' in Pakistan

10 dead in strike linked to US

(Newser) - A missile struck a house in South Waziristan, the volatile Pakistani region bordering Afghanistan, killing 10 suspected militants and wounding 7 others. The house was known to be a safe haven for members of al-Qaeda, and most of the casualties are believed to have been Arabs, Reuters reports. A spokesman...

Nawaz Sharif Says He'll Run for Parliament

Ex-PM plots return to political power after election victory

(Newser) - Nawaz Sharif will stand in a special election for a vacant seat in Pakistan's parliament, he said yesterday, opening the way for his return to political power. The two-time prime minister, whose Muslim League is set to form a coalition government with Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party after last week's...

Pakistan Bans Access to YouTube
Pakistan Bans Access to YouTube

Pakistan Bans Access to YouTube

Anti-Islamic video prompts government crackdown

(Newser) - Pakistan has blocked the country’s YouTube access over anti-Islamic videos on the site, the AP reports. One official conceded that a particular video offended authorities: a trailer for an upcoming film by Dutch legislator Geert Wilders. The filmmaker has said that his piece paints Islam as a fascist religion...

Besieged Musharraf in 'Dangerous Mindset'

Pakistani prez 'sulking' after election defeat

(Newser) - Is Pervez Musharraf paranoid, or is everyone out to get him? After his party's hammering in this week's election, the answer seems to be both, the Guardian reports. "He's been sulking," said a senior party official of the Pakistani president. "He's retreated into a mental bunker. It's...

Pakistan Opposition Leaders Form Ruling Coalition

Sharif, Zardari agree to 'common agenda' for governing after election victory

(Newser) - Pakistan’s two major opposition leaders agreed today to one “common agenda” and will form a coalition government, the BBC reports. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari—widower of Benazir Bhutto and now head of the Pakistan People's Party—called for the immediate reinstatement of Pakistan’s...

Musharraf Pushes Swiss to Prosecute Foe

Alleges Bhutto widower stashed $55M in Swiss bank account

(Newser) - As the battle to control Pakistan heats up, President Pervez Musharraf's lawyers have asked the Swiss government to prosecute Asif Ali Zardari over decade-old corruption charges. Zardari, the widower of Benazir Bhutto and leader of the victorious Pakistan People's Party, is charged with hiding $55 million in kickbacks in a...

Police Gas Pakistan Lawyers
Police Gas Pakistan Lawyers

Police Gas Pakistan Lawyers

Protests supporting sacked chief justice turn violent

(Newser) - Police in Pakistan fired tear gas at a rally of about 100 lawyers in Karachi as the country's deposed chief justice, still under house arrest, roused supporters across the country on a smuggled mobile phone, calling for the incoming government to reinstate him and his colleagues. The justice, whom President...

Probe Looms for US Billions to Pakistan

LIttle accounting for use of mammoth payments

(Newser) - The electoral defeat of President Pervez Musharraf may prompt Congress to scrutinize the Coalition Support Funds—billions of dollars paid by the US to Pakistan to foot the bill for military action against al-Qaeda near the border with Afghanistan. US officials approve some $80 million a month despite only vague...

Musharraf Opposition Seek to Build Alliance

Parties of Bhutto, Sharif look to each other, smaller partners

(Newser) - The party of fallen Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto is moving toward an alliance with longtime rival Nawaz Sharif after a strong showing in Monday's parliamentary election, Reuters reports. A coalition of the two parties, along with smaller independents, could control enough of the legislature to oust President Pervez Musharraf,...

New Pakistan Leaders to Seek Talks With Militants

Election victors continue to work for coalition government

(Newser) - The victors in the Pakistan elections favor negotiations with al-Qaeda and the Taliban over  military confrontation, reports the New York Times. “We will have a dialogue with those who are up in the mountains,” said Asif Ali Zardari, widower of assassinated opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. “We want...

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