Pakistan – News Stories About Pakistan - Page 63

Feb 13, 2008 10:37 AM CST

Pakistan Politics: A Family Affair

Candidates emerge from traditional dynasties

(Newser) - In Pakistan, candidates are born. As ever, the top up-and-coming politicians are coming from Pakistan’s classic dynasties. The Christian Science Monitor talked with Moonis Elahi, son of Pervez Musharraf’s favored PM candidate, Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, son of Shahbaz Sharif and nephew of Nawaz. And of course, there is...

Pakistan Hunts for Missing Diplomat

Feb 12, 2008 9:20 AM CST

Pakistan Hunts for Missing Diplomat

Ambassador to Afghanistan feared kidnapped near border

(Newser) - Pakistani officials are hunting for their ambassador to neighboring Afghanistan, and the country's president believes he was abducted, Reuters reports. "The Pakistan ambassador to Afghanistan has been kidnapped while traveling to Afghanistan," Hamid Karzai said. The diplomat went missing yesterday while traveling through the Khyber Pass, a region...

Bhutto's Party Holds Big Lead in Survey

Feb 11, 2008 10:16 AM CST

Bhutto's Party Holds Big Lead in Survey

Al-Qaeda support declines in 1st poll since assassination

(Newser) - Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People’s Party holds a solid lead going into next week’s elections, according to a poll commissioned by a US organization associated with members of the 9/11 commission. Some 37% of Pakistanis surveyed said they would support the secular PPP, to 12% for Pervez Musharraf’s...

Blast at Pakistan Rally Kills 25

Feb 9, 2008 10:47 AM CST

Blast at Pakistan Rally Kills 25

Campaigning resumes across nation for Feb. 18 elections

(Newser) - A suicide bomber killed 25 people and wounded dozens in northwestern Pakistan today as campaigning resumed across the nation for elections later this month, the AP reports. The blast occurred at a rally for a secular opposition party. No group claimed responsibility, but the government blamed Islamist extremists. Elsewhere, Benazir...

Bin Laden Is 'Planning' in Pakistan, Says US Official

Feb 9, 2008 6:00 AM CST

Bin Laden Is 'Planning' in Pakistan, Says US Official

Taliban head Omar also in the country

(Newser) - Mullah Omar and his Taliban compatriots are running their insurgency from the Pakistani city of Quetta, while Osama bin Laden is operating in tribal areas of the country, says a US official. Bin Laden and right-hand man Ayman Al-Zawahiri are “planning” near the Afghanistan border, says the source, in...

UK Probe: Blast Killed Bhutto

UPDATED

Feb 8, 2008 6:18 AM CST

UK Probe: Blast Killed Bhutto

She died from head injury caused by blast, says Scotland Yard

(Newser) - Scotland Yard detectives investigating the assassination of Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto have concluded that the cause of death was not a bullet, but the massive head injury she sustained when she was thrown by the suicide bomb blast. The findings mesh with the Pakistan government's version of the killing...

Pakistan
Busts 2 More
in Bhutto Hit

Feb 7, 2008 6:15 AM CST

Pakistan Busts 2 More in Bhutto Hit

Arrests come as nation ends mourning period

(Newser) - Pakistani authorities have charged two alleged terrorists with participating in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, reports AFP. The two men are from Rawalpindi, where the former PM was killed in December. "Their tentacles are from the tribal region and Baitullah Mehsud," said a senior official, referring to the...

In Will, Bhutto Taps Husband as Successor

Feb 5, 2008 1:20 PM CST

In Will, Bhutto Taps Husband as Successor

Zardari, now party co-chair, may aim for PM position

(Newser) - Benazir Bhutto's political will, published today, calls for her husband to take control of her party, Reuters reports. "I would like my husband Asif Ali Zardari to lead you in this interim period until you and he decide what is best," says the document. He chose to release...

Bomb Kills Pakistan Medic Staff

Feb 4, 2008 8:42 AM CST

Bomb Kills Pakistan Medic Staff

Latest in series of attacks on Rawalpindi

(Newser) - At least six people died this morning when a suicide bomber riding a motorbike slammed into a military bus in a ball of fire and smoke in the Pakistani garrison city of Rawalpindi. At least 20 were injured in the attack, which occurred in a crowded market area during rush...

Bhutto Warned of Her Murder by Osama's Son

Feb 3, 2008 8:23 AM CST

Bhutto Warned of Her Murder by Osama's Son

Names 4 hit squads in chilling posthumous autobiography

(Newser) - Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was told that four suicide bomb squads had been sent to kill her—and names Hamza bin Laden, son of Osama, as the leader of one, the slain leader says in an eerie, posthumously published autobiography. Bhutto's claim appears to bolster intelligence reports that...

Top al-Qaeda Commander Killed

Jan 31, 2008 2:01 PM CST

Top al-Qaeda Commander Killed

Abu Laith al-Libbi was involved in terror planning and training

(Newser) - A top al-Qaeda operative in Afghanistan has been killed, CNN is reporting, based on information from an Islamist web site and Western officials. Abu Laith al-Libbi, a veteran jihadist of Libyan descent, is described as the No. 3 al-Qaeda leader, "not far below the importance of the top two...

Pakistan Hostage Crisis Ends

Jan 28, 2008 1:05 PM CST

Pakistan Hostage Crisis Ends

Captors described as local criminals, not al-Qaeda or Taliban

(Newser) - A hostage situation in northwest Pakistan ended peacefully today after gunmen took at least 30 schoolchildren and teachers captive, CNN reports. The hostages were released unharmed and their captors were handed over to a court of tribal elders. Earlier reports said that up to 250 students and teachers were held,...

Pakistani Urges US to Oppose Elections

Jan 27, 2008 5:54 PM CST

Pakistani Urges US to Oppose Elections

Restore judges first to stabilize the country, politician says

(Newser) - A Pakistani politician turned heads last week by touting a rare view to US policymakers: Don't back Pakistan's elections. Without an independent judiciary, elections will only hurt the country, Imran Khan warned. He urged lawmakers in New York and Washington to "back the democratic process, by insisting on the...

Musharraf Nixes Greater CIA Role in Pakistan

Jan 27, 2008 9:00 AM CST

Musharraf Nixes Greater CIA Role in Pakistan

In secret meetings, US spy chiefs sought larger combat role

(Newser) - Washington's top two intelligence officials made a secret trip to Pakistan this month "to convince Musharraf that time is ticking," the New York Times reports, quoting senior officials. DNI director Mike McConnell and CIA chief Michael Hayden sought greater latitude for the CIA to operate in Pakistan's near-lawless...

New Leader
Has Pakistan's Taliban on Rise

Jan 25, 2008 6:40 PM CST

New Leader Has Pakistan's Taliban on Rise

Baitullah Mehsud, blamed for Bhutto killing, a unifying force

(Newser) - Pakistan’s increasingly organized Islamist insurgency has a powerful new leader in Baitullah Mehsud, the man accused of masterminding the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. A Time profile reveals Mehsud to be formidably charismatic individual possessing a “laser-like focus” to rival even that of mentor Mullah Omar, the leader of...

Pakistan Pounds Enclave
of Militant Leader

Jan 25, 2008 10:03 AM CST

Pakistan Pounds Enclave of Militant Leader

Troops, tanks and helicopters attack Mehsud's mountain hideout

(Newser) - The Pakistani army has launched an assault on Baitullah Mehsud’s forces in Waziristan, reports the Guardian. The Pakistani government suspects Mehsud, a militant leader who has spent time in Guantanamo, of masterminding the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. The army claimed 40 kills, while Mehsud’s side said they only...

Musharraf Courts Wary Europeans

Jan 22, 2008 12:32 PM CST

Musharraf Courts Wary Europeans

Pledges free elections, nuclear security, no coddling Al-Qaeda

(Newser) - Pervez Musharraf visited Brussels yesterday and Paris today, reassuring leaders that Pakistan will hold fair elections and promising complete security for the nation's nuclear arsenal. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana warned the Pakistani president that future cooperation between the EU and his government is contingent on those criteria, reports...

2 More Busted in Bhutto Slaying

Jan 21, 2008 7:58 AM CST

2 More Busted in Bhutto Slaying

One man spotted in front of slain leader's vehicle

(Newser) - Two more men suspected of involvement in former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination were arrested yesterday, the Los Angeles Times reports, based on information from an investigator. One of the men appears to be visible in video footage of the attack, standing in front of Bhutto’s vehicle. On...

Countrywomen Rate Bhutto's Feminist Legacy

Jan 20, 2008 1:00 PM CST

Countrywomen Rate Bhutto's Feminist Legacy

Ex-PM advanced women's rights; but not as much as hoped

(Newser) - Benazir Bhutto wasn't always a staunch defender of women's rights, but for Pakistani women the fight for gender equality is a lot tougher now that she's gone. Bhutto may have jump-started women's health care and job programs, but she missed opportunities to repeal harsh anti-egalitarian laws—failures her defenders chalk...

Teen Busted in Bhutto Killing

Jan 19, 2008 9:39 AM CST

Teen Busted in Bhutto Killing

Youth says he was part of team dispatched by militant linked to al-Qaeda

(Newser) - Pakistani authorities have arrested a teenage suspect in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, reports the AP. The 15-year-old said he was part of a five-person team sent to Rawalpindi by Baitullah Mehsud, a militant tribal leader affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Taliban, a senior Pakistani intelligence official said. A spokesman...