Pakistan

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Pakistan Teeters After Ministers Quit Coalition

Sharif pulls out over rehiring judges; Zardari will lead talks

(Newser) - Pakistan's 6-week-old government is in turmoil today after the prime minister refused to accept the resignation of nine members of the cabinet. Former PM Nawaz Sharif led the walkout in a dispute over the reinstatement of judges sacked during last year's state of emergency, reports the BBC.

Judges' Dispute Sunders Pakistan's Ruling Coalition

Sharif's Muslim League breaks with People's Party, will still support government

(Newser) - The second-largest party in Pakistan's ruling coalition pulled out today after a disagreement over the reinstatement of judges removed by President Pervez Musharraf, Bloomberg reports. Nawaz Sharif said nine Pakistan Muslim League ministers would leave the cabinet led by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, but would not enter the opposition,...

Pakistan's New Leaders Balk at Giving US Free Rein

Unilateral action against terror targets would be 'counter-productive'

(Newser) - If the US was hoping the new government would give it leeway to strike at al-Qaeda within Pakistan, those hopes were dashed today, as the ruling coalition said such attacks would be “counter-productive.” Pakistan had been a US ally in the war on terror under President Pervez Musharraf,...

Al-Qaeda Involved in Karzai Shooting Plot: Kabul

Taliban, Pakistani militants gain strength

(Newser) - The Afghan government today implicated al-Qaeda in the botched Sunday shooting attempt on President Hamid Karzai, the New York Times reports. Security forces captured or killed several suspects linked to the assassination plot. Among them was a man with links to militant commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, who is based in Pakistan’...

Pakistan Parties Agree on Judges' Return

Justices axed by Musharraf set to be reseated by parliament

(Newser) - Pakistan’s ruling political parties have reached a deal to reinstate the judges Pervez Musharraf fired during his state of emergency, the BBC reports today. The agreement leaves intact the anti-Musharraf coalition that almost splintered over the issue. Asif Ali Zardari, head of the Pakistan Peoples Party, wanted reinstatement tied...

Al-Qaeda Is Still Worst Terrorist Threat: US

Safe havens in Pakistan have helped group recharge

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda remains the terrorist group that most threatens the US, Reuters reports. An annual State Department survey of worldwide terrorist activity, out today, said the group killed 5,400 civilians—50% Muslims—in 2007. Though weaker now than in 2001 due to multilateral anti-terrorism efforts, the group has used the...

UK Intelligence 'Sent Citizens to Be Tortured'

MI5 outsourced brutal interrogations to Pakistan, say lawyers

(Newser) - British intelligence officers have been accused of sending citizens to a Pakistani agency to be tortured, reports the Guardian. MI5 officials requested Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency to arrest British terror suspects in the country, where they were subjected to beatings, whippings, sleep deprivation and fingernail extraction, according to lawyers...

UN Troops Traded Guns for Gold

Pakistani, Indian troops armed rebels in Congo, BBC finds

(Newser) - UN peacekeeping troops sold weapons to guerrilla fighters in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a BBC investigation claims, charging that the UN suppressed the story for political reasons. Pakistani and Indian troops, part of the UN's largest peacekeeping force of 17,000, are said to have traded munitions for gold....

Pakistan Nears Peace Deal With Militants

Suspected Bhutto assassin said to have called off his fighters

(Newser) - The new government of Pakistan is close to brokering a deal that will end hostilities with the most militant tribes in the country's dangerous northwest. A draft of the peace agreement calls for an end to violence, a prisoner exchange, and a gradual withdrawal of the Pakistani military from part...

Pakistan Near Ceasefire Deal With Militants

Leader linked to Bhutto murder calls off attacks amid peace talks

(Newser) - Pakistan’s new government is near a ceasefire deal with militants, the New York Times reports, as a top rebel commander has ordered his forces to stop attacks. Baitullah Mehsud, thought to have organized the December assassination of Benazir Bhutto, ordered a ban on “provocative activities for the sake...

US Hesitates to Strike Inside Pakistan

Fears attacks on militant leaders would upset Islamabad

(Newser) - US commanders are itching to strike tribal militants in Pakistan, but Washington fears such a move could anger Islamabad's new leaders, the New York Times reports. American intelligence officials say the region is a growing threat, and warn that militants are forging alliances with al-Qaeda. But Pakistan is in talks...

Pakistan Ambassador Held by Taliban
Pakistan Ambassador Held by Taliban

Pakistan Ambassador Held by Taliban

Video surfaces two months after his disappearance

(Newser) - In a video aired today on an Arab channel, Pakistan’s missing ambassador to Afghanistan says he was kidnapped two months ago by Taliban militants, AP reports. In the brief clip, Tariq Azizuddin, seated on the ground with his driver and bodyguard in front of three armed masked men, says...

Next Prez's To-Do: Fix Diplomacy
 Next Prez's To-Do:
 Fix Diplomacy 
OPINION

Next Prez's To-Do: Fix Diplomacy

New administration will need to fix problems Bush has not addressed

(Newser) - Taking the attitude that "since we were now all-powerful, allies were no longer necessary," President Bush damaged the US' image and diminished its power, Fred Kaplan writes in Slate. How can the next president heal our diplomatic woes?
  1. Visit all Middle East countries; leave a full-time envoy: "
...

US Steps Up Secret Pakistan Air Strikes

Predators hammer al-Qaeda strongholds before Pakistan cracks down

(Newser) - The US is stepping up air strikes on suspected al-Qaeda strongholds in Pakistan, the Washington Post reports. The Predator bombings—which neither the US or Pakistan will officially confirm—aim to rattle terror leaders out of hiding before the country's new leaders are expected to demand the US scale back...

Pakistan PM's First Move Flouts Musharraf

Gilani takes office, orders judges jailed by president freed

(Newser) - Yousaf Raza Gilani ordered the release of 60 judges detained by Pervez Musharraf only minutes after being elected Pakistan's prime minister today, CBS reports. The president replaced the judges with a friendlier crop after imposing a state of emergency in November. If the freed justices are reinstated, a renewed legal...

Bhutto's Party Nominates New Prime Minister

Ex-speaker once went to jail to avoid cutting deal with Musharraf

(Newser) - The party of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto named Yusuf Raza Gillani as its pick for prime minister of Pakistan today, the BBC reports. He is virtually guaranteed to be voted in Tuesday but won’t be PM for long, analysts say. The ex-speaker is expected to step down as soon as...

Pakistan's New Leaders Will Open Talks With Militants

New coalition will defy US, open negotiations

(Newser) - Pakistan's new coalition government says it will negotiate with the militants thought to be behind a wave of recent suicide bombings, the New York Times reports. The change in strategy will alarm US officials, who have recently stepped up strikes on suspected al-Qaeda strongholds using pilotless Predator drones. Pakistanis blame...

Security Boss Suspected by Bhutto Will Quit

Ex-PM fingered Shah among likely plotters before Dec. killing

(Newser) - A Pakistani intelligence chief whom slain leader Benazir Bhuttto suspected to be plotting against her is leaving his post with Bhutto's party poised to take power Monday, Reuters reports. Bhutto identified Ijaz Shah as one of four people who should be investigated if she were to be killed; many Pakistanis...

Pakistan's New Parliament Sworn In

Coalition set for a showdown with Musharraf

(Newser) - Pakistan's newly anti-Musharraf National Assembly was sworn in today, a month after politicians hostile to the president swept the general election. The new coalition has promised to reinstate the judges that the president booted when he declared a state of emergency in November. These judges would likely challenge the validity...

4 FBI Agents Among Injured in Pakistan Blast

Investigators may have been targets of cafe bomb attack

(Newser) - Four FBI agents were among the dozen hurt in a bomb attack at an Islamabad cafe this weekend, CNN reports. The agents were caught in the blast when an explosive device was tossed over a wall surrounding the outdoor restaurant, popular among Westerners and journalists. The FBI says that the...

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