Islamabad, Pakistan will test fire a new nuclear-capable missile by the end of this month, a media report said Saturday. Geo News reported that the surface-to-surface 'Nasr' missile has a 180-km range and a high degree of accuracy. The army has completed preparations for it, said sources. Pakistan April 25 successfully test-fired an intermediate range nuclear-capable missile, less than a week after India tested a 5,000-km range missile. The missile was capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads. In March, Pakistan test-fired a nuclear-capable short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile. The Hatf-2 missile can travel up to 180 km and deliver nuclear as well as conventional warheads with high accuracy. Pakistan's missile repertory includes Hatf ballistic missiles and its variants, Ghaznavi short-range ballistic missile, Ghauri and Shaheen medium and intermediate range ballistic missiles, Babur cruise missiles and Baktar-Shikan anti-tank guided missile, most of which have been developed with China's ...
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Islamabad, A brawl occurred between Pakistan International Airlines crew members and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's son Ali Musa on a flight from Lahore to Karachi, according to a media report on Friday. Ali Musa, a parliamentarian, insisted that his guard, who had an economy class ticket, would sit with him in the business class, The Express Tribune reported. The matter was resolved when the captain of the flight intervened and told the premier's son that he would turn the aircraft back to Lahore if he persisted with his demand, which was against the rules. The threat by the captain worked and Ali Musa gave up his demand, following which the flight continued and landed at Karachi, the report said. The report did not say when the incident had ...
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Islamabad, Pakistan prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani faces the prospect of being disqualified as an MP for five years after Pakistan's Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that he "wilfully, deliberately and persistently" defied the highest court and brought the judiciary into "ridicule". A seven-judge bench headed by Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk issued a 77-page detailed order regarding the conviction of the premier for refusing to act on directives to revive cases of alleged money laundering against President Asif Ali Zardari in Switzerland. Earlier, the same bench had issued a short order when it convicted Gilani of contempt and gave him a symbolic sentence of less than a minute on April 26. Even in the short order, the bench had hinted that Gilani faced possible disqualification. The apex court referred to an earlier order it had issued on January 10, which had said that under provisions of Articles 63(1) and 113 of the Constitution, a conviction of contempt "may entail a disqualification from being elected or chosen as, and from being, a member of Majlis-e-Shoora (parliament) or a Provincial Assembly for at least a period of five years". The seven-judge bench enumerated ...
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Islamabad, Leader of Opposition in Pakistan's National Assembly Nisar Ali Khan has said Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will not be allowed to remain in office following the Supreme Court holding him guilty of contempt. He said the opposition had no confidence in the prime minister. Speaking to reporters outside Parliament House Friday, the leader of opposition said despite the Supreme Court's verdict in a contempt of court case, the government and Gilani himself are hell bent on stating that he has not been disqualified. On April 26, Gilani was convicted for contempt of court by the Supreme Court and awarded a 30-second symbolic sentence for refusing to write to Swiss authorities to reopen a corruption case against President Asif Ali Zardari. Describing the National Assembly's resolution expressing confidence in the prime minister as being against the rules, Khan said Gilani came to the house last Friday at prayer time "when most of the members were not present in the house". He also said that "during noisy scenes, nobody had listened to the resolution and it was also not clear who voted for it and who didn't". "What was more interesting is that when the ...
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Islamabad, Contrary to the perception that Osama bin Laden lived in seclusion for nearly five years in Pakistan's Abbottabad, he travelled to the restive Waziristan region to attend a dinner about a year before he was killed. The 54-year-old al-Qaida chief was the surprise guest at a dinner hosted by two men on the fringes of the Waziristan region late one night in the summer of 2010, BBC reported on Wednesday. Half a dozen men of a tribal family had been alerted weeks earlier about the arrival of a guest whose identity they didn't know. The tribesmen were told about the visit by someone they described as an "important person". At about 11 pm, when the village around them was in deep sleep, a dozen SUVs arrived. "A dozen big four-wheel drive jeeps drove into the compound ... They seemed to converge from different directions," said one unnamed elder of the tribal family. One of the SUVs drove up to the veranda and from it "emerged a tall and frail-looking man" wearing flowing robes and a white turban. "The waiting men couldn't believe their eyes. Standing before them was Osama bin Laden , the most wanted man in the world," the report said. Bin Laden spent three ...
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Islamabad, The US Embassy has issued an emergency message asking American citizens in Pakistan to take precautions for the next two weeks though it did not give any reasons for the alert. "This security message from the US Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan alerts US citizens to travel restrictions for US Embassy staff during the next two weeks," said the message posted on the Embassy's website. The message said the US Embassy had restricted its employees from going to restaurants and markets in Islamabad during April 27-May 5 due to "security concerns". It added: "We recommend that US citizens in Islamabad during this period take similar precautions." "Also, based on the current security conditions and a significant increase in the level of sectarian violence in northern Pakistan, the US Embassy has prohibited its employees from taking personal trips to the Gilgit/Skardu area until further notice," the message said. The US Embassy "continues to recommend that US citizens defer all non-essential travel to Pakistan," the message further said. The mission asked Americans to refer to the US Department of State's current travel warning for Pakistan and reiterated ...
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Islamabad, Pakistan on Wednesday test-fired an "improved version" of the nuclear-capable Hatf-4 intermediate range ballistic missile that can hit targets in India, six days after New Delhi tested the Agni-V missile with a range of 5,000 km. The test of the Hatf-4, also known as Shaheen-1A, was conducted successfully, state-run Radio Pakistan reported. The missile tested today was "an improved version of Shaheen-1 with improvements in range and technical parameters", the report said. The military did not specify the range of the missile though the original version of the Hatf-4 had a reach of 750 km. The missile, capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads, can reach targets deep within India. The impact point of the missile was in the Indian Ocean, reports said. Pakistan had informed India in advance about the test and asked it to issue suitable warnings to aircraft flying over the region. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani congratulated scientists and military officials over the successful test of the ...
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Islamabad, Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday convicted Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for contempt of court for refusing to revive graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari and sentenced him to a symbolic "till the rising of the court", sparing him a jail term. During proceedings in courtroom number 4 that lasted less than 10 minutes, the seven-judge bench headed by Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk announced the verdict and said Gilani's sentence would last "till the rising of the court" or till the completion of the hearing. The judges left the court immediately after announcing the verdict, effectively ending 56-year-old Gilani's sentence. However, legal experts were divided on whether Gilani's conviction would lead to his disqualification. They said the court's detailed order would provide clarity in this regard. Emerging from the court, Gilani told the media: "We had sought justice. The decision was not appropriate". The maximum sentence that could have been given to Gilani in this case was six ...
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Islamabad, All 127 people on board a Bhoja Air aircraft that crashed in bad weather near Islamabad's international airport on Friday, were killed in the nation's worst air disaster in almost two years, the airline confirmed. Bhoja Air flight B4213, a Boeing Co. 737-200 with 118 passengers and 9 crew members, was on its way from Karachi, Pakistan, and crashed on approach for landing, said Salman Tahir, a Bhoja Air spokesman. The plane, that was earlier said to have had 131 people onboard, had crashed down in Hussain Abad village, about three kilometres from the main Islamabad highway during thunderstorms, an official from the police rescue team was quoted as saying. Eyewitnesses told television news channels that the plane was on fire in midair before the crash while television footage showed wreckage of the aircraft strewn across a street in what appeared to be a residential area. The aircraft was due to land at Islamabad airport at 6:50 pm (1350 GMT) but lost contact with the Air Traffic Control at 6:40 pm and crashed shortly afterwards, airport sources told reporters. Rescue workers are trying to collect the body parts which will then be taken to hospitals to ...
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Islamabad, A baby born in Pakistan's Sindh province has six legs, with a doctor assessing that the removal of the parasitic limbs could be a "serious and time-consuming medical exercise". The baby boy was born with extra limbs in Sukkur. He was on Monday shifted to the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) in Karachi. NICH director Jamal Raza said the infant has a parasitic twin. "One of the twins is living, while the other has become parasitic. The infant is all right and has been admitted to the intensive care unit of the NICH, but the removal of the parasitic limbs could be a serious and time-consuming medical exercise including both inner and cosmetic surgeries," Dawn quoted Raza as saying. A team of five surgeons will look into this case. The baby's father, Imran Ali Sheikh, 31, is an X-ray technician who married Afshan, 27, about five years back. The baby is their first child. "I want the doctors to save my son's life," he pleaded. "I am a poor man and have already spent my savings on the illness of my wife who delivered the child after a caesarean section April 12 at the Civil Hospital Sukkur," he ...
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Islamabad, The contact between Rahul Gandhi, general secretary of ruling Congress party, and Bilawal Zardari Bhutto, who heads the Pakistan Peoples Party, is "important given that both might lead their respective countries one day and determine the future course of events", said a daily. Rahul and Bilawal met on Sunday during a day-long trip by President Asif Ali Zardari to India. Zardari interacted with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and later paid obeisance at the dargah of a Sufi saint in Ajmer. An editorial in the News International on Tuesday said that the general tone of friendship between the two leaders also "passed on to the torch-bearers of the future". "Rahul Gandhi, 40, accepted an invitation from Bilawal Bhutto Zardari 23, to visit Pakistan. "This initial contact between the two young men, who share some similarities as far as family history goes, is also important given that both might lead their respective countries one day and determine the future course of events," it added. The daily said that private or otherwise, "any contact between Pakistan and India is important". Zardari "managed to discuss some delicate but crucial issues during his ...
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Islamabad, Around 3,000 Sikh devotees from India will visit Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak which is now in Pakistan, to celebrate Baisakhi festival. Sikh devotees would travel via the Wagah border April 10 through three special trains, the Online news agency reported. Guru Nanak was born in Nankana Sahib on Baisakhi, April 15, 1469. Nankana town is part of Nankana Sahib district of Punjab province. Baisakhi would also be celebrated in the Gurdwara Panja Sahib for three days. Gurdwara Panja Sahib, situated in Hasan Abdal, around 50 km from Rawalpindi, is one of the most holy places of the Sikhs. The gurdwara has a rock believed to have the hand print of Guru Nanak. The devotees would also visit Gurdwara Sahib Sacha Sauda, at Chuharkana in Sheikhupura district -- the place where Guru Nanak fed a group of ascetics with a sum of Rs.20 his father had given him. Later, the Sikhs would also visit Aimanabad on a pilgrimage to Gurdwara Rori Sahib. In 1521, when the armies of Mughal emperor Babar entered Punjab, Guru Nanak was present in the town. At the time of its capture, many people were arrested, among whom was Guru Nanak. At the time of the arrest, ...
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Islamabad, Pakistan cannot take action against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)chief Hafiz Saeed in the absence of solid evidence, the foreign ministry said Thursday. The US Monday announced an award of up to USD 10 million for information leading to arrest and conviction of Saeed and USD 2 million for Hafiz Adbul Rahman Makki, under the Rewards for Justice programme, for information on the two terrorists. Saeed is the founder of the LeT that was blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit said it is "strange" that the US has offered a bounty of millions of dollars for evidence and information against Saeed and Makki. "We have clearly stated our position that there is no concrete evidence against Saeed," the spokesman said at a press briefing, Xinhua reported. "Pakistan would prefer to have concrete evidence to initiate a legal process but in the absence of that, we cannot do anything," the spokesman said. Pakistan Wednesday sought "concrete evidence" against the two men from the US. Basit said that even the US did not possess any evidence linking Saeed to terrorism. He did not agree with a question that the US bounty was aimed at ...
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Islamabad, Pakistan is working to improve its international ties, including those with India, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said addressing the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) in China, it was reported here Monday. The three-day forum is being held in Boao, a scenic town in China's Hainan province. Besides Gilani, the participants include Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Karim Masimov, Iranian Vice President Mohammad-Javad Mohammadizadeh, Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai. Gilani said Pakistan is working to bring improvement in international relations including India, reported Geo News. He stressed on the importance of regional cooperation in improving the economic condition of the country. The prime minister said being a new democracy, the country faces many challenges due to which the government had to make critical decisions. In an interview to China Radio International Sunday, Gilani said drone attacks had created misunderstandings between Pakistanis and the US. He said ties between Islamabad and Washington would be decided through the recommendations of ...
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Islamabad, One woman was killed and 12 people, including six children, were injured when a three-storey building collapsed in Pakistan Multan city Friday night, a media report said. A tuition centre for children -- aged between eight and 14 -- operated in the 90-year-old building in the congested Chorhi Bazaar area of the city in Punjab province, Xinhua reported. Sources said the woman was injured in the incident and later died at a hospital. An earlier report said 16 people were trapped under the debris. Initial investigation revealed that the building located in a congested area collapsed due to its age. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has sought a report on the ...
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Islamabad, Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt Monday took over as the new chief of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). He succeeds Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, Geo News reported. Butt was commissioned in the Pakistan Air Force on graduating from the PAF Academy, Risalpur in March, 1977. He has flown various types of fighters and training aircraft in the PAF Inventory and is a qualified flying instructor. Before taking over his new assignment, Butt was the PAF vice chief. ...
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Islamabad, Pakistan is likely to re-open the NATO supply routes that it had blocked in protest against the November 26, 2011 deadly air raid on its border posts in Mohmand Agency. Pakistan's top civil and military leadership has arrived at a consensus on lifting the almost four-month-long blockade later this month after the Pakistan Parliament approves new terms of engagement with the United States, but under 'tough conditions'. It is, however, unclear what 'tough conditions' Pakistan is considering for unblocking the supply routes. A much-awaited joint session of Parliament is expected to convene on March 17 to debate and approve new rules of engagements with the US. An official told The Express Tribune that the meeting reviewed the recommendations finalised by an all-party, bicameral parliamentary panel. "There was a general consensus among the participants that we now have to reopen the Nato supply routes. For once, we have conveyed our principled position to the US regarding our red lines and we believe that it is very well received in Washington," the official added. Presidential spokesperson Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the meeting was convened to ...
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Islamabad, The US has asked Pakistan to abandon the Iran gas pipeline project and counselled Islamabad to explore alternative energy sources. Deputy US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Hoagland said Pakistan should start looking for alternative energy sources like wind, sun, biogas and cowdung, instead of Iranian gas. Pledging America's readiness to lend a helping hand, he said the US fully realizes the energy crisis in Pakistan and was trying to help it out of the present situation, Geo TV reported Friday. ...
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Islamabad, Pakistan has test fired a missile that has a range of 180 km, a media report said Monday. Pakistan successfully tested surface to surface Hatf-II ballistic missile that has a range of approximately 180 km, reported Geo News. It can carry conventional and non-conventional warheads, said a statement issued by Inter Services Public Relations. ...
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Islamabad, Pakistani authorities have sent a formal request to Interpol to issue a Red Corner Notice for former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, currently living outside the country in self-exile. The move was taken so that he can be arrested and brought back to the country to face trial in connection with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. The Federal Investigation Agency yesterday sent the request to the Director of Interpol in Pakistan, official sources said today. FIA Special Prosecutor Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry confirmed to the media that the process to bring Musharraf back to Pakistan had begun. Interior minister Rehman Malik last week announced that the government would bring Musharraf back to face trial for his alleged failure to provide security to former premier Benazir Bhutto at the time of her assassination in 2007 despite being aware of threats to her life. Musharraf has been declared a "proclaimed offender" or fugitive by an anti-terrorism court conducting the trial of seven persons accused of involvement in the assassination. The court also directed authorities to seize Musharraf's assets and to freeze his bank accounts. Special Prosecutor ...
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