Army officers in hotline contact to ease tension

ISLAMABAD: After a demonstration by a mob outside the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi on Wednesday over the killing of Indian soldiers along the Line of Control, the Foreign Office asked India to beef up security of Pakistani diplomats and high commission staff.

Indian Deputy High Commissioner Gopal Baglay was summoned to the Foreign Office and asked to convey to the Indian government that Pakistan expected it to meet its responsibility of protecting Pakistani diplomats and allied staff posted there.

LoC attack: PM Nawaz summons emergency session

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif has summoned an emergency meeting with the foreign ministry and other high-ranked security officials over the Indian attack on the Pakistani soldiers at the Line of Control (LoC) Thursday, Geo News reported.

According to the sources, the meeting will review the strained situation that has emerged between Pakistan and India along with the Indian allegations after the LoC attack.

Mobile phone services to be suspended for Yaum-e-Ali

ISLAMABAD: Mobile phone services would remain suspended in most cities of the country on Wednesday as part of security arrangements for Yaum-e-Ali being observed today, DawnNews reported.

Mobile phone services would remain blocked in Karachi from six am till 8pm whereas the services would remain suspended till 6 pm in certain areas of Lahore.

Pakistan bans website on 'liberal' Islam

By NEHA PUSHKARNA

Selling new-age Islam to Pakistan is a daunting task. For Sultan Shahin, who runs a liberal-view website with the same name, it proved to be futile.

Shahin's newageislam.com - a Delhi-based online resource on Islam - has been banned in Pakistan for being 'too liberal' as well as critical of the contemporary interpretation of the 1,400-year-old religion.

Shahin's multilingual website, started in 2008, was banned in Pakistan on June 30 this year. According to him, it was done on the directions of the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority following the website's tirade against Talibani writings.

Two girls, mother killed over family video

GILGIT: A family video showing two teenage girls enjoying rain in their house led to their murder in Chilas on Sunday night. Their mother was also gunned down allegedly by her stepson and his four friends.

Five masked men barged into the house of retired police officer Rehmat Nabi and started firing, killing his wife and daughters, aged 15 and 16.

According to police, the crime was motivated by a video clip circulated on mobile phones and showing the girls overjoyed by rain in the lawn of their bungalow.

Pakistan should hold talks with Taliban: Fazl

ISLAMABAD: Welcoming the initiation of Doha peace process, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday reiterated his desire that the Pakistan government should also hold talks with Taliban to bring peace and stability in the region.

“The use of force does not work all the time and in all situations,” said the JUI-F chief while talking to a group of reporters after his meeting with a delegation headed by the Special Representative of United Nations (UN) Secretary General on Afghanistan Jan Kubis.

PTI, MQM lawmakers extend support to Musharraf: Aide

LAHORE: Lawmakers belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) approached the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) and assured their extensive support for party head Pervez Musharraf — to be extended at the “right time.”

Details of the meeting were disclosed by political advisor and close aide of Musharraf, Chaudhry Sarfraz Anjum Kahlon.

Kahlon said that several senior lawmakers including representatives of PTI and MQM had privately conveyed their dismay over Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s stance on Musharraf and had provided assurances of extensive support for Musharraf.

Seven killed, 12 injured in Karachi blast

KARACHI: Seven people were killed and 12 others sustained injuries in a bomb explosion at Burns Road, Karachi, Express News reported on Wednesday.

Police said Sindh High Court Justice Baqar Maqbool’s convoy was the target of the attackers. They added that explosive material was planted on a motorbike.

Police and rescue personnel have reached the area and injured – including Justice Maqbool – have been shifted to nearby hospitals. The affected area has been sealed for initial investigation.

Militants attack Nato containers in Khyber; six killed

PESHAWAR: Six people were killed when militants attacked three Nato containers in Shagai area of Jamrud tehsil of the Khyber tribal region on Monday.

Security forces were engaged in a firefight with the militants who attacked the containers and set them on fire.

As a result, six people, including the drivers of the containers were killed.

Khyber is among Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal districts near the Afghan border, rife with homegrown insurgents and home to a number of militant organisations.

NO END TO BULLET-RIDDLED BODIES

QUETTA: Five bullet-riddled bodies were recovered in different parts of Balochistan on Sunday, June 9.According to levies sources, three bodies were found in Johan area of Kalat. They said that the dead bodies were almost one month old. The victims belonged to Bibi Nani area of Bolan district and they were kidnapped a month ago by armed gunmen.

Balochistan CM does away with secret fund

QUETTA: Announcing the abolition of secret funds in his address to the provincial assembly soon after taking oath as the 14th Chief Minister of Balochistan, Dr Abdul Malik Baloch on Sunday said he would rule with respect and prefer resignation to compromising on principles.

Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi administered the oath of office to Dr Malik at the Governor’s House. Acting Chief Minister Nawab Ghous Bukhsh Barozai, Speaker Mir Jan Muhammad Khan Jamali, Corps Commander Lt. Gen. Alam Khan Khattak, IG Frontier Corps (FC) Maj.

Nawaz, Fahim file nomination papers for PM election

ISLAMABAD: Nawaz Sharif, whose nomination papers for the prime minister's election were submitted today, is set to become prime minister for the third time after his party secured simple majority in the newly-elected National Assembly.

The nomination was submitted by Ishaq Dar, Tariq Fazal, Khawaja Asif and Abdul Qadir Baloch on Sharif's behalf.

Moreover, Amin Fahim, who also submitted his nomination papers is the Pakistan Peoples Party's candidate for premiership.

Two arrested after their vehicle hit a Pakistani envoy's car

New Delhi: The Delhi Police have arrested a woman and her nephew, who were travelling on the two-wheeler that hit a Pakistani envoy's car on Monday. Both have been accused of rash and negligent driving, among other charges.

The action came after Pakistan issued a strong statement seeking a thorough probe into the incident. Trouble began after Pakistan's First Secretary Zirgham Raza's car hit a woman and her nephew on a two-wheeler and an argument broke out.

Presidential elections: President Zardari will not seek another term

KARACHI: After the poor showing of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the May 11 parliamentary elections, President Asif Ali Zardari says he will not seek another term in office.

Asif Zardari was elected to the Presidency on September 6, 2008 and his five-year constitutional term expires in September 2013.

Stop UK aid to Pakistan unless taxes increase, urge MPs

The UK government should withhold extra aid to Pakistan unless it does more to gather taxes from its wealthier citizens, a group of MPs has said .

The International Development Committee said British taxpayers should not be paying for health and education in Pakistan while rich Pakistanis were paying little tax.

Fake degree: Dasti sentenced to three years in prison

LAHORE: A local court in Muzzafargarh has sentenced former MNA Jamshed Dasti to three years in prison in a fake degree case. Dasti was arrested from outside the courtroom following his sentencing.

District and Sessions Judge Abdur Rehman Niazi announced the verdict. A fine of Rs. 5000 was also imposed on the former lawmaker.

On Wednesday, shortly after the court had adjourned proceedings with the verdict expected to be announced the next day, Dasti told a press conference that he had decided against contesting for the two National Assembly seats as an independent candidate.

Seven killed for ‘honour’ in three districts

NAWABSHAH: Two women were among four persons killed on the pretext of Karo-Kari in the village of Gulzar Zardari on Tuesday.

The victims were identified as Kazbano, 18, daughter of Shah Mohammed Zardari; Shahzadi, 26, wife of Panah Zardari, Ismail, 20, son of Punhal Zardari, and Yousuf, 25, son of Faiz Mohammed Zardari.

Sources in police said that Shaukat Zardari, brother of Kazbano, and Moosa Zardari, brother of Shahzadi, who were behind the brutal act, had been arrested.

The bodies were taken to Peoples Medical College Hospital for an autopsy.

A heavy contingent of police was deployed around the village to avoid any untoward incident.

No FIR was lodged till the filing of this report.

Peshawar grid station attack: Bodies of 5 missing men found

PESHAWAR: The bodies of five persons who went missing after a grid station was attacked by rockets in Peshawar have been found from nearby fields Tuesday, Geo News reported.

At least two people were killed while several areas of Peshawar plunged into darkness when unidentified miscreants fired rockets at Budha Beer Shaikh Muhamamdi grid station late at night.

Police said a WAPDA and police personnel were injured in the attack on the grid station. The injured succumbed to their wounds on way to hospital.

Indian prisoner's death: No word from Pakistan on autopsy report

New Delhi: There has been another India-Pakistan confrontation, this time over the death of Indian prisoner Chamel Singh. Government sources have told CNN-IBN that India has not received any reply from Pakistan on why it took two months to conduct Chamel Singh's autopsy.

In fact, CNN-IBN has learned that Pakistan has not yet responded to India's request for the autopsy. This comes as Pakistani authorities rejected India's claims that Singh died of torture at the Lahore jail.

Kuwait hangs three, including a Pakistani, in first executions since 2007

KUWAIT CITY: Authorities in Kuwait on Monday hanged three convicted murderers in the first executions in the Gulf state since May 2007, the ministry of justice said.

The men, a Pakistani, a Saudi and a stateless Arab, were hanged at the central jail, west of the capital Kuwait City, in front of judicial and security officials, the ministry said.

The Pakistani was convicted of killing a Kuwaiti couple and the Saudi of murdering a compatriot.

The stateless Arab was hanged for killing his wife and five children after claiming he was a long-awaited imam.