Top stories

Pak has to decide on ties with India’

Fed up with Islamabad’s unending calls for more information on the 26/11 probe, New Delhi on Friday made it clear that it was for Pakistan to decide what kind of relationship it wanted with India.
India, which has till now given six dossiers on the Mumbai terrorist attackers to Pakistan, also rejected Pakistan’s claim that adequate evidence was not available to prosecute Jamaat-ud Dawa chief Hafiz Sayeed.
“Islamabad has admitted that the planning, plotting and conspiracy were hatched in Pakistan and it is up to them to act. They have all the information at their command. India is only assisting this process,” a senior official said on condition on anonymity.
“It is for Pakistan to decide what kind of relations it wants (with India). We have regularly given information and evidence as and when it was collected and collated. We have also made it clear that we are ready to provide more information whenever available,” the official said.
“There is enough, substantive information available with Pakistan. We would like Pakistan to take action that is speedy, open, transparent and meaningful,” he said.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit had said recently that the last dossier from India was a rehash of information received in previous dossiers.linke...

We are satisfied with security in Pakistan, says Chinese Envoy.

Claims calm at borders with India —Terms Zardari’s China visits fruitful.

ISLAMABAD- Ambassador People’s Republic of China to Pakistan Mr. Lou Zhao Hui has said that the Chinese government and the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad were very much satisfied with the security arrangements made for the Chinese diplomats and Chinese nationals, living and working in Pakistan and thus they see no need bring in Chinese security officials for the security protocol of the Chinese diplomats. Addressing a press conference here at his office on Thursday morning, Mr. Lou said that Pakistan and China were time tested friends the friendship was getting stronger and deeper with every passing day. He said that the recent visits of President Asif Ali Zardari to China prove that what was level of Cooperation and strategic partnership between the two nations. He said many new MoUs have been signed and Pakistan and China were focusing on cooperation in developing the agriculture sector of Pakistan. To a question he said that President Zardari get the adequate and appropriate Protocol during his visits to China. “when he goes to China on State visits, he gets the State Protocol and similarly when he goes on working visits he gets the appropriate protocol too. “We give Pakistani president the protocol on his working visits that is normally not given to other foreign dignitaries during their working visits”, explained the Ambassador. He said that Beijing highly appreciates the support of Islamabad during the riots in Xinjiang and it is hoped that Pakistan’s support and assistance would always be there to fight the ETIM militants as Pakistan and China were together against terrorism, extremism and separatism. To another question, Chinese ambassador said that China and India were resolving their border disputes and claimed that there was a complete calm at Sino-India borders. However his answer to the question regarding India’s signaling of going for another nuclear test was a bit vague. Discussing the role of media in enhancing Pak-China friendship he urged upon the local media organizations to depute their correspondents in Beijing so that they can tell more and more to their readers about China and people of China. “So far The Daily Mail of Mr. Makhdoom Babar is the only private media organization that doing a lot in this direction and print one full on China every day. I believe that other newspapers and TV Channels should also come forward in this direction and play their role to promote ties and people to people contact”, observed Ambassador Lou. It may be mentioned here that The Daily Mail is the only Pakistani newspaper that has established its offices in China, publishes one full page on China every day and has signed agreements of bilateral professional cooperation with top 4 Chinese media organizations including People’s Daily, China Daily, Beijing Review and Xinhua News Agency.like...

After 1 year, Pakistani president's ratings slide

(FILE - In this May 30, 2008 file photo, Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari is seen in Islamabad, Pakistan. Zardari's plunging popularity has led to increasing questions over his future, raising the prospect of political uncertainty and turmoil that could undercut recent gains in the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban.)

ISLAMABAD -- President Asif Ali Zardari's plunging popularity has led to questions over whether he can finish his term, raising the possibility that political turmoil could undercut Pakistan recent gains in the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban.
Just one year after taking office, opinion polls say Pakistanis are unhappy with Zardari because he has been unable to control inflation and create jobs in the desperately poor country. Terrorism - the main concern of the West - is not seen as the most pressing issue.
Some political analysts and rival politicians say they believe Zardari will be unable to survive until his term ends in 2013 given his lack of support, especially since his main rival, opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, is seen as the most popular politician in the country by far.
Others said unseating a democratically elected leader in midterm would be hard, not least because Zardari's party has a clear majority in parliament. Forcing him out would likely need support from the powerful military, which could be reluctant to become embroiled again in politics so soon after the resignation of Zardari's army-backed predecessor, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who was a deeply unpopular figure by the end of his decade-long rule.
Still, Zardari's political weakness - despite significant military successes against the Taliban and the death in August of feared militant chief Baitullah Mehsud - is a major problem for Pakistan's Western allies. The U.S. and other nations are looking for long-term partners to expand the fight against extremists threatening the stability of the nuclear-armed country as well as the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan.
On Wednesday, suspected militants opened fire on a government minister's car in the capital. Religious Affairs Minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi survived the daylight ambush, but his driver was killed. Some opposition figures questioned the government's ability to provide security even in the heart of Islamabad.
Foreign donors will be looking for political stability and focused leadership in Pakistan as they consider how to distribute millions of dollars of aid to help shore up democratic institutions, create jobs and reconstruct areas close to the Afghan border damaged in fighting with the Taliban.
By Western standards, Zardari's poll numbers are damning for a president so new in office.
A recent Pew Global Attitudes poll said just 32 percent of the country had a favorable opinion of Zardari, down from 64 percent a year ago. In the current poll, 79 percent of people had a favorable opinion of opposition leader Sharif, while 67 percent said they liked Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Pew conducted face-to-face interviews with 1,254 adult Pakistanis in late May and early June, mostly in urban areas. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
In May, 72 percent of those polled by the International Republican Institute said they disliked Zardari.
Zardari's path to power began when his wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was killed in a suicide bomb attack in late 2007. Three days later, he became co-chairman of her political party, which swept to victory in parliamentary elections in February 2008 largely on a sympathy vote and disaffection with Musharraf. On Sept. 6, he was elected president by federal and regional lawmakers.linke...