Patient-Musharraf

Pervez-Musharraf has promised that Pakistan will hold fair elections next month and urged the West to be more patient.

He also sought to ease worries about Pakistan's nuclear arsenal as Islamic-extremists step up their fight with his government, insisting that tight security would prevent the weapons from falling into the wrong hands.

"We have a multilayer custodial and command system," Musharraf told the European Parliament as he began an eight-day European-trip.

European Union foreign-policy chief Javier-Solana said after meeting with Musharraf that Feb. 18 parliamentary elections must be "free, fair and secure" and that their conduct would determine the bloc's relations and engagement with Pakistan.

Via Time-Magazine

Benazir Bhutto - Experts Reflect - Part one

Seen on: YouTube

After a look at recent NewsHour interviews with Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan experts and former colleagues of the late prime minister reflect on her political career, including her election as the first female prime-minister in 1988.

Teen Arrested in Bhutto Plot

A 15-year-old detained near the Afghan border has confessed to joining a team of assassins sent to kill Benazir-Bhutto, officials said on Saturday.

Police also announced they had foiled new suicide attacks against the country's Shiite-minority.

In the southern city of Karachi, meanwhile, the police chief said officers detained five men with explosives, detonators and a small quantity of cyanide intended for attacks on this week's Shiite Muslim festival of Ashura.

Via Time-Magazine

Pakistan's Shia-Sunni divide

Differences between Pakistan's Sunni-majority and Shia-minority go back to the schism following the prophet's death. But in the past two decades those differences have been manifest in repeated-violence.

Related-Verse >
Those who split up their Religion, and become (mere) Sects,- each party rejoicing in that which is with itself! (The Romans - Verse 32)

Zia's legacy >
Most sectarian violence in Pakistan takes place in the province of Punjab and the country's commercial capital, Karachi.

There have also been outbreaks in Quetta.

Musharraf is not the only Pakistani leader to have such-problems. Most analysts agree it began in 1979, when Zia ul-Haq began Islamicising Pakistani politics.

Via In2Verses

India on Pakistan Crisis

In the six decades since an independent India and Pakistan rose from the flames of the bloody partition of the subcontinent, the South Asian rivals have stared at each other across heavily armed frontiers with implacable hostility, fought three wars.

India put its troops on a higher state of alert after the emergency was declared and again after the Bhutto-killing. India's stock market dipped slightly the morning after the killing with investors concerned about instability in the region. By the afternoon, it had resumed its climb. News reports focused equally on the Cricket team's performance against Australia.

It's not that India is no longer worried about Pakistan — it is, deeply. But a decade of sustained economic growth — pegged at about 9 percent this year — has transformed India into a global economic player, giving it self-assurance.

"The general confidence level in India is much higher," said C. Uday Bhaskar, a prominent New Delhi-based defense analyst.

A continuing peace process between India and Pakistan since 2004 also done much to reduce India's anxiety over the possibility of a Pakistani attack.

"Our greatest fear is the large scale movement of terrorist activities through Pakistan," said retired Gen. Ashok Mehta, a strategic analyst in New Delhi.

In an attempt to strengthen democracy and stability in Afghanistan, India has donated some $750 million to reconstruction efforts since the Taleban fell, according to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, making it the third-largest donor.

Perhaps India's greatest problem is that while its relations with Pakistan have improved, it may not know whom to deal with there in the future.

Via Talk-Desi

Pakistan elections delayed

A spokesman for Pakistan's election-commission has said that holding parliamentary elections as scheduled on 8 January "looks impossible". But Kanwar Dilshad said the final decision would be reached on Wednesday after consulting political parties.

There are no grounds whatsoever for delaying the elections.
Raza Rabbani, deputy secretary general, PPP, deputy secretary general, PPP

Mr Dilshad told reporters that protests had directly affected the organisation of the poll in some parts of the country. "We will inform the political parties about the situation in Sindh where our 13 offices were burnt," he said.

Via BBC