Bhutto killing blamed on al-Qaeda
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Pakistan says it has intelligence that al-Qaeda assassinated opposition politician Benazir Bhutto at an election rally on Thursday.Citing what it said was an intercepted phone call, the interior ministry said the killing had been ordered by an "al-Qaeda leader", Baitullah Mehsud.
The BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner, says it is too early to establish the truth of what happened.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7163307.stm>
Bhutto: Who ordered her killing?
BBC Security Correspondent
What matters is who sent him and why.
In the fevered speculation now gripping the streets of Pakistan there are essentially two conflicting theories.
The first theory, the one espoused by the Pakistani government, is that al-Qaeda or the Taleban, or even both, were the killers.
Certainly the method of attack - a suicide bombing in a crowded place - is al-Qaeda's favoured modus operandi, although the assassin was taking no chances by also opening fire with a pistol just before he blew himself up.
Both al-Qaeda and the Taleban had every reason to want Ms Bhutto dead. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7163286.stm>
Reporter recalls leaving Pakistan
BBC News, Washington
When you start digging out things, it's a problem
Nicholas Schmidle
US journalist Nicholas Schmidle never felt unsafe in a crowd of Kalashnikov-wielding Taleban fighters near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.The reason: he was there as a guest.
Last Tuesday night, when a policeman came knocking at his door, he knew he had overstayed his welcome.
"It was raining real hard and the policeman said we are here to take you and your wife to the airport," said Mr Schmidle, who landed in Washington on Saturday after being deported from Pakistan.
He said they had been given a deportation notice but no reason for the government's move. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7190384.stm>
EU in Pakistan election warning
Mr Solana said that the level of the EU's future cooperation with Pakistan depended on these criteria.We have a feudal tribal environment in some of our provinces... we have to adapt democracy, human rights, civil liberties
President Musharraf
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana has told President Pervez Musharraf that Pakistan's general elections next month must be "free and fair".
He was speaking as Mr Musharraf began an eight-day visit to Europe, with democracy and tackling terror on the agenda as he meets EU leaders.
The EU is Pakistan's biggest trading partner, with annual trade worth $9bn. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7199502.stm>
'Dozens die' in Pakistan fighting
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South Waziristan is known as a hotbed of militancy
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Pakistani forces say they have killed 37 pro-Taleban militants in overnight clashes in South Waziristan but the militants have dismissed the claim.A Taleban spokesman told the BBC one militant was killed and one hurt in the fighting, while 10 Pakistani troops were killed and 13 were taken captive.
South Waziristan is a known stronghold of pro-Taleban and al-Qaeda militants.
The army also said two troops were killed and seven hurt in an attack on an army camp in North Waziristan.
According to the BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan in Islamabad, the North Waziristan attack appears aimed at distracting the Pakistani military from its operation in South Waziristan.
Pakistani forces in South Waziristan have been pursuing fighters loyal to the fugitive militant leader, Baitullah Mehsud.
Islamabad and Washington have blamed Mr Mehsud for the assassination in December of Benazir Bhutto, a former Pakistani prime minister who had returned from exile to contest an election.
Clashes between government troops and militants based around the rugged Afghan border have intensified in the weeks since Ms Bhutto's death. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7202902.stm>
Pakistan's missing TV presenters
BBC Urdu serviceEvery time I go to the studio I am wondering if this programme will go on air or not
Talat Hussein
On his recent tour of Europe, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf argued that "he is a soldier who is committed to principals of democracy".Many involved in Pakistan's TV news programmes disagree.
By the time Mr Musharraf lifted six weeks of emergency rule last December, most of the TV news channels were back on air after a period of censorship.
But leading personalities on the programmes say they are not enjoying the freedom had before emergency rule was imposed on 3 November. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7222820.stm>
Changing ways of Pakistan's militants
BBC News, Karachi
When Abid Hunzala's wife was informed that he had blown himself up in a suicide attack, she was not surprised.
A month earlier, she had received a letter from Abid, making it clear he was not coming back.
The letter tells Fatima that a certain amount for money will be delivered to her to help her get by in the short term.
In the long term, the letter says, "you should get remarried, as it will be the best thing for you and our son".
Abid's letter also tells her to give his best wishes to his mother, "and tell her to pray for me... I am going on a mission for God."
The letter was handed over to detectives investigating militant suspects in Karachi after a raid on Abid's house.
They already knew a fair bit about him. His father and elder brother had been killed years ago fighting in Indian-administered Kashmir. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7228864.stm>
Pakistani militants 'call truce'
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Baitullah Mehsud does not like to show his face to the media
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A leading Pakistani militant group is reported to have declared a truce in the South Waziristan region and be willing to enter peace talks.Few details have emerged about the terms of the truce, announced on Wednesday by Tehrik-e-Taleban Pakistan, a militant umbrella group.
The group's leader, Baitullah Mehsud, is accused by the government of being behind the murder of Benazir Bhutto.
Mr Mehsud's tribal stronghold adjoins the Afghan border.
The government has not confirmed the truce, but Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said the national leadership was ready for a dialogue with the militants.
Correspondents say that unofficial talks between the two sides are now underway, with local clerics acting as mediators.
The BBC's Ilyas Khan in Pakistan says fighting in North and South Waziristan has stopped completely.
There has been heavy fighting recently in South WaziristanOur correspondent says it is unclear whether this is because of recent heavy snowfall or because of the ceasefire.
The army says the fighting has ceased because the militants want to regroup and prepare new attacks.
Militant spokesman Maulvi Mohammed Umar told the BBC the truce would include the tribal belt along the Afghan border and the restive Swat region to the east, where the army has recently been fighting pro-Taleban fighters.
He said they have announced a unilateral ceasefire because the government has abandoned positions in the area and pulled back to their camps - a key militant demand.
Defence sources say troops that had earlier spread out over a large area of territory controlled by Mr Mehsud appear to have withdrawn from their positions. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7232203.stm>
Bhutto's party fights for her legacy
BBC News, Larkana
A stream of pilgrims flows into the Bhutto tomb to pay homage to the family's latest martyr.
Inside its cavernous, echoing halls they shower the grave of Benazir Bhutto with rose petals.
Outside, the trade in mementoes is thriving: recordings of her speeches, photographs and posters, some of them depicting her with Sufi mystics.
It's a similar scene to that at Pakistan's Sufi shrines.
For many of the visitors, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December has indeed transformed her into a saint.
Even those less spiritually inclined treat the family with reverence.
"We love the Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP), but we love the Bhutto family more," says one man.
"The party is the Bhutto's party," says another, "first the father, Zulfiqar, then Benazir, and next her son, Bilawal."
Still, the PPP is hoping such devotion will translate into a huge sympathy vote in elections later this month.
And now that the 40-day mourning period has ended, it's hitting the campaign trail in earnest.
But when the sympathy wanes, what will happen to the party, without Benazir Bhutto at its helm? <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7232270.stm>
Pakistan nuclear staff go missing
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The ambassador was en route to the Pakistani embassy in Kabul
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Two employees of Pakistan's atomic energy agency have been abducted in the country's restive north-western region abutting the Afghan border, police say.The technicians went missing on the same day as Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan, Tariq Azizuddin, was reportedly abducted in the same region.
Mr Azizuddin had been going overland from the city of Peshawar to Kabul.
Pakistan's north-west has witnessed fierce fighting between Islamist militants and government troops.
The pro-Taleban guerrillas declared a unilateral ceasefire last week after months of clashes with troops garrisoned there.
The workers from Pakistan's Atomic Energy Commission were on a mission to map mineral deposits in the mountains when they were kidnapped, police say.
"The technicians were going for some geological survey in the area when they were kidnapped at gunpoint along with their driver," Romail Akram, a senior police official, told Reuters news agency.
Their vehicle was intercepted by masked gunmen in the Dera Ismail Khan district, a stronghold of local militants.
"We don't know if the abductors were militants or members of some criminal gang," a local police chief, Akbar Nasir, told the AFP news agency.
He said efforts to locate the missing men had yet to yield any results. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7240414.stm>
Musharraf 'obstacle to stability'
BBC News
The survey of more than 1,400 people across Pakistan suggested support for Mr Musharraf has fallen dramatically.A majority of Pakistanis say stability and security in Pakistan would improve if President Pervez Musharraf resigned, according to a BBC World Service poll.
Almost half the respondents said they thought his controversial re-election last November was not valid.
Pakistanis polled were divided about whether the general elections scheduled for 18 February would be free and fair.
A nationally representative sample of 1,476 Pakistani adults were polled from 27 to 28 January 2008 on behalf of BBC Urdu.
They were also asked a question relating to the judiciary and the sacked former chief justice of the Supreme Court, Iftikhar Chaudhry.
He has become one of President Musharraf's most outspoken critics - and a focal point for opposition to the government - since the president first tried to dismiss him last year.
People were asked whether they thought the new National Assembly, which will be elected next week, should try to re-instate Mr Chaudry.
Almost two-thirds of the people questioned said they thought it should. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7244018.stm>
Pakistan shows signs of mullah fatigue
BBC News, Mardan
In Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP), the Islamists are rallying the vote for another shot at power.
At a campaign meeting of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI) Party in the city of Mardan, zealous seminary students and older men with beards and turbans fill the chairs.
They wave the party's black and white striped flags and chant slogans with fervour.
Five years ago, Islamist parties rode to victory on a wave of opposition to America's invasion of Afghanistan.
They swept the board in Mardan, capturing power in this province and sharing it in another. Now they're defending their record.
"They were saying that these clerics can't rule," says Shujaul Mulk, a JUI Member of Parliament from Mardan, "but we have shown how we can run the government. There was fiscal discipline, and we also did a lot to try and enforce Sharia."Despite such confidence, it looks as if this time the Islamists will be routed. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7243754.stm>
New poll-rigging row in Pakistan
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Mr Qayyum has dismissed Human Rights Watch's claims
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Pakistan's Attorney General, Malik Qayyum, has rejected allegations that he said there would be massive rigging in Monday's election.Human Rights Watch released an audio recording, in which it says Mr Qayyum makes the comments about rigging.
Mr Qayyum says the allegations are "a conspiracy against Pakistan".
Opposition parties say there have been many irregularities in the run up to the vote, which President Pervez Musharraf has promised will be fair.
The US-based Human Rights Watch says Mr Qayyum made the comments over the phone to an unknown person in November.
A voice can be heard on the recording, speaking Punjabi and Urdu, in which he says "they will massively rig to get their own people to win".
"I have never uttered these words," Mr Qayyum told the AFP news agency.
Mr Qayyum is a close ally of President Musharraf.
The president will not be standing in the parliamentary vote on 18 February.
But the former military leader could face a serious challenge to his authority if the vote produces a hostile parliament packed with his opponents. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7247667.stm>
Pakistan - the balance of forces
Pakistan is set for national and provincial elections on Monday. The results could present President Pervez with renewed challenges to his rule. So what is the balance of political forces in Pakistan ahead of the polls? <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7078656.stm>
Musharraf foes triumph at polls
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Supporters of Ms Bhutto's party celebrate in Karachi
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The main party backing President Pervez Musharraf has admitted defeat in Pakistan's elections.The two main opposition parties, the PPP of late PM Benazir Bhutto and the PML-N, led by another former PM, Nawaz Sharif, have a clear majority.
If they form a coalition with a two-thirds majority in parliament they could impeach Mr Musharraf.
The BBC's Chris Morris in Islamabad says Mr Musharraf has never looked weaker than he does today. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7251990.stm>
Musharraf rules out resignation
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The party of Nawaz Sharif (centre) is in second place
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Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, says he has no plans to resign, despite a sweeping victory by the opposition in the country's parliamentary elections.Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Mr Musharraf said there was a need to move forward to help bring about a stable democratic government in Pakistan.
Meanwhile the party of late former PM Benazir Bhutto says it is ready to form a coalition with Nawaz Sharif's PML-N.
The main party backing President Musharraf suffered a heavy defeat.
A union of Ms Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) with the PML-N of another former PM, Nawaz Sharif, would have more than half parliament's seats.
The president's position has never looked more precarious, the BBC's Chris Morris in Islamabad says.
If a new governing coalition manages to muster a two-thirds majority in parliament, it could call for Mr Musharraf to be impeached.
But Mr Musharraf said that he would try to work with any new government.
"I would like to function with any party and any coalition because that is in the interest of Pakistan," he told the Wall Street Journal. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7254124.stm>
Are Musharraf's days numbered?
BBC News, Islamabad
Why? Because Pakistanis have voted fairly clearly for change. The next government will have to be a coalition, but it will have a strong democratic mandate.
And it will have to decide how it chooses to work with a president who's never had much time for politicians with broad popular support.
The two main opposition parties - the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) - will have a dominant presence in the next parliament. Together they could form a stable coalition, but political bargaining is only just beginning. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7253380.stm>
Bhutto party meeting to pick PM
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Ms Bhutto's party won the highest share of votes in Monday's polls
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The party of Pakistan's late former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, is meeting to pick the next prime minister after its victory in Monday's polls.The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) earlier agreed to co-operate in government with the opposition PML-N, led by another former PM, Nawaz Sharif.
Asif Ali Zardari, the PPP leader and Ms Bhutto's widower, is not eligible to run for PM but retains great influence.
The coalition government is seen as a threat to President Pervez Musharraf.
The main party loyal to the president fared poorly in the parliamentary elections.
As president, Mr Musharraf did not personally contest the polls and has brushed aside calls for him to resign.
In a separate development, an explosion in the Swat region of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province has killed 13 people and hurt a dozen others, officials say.
The blast targeted a vehicle carrying guests from a wedding party.
Swat, a former tourist resort, has recently seen intense clashes between Islamist militants and government forces. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7258318.stm>
Musharraf opponents get MPs boost
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The PPP of late former PM Benazir Bhutto fared well in the polls
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Eleven Pakistani MPs have reportedly joined the main parties opposed to President Pervez Musharraf that could form a coalition government.Seven independent MPs joined the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) while four MPs joined its ally, the PML-N, the election commission said.
Final figures for last month's polls show the coalition lacks the majority needed to impeach Mr Musharraf.
Pakistan's army chief has urged the president and coalition to co-operate.
Gen Ashfaq Kayani also said the army would "stay out of the political process".
He told a meeting of top commanders on Thursday that the powerful military "fully stands behind the democratic process and is committed to... support the elected government".
International pressure forced President Musharraf to give up his dual role as army chief to Gen Kayani last year.February's parliamentary elections - regarded as a key step in Pakistan's transition from military to civilian rule - delivered a crushing defeat to parties loyal to President Musharraf. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7283042.stm>
Pakistani parties to share power
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Nawaz Sharif (l) and Asif Ali Zardari were winners in February's elections
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'Blow to Musharraf'The leaders of the two parties that won Pakistan's elections have signed an agreement on a coalition government.Asif Ali Zardari, widower of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto, and ex-PM Nawaz Sharif called on President Pervez Musharraf to convene parliament immediately.
February's parliamentary elections delivered a crushing defeat to parties loyal to President Pervez Musharraf.
Mr Musharraf has urged the incoming government to leave politics aside and concentrate on good governance.
The coalition deal will bring together the Pakistan People's Party, which was led by Benazir Bhutto until her assassination, and the PML(N) party of Mr Sharif.
Mr Sharif has consistently called for the president to step down in the wake of the elections, which were regarded as a key step in Pakistan's transition from military to civilian rule.
The BBC's Barbara Plett, in Islamabad, says the deal will be seen as a further blow to Mr Musharraf who will face a parliament dominated by his adversaries. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7286145.stm>