Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A suicide bomber struck a bus carrying air force personnel in central Pakistan yesterday, killing at least eight people, in the second such attack on a military target in three days. The bombing at an air base south of the capital, Islamabad, coincided with new fighting between government forces and Islamic militants in the Swat valley, a previously quiet area of northern Pakistan that has been roiled by violence in the past week. The growing unrest has heightened speculation that Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who is awaiting a Supreme Court ruling over whether his election in October to another term is valid, might declare emergency rule or martial law. The high court ruling was expected this week, but judges said yesterday that it would be put off until Nov. 12 -- just three days before Musharraf is scheduled to be inaugurated.

CAMP DAVID -- President Bush expressed profound skepticism yesterday that security in Afghanistan is getting a boost from Iran, just days after Afghan President Hamid Karzai called his regional neighbor a valued ally in the struggle to control terror. "They're not a force for good, as far as we can see," Bush said, addressing reporters after two days of meetings with Karzai at the presidential retreat in Maryland. Bush also waded into a dispute that has divided top Democratic contenders for president.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Police have arrested more than 300 political party workers over the past few days in a crackdown before a protest planned this week against new government curbs on the news media, a government official acknowledged yesterday. Opposition parties have said hundreds of their workers have been rounded up in house raids in Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province. The home secretary of Punjab, Khusro Fazal Khan, told the independent channel GEO Television that police had arrested 312 local political leaders and workers throughout the province.

To Javaid Manzoor, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was more than the dynamic populist he believed was capable of propelling Pakistan toward true democracy. She was also a friend. When Manzoor's mother died in October, Bhutto visited her friend's Potomac home to offer condolences, making it her first stop upon arriving in Washington for a busy political trip. Manzoor, who had worked closely with Bhutto as president of the Washington chapter of her Pakistan People's Party, was stunned and distraught yesterday to learn of his hero's assassination.

There's something entirely fitting about the fact that Pakistan and Iraq are, together, dominating the foreign news. They are linked in strange and very somber ways. Pakistan is potentially the nightmare country that Iraq was supposed to be under Saddam Hussein. It contains nukes, jihadis and, in its most remote regions, training camps for al-Qaida - and probably the lair of Osama bin Laden. Combine that with political upheavals: emergency rule, jailed judges, muzzled media and murky elections.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- The Pakistani government is expected to drop all corruption charges against exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, an indication that a power-sharing deal has been reached that would help embattled President Gen. Pervez Musharraf hold onto power. Musharraf made another key move yesterday, naming his likely successor as army chief. Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, a former head of the Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency, will become vice chief of the army Monday and take the top job when Musharraf leaves it, a military statement said.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A day after being placed under house arrest, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto drove through the streets of Pakistan's capital yesterday, stopping several times to get out of her bulletproof SUV and shake hands. But police stopped her from meeting the country's suspended chief justice. Bhutto's short road trip could mean that the government is trying to improve its poor public image since embattled President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency Nov. 3. The country's attorney general also said the emergency would last only a month, although other government officials said the timeline is not yet certain.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- For years, this nation's top judge has been a thorn in the side of President Pervez Musharraf. But just how big a thorn did not become apparent until Musharraf tried sacking the independent-minded jurist last week. Yesterday, riot police resorted to tear gas and batons to beat back hundreds of protesters who had gathered in downtown Islamabad to show their support for suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry. Authorities detained scores of activists, carted away a prominent opposition leader and raided a popular private TV station that had closely covered the controversy.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush has decided to send an unusually tough message to one of his most important allies, Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, warning him that the newly Democratic Congress could cut aid to his country unless his forces became far more aggressive in hunting down al-Qaida operatives, senior administration officials say. The decision came after the White House concluded that Musharraf is failing to live up to commitments he...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- The exiled leader of Pakistan's second-largest opposition political party was scheduled to fly home today, party officials said, a move that could upset the country's fragile balance before parliamentary elections. Also, two suicide bombers killed at least 18 people yesterday morning in almost simultaneous attacks on Pakistani security forces, including workers from the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency, or ISI. Government officials said they would allow the return of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, a bitter rival of President Pervez Musharraf, the army chief who deposed Sharif in a bloodless military coup in 1999.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - -A U.N. official and a guard were shot and killed Thursday during a botched kidnapping attempt at a displacement camp in northwest Pakistan, underscoring the level of violence plaguing the country even as government leaders assert it's safe for camp dwellers to return home to the volatile Swat Valley. The slayings occurred at the Kacha Garhi camp outside Peshawar, northwest Pakistan's largest city. Zelle Usman, a Pakistani citizen and a U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees field officer assigned to the camp, was in his car getting ready to leave late Thursday morning when four gunmen approached and tried to kidnap him, said Abdul Ghafoor Afridi, a senior Peshawar police official.

Car bomb kills at least 27 in crowded Iraq market BAGHDAD - A car bomb exploded in a crowded outdoor market in the northern city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, killing at least 27 people, police said, a deadly reminder of the challenges facing the Iraqi government even as it celebrated the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from cities. The bombing marred what had otherwise been a festive day as Iraqis commemorated the newly declared National Sovereignty Day. It also came hours after four U.S. soldiers were killed in combat Monday in Baghdad.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - - Pakistan announced Sunday that it planned to expand its offensive against Taliban militants into the troubled South Waziristan region. The announcement came just hours after a bomb in a crowded market in the area killed eight people and wounded 38. The deadly bombing was the latest in a series of attacks believed to be in retaliation for the Pakistani army's ongoing offensive against strongholds of the Islamic militant group. Owais Ghani, North-West Frontier Province governor, announced Sunday that the army would extend its fight against militants to the portion of Waziristan abutting the border with Afghanistan.

LAHORE, Pakistan - -An explosives-laden van rammed a steel gate outside buildings for Pakistan's top police and intelligence officials in the country's second-largest city Wednesday, killing 30 and injuring more than 250 people. It was one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Pakistan this year. And it succeeded at again unsettling a nation that had begun to feel a renewed sense of confidence as Pakistani troops continued retaking parts of the country's northwest that had fallen into Taliban hands.

WASHINGTON - U.S. and allied combat troops will withhold efforts to destroy Afghanistan's narcotics industry, which finances the Taliban insurgency, unless Afghan government forces take the lead, a senior military officer said yesterday. But with the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai widely believed to be riven with corruption and its army and police units unable to conduct complex operations, the drug industry has flourished virtually untouched, military officers said. Senior civilian and military officials have acknowledged that the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, launched by President George W. Bush weeks after the Sept.

Pakistan acknowledges Mumbai gunman ISLAMABAD, Pakistan : Pakistan's information minister says an investigation has revealed that the lone surviving Mumbai gunman is a Pakistani citizen, as India has alleged. Up until now, Pakistan had refused to confirm Ajmal Kasab's nationality, saying he was not registered in the country's databases. Information Minister Sherry Rehman confirmed that Kasab was a Pakistani in a text message but gave no other details. The confirmation yesterday came a day after New Delhi handed over a dossier of what it said was evidence linking the Mumbai attackers to Pakistan.

Earthquakes kill three in part of Indonesia JAKARTA, Indonesia : A series of powerful earthquakes killed at least three people in eastern Indonesia today, cutting power lines and badly damaging buildings. A 7.6-magnitude quake struck at 4:43 a.m. local time about 85 miles from Manokwari, Papua, at a depth of 22 miles, the U.S. Geological Agency said. It was followed by a strong 7.5 aftershock. Three bodies were found, including that of a 10-year-old girl, a hospital director said. Nineteen other patients were treated for injuries.

India says Pakistan is dodging blame in attack NEW DELHI: Pakistan is shifting blame and responsibility for last month's deadly attacks in Mumbai, India's foreign minister charged yesterday, adding that Delhi would take action against the perpetrators if Islamabad failed to. India also gave Pakistan a letter written by Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the only gunman captured after the rampage. Kasab wrote that he and the nine other gunmen involved in the Nov. 26 attack all came from Pakistan, India's Foreign Ministry said.

Dispute over Kashmir key to region's peace It is not enough for Pakistan to move against its militants and their supporters ("Pakistan moves against charity tied to attacks," Dec. 12). To prevent future attacks like Mumbai in India and bombings in Peshawar, Pakistan, these two neighbors must settle the Kashmir dispute. The two nations cannot possibly have normal relations without first resolving this 60-year-old, festering sore. Without the strong involvement of the United States leading the international community in helping to resolve that issue, very little will be accomplished.

FDA advisers back limits on asthma drugs WASHINGTON: Government health advisers recommended restrictions yesterday on some long-acting asthma drugs, although not Advair, a top-selling medication. Outside experts advising the Food and Drug Administration said Foradil and Serevent no longer should be used for asthma. But they said the benefits of the more widely used Advair and Symbicort clearly outweigh the risks. Each contains an ingredient that relaxes muscles around stressed airways, which may mask symptoms that can trigger life-threatening asthma attacks.