Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani will visit Muzaffarabd to show solidarity with the victims and lay a foundation stone of seven development projects of Azad Kashmir.
The PM will also inaugurate the first medical college of Azad Kashmir, Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital in Muzaffarabad.
On the other hand, traders are protesting against halting the developmental projects in Bagh and Muzaffabad and vowed to struggle until the projects are completed.
Pagara made the statement during a meeting at his residence in Karachi.
PML-F leader said that his party has no reservations over the MQM rejoining the government, but the PPP had to give it the due share.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) wants its 14 ministers back in office. Five of them have been returned so far.
The PML-F has eight members in the Sindh Assembly and four ministries: Auqaf, IT, youth affairs and mines and minerals. Three out of four departments were earlier with the MQM. But soon after MQM left the government over the Kashmir elections, the government re-allotted the portfolios.
Earlier on Friday, PML-F member and Minister for Information Technology Imtiaz Shaikh asserted, ““We want to make it clear that PML-F leaders aren’t ‘kurbani ke bakray’ [sacrificial goats].”
A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said one soldier was lightly wounded when a car bomb exploded about 300 metres from the outer wall of Combat Outpost Margah.
The military said air strikes and gunfire killed at least 25 insurgents during the attacks in the Gormal, Sarobi and Barmal districts of Paktika.
There was no immediate independent confirmation of the death toll.
Eastern Afghanistan is one of the main flashpoints in the 10-year Taliban insurgency.
Jehlum police has arrested four people including three Germans from GT Road Saturday,Express News 24/7reported.According to DSP Saddar Ghulam Mustafa, three foreigners along with a local driver were traveling towards Jehlum from Rawalpindi who have been arrested.The arrested persons were transferred to Dinah police station for further investigation while their traveling documents will also be verified.
Pakistan’s military leadership discussed in detail the ongoing row with the United States and the efforts underway to settle it in the 144th Corps Commanders’ Conference, which was held at General Headquarters with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Kayani in the chair. “The conference was part of regular monthly meetings. The forum took a comprehensive overview of the routine professional matters aimed at enhancing proficiency of the army,” said an ISPR statement.
In a related significant development, US Ambassador Cameron Munter called on Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar at the Foreign Office on Friday. “Bilateral relations and the regional situation were discussed. Both agreed to work together for strengthening bilateral cooperation and for coordinating on regional issues,” said a Foreign Office statement. Officials privy to the consultations at the corps commanders’ meeting and Ambassador Munter’s interaction with Foreign Minister Khar said that after days of highly tense relations, both sides were now engaged at various levels for stabilising the relations and improving ties.
“The Corps Commanders’ meeting once again reiterated Pakistan’s stance of no to strong US demands for military operation in North Waziristan. However, the military brass observed that Pakistan could work for a dialogue between Washington and the Haqqani Network for the sake of durable peace in Afghanistan,” an official said. He said the army leadership expressed satisfaction over ongoing bilateral efforts for doing away with tension in the relations between Islamabad and Washington.
“Ambassador Munter’s meeting with Foreign Minister Hina Khar was also part of the US efforts to defuse the situation between Islamabad and Washington. The foreign minister and US ambassador also discussed ways to improve the tense ties in their meeting,” the official said. Another official said the military commanders expressed displeasure over strong anti-ISI statements by Afghan authorities and cautioned that it would have deep negative impact on ties between Islamabad and Kabul.
“The commanders expressed satisfaction over the level of preparedness on the country’s border with Afghanistan to prevent any future attacks by Afghanistan-based Taliban militants on Pakistani frontier regions and they observed that any such assault would be given a matching response,” the official said. Troika Meeting: In a related development, President Asif Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani discussed important national issues in a meeting at the Presidency, NNI reported.
The top leadership discussed the law and order situation in Karachi and other parts of the country. They also discussed the resolution adopted by the All Parties Conference (APC) a few days ago. According to NNI sources, the troika also discussed US President Barack Obama’s recent statements and the tense relationship between the two countries.
Police had seized weapons and explosives from a car that had been stopped at a check-post in the Chattha Bakhtawar area of the city.
The driver of the car, who had been detained, gave information to the police which led to a raid on a house in the same area.
Police recovered 12 rocket launchers, two suicide jackets and six hand-grenades from the house.
Sources said the house had been vacant for two months and had previously been used as a clinic by a lady doctor.
The Shahzad Town and Chattha Bakhtawar areas have been cleared and security has been tightened in the city.
In August this year, the city police and security agencies arrested four suspected terrorists, all members of a terrorist outfit based in Mohmand Agency, from a house in Sector G-6, which is inside the high-security Red Zone. A suicide jacket was recovered from them, and they were only waiting for the bomber.
