President General Pervez Musharraf was preparing to impose a state of emergency amid rising violence and political tensions, a private TV network and lawmakers said today.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto visited her ancestral village today to pay respects at her father’s tomb, her first trip outside Pakistan’s biggest city since an assassination attempt against her killed 143 people nine days ago.

Four soldiers were killed today when one of three helicopters escorting Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf crashed.

Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf is willing to share power with former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s party if it wins enough seats in the next parliamentary elections, officials said today.

Opposition legislators submitted their resignations today as part of their efforts to undercut President General Pervez Musharraf’s re-election bid, while two of his opponents filed fresh legal challenges to his candidacy.

Security forces sealed off the Pakistani capital Islamabad today to prevent a protest against President General Pervez Musharraf’s controversial candidacy for a new five-year term.

Former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto’s party announced today that it would contest the country’s presidential election – but only if President General Pervez Musharraf is barred from running.

Riot police arrested dozens of opposition activists protesting against President General Pervez Musharraf today as Pakistan's Supreme Court dismissed two legal challenges to his re-election bid.

Former Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto and President General Pervez Musharraf appeared to suffer a major setback in their efforts to reach a deal that would shore up his fraught re-election bid and allow her to return to Pakistan to contest parliamentary elections.

Former Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto said today that power-sharing talks with President General Pervez Musharraf were at a standstill, but that she planned to return to the nation even without a deal.

A recently constructed road bridge collapsed in the southern Pakistan city of Karachi today, killing at least four people and injuring others, officials said.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said today that she believes that a power-sharing deal with President General Pervez Musharraf could work if he ceded sufficient power to the parliament.

A suicide attacker drove an explosive-laden car into traffic at a busy bus station in north-western Pakistan today, unleashing a blast that killed nine people and wounded 35 others, officials said.

Authorities in Pakistan were today investigating a possible assassination attempt against President General Pervez Musharraf after shots rang out as his plane took off from a military base, officials said.

The siege of a radical mosque in Pakistan’s capital entered its third day today after troops rocked the complex with gunfire and explosions and Islamic militants holed up inside rejected government calls to surrender.

Security guards prevented a suicide bomber from killing Pakistan's interior minister in an attack at a political gathering in a north-western town today that left at least 22 dead and 35 wounded, officials said.

Pakistan is willing to give up its claim to Kashmir if India agrees to a far-reaching self-governance plan for the Himalayan region, Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf suggested today.

More than 10,000 supporters of Pakistan’s President General Pervez Musharraf rallied in Karachi today to praise amendments by politicians to the country’s controversial Islamic rape laws.

US midterm election results that heralded a massive power shift in the American political landscape were greeted with jubilation around the world.

US President George W Bush praised Pakistan’s fight against terrorism as unfaltering this weekend but turned down an appeal for the same civilian nuclear help the United States intends to give India, the country’s arch rival.

GUNFIRE and rioting erupted yesterday as more than 70,000 people joined Pakistan’s biggest protest yet against Mohammed cartoons, burning cinemas, a KFC restaurant and a South Korean-run bus station.

Pakistan’s President General Pervez Musharraf said today there were indications that al-Qaida members were killed in a US airstrike near the Afghan border on January 13.

Dozens of police commandos raided a home in a remote town in eastern Pakistan and arrested an al-Qaida-linked militant accused of killing minority Shiite Muslims, police and officials said today.

President General Pervez Musharraf today appealed to the international community to assist Pakistan with quake relief, the country’s state-run news agency reported.

One of the suspects in the July 7 bombings in London briefly visited a Pakistan school linked with militants, President General Pervez Musharraf confirmed for the first time today.

POLICE in Pakistan said yesterday they were holding seven Islamic militants with possible links to the suspects in the London suicide bombings, as a probe into the suspected ties focused on the city of Lahore.

Osama bin Laden remains Public Enemy No. 1 but recent developments raise questions about the ability of US forces to track down the elusive terrorist and the resources dedicated to the hunt more than three years after the September 11 attacks.

A court in Pakistan today turned over an Islamic militant for police questioning over the killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl and two failed assassination attempts against President General Pervez Musharraf, police said.

Pakistani forces have destroyed al-Qaida-linked militants’ sanctuaries and communication systems along the Afghan border, but still have no clue as to Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts, President General Pervez Musharraf said today.

Aviation authorities were investigating today after a jetliner dipped, fearing collision with another passenger plane at 37,000 feet over eastern Pakistan, injuring several people and leaving others in shock.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s husband was freed on bail today – 24 hours after he was arrested for failing to appear at a murder trial.

The husband of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was put under house arrest today after a court ordered his detention in a murder case.

Pakistan’s President General Pervez Musharraf was to meet with France’s president today, concluding a trip that has taken him to London, Washington and Latin America.

Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf today arrived in Britain for a visit which will include talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Pakistani authorities have arrested the alleged mastermind of a deadly bombing near the US Consulate in Karachi two years ago, but another key member of his network is still on the run, a senior official said today.

A formula proposed by Pakistan’s President General Pervez Musharraf for solving the long-running issue of Kashmir has been rejected by opposition groups.

Police fired tear gas and shots in the air to disperse angry Sunni Muslims today after thousands of mourners joined the funeral of a prominent pro-Taliban cleric gunned down on a busy Karachi street.

The leaders of India and Pakistan met today and promised measures to gradually ease tensions between their nations and explore a peaceful settlement for the disputed Kashmir region.

Pakistan’s former Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz, a close ally of President General Pervez Musharraf, was sworn in as prime minister today.

Pakistan’s parliament elected Shaukat Aziz, former finance minister and close ally of President General Pervez Musharraf, as prime minister today amid an opposition boycott of the vote.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai agreed today to repatriate about 400 Pakistanis, held for more than two years in grim Afghan jails for fighting with the Taliban, in exchange for the release of nearly 250 Afghans.

PAKISTAN announced that it has arrested at least five al-Qaida-linked terrorists who had been plotting to launch suicide attacks on government leaders and the US Embassy.

PAKISTAN has detained several people in the attempted assassination of the man selected to be the country's prime minister, a government minister said yesterday.

Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf and the nation’s prime minister today condemned the murder of two Pakistanis kidnapped in Iraq.