Pakistan’s president appealed for national unity after early unofficial returns showed the opposition heading towards victory today in parliamentary elections that could threaten his rule eight years after he seized power in a military coup.

Voting has begun today in the postponed Pakistan elections after opposition politicians voiced concerns about vote rigging.

Opposition politicians have today voiced concerns about vote rigging on the eve of the postponed Pakistan elections.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown today urged Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf to ensure “transparent, credible” elections in his country next month.

British detectives investigating the assassination of Benazir Bhutto will not be hindered by government restrictions, President Pervez Musharraf promised today.

British forensic experts assisting the investigation into Benazir Bhutto’s assassination met President Pervez Musharraf today to share their initial findings.

It appears “impossible” for Pakistan to hold a vote on January 8 because of unrest following the killing of Benazir Bhutto, the country’s election commission said today.

Pakistani opposition leader Nawaz Sharif today announced his party was boycotting next month's parliamentary elections following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto - and demanded that the country's president resign immediately.

Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was killed by a suicide bomber as she left a public rally today.

Pakistan opposition leader and leading critic of President Pervez Musharraf, Nawaz Sharif, has been barred from next month’s parliamentary elections by the official supervising body.

Pakistan’s President Musharraf could quit as head of the army as soon as this weekend, an official said today.

Pakistan’s reconstituted Supreme Court today dismissed legal challenges to President General Pervez Musharraf’s continued rule, a senior official said.

Pakistan’s military leader President Pervez Musharraf pressed ahead with plans for parliamentary elections today by swearing in a caretaker government, despite the threat of an opposition boycott.

Pakistan released opposition leader Benazir Bhutto from house arrest and said it will lift a state of emergency within a month.

A suicide bomber killed five people near the offices of Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf today.

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said today she would defy a new death threat to start campaigning in cities across the country.

Pakistan today rejected calls from Benazir Bhutto for outside help to investigate the suicide bomb aimed at her last week which killed 136 people.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said today she would not give in to the militants she blamed for an assassination attempt against her – a suicide attack that killed up to 136 people and cast a bloody shadow over her long-awaited return to Pakistan.

BENAZIR BHUTTO’S return to Pakistan yesterday was marred by a bomb attack in which up to 125 people, including 20 police officers, are reported to have been killed.

Former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto's party today rejected a call from President Musharraf to delay her return from exile.

Up to 50 Pakistani troops were missing today amid fierce fighting with pro-Taliban militants near the Afghan border.

PAKISTAN was in political limbo yesterday, caught between Gen Pervez Musharraf’s presidential election win and a future court ruling on whether he was even eligible to run.

Pakistan’s looming presidential elections were thrown into chaos by a legal ruling today.

Pakistan’s government is close to a power-sharing deal with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, it emerged today.

Pakistan’s President Musharraf was accused of stalling power-sharing talks by former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto today.

Corruption charges against former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto have been dropped, raising speculation she is moving closer to a power sharing deal with President Musharraf.

A former Pakistani intelligence chief will replace President Musharraf as head of the army after Saturday’s presidential election, it was announced today.

Hundreds of opponents of Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf jailed since the weekend were ordered to be released today by the country’s chief justice.

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf pulled out of a meeting of more than 600 Pakistani and Afghan tribal leaders, an apparent snub to a US-backed strategy to stem rising border violence that has destabilised both countries.

Pakistan criticised US presidential candidate Barack Obama today for saying that, if elected, he might order unilateral military strikes against terrorists hiding in the Islamic country.

GUNFIRE and explosions rocked a besieged radical mosque in Pakistan’s capital last night, as Islamic militants holed up in the complex ignored a call from their captured leader to surrender.

ANGER at US President George W Bush swept through parts of India yesterday as protesters burned his effigy and carried posters of Osama bin Laden.

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

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

Pakistan’s parliament passed a bill today allowing President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to remain as army chief, despite his earlier promise to step down from the post.

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain took the oath of office as prime minister today as part of a power transition in the government that the opposition has decried as an affront to democracy.

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the head of Pakistan’s ruling party and a loyal ally of the nation’s military ruler, was elected caretaker prime minister in a rubber-stamp vote in parliament today.

Pakistani forces believe they have cornered and perhaps wounded Osama bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, in a major battle near the Afghan border.

The United States has apologised to Pakistan for the recent “friendly fire” deaths of two of its soldiers, the foreign ministry said today in Islamabad.

At least six people have been killed and two injured after gunmen attacked a Christian school in Pakistan.

Police have charged a member of Pervez Musharraf's security team with planning to assassinate the Pakistani President.

The Prime Minister of India has ruled out the possibility of war with Pakistan.

US envoy Richard Armitage said today that Pakistan’s president had assured him that he wants to do everything he can to avoid war with India.

The Indian defence minister has said that India are prepared to retaliate if Pakistan launches weapons against its country.