23/2/08

Pakistan coalition promises benefits: Ahmed Rashid’s Insights
By Hassan Abbas(Hassan Abbas)
The decision by Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif to work towards a coalition government could prove a major step forward in lifting Pakistan out of its political morass and putting it back on the rails. …
watandost.blogspot.com/2008/02/
pakistan-coalition-promises-benefits.html

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority blocks access to YouTube
By Ankur
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority blocks access to YouTube. Pakistan has become the latest country to have blocked access to the popular video sharing service YouTube. The ban was originally supposed to be implemented on certain …
news.techwhack.com/7163/youtube-pakistan/

Pakistan coalition promises benefits
BBC News – UK
Ahmed Rashid, guest columnist and writer on Pakistan, sees signs for optimism at the prospect of a coalition government in Pakistan after Monday’s elections …
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7259262.stm

Zardari tries to rope in MQM for forming govt in Pakistan
Times of India – India
ISLAMABAD: Stepping up consultations for forming a coalition government in Pakistan, PPP co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari discussed possible cooperation with …
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Zardari_tries_to_rope_in_
MQM_for_forming_govt_in_Pakistan/articleshow/2807090.cms

Security situation will improve in Pakistan: army chief
Hindustan Times – India
Security situation in Pakistan should improve after the elections and India would be able to resolve disputes by talking to democratically elected …
www.hindustantimes.com/Redir.aspx?ID=b7a81c49-5835-42fb
-84ce-0950c0645b41&ParentID=12c0cef2-62ba-40de-9d7f-e9d
7bb36fa9a

Calm in Indian Kashmir, but Pakistan still eyed with suspicion
AFP –
At the height of the Muslim insurgency against Indian rule over a part of the picturesque Himalayan region, scores of militants would sneak in from Pakistan …
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jYc02nnXkMHcdDB_JWxppFPGfccg

Anxious times ahead for Pakistan’s people
By civilsocietypakistan
I do not rule out rigging in the Pakistan election. My belief is that the seats the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam), the King’s party, and the Muttahida Quami Movement have won are far more than their hold or stock in the country …
civilsocietypakistan.wordpress.com/2008/02/
23/anxious-times-ahead-for-pakistans-people/

Pakistan: Bomb Kills Bride, 13 Others
New York Times – United States
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE A remotely controlled roadside bomb ripped through cars carrying a wedding party near the town of Matta in northwestern Swat,…
www.nytimes.com/2008/02/23/world/asia/23
briefs-BOMBKILLSBRI_BRF.html?ref=world

EU lauds Pakistan on conduct of elections
Economic Times – Gurgaon,Haryana,India
23 Feb, 2008, 0854 hrs IST, PTI LONDON: Lauding Pakistan for the successful conduct of general elections, the European Union has urged the nation to move …
economictimes.indiatimes.com/PoliticsNation/EU_lauds_
Pak_on_conduct_of_elections/articleshow/2806839.cms

Meeting of minds?
By civilsocietypakistan
Through February 18 elections, the people of Pakistan have spoken loud and clear. First and foremost, they have shown to the world that contrary to what General Musharraf has been telling his Western audiences in recent months, …
civilsocietypakistan.wordpress.com/
2008/02/23/meeting-of-minds/

EU welcomes election in Pakistan
Xinhua – China
22 (Xinhua) — The European Union hailed on Friday the conduct of the general election in Pakistan, deeming it “a basis for a new democratic development” in …
news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/23/content_7651310.htm

Shuja Nawaz: Democratic Pakistan: an American Conundrum
By Shuja Nawaz
The euphoria over the successful democratic elections in Pakistan on February 18 has unleashed a torrent of commentary on what next for the US “War on Terror”? The biggest question that seems to be leading to sleepless nights in Foggy …
www.huffingtonpost.com/shuja-nawaz/
democratic-pakistan-an-a_b_88071.html

Echoing McCain, Lowry misrepresented Obama’s comments on Pakistan
Barack Obama said he’s “going to bomb a country that is a sovereign nation,” a distortion of Obama’s statement about Pakistan that McCain has repeatedly made [link to Julie’s item], guest host and National Review editor Rich Lowry …
feeds.mediamatters.org/~r/mediamatter
s/latest/~3/239649527/200802220007

22/2/08

Bhutto Party Ponders Pakistan PM Choices
The Associated Press –
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — A veteran politician with a reputation as a consensus builder emerged Friday as the favorite to become Pakistan’s next prime …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jIE0IUn
4WIiaMBpjG8SI_6H5RXzgD8UVIBLO0

Obama vows to hunt Al Qaeda in Pakistan
Daily Times – Lahore,Pakistan
He said the US should go after Al Qaeda and make sure that Pakistan was serious about hunting down terrorists and expanding democratic rule. …
www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=
2008%5C02%5C23%5Cstory_23-2-2008_pg1_9

Nawaz, Zardari Meet: Vow to Strengthen Democracy in Pakistan …
PML-N Chief Mian Nawaz Sharif and Co-Chairman of PPP Asif Ali Zardari have pledged to co-operate to the optimal for strengthening democracy in Pakistan. Speaking to media – after an in-depth meeting in Islamabad Thursday – the two …
feeds.hsrgroup.org/~r/HumanSecurity
News/~3/239622564/top.htm

Musharraf Promises to Back Pakistan’s New Parliament, Democracy
Bloomberg – USA
22 (Bloomberg) — President Pervez Musharraf said he would back Pakistan’s new parliament in creating political stability, fighting terrorism and sustaining …
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=
20601091&sid=a1u6s8N4.NUw&refer=india

Pakistan: PPP’s Fahim in race for Prime Minister’s post
Hindu – Chennai,India
The newly elected Parliamentarians of Pakistan People’s Party(PPP) met on Friday for the first time after it became the single largest party in the recent …
www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200802221840.htm

Pakistan Shift Could Curtail Drone Strikes
By civilsocietypakistan
WASHINGTON — American officials reached a quiet understanding with Pakistan’s leader last month to intensify secret strikes against suspected terrorists by pilotless aircraft launched in Pakistan, senior officials in both governments …
civilsocietypakistan.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/pakistan-shift-
could-curtail-drone-strikes-read-this-article-to-find-out-the-role
-of-musharraf-which-is-no-less-than-mir-jaffer-of-modern-
times-he-is-an-agent-of-foreign-imperial-designs/

US Ambassador Anne Peterson should leave Pakistan
By The Neem Revolution (The Neem Revolution)
The US Ambassador is blatantly interfering in Pakistan’s internal affairs and trying to influence the formation of a new government in Islamabad. The New York Times (Feb. 22) reports, “ as the negotiations proceeded between Mr. …
pakistanmartiallaw.blogspot.com/2008/02/
us-ambassador-anne-peterson-should.html

Pakistan: Why is YouTube blocked?
By Neha Viswanathan
YouTube appears to be blocked in Pakistan, All Things Pakistan points out that this may have a political rather than a “cultural” reason – given that a number of videos of election rigging were posted.
www.globalvoicesonline.org/2008/02/
22/pakistan-why-is-youtube-blocked/

US Pressing Pakistan Opposition to Keep President
By Confidential Reporter(Confidential Reporter)
Officials in the White House and the intelligence community fear that the longer Pakistan remains without a new government, the deeper the gridlock, threatening the progress made in the elections toward greater stability and helping the …
chinaconfidential.blogspot.com/2008/02/us
-pressing-pakistan-opposition-to-keep.html

Bomb Kills 12 in Northwestern Pakistan
The Associated Press –
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — A roadside bomb tore through a pickup truck packed with wedding guests in the volatile northwest Friday, killing 12 people in the …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jIE0IUn
4WIiaMBpjG8SI_6H5RXzgD8UVG5700

14 killed by Pakistan wedding party bomb: police
AFP –
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) — A roadside bomb ripped through cars carrying wedding guests in northwestern Pakistan Friday, killing at least 14 people including …
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gugWUmo-hwbnltPetPHlnEBesHOw

Just a start: While worth celebrating, election results in …
Beaver County Times – Beaver,PA,USA
The losers in this week’s election in Pakistan were Presidents Pervez Musharraf and George W. Bush and Islamic radicals. The poor showing of Musharraf’s …
www.timesonline.com/articles/2008/02/22/opinion
/editorials/doc47bdc7be1da9d162344399.txt

Youtube Blocked in Pakistan
By Administrator
Sources say that this video could very well be the objectionable video that is being blocked in Pakistan – I have not seen the video as I cant access it, here is the text link, please venture at your own risk …
dbtb.org/2008/02/22/youtube-blocked-in-pakistan/

Bush to Pakistan: Have democracy, but only if you vote a certain way?
By ScienceAvenger(ScienceAvenger)
If we come across as hypocrites, not only will it erode our support in Pakistan, it will make it that much more difficult to establish democracies in other nations. Like them or not, Pakistan has newly elected leaders, and our foreign …
scienceavenger.blogspot.com/2008/02/
bush-to-pakistan-have-democracy-but.html

Pakistan coalition partners thrash out PM choice
AFP –
ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Pakistan’s two biggest opposition parties sought to thrash out their choice for premier Friday after agreeing to form a coalition …
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ivHTgLTFzjSCGFe3H8KrC01InJVw

Bomb Kills at Least 13 in Pakistan’s Northwest
Voice of America – USA
By VOA News A roadside bomb has ripped through a vehicle carrying wedding guests in northwest Pakistan, killing at least 13 people and wounding more than a …
www.voanews.com/english/2008-02-22-voa18.cfm

The War in Pakistan: Mission Being Accomplished?
Washington Post – United States
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s plea for American forbearance today comes at the very moment when those who represent the newly elected government are …
blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2008/02/
the_lethal_war_in_pakistan_mis.html?nav=rss_blog

Commonwealth secretary general welcomes Pakistan elections
Xinhua – China
In a special message for the Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan Kanwar Dilshad, McKinnon said that “these elections were an important step in …
news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/22/content_7650827.htm

Pakistan’s winning parties to form coalition
Dallas Morning News – Dallas,TX,USA
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistan’s main opposition parties, victorious in Monday’s elections, announced Thursday that they’ll work together to form a…
www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/world/
stories/DN-pakistan_22int.ART.State.Edition1.46ced68.html

Limited options for US in Pakistan
Asia Times Online – Kowloon,Hong Kong
Indeed, there seems to be a bipartisan understanding in Washington that the US finds itself on slippery turf in Pakistan. Any perspective on the US …
www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JB23Df03.html