Another Christian Martyred in Pakistan (Time.com)

In another chilling message to Pakistani politicians willing to speak out for the rights of suffering minorities, extremists on Wednesday murdered the country's Minister of Minorities. The assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Christian in the ruling cabinet, came just two months after the slaying of Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, shot 27 times by his own bodyguard because he had called for changes in a blasphemy law used to persecute religious minorities. Bhatti was killed when gunmen ambushed his vehicle outside his home. And in both cases, the killers gleefully boasted that the same fate awaits anyone else who dares challenge their brutally intolerant brand of Islam.

For Pakistan's Christians, the assassination is a grim reminder of the peril that attaches to merely practicing their faith. "We've been attacked many, many times in our history," says Shimon Gill, a member of the All Pakistan Minority Alliance. "But now we have been orphaned. Who will speak up for us now?" Gill, a campaigner who had worked alongside Bhatti to secure the rights of Pakistan's minorities, says that the minister had long endured threats to his life. Those threats, however, had escalated after Bhatti joined forces with Taseer to speak in defense of Aasia Noreen, a Christian farm laborer sentenced to death under the draconian blasphemy laws. "Bhatti was undaunted," says Gill. "He told us that he was prepared to be martyred for our cause." In his home village, Bhatti's supporters came out on to the streets to torch tyres, beat their chests in protest and denounce his killers. (See pictures of Christians under siege in the Muslim world.)

Militants linked to the Pakistani Taliban are suspected to be behind the assassination. Before the killers sped away in a car, they left pamphlets at the scene, proclaiming that "The only punishment for blasphemy against the Prophet is death". Bhatti's attempts to have Pakistan's blasphemy laws repealed was itself, in the eyes of his killers, an act of blasphemy. The pamphlet says that the assassination was a warning to "infidels" and "apostates". It was signed by "The organization of Al-Qaeda and the Punjabi Taliban," an odd formulation, combining the global jihadist group and the Punjabi branch of the Pakistani Taliban. Some of the language the document used to revere Islam's Prophet, however, is more commonly associated with the milder Barelvi sect, which is followed by the majority of Pakistani Muslims - and is at odds with the more austere Deobandi school of Islam favored by the local Taliban. Mumtaz Qadri, Taseer's confessed assassin, was a Barelvi.

Bhatti had predicted his own death, saying in a recently recorded video, "The forces of violence, militant banned organization, the Taliban and al-Qaeda, want to to impose the radical philosophy in Pakistan. Whoever stands against their radical philosophy, they threaten them." Bhatti insisted he was ready to "die for a cause", adding that he wanted defend the rights of his beleaguered community. "These threats and these warning cannot change my opinion and principles, he said. I would prefer to die for my principles, and for the justice of my community, rather than compromise on these threats." (See pictures of the battle against the Taliban.)

In the weeks since Taseer's slaying, Pakistan's government has rushed to distance itself from the more tolerant advocacy associated with the slain governor and with Bhatti. A parade of ministers has repeatedly insisted that the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) - to which both Taseer and Bhatti belonged - would not touch the blasphemy laws. The government had hoped the controversy over the controversial laws would die down. "Clearly the government was wrong," says Ali Dayan Hasan of Human Rights Watch. In the time that has passed, the religious right - composed of disparate and often fractious sects - has forged rare consensus over the issue of blasphemy and taken to the streets of Pakistans cities in tens of thousands. Qadri, Taseer's assassin, has been celebrated as a hero. Banned terror organizations such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba, blamed for the November 2008 Mumbai massacre, have joined them. And for the past month, they have sustained their fury by focusing it on the demand for the execution of Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor registered as a diplomat who killed two Pakistanis in January but says he acted in self-defense and who has claimed diplomatic immunity with the support of the U.S. government.

"The government has chosen to pursue a policy of appeasement in order to keep itself in power," laments Hasan of Human Rights Watch. "This policy is misguided and self-defeating. If the last three months are any indication, President Asif Ali Zardari may be the last man standing. The problem is that he wont be standing for very long. If one by one, the people who are supposed to uphold the politics of tolerance remain silent, they will have no viable prospects left." Bhatti's assassins warn in their pamphlet that they will "pick out" others from Zardari's "infidel government" and dispatch them "to hell" in the same manner. (See more about Pakistan's deepening religious divide.)

The assassination also appears to have vanquished any hopes of reclaiming the secular Pakistan envisioned by its founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. "Jinnah's Pakistan died long ago," says Gill. The tragedy for Pakistan's minorities, adds Hasan, is that many of them don't have the option to leave. "They will have to live here regardless," he says. "The issue is not that they will become second class citizens, because they have been second class citizens for many, many years." (Comment on this story.)

Still, Gill and other Christians remain resolute. "We refuse to be frightened," he says, his voice thick with emotion. "We have lost Bhatti, but we have not lost his philosophy. We are clear. We will continue to fight for our rights. Bhatti's martyrdom will give us the strength to do so."

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Pakistan media warns of growing chaos as minister slain (Reuters)

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan is being swept toward violent chaos by a growing wave of Islamist extremism, newspapers said on Thursday, a day after Taliban militants killed the country's only Christian government minister.

The assassination of Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti in broad daylight in the capital Islamabad on Wednesday, threatens to further destabilize the nuclear-armed U.S. ally where secular-minded politicians are imperiled by a rising strain of violent religious conservatism in the society.

"Mr. Bhatti's brutal assassination has once again highlighted the fact that we are fast turning into a violent society," the liberal Daily Times said in its editorial.

"This is not the time to be frightened into silence. It is time to implement the law and not surrender in front of extremists."

Bhatti is the second senior official to be assassinated this year for challenging the country's controversial blasphemy law, which sanctions the death penalty for insulting Islam or its Prophet Mohammad. Punjab provincial governor Salman Taseer was shot dead by his own bodyguard in January for calling for curbing abuses in the law.

"Terrorists silence another voice of interfaith harmony," the daily Dawn ran a banner headline on its front page. "Shahbaz Bhatti silenced forever," said The News.

President Asif Ali Zardari told a party meeting on Wednesday he would resist the slide toward extremism.

"We have to fight this mindset and defeat them. We will not be intimidated nor will we retreat the official APP news agency quoted him as saying.

Mehbood Ahmed, a senior police official, said around 20 people had been detained for questioning, but police did not yet know who was responsible. "But we are confident we will get hold of culprits," he said.

Condemnation poured in from around the world after news of Bhatti's killing broke, with the Church of England and the Vatican decrying the violence against Christians in Pakistan.

"I hope the government of Pakistan will not only hold the killers to account, but reflect on how it can more effectively confront the extremism which is poisoning Pakistani society," United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay said from Geneva on Wednesday.

These killings, along with frequent militant attacks and chronic economic problems have raised fears for the future of the U.S.-ally, where an unpopular coalition government is struggling to cope.

'THERE'S BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS'

Ties between the two old allies have hit new lows after the arrest in January of Raymond Davis, a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency contractor, who shot dead two armed men in the city of Lahore. The United States says Davis has immunity, but Pakistan has said it is for the courts to decide.

In the meantime, Davis was in court on Thursday for the second hearing of his murder trial. His immunity hearing is March 14.

The government of President Asif Ali Zardari has repeatedly said it would not change the blasphemy law, and officials have distanced themselves from anyone calling for amendments for fear of a backlash from extremists, a move that dismayed moderates and liberals.

"Of course the silent majority, which keeps silent over these things, also must bear responsibility," I.A. Rehman, director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, told the Express 24/7 television channel Wednesday night. "There's blood on their hands also."

The law has been in the spotlight since last November, when a court sentenced a Christian mother of four to death after her neighbors complained she had insulted Prophet Muhammad. Both Taseer and Bhatti championed the cause of poor Christian woman.

Al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban militants, fighting to bring down the state, had called for Bhatti's death because of his attempts to amend the law.

The funeral of Bhatti, a Catholic, is expected to take place on Friday or Saturday, his family friends said.

Christians and other religious minorities have staged protests in several cities, denouncing his death and have called on the government to provide them protection.

(Additional reporting by Chris Allbritton and Robert Evans in Geneva, editing by Andrew Marshall)

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Trial for accused CIA shooter resumes in Pakistan (Reuters)

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) – A Pakistani court resumed on Thursday the trial of CIA contractor accused of killing two Pakistanis in a case that has strained relations between the United States and its important Asian ally.

The American contractor, Raymond Davis, 36, shot dead two men in the eastern city of Lahore on January 27. He said he acted in self-defense and the United States says he has diplomatic immunity and should be repatriated.

The case has inflamed anti-American sentiment in Pakistan and is testing the often-fraught ties between the allies. Pakistani efforts against Islamist militants on its border with Afghanistan are seen as crucial for ending the Afghan war.

The trial resumes a day after Pakistani Taliban militants shot dead a government minister, Shahbaz Bhatti, who was also the only Christian in the cabinet, for his criticism of a law that mandates the death penalty for insulting Islam.

Hardline religious parties, which have been campaigning vociferously to prevent any reform of the blasphemy law, have also called for Davis to be hanged.

The United States had retaining a retired judge, Zahid Hussain Bokhari, who is also a former government prosecutor, to help with the Davis case, Bokhari said.

"The U.S. consulate has contacted me and I will represent Raymond Davis," Bokhari told Reuters before the hearing.

Security was tight at Kot Lakhpat jail, where the trial is being held for security reasons. Machine guns were installed on top of water towers inside the jail and concrete barriers were placed on the road leading to it.

Davis, a former U.S. special forces officer, has been charged with double-murder and faces possible execution.

DIPLOMATIC STANDOFF

There have been conflicting accounts about the identity of the two men Davis shot, with Davis and a police report indicating they were armed robbers while Pakistani media and some officials have portrayed them as innocent victims.

On March 14, the Lahore High Court will decide whether Davis enjoys diplomatic immunity, another contentious issue that the government has said must be decided legally, at the risk of angering the United States and jeopardizing up to $3 billion a year in U.S. military and civilian aid.

But with public anger and anti-American feeling running high, President Ali Asif Zardari's unpopular government had little choice but to let the case go through the courts.

In addition to causing a diplomatic standoff, the case has strained relations between the CIA and Pakistan's main Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency, which says it did not know of Davis' presence in the country.

Relations between the spy agencies -- essential to the almost decade-old war in neighboring Afghanistan -- took a blow in December, when the CIA station chief in Islamabad was forced to leave the country after his name was published in a court filing over attacks in Pakistan by pilotless U.S. aircraft.

The latest case has made things worse, as even the usually tight-lipped ISI noted.

"Post incident conduct of CIA has virtually put the partnership into question ... it is hard to predict if the relationship will ever reach the level at which it was prior to the Davis episode," the ISI said in a letter to the Wall Street Journal last month.

(Additional reporting by Sheree Sardar; Writing by Chris Allbritton; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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Troubled Pakistan win World Cup opener (AFP)

NEW DELHI (AFP) – Mercurial Pakistan got their World Cup bid off to a flying start on Wednesday, winning their first competitive match since lengthy bans were handed out to three of their top players.

Pakistan, who lost key players Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer after the spot-fixing scandal that rocked world cricket, opened their campaign against lowly Kenya in Hambantota, Sri Lanka.

The 1992 world champions racked up an imposing 317 for seven, helped by four half-centuries and an astonishing tally of 46 extras served up by the wayward Kenyan bowlers.

Kenya's reply was insipid as they slumped to 112 all out, with Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi taking five wickets for 16 runs, to crash to a humiliating 205-run defeat following a 10-wicket loss to New Zealand.

"It was a good start but I think the next game (against Sri Lanka) is very important for us. I think it will become harder. I think we learned a lot of things from here," Afridi said.

Pakistan was originally slated as one of the World Cup host nations but a militant attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in 2009 -- which killed eight people and wounded seven visiting players and their assistant coach, saw it lose those rights.

No international side has toured the militancy-hit country since, making them the nomads of international cricket, forced to play on neutral venues such as in the United Arab Emirates.

But Pakistan's cricketing isolation could end in October if Sri Lanka agree to tour the troubled country.

Sri Lankan officials said Wednesday they were in talks with the International Cricket Council's Pakistan Task Team (PTT) to explore the possibilities.

"We are still discussing the option with the ICC and with all the other board members," said Sri Lanka Cricket chairman Somachandra de Silva.

"There are still some security concerns in Pakistan but if things improve, and Pakistan is a brotherly nation, we can consider it -- all depends on the ICC's clearance," he said.

Sri Lanka are scheduled to tour Pakistan in October this year under the Future Tests Programme.

According to reports in the Pakistani media, the governments of both countries are already in talks to hold the series in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Graeme Smith is determined to end his reign as South Africa's one-day captain in a blaze of glory by leading the Proteas to a first World Cup triumph.

Smith, who will carry on as Test skipper, insisted there was no question of going back on his decision to relinquish a job he has held since succeeding Shaun Pollock after the ill-fated 2003 World Cup.

"It's my opportunity to lead the team and leave it all out here," said the 30-year-old, ahead of his team's opening Group B clash against the West Indies in New Delhi on Thursday.

West Indies captain Darren Sammy said his team's miserable 11-match losing streak against South Africa would mean nothing when the sides meet.

The West Indies are on a woeful run of form, having not defeated a Test side in a one-day international since June 2009 and slipping to a dismal eighth in the rankings.

"We are aware that we have a lot to play for here," said Sammy ahead of the match at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground.

"If we play to our full potential and take it step by step, who knows what could happen? We just have to believe in our ability and go out and execute our plans. It does not matter if you are number one or number nine."

Australia skipper Ricky Ponting was reprimanded by the ICC after he smashed a dressing room television set after he was run out during a 91-run victory over Zimbabwe.

The ICC said Ponting had accepted the charge.

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First Pakistan drone attack in weeks kills seven (Reuters)

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) – A U.S. drone strike killed at least seven people on Monday in a tribal region along Pakistan's western border, Pakistani officials said, the first such attack in a month as a diplomatic feud strains U.S.-Pakistani ties.

At least four missiles were fired from the unmanned aircraft at a suspected militant training center in Azam Warsak, just west of Wana, the main town in the South Waziristan tribal agency, intelligence officials in South Waziristan said.

"According to initial reports there were foreigners among the dead," one of the officials said.

A second official said the foreign nationals killed included three people from Turkmenistan and two Arab nationals.

It is the first time since January 23 that intelligence officials have reported a U.S. drone attack, marking a resumption of a campaign that has become the centerpiece of U.S. efforts to halt militants launching attacks on its soldiers in Afghanistan.

Many analysts believe Washington halted the attacks for weeks to avoid further inflaming anti-American fury in Pakistan just as it pressures Islamabad to release Raymond Davis, a U.S. consulate employee imprisoned after shooting two Pakistanis last month in what he said was an attempted robbery.

Others speculate the pause was due to poor weather or an inability to find reliable targets as militants hunt down Pakistanis they believe are feeding intelligence information.

Washington, which provides Pakistan with billions of dollars a year in military and civilian aid, is leaning hard on the government of President Asif Ali Zardari to release Davis on grounds the U.S. national is shielded by diplomatic immunity.

Yet neither can the government afford to unleash popular fury in a case that has galvanized anti-American sentiment in Pakistan. Protesters have burned U.S. flags and demanded the Davis be tried for murder in local courts.

The drone strikes, which are not publically acknowledged by either country, are another delicate situation for the vulnerable Zardari government, battling an insurgency of its own and struggling to hold together a fragile coalition.

The attacks are seen as a risk and a necessity for Pakistan, under pressure its chief ally in the West to do against militants but also facing mounting resentment from Pakistanis who decry the government for bowing to U.S. wishes.

There is also debate over the effectiveness of the strikes. While the drone strikes have killed al Qaeda and Taliban figures, many of senior militants are living in cities like Quetta or Karachi that Pakistan has made off-limits to strikes.

(Additional reporting by Augustine Anthony in ISLAMABAD; writing by Missy Ryan; Editing by Chris Allbritton and Sanjeev Miglani)

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Can an Egypt-style Revolution Take Place in Pakistan? (Time.com)

A thrill rushes through Imran Khan's voice at the mere mention of Egypt. The former Pakistani cricket legend-turned-politician is pleased for Hosni Mubarak's former subjects, but he's even more keen for similar scenes to play out in his own country. "I think Pakistan is completely ready for it," Khan, an opposition politician with a growing following among Pakistan's youth, tells TIME. "In fact, it's even more ready than Egypt was." Ever since Cairo's crowds seized the world's attention, many have wondered whether the insurgent spirit will spread from the Arab world to the wider Muslim one, and in particular, to nuclear-armed and militancy-wracked Pakistan. Some, like Khan, are counting on it.
Egypt and Pakistan are different in a few crucial ways, the primary one being that Pakistan's dictator has already departed, though not in an entirely dissimilar fashion. In his final year in power, General Pervez Musharraf was harried by a lawyer-led protest movement that demanded his exit, a return to democracy, and an independent judiciary. The streets were filled with photogenic displays of people power; there was a crackdown on pro-democracy activists; pro-Musharraf supporters were blamed for violence in the capital; the media was muzzled; and Washington fretted over the fate of a long-favored strongman, who cast himself as a bulwark against an Islamist takeover. (See photos of tempers flaring across the Middle East.)
For nearly three years now, Pakistan has had a civilian democracy. Long-established political parties, a lively media, and other political freedoms allow its citizens to dissent in ways that were not possible in Egypt when the protests started. Upcoming elections, scheduled to be held by 2013, will give Pakistanis another opportunity to oust the government. Indeed, Egypt seems to be moving toward today's Pakistan. Though civilian leaders are expected to emerge at the front of a fledgling democracy, major decision-making will likely remain backstage - as in Pakistan - in the hands of a powerful, U.S.-funded army.
But, as Khan points out, the two countries share many afflictions that make Pakistan prime for a new wave of unrest. He says Pakistan's youth, which comprise 70% of the country, are in exactly the same situation as the Arab world: completely discontented. According to a 2009 report by the British Council, only one in 10 of Pakistan's youth, defined as between 18 and 29, have confidence in the government. Half fear that they will not find jobs. Nearly four-fifths believe that the country is headed in the wrong direction. And if anything, Pakistan is even younger than Egypt and other countries engaged in protest this week: The median age in Pakistan is 21. Across the Arab world, it is 22. (See TIME's complete coverage: "The Middle East in Revolt.")
For these youth, Pakistan's current system of government is perceived as denying more than it offers. Prospects for social mobility are slim: Pakistan is ranked below Egypt in the Human Development Index at 125th, with 60% of the nation living on less than $2 a day. Power is seen to be the preserve of a predatory few. Justice and security are elusive. The country's rulers are popularly thought of as venal, inept and distant, and they're widely accused of carving private fortunes out of a treasury to which they contribute scandalously little in tax. Plans to bequeath their political parties to their sons are as grave an affront to many as Mubarak's suspected intention to anoint Gamal his successor. Some 119 suicides, like the one committed by Tunisian vegetable seller Mohammed Bouazizi, took place in Pakistan in 2010.
President Asif Ali Zardari is no Mubarak. It has barely been two years since he assumed power, and his weakness is as emblematic of his leadership as the Egyptian dictator's strength was of his. Where Mubarak brutally silenced his opponents, Zardari's could not be heard more loudly. In Pakistan, real political power lies not in Islamabad, but at the army's headquarters in neighboring Rawalpindi. As in Egypt, the military is careful to shun an overtly political role, but away from the glare of public scrutiny, it quietly manages national security, foreign policy, and elements of the economy. And, also as in Egypt, it evades direct blame for circumstances it helped create.
Nevertheless, any popular upheaval in Pakistan would likely target Zardari, not the military. "Never in our history have we had such levels of corruption and such bad governance," alleges Khan. It's a sweeping claim that has been denied repeatedly by the government and called into question by analysts who, while not doubting the existence of corruption and poor governance under Zardari, doubted whether Khan is right about the relative scale of the problems. But the replacement of a few corrupt ministers as part of a recent cabinet reshuffle has done little to halt the spread of unconfirmed tales of legendary greed within government halls - all of which accumulate in the public imagination. (See the Arab world's lessons about democracy through revolution.)
On the economic front, things don't look likely to improve anytime soon. Pakistan is already struggling to meet requirements for an IMF rescue package, and the government, despite U.S. pressure, has failed to broaden its tax base. To generate revenue, it has resorted to printing bank notes. In the coming weeks, economists foresee hyperinflation, the local currency crashing, and capital being spirited abroad. Khan believes that such conditions will inflame an already hostile public mood, one that is being amplified by the local media. "You can see the whole thing already bubbling under surface," says Khan, referring to a recent strike by airline workers that recently won the dismissal of its managing director.
Still, it is difficult to see disgruntled Pakistanis matching the Egyptians' unity. Some groups have already abortively attempted their own day of rage, to little effect. Unlike the victorious residents of Cairo in Tahrir Square, Pakistanis are riven by deep ethnic, cultural, political and sectarian divides. The middle class in Pakistan is a mere sliver of the population at just 20 million people out of a population of180 million. Social media tools like Facebook and Twitter are only going to animate tiny crowds. Pakistani revolutions also suffer a notorious history of false alarms, and Khan, for one, has a record of raising the level of revolutionary rhetoric, only to see no groundswell of popular anger to back it up.
Khan is correct, however, in pointing out that a vast stock of tinder has gathered. The question is whether a flame will be set to it. Khan suggests that it could be the case of Raymond Davis, a U.S. diplomat awaiting trial who killed two Pakistanis in Lahore last month. President Obama has asked that Davis be released under diplomatic immunity, but Pakistanis have become increasingly united in their rage at his alleged crime. Zardari's government, which is siding with the U.S. and putting pressure on the courts to release Davis, is caught in the crossfire. "This is not an ordinary situation," says Khan. "If he is returned to the US under diplomatic immunity, it might trigger the revolution off." If it does, it is unlikely to be anywhere near as peaceful or as stable as the one the world has just witnessed.
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Pakistan court delays immunity ruling on U.S. prisoner (Reuters)

By Chris Allbritton and Mubashir Bokhari Chris Allbritton And Mubashir Bokhari – Fri Feb 18, 2:16 am ET

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) – A Pakistani court on Thursday delayed until next month a hearing into the diplomatic immunity of an American who killed two local men, a case that has pushed ties between Islamabad and Washington toward a breaking point.

The postponement to March 14 will likely exasperate the Obama administration, which has urged Pakistan to free consular employee Raymond Davis and avoid setting a precedent for trials of U.S. officials abroad.

The High Court in the city of Lahore granted a government request to postpone the hearing on whether Davis, a former special forces soldier who shot and killed two men on January 27, is protected by diplomatic immunity.

Davis, who is assigned to the U.S. consulate in Lahore, has said he was acting in self-defense during an armed robbery in the city.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the United States remained focused on ensuring Pakistani authorities respected Davis's diplomatic immunity and securing his release.

Pakistan is crucial to the success of the U.S. strategy in neighboring Afghanistan, where lawless western border regions are safe havens for Islamist militants targeting U.S. troops.

Yet the government of President Asif Ali Zardari, battling its own insurgency and struggling to hold together a fragile political coalition, is reluctant to ignite popular fury in a case that has galvanized anti-American sentiment.

The U.S. military says it is deeply concerned about the overall situation in Pakistan. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, told a Senate hearing on Thursday that "it looks worse than it has in a long time."

"The vector is going in the wrong direction overall for the country," he said.

Mullen said the Davis case had also exacerbated the United States' deep unpopularity in the country, despite the U.S. military playing a major role in aiding victims of last year's devastating floods in Pakistan.

"You have an incident like the one we're going through right now, and our popularity is back down in very small numbers," he said.

PUBLIC OPINION

Pakistani officials, in asking for a delay, may be trying to buy time so tensions can ebb and officials can work behind the scenes to broker a way out of their dilemma.

"Hang Raymond Davis," read a banner at the court compound.

The delay may embolden U.S. politicians threatening to reconsider billions of dollars in U.S. aid that Pakistan needs to equip its military, rebuild after the floods and tackle rampant poverty.

Many U.S. officials believe generous aid has not brought them Pakistan's full cooperation in cracking down on Taliban and al Qaeda militants hiding out along the Afghan border.

Islamabad may ask U.S. officials to consider approaching relatives of the men Davis killed "and try and sort out a deal with them," said political analyst Ejaz Haider.

There is mounting speculation the United States might back payment of compensation, or blood money, as laid out under Pakistani law, but the United States might be loathe to support payment in what it sees as a case of self-defense.

Waseem Shamshad, brother of one of the slain men, ruled out the possibility of striking any deal with the U.S. government or Davis. "We stand by our position that there is no possibility of patching it up with them," he told Reuters.

EXPLOSIVE SENTIMENT OVER DAVIS CASE

Pakistan cannot ignore potentially explosive emotions over the shooting, which also resulted in the death of a third man run over by a U.S. vehicle that came to Davis' rescue.

One of the slain men's widows committed suicide, further stoking passions in a nation already indignant about escalating strikes by U.S. unmanned drones in the lawless northwest.

Pakistan's al Qaeda-linked Taliban has warned the government it will punish any move to free Davis, adding to worries about a public backlash as popular demonstrations bring political changes in Egypt and other parts of the Muslim world.

While U.S. officials have said the Justice Department will conduct a criminal investigation of its own, it is unclear whether such an inquiry would lead to any trial.

Adding to the confusion is the murkiness over Davis' role at the U.S. consulate. While embassy officials have said Davis was part of the consulate's administrative and technical staff, many locals have accused Davis of being a spy.

(Additional reporting by Zeeshan Haider, Augustine Anthony and Rebecca Conway in Islamabad and Susan Cornwell and Alister Bull in Washington; Writing by Missy Ryan; Editing by Dean Yates and by Philip Barbara)

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Pakistan court delays immunity ruling on U.S. prisoner (Reuters)

By Chris Allbritton and Mubashir Bokhari Chris Allbritton And Mubashir Bokhari – Thu Feb 17, 2:22 am ET

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) – A Pakistani court on Thursday delayed until next month a hearing into the diplomatic immunity of an American who killed two local men, a case that has pushed ties between Islamabad and Washington toward breaking point.

The postponement to March 14 will likely be met with exasperation in Washington, where the Obama administration has urged Pakistan to free consular employee Raymond Davis and avoid a precedent being set for trials of U.S. officials abroad.

The High Court in the city of Lahore granted a government request to postpone the hearing on whether Davis, a former Special Forces soldier who shot and killed two men on January 27, is protected by diplomatic immunity.

Davis, who is assigned to the U.S. Consulate in Lahore, has said he was acting in self-defense during an armed robbery in the city.

Pakistan is an important U.S. ally in the fight against Islamist militants along the border with Afghanistan.

Yet the government of President Asif Ali Zardari, battling its own insurgency and struggling to hold together a fragile political coalition, is reluctant to ignite popular fury in a case that has galvanized anti-American sentiment.

Pakistani officials, in asking for a delay, may be trying to buy time so tensions can ebb and officials can work behind the scenes to broker a way out of their dilemma.

"Hang Raymond Davis," read a banner at the court compound.

The delay may embolden U.S. politicians threatening to reconsider billions of dollars in U.S. aid that Pakistan needs to equip its military, rebuild after last year's punishing floods and tackle rampant poverty.

Many U.S. officials believe generous aid has not brought them Pakistan's full cooperation in cracking down on Taliban and al Qaeda militants hiding out along the Afghan border.

Islamabad may ask U.S. officials to consider approaching relatives of the men Davis killed "and try and sort out a deal with them", said political analyst Ejaz Haider.

There is mounting speculation the United States might back payment of compensation, or blood money, as laid out under Pakistani law, but the United States might be loathe to support payment in what it sees as a case of self-defense.

Waseem Shamshad, brother of one of the slain men, ruled out the possibility of striking any deal with the U.S. government or Davis. "We stand by our position that there is no possibility of patching it up with them," he told Reuters.

EXPLOSIVE SENTIMENT OVER DAVIS CASE

Pakistan cannot ignore potentially explosive emotions over the shooting incident, which also resulted in the death of a third man run over by a U.S. vehicle that came to Davis' rescue.

One of the slain men's widows committed suicide, further stoking passions in a nation already indignant about escalating strikes by U.S. unmanned drones in the northwest.

Pakistan's al Qaeda-linked Taliban has warned the government it will punish any move to free Davis, adding to worries about a backlash as sweeping popular demonstrations bring political changes in Egypt and other parts of the Muslim world.

While U.S. officials have said the Justice Department will conduct a criminal investigation of its own, it is unclear whether such a probe would lead to a trial.

Adding to the confusion is the murkiness over Davis' role at the U.S. consulate. While embassy officials have said Davis was part of the consulate's administrative and technical staff, many locals have accused Davis of being a spy. (Additional reporting by Zeeshan Haider, Augustine Anthony and Rebecca Conway in ISLAMABAD; Writing by Missy Ryan; Editing by Michael Georgy and Dean Yates)

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Pakistan says U.S. prisoner Davis has immunity (Reuters)

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – An American jailed for shooting two Pakistanis is shielded by diplomatic immunity, the Pakistani government said on Wednesday, a move that may help end a bruising row between the troubled allies.

A local court, however, has to decide the fate of Raymond Davis, the U.S. consulate employee who shot and killed two Pakistani men in the city of Lahore last month in what he said was a robbery attempt.

"We will present all relevant laws and rules about immunity before the court and will plead that prima facie it is a case of diplomatic immunity. But it is for the court to decide," a senior Pakistani government official said on condition of anonymity.

The row over the detention of the U.S. national is the latest issue straining ties between two nations that are supposed to be working in concert to stamp out a tenacious Islamist insurgency.

Washington has insisted Davis, whose role at the U.S. consulate in Lahore is unclear, should be released immediately. On Tuesday, President Barack Obama said the United States was working with the Pakistani government to secure the release of the U.S. citizen.

Up to now the Pakistani government, fearful of a backlash from Pakistanis already wary of the United States and enraged by the shooting on a crowded street, had said only that the matter should be decided in court.

The United States is expected to present a petition to a Lahore court on Thursday to certify that Davis has diplomatic immunity and should be released.

Pakistan's Dawn newspaper said the government will inform the Lahore High Court that his status as a member of the consulate's administrative and technical staff made him eligible for diplomatic immunity.

Ties between the United States and Pakistan are already strained by U.S. unmanned drone strikes in the Pakistani northwest on the Afghan border that Pakistanis see as a violation of their sovereignty.

Obama sent Senator John Kerry, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and member of the Democratic Party, to meet Pakistani officials on Wednesday to try to resolve the crisis. (Additional reporting by Augustine Anthony; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Missy Ryan and Sanjeev Miglani)

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Pakistan court orders arrest of Musharraf in Bhutto case (Reuters)

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has issued an arrest warrant for exiled former president Pervez Musharraf in connection with the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, a spokesman for Musharraf said on Saturday.

Bhutto was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack after an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007, weeks after she returned to Pakistan after years in self-imposed exile.

Her assassination was one of the most shocking events in Pakistan's turbulent history and remains shrouded in mystery.

"The court has issued an arrest warrant and asked that he should be produced before the court during the next hearing on February 19," said Musharraf spokesman Saif Ali.

Ali said the decision was apparently based on a report by the Federal Investigation Agency, which linked Musharraf to the case. The public prosecutor was not immediately available.

Musharraf, a former military chief who came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999, has lived in self-imposed exile since he stepped down under threat of impeachment in 2008. He spends most of his time in London and Dubai.

He has, however, expressed his intention to return to Pakistan and said he aimed to establish offices for his new political party by March.

The warrant for Musharraf's arrest follows a similar court order in December for the arrest of two senior police officers on allegations they failed to provide adequate security for Bhutto before her assassination.

A report by a United Nations commission of inquiry released in New York last year said any credible investigation into Bhutto's killing should not rule out the possibility that members of Pakistan's military and security establishment were involved.

It heavily criticized Pakistani authorities, saying they had "severely hampered" the investigation. The initial investigation blamed a Pakistani Taliban leader and al Qaeda ally, Baitullah Mehsud, for Bhutto's murder.

Musharraf, himself the target of at least two bomb attacks, has repeatedly dismissed suggestions he, the security agencies or military were involved in killing his old rival.

(Reporting by Augustine Anthony and Sheree Sardar; Editing by Miral Fahmy)

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Teen suicide bomber strikes Pakistan army facility and kills 20 - Reuters

By Zeeshan Haider

ISLAMABAD | Thu Feb 10, 2011 12:03am EST

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A boy in a school uniform blew himself up at a Pakistani army recruitment center in the troubled northwest region on Thursday, killing 20 cadets, military and security officials said.

The attack challenged official assertions that army offensives had weakened al Qaeda-linked Taliban militants waging a campaign to destabilize Pakistan's U.S.-backed government.

The brazen bombing suggested militants are regrouping after a lull in major attacks. Militant operations in recent months have been mostly sectarian and have not focused on military targets.

"The bomber struck recruits when cadets were busy in their morning training," a military official told Reuters. At least 20 people were wounded.

The boy apparently walked into the compound, officials said.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani condemned the attack at the Punjab Regiment Center in the town of Mardan.

"Such cowardly attacks cannot affect the morale of the security agencies and the resolve of the nation to eradicate terrorism," he said in a statement.

Gilani's government is under pressure on several fronts. It is trying to revive a stagnant economy and public discontent is growing over official corruption, rampant poverty and power cuts.

The United States, which provides billions of dollars in aid, wants Pakistan to step up its fight against militant groups who cross the border to attack Western forces in Afghanistan.

But Pakistan's military is already stretched fighting homegrown militants.

(Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

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Bombs hit 3 police buildings in Pakistan

Police stand guard after a bomb blast behind the police building in Gujranwala, near Lahore on February 9, 2011.Gujranwala has been largely free of the militant violenceThree police officers were injuredThe explosives were detonated by remote control
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Bomb blasts in Pakistan rocked three police buildings near Lahore, police told CNN on Wednesday.
Police chief Ghulam Mehmood Dogar said the three bombs were planted on Tuesday night at a police station, an office of a senior police official and a police barracks.
They were detonated by remote control this morning in the city of Gujranwala, 70 kilometers northwest of Lahore, Dogar said.
Three police officers were injured and parts of the buildings were damaged.
The first two explosions happened within 30 minutes of one another, and the third bomb was detonated about three hours later.
Gujranwala has been largely free of the militant violence plaguing parts of Pakistan.
Police said there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.
On Monday, two people were injured when in back to back explosions at police stations in the southern port city of Karachi.
Journalist Nasir Habib contributed to this report
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