The Londoner

Admiral Ardeshir Cowasjee has always had a thing about dyed hair, which makes it hard to answer why he is such an ardent admirer of Gen. Musharraf. I suppose it is something else about him that he likes so much that he is prepared to overlook his jet black head of hair What is common between President Pervez Musharraf, Imran Khan, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry? Even a schoolboy knows the answer: They are all members of the Kala Kola Klub. Imran Khan is a member with enhanced credentials. He has had a hair transplant too and he has had it dyed. I am a life-long member of the Imran Khan fan club and I would be in his corner even if he dyed his hair shocking pink. And even if he had no hair. Since we are on transplants, at the risk of having Raiwind county guards set bloodhounds after me, were I reckless enough to enter its green acres, mention needs to be made of the most famous of our transplanted: the brothers Nawaz and Shahb

The impressive gathering in front of the parliament in Islamabad in the early hours of Saturday is supposed to have sent a particular message to certain quarters. What did the message contain? Was there one message or more than one? For whom was it meant? What impact did it have? If there was a message or messages, were they being articulated by one party or many? Who were the people in the big crowd in Islamabad ? Unfortunately, the answers to these questions are not clear. There are as many answers as there are contenders in the movement. Analysts of the phenomenon are of two kinds: those who support the gathering with a cool and rational head and those who cannot prevent their anger and passion from slipping into their assessments. So there is virtually no impartial observer. There are 130 district bars in Pakistan and the total number of lawyers in the country is just over 100,000. The long march and gathering was supposed to be of the lawyers’ movement but it was forcefully streng

TEHRAN: Pakistan has handed over four Iranian militants to Iran, including the brother of a Sunni militant leader in restive southeastern Iran, AP quoted Iranian state media as reporting on Saturday. The handover took place as part of a security pact between Iran and Pakistan, state television said. Jundallah (Army of Allah) leader Abdolmalek Rigi’s brother Abdolhamid Rigi was handed over to Iran on Friday night, the IRNA news agency said. “Rigi had been jailed in Quetta over the past year,” IRNA said, adding that he had sought to declare himself along with 15 others as Pakistani nationals. “But he was handed over after officials presented evidence that these people are to be prosecuted in Iran,” it said. The Rigis are members of Iran’s ethnic Balochi minority, which can also be found in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Rigi has claimed his group fights for the rights of Sunni Muslims oppressed by Iran’s Shia government. Meanwhile, Pakistan has launched a search for 16 Iranian border guards w

Dhaka : Adversity can throw up heroes, produce men for the moment. The resurgent Pakistan is were a bundle of joy under the lights. Shoaib Malik ’s men played the key moments of the contest better to clinch a thrilling 25-run win in the final of the Kitply tri-series at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium here on Saturday night. Well-paced centuries from Salman Butt and Younis Khan powered Pakist an to 315 for three after the side won a crucial toss. Then Umar Gul & Co. closed out a tense duel. Salman Butt was adjudged Player of the Series, and Younis Khan, Man of the Final. A determined Mahendra Singh Dhoni (64, 59b, 3x4, 2x6) kept India in the hunt till the last stretch with calculated aggression before being held in the deep off leg-spinner Shahid Afridi with ten deliveries remaining. Gul employed the short ball effectively initially and impressed with his swing and yorker length at the death. Left-armer Sohail Tanvir ’s craft was visible in the manner he used the crease an

By ERIC MARGOLIS, TORONTO SUN The killing of 11 Pakistani soldiers by U.S. air and artillery strikes last week shows just how quickly the American-led war in Afghanistan is spreading into neighbouring Pakistan. Pakistan's military branded the air attack "unprovoked and cowardly." There was outrage across Pakistan. However, the unstable government in Islamabad, which depends on large infusions of U.S. aid, later softened its protests. The U.S., which used a B-1 heavy bomber and F-15 strike aircraft in the attacks, called its action, "self-defence." This latest U.S. attack on Pakistan could not come at a worse time. Supreme Court justices ousted by the Pervez Musharraf dictatorship staged national protests this week, underscoring the illegality of Musharraf's continuing presidency and its unseemly support by the U.S., Britain, Canada and France. Asif Zardari, head of the ruling Pakistan People's Party, shamefully joined Musharraf in opposing restoration o

Kalat or Qalat (Urdu: قلات) is a historical town located in Kalat District, Balochistan, Pakistan. Kalat is the capital of Kalat District and is known locally as Kalat-e Baluch. Kalat, formerly Kilat, is located roughly in the center of Balochistan, Pakistan, south and slightly west of the provincial capital Quetta. It was the capital of the Kalat Khanate. The population is almost completely muslim. Kalat The town of Kalat is said to have been founded by and named Kalat-e Sewa, after Sewa, a legendary hero of the Brahui people. The origins of the Brahui speaking tribes are uncertain, but their language indicates they are a Northern Dravidian people whose language has been modified by residence in the proximity of largely Iranian peoples, most notably the Baloch with whom the Brahui have been greatly mixed. The Brahui people had already long been resident in the Kalat area when the Balochi speaking tribes arrived from the west. The Balochis established a large kingdom in the 15th cen

GHALANAI, Pakistan - Fiercely independent tribesmen, angered by a U.S. air strike that killed 11 Pakistani soldiers this week, vowed to raise a militia to help Pakistan's army defend the border with Afghanistan. Pakistan, a staunch ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism, denounced Tuesday's attack on a border post in the Mohmand tribal region as "unprovoked and cowardly" and said it could undermine the cooperation in the battle against al Qaeda and the Taliban. Elders from ethnic Pashtun tribes in Mohmand, one of seven semi-autonomous tribal regions, issued a statement late on Thursday condemning the attack as "naked aggression" and said they were ready to raise a "lashkar", or army. "It's the duty of the government to protect and defend the frontiers and we are ready to raise a lashkar to help our army in their cause," the elders said. "We are ready to fight for our homeland as we fought in Kashmir in 1948," they said, refer