Pakistan Near Ceasefire Deal With Militants

Gilani and others unharmed as leader continues campaigning for Zardari

(NEWSER) - Three days before Pakistan is to elect a new president, PM Yousuf Gilani escaped an assassination attempt on his caravan outside Islamabad, the BBC reports. No injuries were reported, officials said, citing “robust and comprehensive security measures,” but CNN reports it's unclear whether Gilani was present in the motorcade. Gilani was on his way to Rawalpindi, a military town where former PM Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in December. More»

Top Taliban leader and others accused of plotting assassination

(NEWSER) - Police in Pakistan have filed charges against five men, including the country’s top Taliban commander, accusing them of planning the December assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the AP reports. President Pervez Musharaff had named the Taliban leader (and suspected al-Qaeda operative), Baitullah Mehsud, days after the attack, but today’s formal accusation led a judge to issue warrants for his and his co-conspirators’ arrest. More»

Another cop, plus five Taliban militants also indicted

(NEWSER) - It looks more and more like Benazir Bhutto never had a chance that day. A Pakistani court today indicted two police officers in connection with her 2007 assassination in Rawalpindi, including the former police chief of the city. The pair, in charge of the former prime minister's security, had been previously arrested . "They have been charged with conspiracy as well as abetment in the murder," a government prosecutor tells Reuters . More»

(NEWSER) - Weeks after a US drone reportedly took out the Taliban's leader in Pakistan, Baitullah Mehsud's fellow commanders have confirmed his death. Two Taliban officials—including his successor, Hakimullah Mehsud—tell the BBC that their leader actually died Sunday after being critically injured in the airstrike. The development also clears up rumors about Hakimullah Mehsud, thought to be in his late 20s: some reports had him killed in an internal power struggle. More»

But still insist old leader isn't dead

(NEWSER) - Despite their insistence that a US drone strike didn’t kill their leader, members of Pakistan’s Taliban movement have already replaced him, the BBC reports. Hakimullah Mehsud, a military chief in his late 20s, will succeed Baitullah Mehsud, a close ally reportedly killed earlier this month. The unanimous decision comes after weeks of rumored infighting and shootouts among Taliban members. More»