suicidal attack in islamabad

12 persons killed  by a suicidal bomb in capital.

US wants to work with Gilani-led govt

WASHINGTON: Top US envoys are in Pakistan to show Washington intends to work with the new government in fighting extremism, while still working closely with President Pervez Musharraf, a US official said.

Deputy US Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher flew into Islamabad for talks Tuesday focusing on Pakistan's cooperation in efforts against al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.

"It's really to reinforce with the new government that we look forward to working with them, certainly talk about our interests and certainly we're going to hear back from them on their interests," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. "Our primary interest there is helping the Pakistani people broaden and deepen the political and economic reform process that has begun in that country and also to work with them to combat the threat that exists to Pakistan and the Pakistani people as well as to us and others in the region from terrorists and violent extremists," McCormack said.

"These two things are linked in our view," he added.

Asked whether Washington could ever support negotiations with rather than military action against extremists, he replied it was important to listen to the new government's views.

"Let's hear what they have to say first rather than try to play this game in public, that's the reason why the deputy secretary went there to talk to this new Pakistani government and political leadership how they see the way forward," he said.

But he did not say whether Washington considered him indispensable when asked to repeat an adjective used here in the past.

"He's clearly an important person in Pakistani political life and he's done a lot of very positive things for his country and put them on an important course for its greater political and economic openness," McCormack said.

FUTURE FLIGHT

Manmohan greets Gilani on assuming office

 

ISLAMABAD  ( 2008-03-25 21:07:33 ) : 

Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Tuesday greeted his Pakistani counterpart Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani on assuming the office of Prime Minister of Pakistan.
According to foreign office, the Indian Prime Minister in his message to Prime Minister Gilani said, 'I re-affirm the government of India's commitment to strengthening friendship and cooperation with Pakistan."
He said, "We see a stable, prosperous and democratic Pakistan as being in the interest of India and the region."
The Indian Prime Minister said, "There is a strong public sentiment in both our countries in favour of accelerating the peace process and establishing a cooperative framework for our bilateral relations."
"There is a common desire to establish a neighbourhood of peace and progress based on greater linkages between our two people, trust and mutual understanding," said the Indian Prime Minister.
Manmohan in his message to Prime Minister Gilani further said, "Leading personalities of the coalition that will form your government have been strong advocates of friendly ties between our two countries and have made important contributions to the peace process."
He said, "I hope very much that we can build upon the progress already achieved and work expeditiously, though the dialogue process, towards agreed solutions of pending issues."
The Indian Prime Minister said, "We have an opportunity to transform our relationship into a close, cooperative and mutually beneficial partnership that should be normal between neighbours like India and Pakistan. I look forward to working closely with you towards an objective that I am confident you share."

SUICIDAL ATTACK IN LAHORE

The 15th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections - CROI 2008

The 15th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections was a scientifically focused meeting of the world's leading researchers working to understand, prevent, and treat HIV/AIDS and its complications.
At the Conference which took place from February 3-6, 2008 at Boston - The subjects that were highlighted were: immunology, vaccines (preclinical and clinical trials), virology (including other retroviruses), pathogenesis, neuropathogenesis and neurologic complications, antiretroviral therapy (preclinical, clinical randomized trials, clinical observational studies, and complications), therapeutic vaccines and immune-based therapies, primary/acute infection, clinical pharmacology, HIV drug resistance (including molecular mechanisms, clinical implications and epidemiology of HIV drug resistance), opportunistic infections (including tuberculosis), AIDS-related malignancies (e.g., lymphoma and kaposi's sarcoma), pediatrics/adolescents, maternal/fetal, HIV in women/women's health, novel diagnostic technologies and new monitoring tools, epidemiology of HIV infection, molecular epidemiology (including distribution and diversity of retroviruses), epidemiology of sexually transmitted diseases other than HIV, prevention studies (including microbicides and behavioral interventions), and research on clinical care and scale-up in developing countries (including operational research and implementation).
The Conference featured the thirteenth Annual Bernard Fields Memorial Lecture, the second N'Galy Mann Lecture, plenary lectures that were highly scientific in nature, roundtable symposia that presented and debated controversial scientific issues, several hundred original oral abstract and poster presentations of new data, and late breakers that  consisted of important preliminary research findings.
Text and graphic courtesy conference website. Additional resources courtesy The Body, a partner and Cooperating Organization with dgCommunity HIV/AIDS.

Bomb Kills 25 at Pakistan Election Rally

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - A suicide bomber blasted a political gathering Saturday in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 25 people, wounding dozens and stoking fears about security surrounding this month's parliamentary election.
In the south, an estimated 100,000 supporters of Benazir Bhutto turned out for her party's first major election rally since her assassination on Dec. 27. Bhutto's widowed husband told the crowd he had a responsibility to save the nation from President Pervez Musharraf's rule.
Also Saturday, riot police in the capital of Islamabad fired water cannons and tear gas against hundreds of lawyers protesting the detention of the deposed chief justice.
The violence underscored the deep tensions in Pakistan as the nation heads toward the Feb. 18 elections, which are meant to restore democracy after eight years of military rule. But campaigning has been overshadowed by Bhutto's killing, which U.S. and Pakistani officials blame on Islamic militants.
The blast occurred inside a hall where about 200 people had assembled for a political rally in the town of Charsadda in turbulent North West Frontier province, where Islamic extremists have been battling government forces.
The rally was organized by the Awami National Party - a secular organization which competes against Islamist parties for support among the ethnic Pashtun community.
Abdul Waheed, 22, who suffered burns from the blast, said the bomber struck as a member of the party was reciting verses from Islam's holy book, the Quran.
"I only heard the blast and cries and then something hit me and I fell down," Waheed told The Associated Press from his hospital bed in nearby Peshawar.
Television footage from the blast site, located in the sprawling residence of a party activist, showed the meeting hall littered with bloodstained clothes, police caps and overturned chairs. Policeman Mohammed Khan said two policemen were among the dead, and several children had been killed or injured.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion fell on Islamic militants with ties to the Taliban and al-Qaida. Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said the militants are threatening all political parties in the northwest.
"They are against everyone," Nawaz told Dawn News TV.
Tensions have been running high across Pakistan since the charismatic Bhutto was killed in a suicide bombing in Rawalpindi. Nowhere is the tension higher than in the North West Frontier Province, a lawless region bordering Afghanistan where Islamic militants threaten government control.
Candidates have shied away from large outdoor rallies in favor of small gatherings of party stalwarts inside homes or high-walled compounds. Saturday's bombing showed even those tightly controlled gatherings are unsafe.
Nevertheless, about 100,000 people gathered Saturday in a sports stadium in the southern city of Thatta as Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party resumed its election campaigning - suspended for the traditional 40 days of mourning after her death.
In an emotional speech, Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari asked the crowd to "give me strength so that we can serve the country." He vowed to carry on his slain wife's mission.
"I have the responsibility to save Pakistan," Zardari said. "This is our country and we have to save it."
Zardari claimed his wife had been murdered by an establishment that she wanted to change.
"That is why they were against us," Zardari said. "If they try to stop me, I will destroy them and I hope you people will support me."
The government has rejected allegations that intelligence agents or members of the ruling party allied to Musharraf plotted to kill Bhutto.
The People's Party is widely expected to benefit from a sympathy vote. But it remains unclear whether Zardari can unite the party and dispel public doubts over allegations that he pilfered government funds and demanded kickbacks during Bhutto's two administrations in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Pir Bakhsh, a 24-year old laborer, said that Zardari's reputation was not good but that love for Bhutto "compels us to attend this rally."
"We will avenge the blood of Benazir. We don't have bombs. We are not terrorists, but we have political power and we will capitalize on this political power to avenge the death of Benazir," said Haji Jaffar, 75, a retired teacher. "The passion and love for (her party) has increased after Benazir's assassination."
Support for Musharraf plummeted when he launched a campaign last March against critics within the judiciary, including Chief Justice Iftikar Mohammed Chaudhry, who was fired three months ago and placed under house arrest.
About 1,500 lawyers tried to march Saturday to Chaudhry's barricaded home to protest his continued detention. When lawyers tried to breach the barbed-wire barricade, hundreds of riot police responded with tear gas, water cannon and a baton charge.
Several lawyers were roughed up, but there were no reports of serious injury.
Earlier Saturday, Pakistan's Bar Council announced the lawyers would boycott courts nationwide until the elections to pressure the government to restore Chaudhry and other senior judges.
Musharraf dismissed the chief justice and 60 other top judges after he declared emergency rule on Nov. 3, before the Supreme Court was to rule on the legality of his re-election as president. Musharraf lifted the emergency in mid-December but Chaudhry, his wife and children remain under house arrest.