Indian PM to host special lunch for Pak presdent zardari

The Asif Zardari-Manmohan Singh meeting will be out of bounds for everybody, even note-takers.

The highlight of Sunday's luncheon meeting between the Pakistani president and PM Manmohan Singh will be a pre-lunch one-on-one discussion between the two leaders.

Whatever they discuss will be at a rarefied level that could change the fate of nations or not.

But it is clear that Zardari's visit is less spiritually inclined than is being made out to be. Crucial issues of bilateral relations will certainly be discussed.

Zardari is expected to consult the Pakistani PM, army chief and ISI chief before his trip. This clearly means that the Pakistani president has a specific political mission in India.

Its unlikely that there will be any detailed readout of the meeting with the PM.




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Zardari visiting Ajmer amidst tight security

The pilgrim town of Ajmer is all set to receive Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who will pay obeisance at the historic dargah of Sufi mystic Khwaja Moinduddin Chishti on Sunday.

Highly structured security arrangements are in place for the high-profile visit, even as a drill was carried out on Saturday evening.Mr. Zardari, accompanied by a delegation, will arrive at Sanganer airport here from Delhi after his luncheon meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The delegation will leave by helicopters to the Ghooghra helipad on the outskirts of Ajmer and travel a distance of 12 km from there to the 13th century shrine by road.

Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Mr. Zardari's son Bilawal are stated to be among the members of the delegation accompanying the President.

The district administration is in touch with the Pakistan High Commission for information on other members of the entourage.



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Memories Rekindled- Zardari Ajmer shrine visit with son Bilaawal

It was the same month in April when Asif Ali Zardari and his wife Benazir Bhutto visited Ajmer shrine, the pious moment in her presence had its own importance.

Now this again is the same month of April where Zardari is here in India to pay a visit to the relgious shrine in Ajmer with his son Bilaawal and two daughters.

Zardari however would too be discussing some of the contentious issues so far between the two countries but little can be expected in terms of sensitive topics.



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Pak SC issues contempt notice to PM Gilani

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's top court on Monday found Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in contempt for not complying with orders related to re-opening corruption cases and summoned him to appear in person this week.

The move escalates the pressure on Pakistan's weakened civilian government, which faces separate court procedures that could unseat its leadership and force early elections at a time of soaring tensions with the powerful army.

"The Supreme Court has issued a contempt of court notice to the prime minister for not complying with its orders," Judge Nasir-ul-Mulk told the court which met to debate how to proceed on graft charges against the president.

"He has been directed to appear personally on January 19," the judge added.

The Supreme Court wants the government to write to Swiss authorities demanding that they re-open old corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, which the government has so far refused to do so.

Zardari and the government led by his Pakistan People's Party (PPP) say he has immunity from prosecution as long as he remains in office.

The president is also under pressure from an investigation into who was behind efforts to solicit American help to prevent a coup apparently feared in the aftermath of Osama bin Laden's death and to clip the power of the army.

Zardari's close aide, Husain Haqqani, was forced to resign as ambassador to Washington over a secret memo written last May and the Supreme Court ordered an inquiry on December 30 following a demand from the country's chief spymaster.

Pak govt & army hold back fire

Pakistan's PM Yousaf Raza Gilani made no reference to the clash with the military during his speech in the National Assembly on Thursday and kept his speech confined to the death of a religious leader
At the end of the day, even now "Might is right." and "Discretion is the better part of valor." Zardari and Gilani both probably threatened with or fearing personal harm, and reminded of the years in prison culminating in the ultimate death by hanging of previous Prime Minister Mr. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, must have decided that "Safety comes first, and that it is better to be safe than to be sorry" and "He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day." There is also an old Japanese proverb that says "The grass that bends in a wind-storm, survives."
Both the powerful army and the government held back their fire a day after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani summarily sacked defence secretary Naeem Khalid Lodhi, a retired General backed by the army, after he appeared to have toed the line of the military in a case before the apex court.
Speculation that Gilani may act against the Army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and ISI head Lt Gen Shuja Pasha did not come true.
Kayani, however, held a meeting with his top commanders at the General Headquarters in the Garrison city of Rawalpindi. The meeting was attended by both the Principal Staff Officers, or senior generals serving at the General Headquarters, and the Corps Commanders, who head formations across the country, sources said.
The issues that figured at the meeting could not be ascertained and there was no word from the military's media wing.

Zardari leaves for Dubai: Reported

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari left for Dubai on a scheduled one-day trip on Thursday, local television stations reported, amid growing tension over a memo seeking US help in preventing a coup by Pakistan's powerful military.

The unpopular president's trip comes during the worst tensions between Pakistan's civilian government and the military since a coup in 1999.

The army erupted in fury Wednesday over criticism from Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani concerning a commission probing the "Memogate" scandal -- the bizarre and highly controversial case of an unsigned memo sent to the US military to seek its help in weakening Pakistan's military.

The memo has pitted the army against President Asif Ali Zardari's weak civilian administration, and the Supreme Court is now tasked with deciding if the government endorsed the note, and if so, if it can remain in power.