Pakistan

19 December 2007 -- Pakistani officials say at least 56 people were killed and more than 120 injured when a train packed with holiday travelers derailed Wednesday in southern Pakistan.

Rescue crews used cutting equipment to free the last survivors trapped in badly damaged rail cars.

The packed train was heading from the southern city of Karachi to Lahore when about 12 of its 16 cars came off the rails near Mehrabpur.

Local villagers helped rescue those trapped in the wreckage, before emergency crews arrived on the scene.    » read more »

December 17, 2007 -- Washington, DC – Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) issued the following statement today after speaking by phone with Pakistan’s President Pervaiz Musharraf:    » read more »

16 December 2007 -- Health officials in Pakistan have confirmed the country's first human fatality caused by bird flu.

The Health Ministry says the victim worked at a poultry farm in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, near the border with Afghanistan.

Officials say the brother of the man infected with avian influenza also died recently, but he was not tested for the disease.    » read more »

07 December 2007 -- A senior U.S. State Department official predicts elections in Pakistan scheduled for January 8 will not be perfect, but he says it will be an important step in the country's transition to democracy. At a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill, the official defended U.S. aid to Pakistan, a key ally in the "war on terror".

Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher offered his prediction about upcoming parliamentary elections in Pakistan. "It is not going to be perfect," he said.    » read more »

28 November 2007 -- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has stepped down as chief of the army in a ceremony transferring power to his hand-picked successor, General Ashfaq Kayani.

The resignation fulfills Mr. Musharraf's promise to resign his military command once his re-election as president was confirmed by the Supreme Court. That confirmation came last week.    » read more »

Restore Rule of Law

Columbus - The following are the remarks by Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann delivered at a rally in support of Pakistani lawyers and judges on November 14, 2007: I would like to commend the Columbus Bar Association as well as my colleagues around the nation for taking a stand and taking action against the deplorable events that are occurring in Pakistan.    » read more »

16 November 2007 -- The new Pakistani caretaker government headed by Senate chairman Mohammedmian Soomro takes office Friday, just hours after Pakistan's parliament dissolved itself at midnight local time Thursday following completion of its its five-year term.

Outgoing Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz addressed a final Cabinet meeting late Thursday. He said that no government has been more tolerant than his in hearing criticism.    » read more »

Bar Association Offers Online Petition, Other Tools

WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 14—An estimated 600 to 700 lawyers, most dressed in black, marched past the U.S. Supreme Court today to draw attention to their demand for an end to martial law in Pakistan, and to show their solidarity with Pakistani lawyers and judges targeted in the crackdown.    » read more »

Washington, D.C. -- November 13, 2007 -- Freedom House, together with eleven of the U.S.’s most prominent human rights organizations, issued a letter today to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, urging that the U.S. significantly increase pressure on the government of Pakistan to end martial law and release those who have been detained or are under house arrest.    » read more »

Yesterday Introduced Resolution Linking Some Military Aid to Restoring Rule of Law in Pakistan

11/09/2007 -- WASHINGTON D. C. - Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East and South and Central Asian Affairs, which includes Pakistan, urged President Musharraf to release opposition leader Benazir Bhutto today, in response to Musharraf placing Bhutto under House arrest by force.    » read more »

Resolution Links Some Military Aid to Musharaff Reinstating Constitution, Proceeding with January Elections

November 8, 2007 -- Washington, DC -- Senator John Kerry (D-MA), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East and South and Central Asian Affairs, which includes Pakistan, and Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) today introduced a resolution, urging President Musharraf to end Pakistan’s state of emergency and reinstate the Constitution.    » read more »

Exclusive: The Other War -- Vanity Fair And ABC's Brian Ross Team Up To Report On The Untold Story Of The War In Afghanistan, On "Nightline," Monday, November 12

Manchester, NH (November 8, 2007) – This morning at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College in Manchester, Sen. Joe Biden delivered a major foreign policy address calling for a “new approach to Pakistan.” Below are excerpts from the speech. Attached to this release is a copy of Sen. Biden’s entire address as prepared for delivery.    » read more »

Calls for Senate Appropriations Committee to suspend targeted assistance in light of state of emergency declaration

November 8, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today wrote to Senator Robert Byrd, Chairman and Senator Thad Cochran, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, urging Congress to set conditions on U.S. assistance to Pakistan in light of President Musharraf's declaration of a state of emergency this weekend.    » read more »

08 November 2007 -- A leading human rights activist under house arrest in Pakistan says emergency rule may turn her country into the "next Burma."

Asma Jahangir, head of the Human Rights Committee of Pakistan, told VOA in an interview she fears President Pervez Musharraf's crackdown on his opponents may force dissidents to give up and result in the country becoming a dictatorship.    » read more »