Lahore

American attempts to rebuild its relationship with Pakistan appear to be stuck on the issue of a U.S. apology for killing 24 Pakistani border troops last November. U.S. officials visited Pakistan on Friday for talks on rebooting the relationship, but left without any agreement. A statement Saturday from the Pakistani president's office said Asif Ali Zardari told the visiting U.S. officials that Washington needed to help Pakistan reach "closure" over the killings of the soldiers on the Afghan border by following recommendations by the Pakistani parliament.

Pakistan's president announced Thursday that he will attend the upcoming NATO summit in Chicago, accepting an invitation that was given after the country indicated it plans to end its six-month blockade of supplies meant for coalition troops in Afghanistan. Pakistan closed its Afghan border to NATO supplies in November in retaliation for American airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. The route remains closed, but Pakistan's Cabinet has authorized officials to conclude their negotiations with the U.S. over reopening it. The government is likely to face domestic backlash once the...

Pakistan's president announced Thursday that he will attend the upcoming NATO summit in Chicago, accepting an invitation that was given after the country indicated it plans to end its six-month blockade of supplies meant for coalition troops in Afghanistan. Pakistan closed its Afghan border to NATO supplies in November in retaliation for American airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. The route remains closed, but Pakistan's Cabinet has authorized officials to conclude their negotiations with the U.S. over reopening it. The government is likely to face domestic backlash once the...

ISLAMABAD — The widow and mother-in-law of a Pakistani man killed by a CIA contractor last year were killed Monday, allegedly by the widow's father who may have feared she would remarry and take the "blood money" she received with her, police said. The families of the two men killed by Raymond Davis last January received hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for pardoning the killer, a common legal practice in Pakistan. The money normally goes to the wife if her husband was killed.

A senior health official says the number of people in eastern Pakistan suspected to have died in the last month from taking bad heart medicine has risen to 69. Saeed Illahi said on Wednesday that an investigation has found that a total of 419 heart patients have become sick from taking the drugs, and that 45 of them remain in critical condition. Many of the patients are in the city of Lahore. Illahi is the head of the health department in Punjab province, where Lahore is the capital.

LAHORE, Pakistan — At least two gunmen disguised in police uniforms attacked a hospital in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore late yesterday, killing six people in a failed attempt to free a captured militant being treated there, officials said. The gunmen managed to escape but left without securing the release of the militant, who allegedly was among those who attacked a minority sect in Lahore on Friday and killed 93 people, said Rana Sanaullah, the law minister of Punjab Province, where Lahore is the capital.

LAHORE, Pakistan — Hard-line Islamic leaders on Sunday rallied at least 15,000 people against an American official arrested in the shooting deaths of two Pakistanis and warned the government not to cave in to US pressure to release the man. The protest in Lahore, where the shootings took place, came as the US embassy once again insisted that the American has diplomatic immunity and was being detained illegally by Pakistan. But Pakistan has refused to budge, saying the matter must be decided by the courts.

ISLAMABAD — The widow and mother-in-law of a Pakistani man killed by a CIA contractor last year were killed Monday, allegedly by the widow's father who may have feared she would remarry and take the "blood money" she received with her, police said. The families of the two men killed by Raymond Davis last January received hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for pardoning the killer, a common legal practice in Pakistan. The money normally goes to the wife if her husband was killed.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A group of armed men broke into the home of an American development specialist in Lahore yesterday and abducted him, Pakistani and American officials said. American officials identified the man as Warren Weinstein, the Pakistan director for J.E. Austin Associates Inc., an international development consulting company based in Arlington, Va. Weinstein had been based in Lahore for seven years, according to his profile on the LinkedIn networking website. A Pakistani police official said he had been living alone in Model Town, an old, affluent neighborhood, since...

LAHORE, Pakistan - Authorities arrested six suspected Taliban militants with a suicide vest and hand grenades who allegedly were on their way yesterday to attack a five-star hotel and kill Americans in Pakistan’s cultural capital, said police. The eastern city of Lahore has suffered a spate of bombings at markets and security installations in recent years as the Taliban have expanded attacks beyond their main sanctuary in the northwest. Militants have also targeted hotels and restaurants in other parts of Pakistan popular with...

American attempts to rebuild its relationship with Pakistan appear to be stuck on the issue of a U.S. apology for killing 24 Pakistani border troops last November. U.S. officials visited Pakistan on Friday for talks on rebooting the relationship, but left without any agreement. A statement Saturday from the Pakistani president's office said Asif Ali Zardari told the visiting U.S. officials that Washington needed to help Pakistan reach "closure" over the killings of the soldiers on the Afghan border by following recommendations by the Pakistani parliament.

ISLAMABAD - Making up is never easy. But as Pakistan and the United States try to restart their troubled relationship after a year of spectacular crises, the difference could come down to drones. For the Obama administration, facing a faltering war effort and increasingly distrustful allies in Afghanistan, the covert CIA drone strike campaign centered on North and South Waziristan in northwestern Pakistan has acquired new relevance. Although the drones are best known for targeting senior commanders of Al Qaeda - another two were reported killed in January - they also...

A senior health official says the number of people in eastern Pakistan suspected to have died in the last month from taking bad heart medicine has risen to 69. Saeed Illahi said on Wednesday that an investigation has found that a total of 419 heart patients have become sick from taking the drugs, and that 45 of them remain in critical condition. Many of the patients are in the city of Lahore. Illahi is the head of the health department in Punjab province, where Lahore is the capital.

ONE CAN only watch in horror as relations between the United States and Pakistan continue to deteriorate, for there will be no chaos-free exit from Afghanistan without Pakistan. We have become accustomed to the loud accusations of perfidy leveled at Islamabad - it is playing a double game, Americans say, protecting terrorists who are attacking our troops in Afghanistan. But to make an enemy out of Pakistan is to lose sight of the fact that Pakistan is far more important to US interests than Afghanistan ever was. Republican contenders for Barack Obama's job fall over each other suggesting...

Al-Qaida claimed responsibility Thursday for the kidnapping of a 70-year-old American aid worker in Pakistan in August, and issued a series of demands for his release. In a video message posted on militant websites, al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri said Warren Weinstein would be released if the United States stopped airstrikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. He also demanded the release of all al-Qaida and Taliban suspects around the world. "Just as the Americans detain all whom they suspect of links to al-Qaida and the Taliban, even remotely, we...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A group of armed men broke into the home of an American development specialist in Lahore yesterday and abducted him, Pakistani and American officials said. American officials identified the man as Warren Weinstein, the Pakistan director for J.E. Austin Associates Inc., an international development consulting company based in Arlington, Va. Weinstein had been based in Lahore for seven years, according to his profile on the LinkedIn networking website. A Pakistani police official said he had been living alone in Model Town, an old, affluent neighborhood, since...

Where to stay Regale Internet Inn Surraya Mansion 65 The Mall Road, near Regal Cinema 011-92-42-731-1987 E-mail: regale_internet@hotmail.com Dorms and basic showers, but the culture is the draw. Beds about $2. Pearl Continental Hotel Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam 011-92-42-636-0210 www.pchotels.com.pk The fanciest, with pool, salon, shopping center. Rooms about $112-$193. Where to eat The Hot Spot 19 T-block, Defense www.thehotspotonline.com E-mail: mail@thehotspotonline.com Homemade ice cream and serious film fans.

Pakistani officials say they’ve again asked the U.S. to cease all drone operations at Pakistan’s Shamsi Air Base in a remote part of the country. The officials say it’s part of a larger request that the U.S. cease targeting militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas without notifying Islamabad in advance, first made much earlier this year, after the controversy when a CIA contractor killed two Pakistani men in Lahore in January. London’s Guardian newspaper quoted Pakistan’s defense minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar saying Wednesday that the...

Since leaving Pakistan nearly two decades ago to study engineering at MIT, Adil Najam has taught at some of Boston's best universities, served on the international climate council that won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, and made a comfortable suburban life with his wife and three children in Boxborough. But this past weekend, Najam and his family returned to his native country, a nation plagued with terrorism, poverty, and corruption, and where anti-American sentiment runs high. Najam will be the new vice chancellor of Lahore University of Management Sciences, deemed by many Pakistanis to be the...