Pakistan news stories on Newser

Interrogator on bin Laden Wives: 1 Interesting, 2 Boring

Matt Cantor — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:25:07 CDT

Osama bin Laden's three wives mostly stayed mum while being questioned, reveals the Pakistani intelligence agent who interrogated them. Despite speaking with them (or, at least, trying to) once or twice a week for months, the agent tells Reuters he didn't garner much that was useful. But it seemed clear...

Irked Senate Panel Votes 30-0 to Cut Pakistan Aid

Fri, 25 May 2012 08:06:59 CDT

A Senate panel expressed its outrage over Pakistan's conviction of a doctor who helped the United States track down Osama bin Laden, voting to cut aid to Islamabad by $33 million—$1 million for every year of the physician's 33-year sentence for high treason. The punitive move came on top...

More US-Pakistan Woes: Peeved Senators, Drone Strike

Mark Russell — Thu, 24 May 2012 08:17:19 CDT

The sun still is not shining on US-Pakistan relations. A US drone strike targeting suspected militants in northwest Pakistan killed 10 today, a move that will likely further inflame tensions between the two countries, reports Reuters . Pakistan has demanded an end to the strikes, which it considers a violation of...

Pakistani Doc Gets 33 Years for Helping Find bin Laden

Polly Davis Doig — Wed, 23 May 2012 07:05:50 CDT

The Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA take down the world's most notorious terrorist will spend the next 33 years of his life in prison for his troubles. Dr. Shakil Afridi ran a vaccination program that the US used to verify Osama bin Laden's presence in Abbottabad, reports Reuters , and...

Report: Obama Snubs Zardari as Relations Unravel

Mark Russell — Mon, 21 May 2012 04:46:32 CDT

President Obama has said that Pakistan is the key to the future of Afghanistan and the region—just as US-Pakistan relations appear to be deteriorating. Obama is now refusing to meet with President Asif Ali Zardari at the NATO summit in Chicago, reports the Guardian . For Obama, the most important...

Pakistan Blocks Twitter

Polly Davis Doig — Sun, 20 May 2012 07:56:06 CDT

Pakistan has decided it's had about 139 characters too many of Twitter, yanking the microblogging site over material it says is offensive to Islam, reports al-Jazeera . The material in question was promoting a Facebook contest to post images of the prophet Mohammed—which are considered blasphemous, even those framed in...

'Regret' vs. 'Apology': Difference Is Big to Pakistan

John Johnson — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:58:05 CDT

The Wall Street Journal offers a peek into the world of diplo-speak and semantics today. Its story examines how US officials have struggled for six months with a vexing question—whether to formally apologize to Islamabad for a November attack that killed 24 Pakistani troops at the Afghan border. The...

Al-Qaeda Releases Video of US Hostage

Rob Quinn — Sun, 06 May 2012 23:50:20 CDT

An American citizen kidnapped from his home in Pakistan last August appeals to President Obama in a video released by al-Qaeda yesterday. Warren Weinstein, 70, tells Obama he will be killed unless the president agrees to the group's demands, the AP reports. "My life is in your hands, Mr. President,...

US Releases bin Laden Letters

Kevin Spak — Thu, 03 May 2012 10:26:32 CDT

By the time SEAL Team Six ended his life a year ago, Osama bin Laden had grown pretty frustrated with al-Qaeda. The US today released some of the documents SEALs made off with when they raided bin Laden's Abbottabad compound, the Washington Post reports, and they reveal that the terrorist...