Simon Cameron-Moore

Pakistani forces have regained control of Mingora, a week after re-entering the main town in the Swat valley to dislodge Taliban fighters.

A probe into the attack on Sri Lanka's cricket team has found signs that Pakistani militants with possible ties to al-Qaeda were responsible.

The outgoing Bush administration was always going to leave president-elect Barack Obama with the problem of what to do about Pakistan.

Pakistani forces have killed up to 1 000 Islamist militants in fighting in the Bajaur region this month, an army commander said on Friday.

The party of assassinated former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto began stitching together a coalition on Wednesday that could spell the end for President Pervez Musharraf, after winning the most seats in a general election. The United States welcomed the vote as ''a step toward the full restoration of democracy''.

Fears of violence kept many Pakistanis away from the polls on Monday with 80 000 troops backing up police to watch over a vote that could choose a Parliament set on driving President Pervez Musharraf from office. Results are expected to start emerging by midnight and trends should be clear on Tuesday morning.

A suicide bomb attack that killed 19 people in Lahore, which had been a haven from violence, demonstrates an intensifying show-down with militants at a time when Pakistan is in a volatile political flux. The blast in the country's political nerve centre on Thursday carried an ominous message ahead of February's national election.

Pakistan's opposition grappled for a united response on Tuesday to President Pervez Musharraf's imposition of emergency rule, leaving lawyers to protest alone for a second day and bear the brunt of a police crackdown. Ousted Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry said ''the people should rise up and restore the Constitution''.

Police detained Pakistani opposition figures and lawyers on Sunday as military ruler President Pervez Musharraf tried to stifle the outcry over the imposition of emergency powers. The United States and other Western allies condemned General Musharraf's decision to announce emergency rule on Saturday.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has imposed a state of emergency in a bid to end an eight-month crisis over his rule stoked by challenges from a hostile judiciary, Islamist militants and political rivals. General Musharraf said he decided to act on Saturday in response to a rise in extremism and what he called the paralysis of government by judicial interference.

Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf appointed a new military spy chief and made several other promotions on Friday, days after announcing his plan to step down as head of the army. Appointments are closely watched in Pakistan, as generals have ruled for more than half of the 60 years since the country was founded.

Sixty years old, Pakistan remains trapped in the same revolving door between civilian and military rule that it has known all its life. Unstable, nuclear armed, regarded as a breeding ground for Islamist militancy and hiding place for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Pakistan is a country the West cannot take its eyes off.