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/ 3 June 2008

Pakistan’s Asif arrested on drug charges

Pakistani fast bowler Mohammad Asif has been arrested at Dubai airport on charges of possessing illegal drugs, cricket officials said on Tuesday. The 25-year-old Asif was seized while returning home from India after featuring in a domestic event that ended on Sunday, a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official said on condition of anonymity.

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/ 29 April 2008

Pakistan’s Akhtar issues apology after ban

Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has tendered an unconditional apology to a tribunal hearing his appeal against a five-year ban, the tribunal head said on Tuesday. The 32-year-old paceman was banned earlier this month for breaching the players’ code of conduct by publicly criticising the Pakistan Cricket Board.

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/ 8 April 2008

ICC quizzes Akhtar over match-fixing claims

An International Cricket Council (ICC) investigator has questioned banned fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar over his claims that he was offered money to throw matches, Pakistani sources said on Tuesday. Akhtar (32) was banned for five years a week ago for criticising the Pakistan Cricket Board. He later alleged that that he had refused offers of bribes to underperform.

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/ 11 March 2008

At least 20 dead in twin Pakistan blasts

Two bombs exploded in the Pakistani city of Lahore on Tuesday, one outside a government office, killing at least 20 people, police and officials said. Well over 500 people have been killed in Pakistan this year in a campaign of suicide bombings, which intensified after troops stormed a radical mosque in Islamabad in July.

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/ 10 January 2008

Suicide bomber hits Pakistan police

At least 22 Pakistani riot police were killed in a suicide-bomb attack outside the high court in the commercial heart of Lahore on Thursday, officers said. The bomber set off a device packed with ball bearings when police stopped him outside the court, two weeks to the day after the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

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/ 26 November 2007

Pakistan’s Sharif joins election battlefield

Pakistan’s ex-premier Nawaz Sharif plotted tactics with key aides on Monday as he sought to capitalise on his hero’s welcome home from exile to spur opposition to President Pervez Musharraf. Sharif, who was ousted by Musharraf in a coup in 1999, was due to file his nomination papers for general elections, despite warning his party may end up boycotting the January 8 vote.

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/ 16 November 2007

Pakistan frees Bhutto from house arrest

Pakistan freed opposition leader Benazir Bhutto from house arrest early on Friday, hours after a caretaker prime minister was appointed in a first step towards a national election. Jail officials left the residence in the eastern city of Lahore where Bhutto has been held to prevent her from leading a pro-democracy rally.

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/ 13 November 2007

Bhutto: Musharraf must step down

Detained Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto called on Tuesday for military leader Pervez Musharraf to step down as president, isolating him in the run-up to a general election. Britain stepped up pressure on Musharraf, who imposed emergency rule on November 3, backing a 10-day Commonwealth ultimatum for him to end the emergency.

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/ 13 November 2007

Bhutto detained ahead of mass protest

Pakistani police put opposition leader Benazir Bhutto under house arrest for a week on Tuesday to thwart a protest procession as President Pervez Musharraf came under growing international pressure to end emergency rule. Military ruler Musharraf set off a storm of criticism when he imposed emergency rule on November 3.

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/ 30 October 2007

Smith: Pakistan win a huge step forward

Skipper Graeme Smith said his team’s Test and one-day series wins in Pakistan could mark a huge step forward for South African cricket. The Proteas clinched a double after a 14-run win in the fifth one-dayer in Lahore on Monday helped them wrap up the series 3-2 after winning the preceding two-Test series 1-0.