Does China love Pakistan

Sorry for the delay on this, but did anyone else notice that Pakistan's president, Asif Ali Zardari, was in China last week?

Over four days, he went to Hubei, had a look at the Three Gorges Dam and visited Shanghai. I'll forgive anyone who didn't spot him, however, since his trip was totally eclipsed by the arrival of Hillary Clinton.

It was Zardari's second trip in just five months, and he has promised to come back to China every three months. To India's irritation, Pakistan has jumped into bed with China with gusto.

Zardari wrote a fawning editorial in the China Daily to mark his visit, exalting the Sino-Pakistan relationship as "higher than the peaks of the Himalayas" and paying tribute to China as "shining star" on the world stage thanks to the "sound management" of the Communist Party.

He offered up Pakistan's ports, Karachi, Port Qasim and Gwadar (which the Chinese built) to Chinese ships and said that Pakistan could "help channel energy supplies from the Gulf to China".

Pakistan has even laid down and asked the Chinese to intercede in its negotiations with India over the Mumbai bombings, a move that left Indian politicians spitting mad.

But the Chinese side seems a little less enamoured. The highest official available to speak to Mr Zardari was a member of the State Council, Dai Bingguo, who is relatively senior, but not the sort of figure the Chinese would normally trot out for a head-of-state.

Zardari glumly admitted on his trip that his country "has not benefited to the extent it should from its relations with China".

And while China is splashing money around Africa and South America, it hasn't given Zardari huge sums. Pakistan needs around $14 billion to get its bankrupt economy back on its feet, but China has only coughed up a $500 million loan and told Pakistan to go to the IMF.

In fact, the Communist Party is apparently doing business with Zardari's enemies, the Pakistani Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami. The Chinese have agreed with JI that it won't help any terrorists to attack China in Xinjiang, the far-western province.(Telegraph UK)

194 Girls Raped in Karachi Last Year 2008

Karachi being the biggest city of Pakistan also desere to be the city of opportunities. It was Karachi who was commercialized far before any other city of Pakistan. This all comes with its special geographical location.

But this all not makes a this free from the odd ends, although obcure to many eyes but yet they should be recognized by every citizen of this mega city. One of such thing is the problems. Karachi is no longer a safe city. Safety is what Karachi lack the most. This is where we find many roots of nationwide crimes.

Such a crime is associate with the diginity of girls. Rape. Every girl is afraid of this word, and its spreading and strengthening its roots day by day not only in Karachi as well in many cities of the country.

Last year whole nation mourned over many things, but the lives of these 194 girls are no more to be categorized as life. These girls not only were raped but they lost their meaning of living. Out of 194 girls 146 ones commited suicide.

Many NGO’s are working against the sourced behing the women crimes one of such is Aurat Foundation working effectively for their cause. This NGO presented the whole report to the media about the crimes to be highlighted by the media and then some work can be expected from the Government.

According to Dawn:

Over 1,885 incidents of violence against women — in which more than 480 women had been killed — were reported in the province during 2008, says a report.

124 arrested in Pakistan as part of Mumbai attacks probe

More than 100 people have been arrested in Pakistan as part of a crackdown on groups accused of having connections to last year's attacks in Mumbai, a Pakistani official said Thursday.

Most of those arrested are alleged members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the militant organization suspected of being behind the deadly attacks.

"We have arrested a total 124 mid-level and top leaders," Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said during a press conference on Thursday, according to a Reuters report.

Pakistani authorities also closed several suspected militant training camps run by Lashkar-e-Taiba as part of the crackdown, which began in December after the United Nations Security Council declared that Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a Pakistani charity, was acting as a front for the banned militant group.

Authorities also took steps against 20 offices, 87 schools, two libraries, seven religious schools and a handful of other organizations and websites linked to the charity.

It was not immediately clear how many people remained in custody Thursday, as Malik suggested many may now just be under surveillance.

Among those in detention or under house arrest are Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, the head of the charity, who helped establish the militant group, and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarrar Shah, two men India alleges planned the Mumbai attacks.

Intelligence officials, cited in Indian media, have said Shah is Lashkar's communications chief and created a system that allowed the group's leaders to stay in touch with the gunmen during the siege on India's financial capital last November, which killed 171 people, including two Canadians.

U.S. officials have said Lakhvi has also directed Lashkar-e-Taiba operations in Chechnya, Bosnia and Southeast Asia, where he allegedly trained members to carry out suicide bombings.

Saeed has denied his organization was involved in terrorist activity and decried the accusation as an attack on religious groups.

More evidence needed for prosecution
While Pakistan has received some information from India, authorities will need to obtain more evidence if Pakistan hopes to prosecute any of those arrested, Malik said.

Investigators in Pakistan will "have to inquire into this information to try to transform it to evidence, evidence which can stand the test of any court in the world and of course our own court of law," Malik said.

He did not provide details, and avoided a question as to whether the Pakistani government was admitting the attack was staged by militants from its own country.

"We have to prove to the world that India and Pakistan stand together against terrorists because they are the common enemies," Malik said.

The Mumbai attacks have increased tensions between the two nuclear rivals, as India has demanded that Pakistan take action against the militants.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier this month said evidence suggested the attack must have had the support of some official agencies in Pakistan.

India has called on Pakistan to hand over any suspects to New Delhi, but the country has said it will try any people involved in the attacks in its own courts.

Malik also appeared to rule out the possibility of extradition on Thursday, saying Pakistani laws allowed for the prosecution of citizens who committed crimes elsewhere. (CBC News)