Pakistan: The latest round up

The bad news: Another bomb. This time an IED in a poor neighborhood in Karachi. Eight killed. Musharraf just happened to be visiting Karachi at the time. Number of dead victims now up to 10. And it looks like an American is among the dead. Oh dear, now it's up to 11. And now 15. Then two more explosions occurred in the town of Hub and Kalat.

The really bad news: Attacks were also being planned in nine other cities.

Meanwhile a crackdown on miscreants in Tank (where the Mehsud jirga is calling for the military to cease ops - can you say Uncle Hudna ) and Faisalabad yields 36 evildoers while a 17 yo suicide bomber from Swat is thwarted but still all this terror business has even got the reporters rattled.

The ongoing wave of terrorism in the country has panicked reporters forcing them to me more cautious when covering public rallies and gatherings.Such was the case at Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif’s public rally in Bhara Kahu on Monday where everybody, including the reporters, seemed to be scared of any untoward incident. The reporters preferred to cover the rally while staying away from the former premier’s motorcade. Although the authorities concerned had made comprehensive security measures, this could not allay the fears of the reporters. Unlike the photojournalists, the reporters stayed within a corridor of a market and did not go near Nawaz, who briefly addressed the gathering while standing up from the sunroof of his bullet-proof vehicle.

You might want to watch out for that sunroof handle there, Nawaz!

And here's a warning to all you snooker players out there. Beware. The misceants have it in for you! Militants bomb snooker club.

Yikes. And please, would all Code Pinkos and Soros toadies please report to Pakistan where Election troublemakers will be shot on sight?

President Pervez Musharraf said on Monday that he had told security forces to shoot anyone who tried to disrupt the upcoming parliamentary elections. “Any one who will create trouble, I have ordered the army and Rangers, that we will shoot any one who will do anything of this sort,” the president said while speaking at the inauguration of Pakistan Steel flyover and Bin Qasim Industrial Park projects in Karachi. The president said increasing terrorism incidents had “broken the country’s backbone” but the government would cope with terrorism effectively. Militants would not be allowed to take over Pakistan, he said.

And about the issure of Bilawal Bhutto's security that we talked about yesterday? FYI - well, there is no such thing as a free lunch OR security detail. The tab for his protection is estimated to be a cool 1, 000, 000. Per annum. And that's in pounds sterling. Plus, it's looking like residents of Oxford aren't happy about it either.

“Go home, you endanger us all here in Oxford by being here,” one person wrote on the website of the local Oxford Mail newspaper, while another was hostile to the idea that British taxpayers would pay for his security.“Idiots from his country want to kill him but I bet the British taxpayer is footing the bill for his security,” another added.“Go home now and take the dangers you pose to others with you.”

Dad's got some hefty protection, too. 156 policemen on duty for Zardari's security. And in other belly-up-to-the-security-bar news, the Saudis have offered Sharif Nawaz their secutity services.

The Scotland Yard investigation into Bhutto's death appears to be winding down. 6 SY detectives leave for home.

The sources said six investigators had left for the UK but four were still in Pakistan. The SY team members would keep on traveling between Pakistan and UK during the course of investigation, they said.They said the departed investigators would re-examine video footage of the attack and the evidence collected from the crime scene soon after the incident in British laboratories. The SY experts would compile report of their preliminary investigation in the UK, they said. During their ten-day stay in Pakistan, the SY team examined the crime scene four times.

Even though the grain supply to flour mills has been increased and flour shortages ease in Rawalpindi and Islamabad , there's no escaping the trickle down effect of terrorism. Thousands of workers face layoffs. Inflation is soaring. And may God help those poor people, the Paki Senate is set to debate the gas and oil shortages. Look for a tsunami of tsenatorial hot air to tstrike the countryside.