Gilani drops forestry park inauguration plan fearing backlash from PPP senator

October 19th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, General Asfaq Pervez Kayani, has reportedly told visiting US Senator John Kerry that while the country's armed forces are not opposed to American assistance, there should be no conditions set on Pakistan's national security. General Kayani is also said to have convyed the same message to US CENTCOM chief General David Petreaus at a separate meeting at the General Headquarters, Rawalpindi.

October 14th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan government is unlikely to order a probe into the audacious terror attack on the Army's General Headquarters in Rawalpindi which rocked the troubled nation last Saturday. According to sources, the Gilani government fears that any such inquiry could lead to the downfall of the government, in similar fashion to the Junejo government, which fell apart, following the Ojhri camp tragedy in 1988.

September 19th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has denied inking any 'safe exit' deal to facilitate former President General Pervez Musharraf's safe passage from the country after he stepped down from the Presidency. In an interview to a private television channel, Gilani said: "If there had been such a deal, it would have surfaced by now, as the media is very vibrant today." Gilani also said would be wrong to say that Musharraf has been 'pardoned', as neither he has been convicted by the court of law nor been 'indemnified by parliament'.

August 29th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani has expressed optimism over the capability of the country's military thwarting any challenge to its security and sovereignty, and urged minimum nuclear deterrence to be maintained at all costs. Gilani said that Pakistan didn't harbour any aggressive designs against any country.

August 23rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif is like a brother to him. Reacting to Sharif's statement that he was heart-broken by his (Gilani's) decision to distance the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) from former President General Pervez Musharraf's trial, Gilani said he would soon contact the former Prime Minister to address all his grievances.

August 16th, 2009 LAHORE - Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has rejected reports that the Army is trying to protect former President General Pervez Musharraf from high treason charges, adding that neither he, nor his party, has any love for the former general. Interacting with media persons on the sidelines of an inauguration function of a power plant in Sheikhupura, Gilani stressed that country's Armed forces were not a 'stumbling block' in Musharraf's trial.

August 7th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Following his visit to riot-hit Gojra, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has hinted at changing the blasphemy law in a bid to facilitate "religious harmony" in the country. Eight Christians were burnt alive last month over blasphemy allegations in Gojra.

July 19th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - : President Zardari's statement that India no longer remains a threat to the country, were his 'personal views', Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf aza Gilani has said. Talking to media persons after returning from Sharm-el-Sheikh, Gilani said there is a need for a more 'careful' approach while talking about the relations between the two neighboring countries.

July 12th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said the country lacks a proper governing system with neither the parliamentary nor the presidency having full authority. Replying to a student's question at the convocation ceremony of the International Islamic University here, Gilani said the prevalent system in Pakistan was a 'hotchpotch' of a system.

April 19th, 2009 KARACHI - Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that the country is ready with its own anti-terrorism strategy which it would be sharing with the United States soon. "Our policy is ready, and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi would visit the US in the first week of May to share this policy with the American administration," The Daily quoted Gilani, as saying.

April 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The US should not make aid to Pakistan for the war against terror conditional as this would be counter productive, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Monday. 'Pakistan-US relations should be based on mutual trust.

April 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator John Kerry met President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani here on Monday. Officials privy to the talks between Kerry and Gilani were quoted by the Dawn as saying that the Pakistan Prime Minister had told Senator Kerry that Pakistan does not want the US to base its aid on conditions linked to the campaign against militancy.

March 15th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has accepted the resignation of Information and Broadcasting (IB) Minister Sherry Rehman, and has appointed Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas Qamaruz Zaman Kaira to the post. According to sources, Rehman told Gilani that the unwarranted interference in her work by some ministers had affected her prestige.

March 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani is trying very hard to save his chair and to put an end to the ongoing political turmoil in the country to stem another bout of military rule. Gilani, reportedly, is working on a reconciliation strategy with the PML-N that would include overturning the verdict of the Sharif brother's disqualification from contesting elections and reinstating Shabaz Sharif as chief minister of Punjab.

March 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani wants to defuse the ongoing political crisis in Pakistan by undoing "all the wrongs" to mark his place in the history of the country. Gilani privately told a group of senators that he wanted to "decisively deliver" in the present crisis even if he might have to lose his coveted post, sources said.