Legend has it that seven revered Islamic saints whose shrines are located across Karachi have for centuries protected the southwestern Pakistani city from disaster.

The `dark side` of US counter-terrorism took center stage Wednesday in the case of a mentally ill Pakistani woman accused of attacking US officers in Afghanistan.

A New York federal judge referred to allegations that the accused, Aafia Siddiqui, was abducted and tortured by US or allied forces prior to her extradition from Afghanistan in August.

A US judge on Wednesday ordered further psychiatric evaluation for a Pakistani woman he says is mentally incompetent to stand trial on charges of attempted murder of US officers in Afghanistan.

Judge Richard Berman told the federal court in New York that Aafia Siddiqui, a US-educated neuroscientist extradited in August from Afghanistan, is `not currently competent to proceed.`

Pakistan`s army chief vowed Wednesday to keep NATO`s supply line to Afghanistan open and reaffirmed support for the military alliance`s mission there, a senior NATO officer said.

A major Arab Al-Qaeda operative was among six militants killed overnight in a suspected US missile strike in northwest Pakistan, a senior security official told AFP Wednesday.

Security sources identified the militant as Abdullah Azam al-Saudi, a senior member of Osama bin Laden`s terror network.

A major Arab Al-Qaeda operative was among six militants killed overnight in a suspected US missile strike in northwest Pakistan, a senior security official told AFP Wednesday.

A major Arab Al-Qaeda operative was among six militants killed overnight in a suspected US missile strike in northwest Pakistan, a senior security official told AFP Wednesday.

A Major Al-Qaeda operative of Arab origin was among the five militants killed in a suspected US missile strike in northwest Pakistan, a senior security official told AFP Wednesday.

Security sources identified the Al-Qaeda militant as Abdullah Azam Al-Saudi, a senior member in Osama bin Laden`s terror network.

A Major Al-Qaeda operative of Arab origin was among the five militants killed in a suspected US missile strike in northwest Pakistan, a senior security official told AFP Wednesday.

Security sources identified the Al-Qaeda militant as Abdullah Azam Al-Saudi, a senior member in Osama bin Laden`s terror network.

A missile strike by a suspected US drone killed at least five people including foreigners in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border, security officials said Wednesday.

The attack marked the first US missile strike outside of the rugged tribal regions which have become safe havens for militants linked to Taliban and Al-Qaeda, one Pakistani security official said.

A missile strike by a suspected US drone killed at least five people including foreigners in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border, security officials said Wednesday.

The attack marked the first US missile strike outside of the rugged tribal regions which have become safe havens for militants linked to Taliban and Al-Qaeda, one Pakistani security official said.

The retired head of Pakistan`s elite army commando unit was shot dead Wednesday by unidentified gunmen near his house in the capital city of Islamabad, police said.

The motive behind the killing of Major General Amir Faisal Alvi -- who retired two years ago as chief commander of the army`s Special Services Group targeting Islamic militants -- was not immediately clear.

The retired head of Pakistan`s elite army commando unit was shot dead Wednesday by unidentified gunmen near his house in the capital city of Islamabad, police said.

The motive behind the killing of Major General Amir Faisal Alvi -- who retired two years ago as chief commander of the army`s Special Services Group targeting Islamic militants -- was not immediately clear.

At least seven Taliban militants were killed Sunday by Pakistani helicopter strikes and in a clash with local forces in the tribal region near the Afghan border, government officials said.

ISLAMABAD, Nov 19, 2007 (AFP) - A top US envoy warned Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf Saturday that Washington will its review military aid to the country unless he lifts a state of emergency, diplomats said.

John Negroponte, number two in the US State Department, met Musharraf for two hours of talks Saturday which diplomats had said he would use to send 'a very strong message' to end the two-week-old emergency rule.

ISLAMABAD, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf told a top US diplomat Saturday that he would only call off emergency rule when the security situation improves, a senior presidential aide told AFP.

Musharraf met John Negroponte, number two in the US State Department, for two hours of talks which diplomats had said the US official would use to send 'a very strong message' to end the two-week-old state of emergency.

DUBAI, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Media authorities in Dubai said on Saturday they were considering whether to allow two leading private Pakistani news channels to resume broadcasting after shutting them down the day before.

'We are in contact with them... to see if there is a possibility to (allow them to) resume' broadcasting, Amina Rustamani, head of Dubai's media watchdog, told AFP.

The two networks, Geo and ARYOne, said on Saturday that they were shut down the night before amid pressure from Pakistan military ruler Pervez Musharraf.

DUBAI, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Media authorities in Dubai said Saturday they were considering whether to allow two leading private Pakistani news channels to resume broadcasting after shutting them down the day before.

'We are in contact with them... to see if there is a possibility to (allow them to) resume' broadcasting, Amina Rustamani, head of Dubai's media watchdog told AFP.

The two networks, Geo and ARYOne, said on Saturday that they were shut down the night before amid pressure from Pakistan military ruler Pervez Musharraf.

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Pakistan will launch a major operation 'any time from now' to clear militants loyal to a pro-Taliban cleric from a scenic northwestern valley, an army general said Saturday.

Major General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, director general of military operations for the Pakistan army, said he hoped the mountainous Swat area would be reopened for tourism by the end of December.

He said five days of clashes in which the army reports around 100 militants have been killed are only a prelude to the impending large-scale offensive.

ISLAMABAD, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf told a top US diplomat Saturday that he would only call off emergency rule when the security situation improves, a senior presidential aide told AFP.

Musharraf met John Negroponte, number two in the US State Department, for two hours of talks which diplomats had said the US official would use to send 'a very strong message' to end the two-week-old state of emergency.

ISLAMABAD, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - A senior official in the party that backs Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said Saturday that emergency rule should be lifted before a general election due by early January.

Mushahid Hussain, secretary general of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, which was in government until parliament dissolved on Thursday, said his party did not need a state of emergency to win the vote.

ISLAMABAD, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Pakistan's election commission is to announce the date for general elections on November 21, after the country's provincial assemblies are dissolved, an official said Saturday.

President Pervez Musharraf has promised that the country will go to the polls before January 9, but the opposition is mulling a boycott if the vote is held under emergency rule.

ISLAMABAD, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Two leading private Pakistani television news channels broadcasting out of Dubai have been shut down amid pressure from military ruler Pervez Musharraf, the networks said Saturday.

Geo and ARYOne had been blacked out on cable here since November 3, when Musharraf imposed a state of emergency, but had still been available on satellite and the Internet until Friday night when they were fully closed.

ISLAMABAD, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Pakistan's election commission is likely to announce the date for general elections on November 21, the attorney general and officials said Saturday.

President Pervez Musharraf has promised that the country will go to the polls before January 9, but the opposition is mulling a boycott if the vote is held under emergency rule.

'The provincial assemblies are completing their terms on the 20th so hopefully the schedule will be announced the following day,' attorney general Malik Mohammed Qayyum told AFP.

ISLAMABAD, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - President Pervez Musharraf told a visiting top US diplomat Saturday that emergency rule can only be lifted once the law and order situation in Pakistan improves, a presidential aide said.

US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte held talks with Musharraf and key aides during which diplomats said he would deliver a tough message calling for the two-week old state of emergency to be lifted.

ISLAMABAD, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - A senior US envoy met Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and key aides Saturday to deliver a 'very strong message' for an end to emergency rule, diplomats and officials said.

John Negroponte, number two in the US State Department, flew to Islamabad amid signs of growing US concern over the crisis in its key ally in the fight against Islamic militancy.

WASHINGTON, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, in an interview published Saturday, reaffirmed his commitment to democracy, but declined to give a timeframe for lifting emergency rule.

'If I am a dictator, I don't know what kind of dictator I am,' Musharraf told The Washington Post. 'I am the strongest believer in democracy. I brought democracy to Pakistan and I still believe in it.'

He said was 'thinking about' a timeframe for lifting a state of emergency it, but when asked when that could happen, he answered: 'I don't know.'

ISLAMABAD, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - A senior US diplomat was to give Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf a 'very strong message' in blunt talks Saturday to end emergency rule and hold free elections, officials and diplomats said.

John Negroponte, number two in the US State Department, flew to Islamabad amid signs of growing US concerns over the crisis in its key ally in the 'war on terror.'

ISLAMABAD, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - As a top US official prepared Saturday for talks with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, a war of words escalated between the ruling general and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

In a BBC interview Friday, Musharraf accused former premier Bhutto of wanting to avoid elections, saying her party was unlikely to win and also hit out at foreign criticism of his rule.

His comments follow Bhutto's dismissal of Musharraf's new caretaker government as 'unacceptable.'

KARACHI, Oct 22, 2007 (AFP) - Pakistani authorities now suspect that two suicide bombers were involved in a bloody attack on former premier Benazir Bhutto's homecoming convoy, officials said Monday.

Officials had earlier said only one of the two blasts that killed 139 people in Karachi on Thursday was carried out by a suicide attacker, while the other was caused by a grenade hurled by an unknown assailant.

KARACHI, Oct 22, 2007 (AFP) - Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto Monday visited the mausoleum of Pakistan's founder, making her second public outing in as many days after a bloody suicide attack on her convoy.

Wearing a white headscarf and black tunic, Bhutto was swamped by security men and media as she arrived at Karachi's Jinnah Mausoleum -- the resting place of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who led the country to independence in 1947.

ISLAMABAD, Oct 22, 2007 (AFP) - Pakistan's government rejected Monday former premier Benazir Bhutto's demand for international experts to help find those behind last week's devastating suicide attack.

'We reject the demand for involvement of foreign experts in the probe. Our own law enforcement agency personnel are capable of investigating the incident,' Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said.

'In the past also they have investigated attacks on presidents and prime ministers and the culprits were traced,' Sherpao told reporters.

ISLAMABAD, Oct 22, 2007 (AFP) - Pakistan's opposition vowed Monday to defy a ban on rallies in the run-up to general elections, proposed in the wake of last week's suicide bombing on Benazir Bhutto's convoy that killed 139 people.

The government is drawing up a code of conduct for political campaigning during the polls set for January and seen as a key step to restoring civilian rule in the Islamic nation of 160 million people.

ISLAMABAD, Oct 22, 2007 (AFP) - The party of former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto vowed Monday to defy a planned ban on political rallies in the run-up to general elections seen as a key step to restoring civilian rule here.

The government plans to ban street marches in the wake of last week's suicide bombing that ripped through Bhutto's homecoming parade in Karachi, killing 139 people.

KARACHI, Oct 21, 2007 (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned Benazir Bhutto on Sunday to condemn last week's suicide bombings that targeted the former Pakistan premier, her party said.

Rice 'expressed sympathy over the loss of innocent lives' in the bombings during Bhutto's homecoming parade that killed 139 people, her Pakistan People's Party said in a statement.

'Ms Rice said that she was heartened that Benazir Bhutto escaped the assassination attempt,' the statement said.

KARACHI, Oct 21, 2007 (AFP) - Benazir Bhutto on Sunday urged Pakistan to enlist international experts to help find those behind last week's suicide attack which turned the former premier's homecoming parade into bloody carnage.

Bhutto made the plea after visiting hospitals to meet some of those injured in Thursday's blasts, which killed 139 people and ruined her planned triumphant return to Pakistan after eight years in self-imposed exile.

KARACHI, Oct 21, 2007 (AFP) - Former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto on Sunday called for international help with the probe into last week's devastating twin blasts during her homecoming parade that killed 139 people.

'We want the government of Pakistan to seek the assistance of the international community,' she told a group of foreign reporters, including an AFP correspondent, at her home in Karachi.

'They have anti-terrorism experts who have the technical expertise to investigate attacks of this nature,' she said.

KARACHI, Oct 21, 2007 (AFP) - Former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto called for international help Sunday with police investigations into last week's bomb blasts that killed 139 people in Karachi.

'We want the government of Pakistan to seek the assistance of the international community,' she told foreign reporters including AFP.

'They have anti-terrorism experts who have the technical expertise to investigate attacks of this nature,'