Islamabad, Apr. 7 : Pakistan's Supreme Court has rejected the government's request for an in-camera trial of suspects involved in the teenaged girl's flogging in Swat and ruled that the facts be brought before the public.

An eight-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is hearing a suo motu case of the flogging incident.

Islamabad - US special envoy to Pakistan Richard Holbrooke said Tuesday the two countries had parallel interests in fighting the war against al-Qaeda and Taliban militants concentrated along the Afghan border.

"The United States and Pakistan face a common strategic threat, a common enemy and a common challenge and, therefore, a common task," Holbrooke told reporters in a joint press conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Islamabad, Apr. 7 : Three female NGO workers of a USAID-funded project along with their driver were reportedly killed by some unidentified gunmen in the North West Frontier Province's Manshera District.

All three women associated with a non-government organization, Rise International, were on their way to Mansehra from a mountainous area of Kund Bangla when some unknown assailants attacked them, killing them on the spot, The News reported.

Islamabad - US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke and US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen arrived in Islamabad Monday for talks on counter-insurgency efforts in the north-west, an official said.

Islamabad, Apr. 6 : The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, has set a 15-day deadline for government officials to submit a detailed report on the public flogging of a 17-year-old girl in the Swat Valley.

Chief Justice Chaudhry issued the directive as eight judges opened a hearing into the Taliban whipping case.

“Government and regional officials from North West Frontier Province (NWFP) should ‘submit report on a fortnightly basis to the registrar of this court,” Chaudhry said in his order, which was written in English.

Islamabad, Apr 6 : Pakistan Prime Minister's Interior Affairs Adviser Rehman Malik has said the attackers are Pakistani nationals and that they have not come from outside.

He said a suicide bomber is not under any compulsion to carry out attacks. "They are sold for money," he added.

Rehman Malik said the family of a suicide bomber gets Rs 500, 000 for blowing himself up. He hoped to flush out the terrorists out of the country.