Islamabad - Pakistan's Supreme Court Wednesday granted bail to a radical cleric who incited a standoff with security forces at Islamabad's Red Mosque and adjoining seminary nearly two years ago, his lawyer said. "The court has observed that there was no evidence against Maulana Abdul Aziz in this case that could prevent his release on bail," attorney Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui told reporters.

The court ruling followed a petition filed by Aziz challenging the earlier denial of bail by a lower court in a case regarding the illegal occupation of a state-owned library adjacent to the mosque.

Lahore, Apr 15 : An application has been moved before the Pakistan Supreme Court (SC) for the early hearing of a petition, seeking the trial of former President Pervez Musharraf under Article 6 of the Constitution.

Advocate Zahid Malik has also sought the court's directions for the federal government to bar Musharraf from leaving the country.

Malik submitted the constitutional petition was of an urgent nature and it should be taken up at the earliest, the Daily Times reported.

Lahore, Apr 15 : Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif wants former President Pervez Musharraf to be booked for violating the constitution and sacking the judiciary.

Speaking at a function in Dubai, Sharif said Musharraf had “ignited a fire” in Balochistan by killing Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti.

“The entire nation is suffering due to the killing of the Baloch leader and it is extremely essential to bring Musharraf to court,” he said.

Islamabad, Apr 15 : If the Taliban refuse to disarm following the implementation of the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation, 2009, the Pakistan Government will take action after taking people into confidence, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira has said.

He told reporters after attending a meeting at the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) that it was incumbent upon people of the area to come forward and play their role in ensuring peace.

He said the government’s decision to implement the Nizam-e-Adl had foiled the designs of people trying to destabilise Pakistan.

Lahore, Apr 15 : The police has been asked by the North West Frontier Government not to interfere with the Taliban, as they are “guests” and should be allowed a free hand.

The Telegraph quoted a police official in Buner as saying that they “have been instructed by the government to stay away from the Taliban as they are our guests and should be allowed to walk around the marketplace.”

Buner is the latest district hit by violence after the Taliban stormed it from the neighbouring Swat valley, where the government on Monday agreed to the Taliban demand of imposing sharia.

Peshawar, Apr 15 : The US and Pakistan are at the “lowest level” of intelligence-sharing, cooperation and coordination against al Qaeda and the Taliban in the Tribal Areas bordering Afghanistan, according to senior officials.

“The level of cooperation has gone so low that the US now even does not intimate Pakistan after a drone strike in FATA,” a senior official said in a reflection of the two countries’ relations in the background of a growing insurgency in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The official said that the deterioration in intelligence sharing, cooperation and coordination was gradual.