Islamabad  - Islamist militants on Sunday kidnapped 11 tribal policemen following an attack on a checkpoint in Pakistan's troubled north-west near the Afghan border, an official said.

The gunmen forced the Khasadar policemen to surrender all weapons after laying siege to the Shin Qamar post in Khyber tribal district, a hub of militant activity.

"They pushed the Khasadars into their vehicles and sped away," said Manzoor Ahmed, an official of the local administration.

According to Ahmed, one abductee managed to escape from the militants' custody and reached to safety later in the day.

Lahore, Mar 29 : PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif today welcomed President Asif Ali Zardar’s address to the joint sitting of the Parliament, saying that it will strengthen democracy in Pakistan.

“We welcome the reconciliation policy of President Zardari, as the harmony among the political parties would strengthen democracy,” Sharif said.

He said if the Charter of Democracy (CoD) is implemented, then extending hands of friendship towards Zardari was not an issue.

Lahore, Mar 29 : Controversial pacer Shoaib Akhtar is keen to make a comeback to the Pakistan team, which is gearing up to take on world champions Australia in One-day series going to be held in the UAE next month.

Akhtar feels the Australians could be beaten this time considering their shambolic performances against India and South Africa in recent series.

Lahore, Mar 29 : Pakistan Cricket Board chief Ijaz Butt has denied media reports that Mohammad Yousuf is ready to leave the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) to return to national duty.

“I have been hearing about it (Yousuf’s plans to quit ICL) from the media,” said Butt, a former Pakistani Test opener.

“I can comment for sure once I receive a formal request from the player,” he added.

Islamabad, Mar 29 : Allegations levelled against Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in a section of international media are “baseless and malafide,” said the Inter-Services Public Relations spokesman.

“The commitment of Pakistan in fighting terrorism can be judged from the sacrifices rendered by its security forces, including intelligence organisations,” he said in a statement.

“Such unauthenticated reports are part of a malicious campaign to discredit and bring disrepute to our security organisations,” the Daily Times quoted him, as saying.

Islamabad, Mar 29 : The Pakistan senate committee on national security has declared that the continuing of US drone attacks on Pakistani territory is a failure of the government’s foreign policy.

The committee made this observation while expressing its displeasure with US President Barack Obama for not announcing a halt to drone attacks when he revealed his new Afghanistan-Pakistan policy on Friday.

The National Assembly body also asked Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to appear before the committee on April 6, and brief it on the new US policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan.