Islamabad, Feb. 14: The Taliban's increasing influence in the tribal areas, and reports about it planning to take over some of the major cities like Islamabad, Peshwar, and Lahore has now drawn fear lines on the foreheads of the Pakistani leadership, which has long denied the presence of militants on their soil.

Karachi, Feb. 11: Veteran Pakistan politician and President Asif Ali Zardari's father Hakim Ali Zardari, has been taken to London for specialized medical attention.

Zardari senior has been in bad health for some time.

Doctors attending him said his condition was better than before and asked him to seek views from more experienced doctors in London, The News reports.

Peshawar, Feb. 11: President Asif Zardari has said Pakistan will request the United Nations to intervene against the continued US drones operations in Pakistan's Tribal Areas.

A tribal elder told the Daily Times that Zardari had assured the tribals that he would approach the UN if the US doesn't stop the attacks in the region.

"I will take the issue of drone attacks to the United Nations if they (the US) do not stop," Malik Waris Khan, a tribal elder quoted Zardari, as saying during his recent trip to Peshawar.

Islamabad, Feb. 10 : Richard Halbrooke, the United States special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, met Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday here.

According to The News, several topics including the prevailing tension with India, the turbulent situation along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, and the US led `war on terror' were discussed at the meeting.

The increasing insurgency in the Federally Administered Tribal Region (FATA) and Taliban's growing influence in the region were also taken up during the talks.

Sevearal other top officials, including the US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson and Interior Advisor Rehman Malik were also present in the meeting.

Islamabad, Feb. 10 : President Asif Ali Zardari has said that the federal government is fully committed to defeating militancy in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and in parts of the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP).

"Government would provide all resources to tackle terrorism and extremism," Zardari told the country's Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, on Monday.

The Nation quoted Zardari as saying: "If Taliban continued abduction and killing of innocent people, then the government would have no other option but to use force."

Lahore, Feb 6 : Hakim Ali Zardari, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's father, has received a bomb threat from an unidentified caller.

Hakim Ali Zardari, who is undergoing treatment at a Karachi hospital, is likely to be shifted to Islamabad due to security concerns, a private TV channel reported on Thursday.

Asif Ali Zardari visited his father at the Ziauddin Hospital, where he is currently under treatment for pneumonia.

The President stayed at the hospital for about an hour.