Quetta, Feb 3 : Quetta police has detained several suspects in a bid to track down the whereabouts of a senior official of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR).

John Solecki, head of the UNHCR in the southwestern city of Quetta, was abducted by unidentified gunmen who killed his driver and took him away to an unknown location, said police and UN officials.

Lahore, Feb 3 : The ruling Pakistan People's Party and the PML-Q have agreed in principle to form a government in Punjab, and on other important issues, particularly the district government system.

PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi will settle details of the accord with the PPP leadership.

It was decided after the negotiations that the district nazims of Punjab would hold a meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari at Aiwan-e-Sadr on February 7, and make him aware of their reservations regarding the PML-N and its Punjab leadership in particular.

Islamabad - Up to 40 Islamic militants were killed in overnight clashes between the rebels and government forces in Pakistan's restive Swat valley, an official said on Tuesday.

"Artillery and helicopter gunships targeted several locations of insurgents in Khwazakhela subdistrict," said a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"According to the locals, between 30 and 40 insurgents were killed, while the number of those injured in the strikes is much higher," he added.

Islamabad, Feb 3 : The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Pakistan National Assembly has exposed irregularities worth Rs. 23.5 billion in the Defence Ministry in the wake of non-payment of a PTV license fee, payment for constructions of a Troops Family Welfare Centre at Mangla Garrison etc.

Lahore, Feb 3 : The Pakistan Government is planning to prosecute as many as 125 terorists, who might be involved in the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008.

The group, which includes "anyone who made any suspicious contacts inside India as the attacks began", would be charged under Pakistan's cyber crimes laws because suspects used Internet phones to communicate, ABC News quoted an unidentified senior intelligence official, as saying.