Rawalpindi, Jan. 3 : Taking strong note of the recent air strikes by US led international forces in Pakistan, Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ashfaq Kayani has asked the forces to cease the missile strikes.

During the Tripartite Commission meeting, consisting of military representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan and international forces in Afghanistan, Kayani demanded that the strikes inside Pakistani territory should be immediately stopped, the Daily Times reported.

Kayani termed the strikes in the tribal areas of the country as `counterproductive in the war against terrorism and extremism'.

He said that many innocent people were being killed in the strikes, giving rise to extremism in the area.

Islamabad, Jan. 3: Pakistan has once again assured the world that it is devoted towards fighting extremism and maintaining peaceful relations with all its neighbours.

Pakistan Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sherry Rehman met British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Robert Brinkley and stated that "Pakistan is steadfast in its commitment towards elimination of extremism and for maintaining peaceful relations with all its neighbors."

Talking about the step that Pakistan has taken to counter terrorism, Sherry said: "Pakistan is aggressively pursuing its own counter-extremism agenda while at the same time also co-operating with the international community in its efforts against terrorism."

Islamabad, Jan. 3: The United States has once again asked Pakistan to work together with India to reduce the rising tension between the two countries.

US Ambassador in Pakistan, Anne W Patterson has said that it is in the interest of both Pakistan and India to work together to defuse heightened tension and co-operate against terrorism.

Patterson also asked Pakistan to co-operate with India in the Mumbai terror attack probe.

"The US has been encouraging closer co-operation between India and Pakistan to trace the terrorists involved in the Mumbai attacks," the Daily Times quoted US embassy spokesman Lou Fintor, as saying.

Washington, Jan 3: In a startling revelation made by a former US official, it has emerged that China tested Pakistan's first nuclear bomb in 1990.

Thomas Reed, a former US Air Force secretary has claimed in his book- The Nuclear Express: A Political History of the Bomb and Its Proliferation that during Benazir Bhutto's tenure China helped Pakistan in testing its first nuclear armament.

"We believe that during Benazir Bhutto's term in office, the People's Republic of China tested Pakistan's first bomb for her in
1990. There are numerous reasons why we believe this to be true, including the design of the weapon and information gathered from discussions with Chinese nuclear experts," the Dawn quoted Reed, as saying.

Lahore, Jan. 3: Pakistan may give some relief to the Indian national allegedly involved in the Faisalabad and Multan bomb attacks, by converting his death sentence into life imprisonment.

Pakistan's Law Minister Farooq H Naek sent a message to the Interior Ministry, urging it to commute the death penalty of Sarabjit Singh into a life sentence, The News reports.

Lahore, Jan 3: A village by the name of `Pakistan' still exists in Purnea district of Bihar despite growing tensions between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror strikes that killed 170 people.

In spite of tensions between the two neighbours, the residents of Pakistan village in Purnea district do not want to change the name of their village.

According to the BBC, the villagers did not want war between the two countries and wanted to spread the message of peace and brotherhood.

`Pakistan' is a village on western Bengal's borders from where the native Muslim population had migrated to then East Pakistan in 1947, and in the memory of those Muslims, the locals had named the village `Pakistan'.