Christian Blasphemy Convict Mysteriously Dies in Karachi Jail
16 March 2011
"A Christian convicted of blasphemy in Pakistan has died in mysterious circumstances in a jail in the southern city of Karachi. Qamar David was serving a life sentence in Karachi's central jail for insulting the Koran and the Prophet Muhammad. Officials say he died of a heart attack but his family say that as a fit and healthy man, this is unlikely be true. Pakistan's penal code prescribes punishments up to death for blasphemy against Islam and the...
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Raymond Davis Freed after "Blood Money" Payment
16 March 2011
"A CIA security contractor who fatally shot two Pakistani men in January was released Wednesday after relatives of the victims received 'blood money' as compensation and agreed to pardon him, U.S. officials said. Raymond Davis was released from a Pakistani jail in Lahore after nearly two months in detention and was flown to meet with U.S. officials in Kabul. Cameron Munter, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, accompanied Davis on the flight, a U.S....
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Drone Strike Kills Five "Militants" near Miranshah, North Waziristan
16 March 2011
"A US drone strike in Datta Khel on Wednesday killed at least five militants, security officials said, as the covert campaign steps up in the border region. The strike took place in Datta Khel town, 25 kilometres (15 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal district, which borders Afghanistan and is a stronghold of al Qaeda-linked Taliban militants. 'A US drone fired three missiles at a militant compound in Datta Khel. Five...
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Targeted Killings Continue in Karachi
16 March 2011
"With the police and Rangers powerless to control violence in the city, assailants shot dead six more people, including two activists each of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the People’s Aman Committee, in the ongoing wave of targeted killings on Tuesday, officials and witnesses said. More than 20 people, mostly youngsters, have so far been gunned down on political or ethnic grounds in the wave of violence that erupted in the city last...
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