Karachi - Tag Search

Mr. Ten Percent

Asif Ali Zardari, the famously (allegedly) corrupt President of Pakistan, took $4.3 million worth of bribes for helping the French sell three submarines to his country in the mid-1990s, according to a report in the Pakistani press.

The three Agosta 90 submarines were worth roughly $1.24 billion (€825 million), according to the Nation, which cites the Pakistani French daily newspaper Liberation (Français).

It's a little hard to make out the details of how this bit of news surfaced, but it appears that there is an ongoing legal investigation by a French magistrate into a 2002 terrorist attack that killed 11 employees of the French defense company DCN, who were in Karachi working on the subs.

A Pakistani plot

Pakistani police arrested seven men who were allegedly planning attacks in Karachi. Police raided a house in that city; they recovered three suicide vests, 15 kilograms of explosives, and a collection of guns and other items.

No word yet on what they were planning to attack, or how far along their plot was. But Pakistani media are describing the men as a "sleeper cell."

They also recovered between 1.5kg and 2kg of heroin, which the men allegedly planned to sell to finance their operations.

Clap louder, clap in unison

Latest Iraq election results: A narrow lead for Iraqiyya

A "deteriorating" situation for Iraqi refugees

Al-Akhbar: Our weekly brief

Muslim Brothers

Crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood continues in Egypt

Mohammed Badie, the supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood.
With elections for Egypt's lower house of parliament later this year, the government has stepped up its crackdown on members of the banned-but-tolerated Muslim Brotherhood, which took a fifth of the country's parliament in groundbreaking 2005 elections but has recently seemed to move away from political involvement.

Peace Processing

Fallout from Biden's visit: West Bank sealed off; proximity talks appear stalled

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas greets U.S. vice president Joe Biden in Ramallah. (Photo: AFP)
As Joe Biden wraps up his Middle East tour, Palestinian officials say they're unwilling to move forward with proximity talks unless Israel cancels its new construction in East Jerusalem; and the Israeli Defense Forces have sealed off the West Bank for 48 hours, reportedly for security concerns. Several people were injured and arrested in fighting at the Al-Aqsa mosque this morning.

Peace Processing

Biden arrives in Israel amid serious Palestinian doubts

Vice President Joe Biden and his wife arrived in Israel on Monday.
As Joe Biden lands in Israel, the Israeli government -- obviously keen to demonstrate that it's serious about restarting peace talks -- announced Monday that it will violate its West Bank settlement freeze and build 112 new homes in Beitar Illit, a settlement west of Bethlehem.