General Pervez Ashfaq Kayani, who pushed the Pakistani Taliban out of Swat Valley, is handing over power after six years as Pakistan‘s chief of army staff. He is passing the baton to General Raheel Sharif, who will now become the coup-prone country’s most powerful man. Read Here – AlJazeera
A concerted effort by the Sharif government to address domestic policy failures and set the pace for healthy economic growth will help lift the country’s profile on the international stage Read Here – Gulf News
The twin suicide bombings of a church congregation in Peshawar on Sunday have brutally dispelled the naive optimism of Pakistan, a country that believed Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister, when he campaigned to “give peace a chance” in May’s general election. Read Here – The National, Abu Dhabi
Asif Ali Zardari stepped down as Pakistan’s president and plans to rejuvenate his party after it was voted out of power in May’s general elections. Read Here – Bloomberg
If Sharif has learned any lesson from his previous two stints as prime minister, it should be that his chances for serving a full five-year term in office will depend on his establishing a modus vivendi with Pakistan’s powerful military establishment. His prospects for establishing civilian control over the military and intelligence agencies, however desirable […]
As the Pakistani anti-terrorism court prepares to indict former President Pervez Musharraf over the murder of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the UN official who conducted the special investigation into her death recounts his own search for answers. Read Here – Foreign Affairs
In a nation long plagued by military coups, the question of who will replace Pakistan‘s all-powerful army chief has taken on new urgency this year as the country tries to shake off the legacy of decades of military dictatorship. Read Here – Reuters
Developed in secrecy and tested in defiance, Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program has been a point of pride for Pakistanis, a worrisome portent for Indians, a source of profit for nuclear proliferators, and a security concern for US policymakers. Read Here – WorldAffairsJournal
Mamoon Hussain, a 73-year-old textile businessman from Karachi, will be sworn in on Sept 9 at the presidency due to be vacated by incumbent Asif Ali Zardari. Read Here – Dawn
China has bigger problems in wanting to use Gwadar port as an economic base, problems that ironically lie more than 2,000 kilometers away, high in the cloud-tipped Karakoram mountain range in northern Pakistan. Read Here – The Diplomat
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