Pakistan is breathing a sigh of relief - but Musharraf has left the country in a total mess Farewell, President Pervez Musharraf. The military dictator of Pakistan jumped ship and resigned on 18 August, before he could be impeached. Pakistan is breathing a sigh of relief. There is dancing in the streets. Even the stock market is bouncing back. Musharraf's departure is no surprise. His popular...

The New York Times Magazine profile of Asif Ali Zardari, the president of Pakistan who is known by the nickname of Mr 10 percent, is a depressing reading. It leaves you with little doubt that Zadari is not the kind of effective leader that Pakistan needs now. Then, in its final paragraphs, it turns its attention to the most likely alternative to Zadari: ‘American officials, increasingly conv...

In the spirit of our own Games of Duplicity, prominent Pakistani Irfan Husain upbraids Pakistan and her leadership, and concludes with the following: Another factor that has thwarted a more effective response to the Taliban threat is Pakistan’s preoccupation with India. Generations of army officers have been taught that Pakistan’s giant neighbor is the real enemy,

Scottish relief organisations working in the east of Africa have been given half a million pounds to help with their efforts.

With the declaration of the government that there will simply be no vote on the proposed third runway at Heathrow, the shaky position of the socialist Left in Labour is thrown into stark relief. If socialist MPs, councillors and activists can’t influence the policy of Labour, one wonders why we should continue to be part

Part of what makes the war in Afghanistan so complicated is how easily the Taliban can be supplied from over the border in Pakistan. Pakistan has been more cooperative recently but the Washington Post reports today that Pakistan has refused a US request to expand the areas in which its drones can operate. The Pakistanis are also resisting requests from the US to take a military grip on North Wazir...

Is the next war more likely to be Pakistan than Iran? It looks more and more like that each day, especially as Barack Obama makes snarling at Pakistan the biggest plank of his foreign policy. Obama was at it again today saying that al-Qaeda and the Taliban “have got safe havens there (in the Pakistani tribal areas) that US troops can't follow – that's a huge problem. We're going to nee...

It’s been over a week now since Piotr Stanczak was abducted by Taliban in the northwest of Pakistan, near the Afghan border. What are his odds of getting him back to Poland as Pakistan seems to be coming apart at the seams? Stanczak was working for a company looking for oil when three, maybe four Taliban ambushed his vehicle, killed his Pakistani driver, bodyguard and one other person, then

I haven't really got any time to write a proper blog this evening, so I hope readers don't mind if I bring this article to the notice of those who don't regularly frequent the website of the CWI. This is by Khald Bhatti of the Socialist Movement of Pakistan. In it the comrade looks at what the economic crisis spells out for Pakistan. The Pakistani economy is facing its worst crisis ...

Given the outcry about the proposed changes to capital gains tax taper relief, don't be surprised if the Government performs a U-turn in next year's Budget. Here are my predictions: They may decide to 'phase in' the abolition of the relief, in order to take some of the sting away. Maybe by tinkering with the rates somewhat. You can trust this Government to make things more complicated than they ne...