Islamabad, Jan 23 : An archaeological site, about 5,500 years old, has been found in a district in Pakistan, which has been claimed by experts as being older than the ruins of Moenjodaro.

According to a report in Dawn, the site was found in Lakhian Jo Daro near Goth Nihal Khoso in the district of Sukkur.

The find is said to be of the era of Kot Diji.

Islamabad, Jan 23 : Pakistani parliamentarians fear that the law and order situation in Punjab might grow worse than that of the Swat Valley, pointing to the activities of banned militant organizations in the province.

PML-Q MNA Shaikh Waqas Akram and PML-N legislator Rashid Akbar Nawani slammed the government for not paying attention to the growing influence of the banned religious organizations in their respective districts, The Nation reported.

Islamabad, Jan. 22 : NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer held talks with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad on Thursday on regional issues such as security along the Afghan border.

De Hoop Scheffer is also expected to meet Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, the Dawn quoted official sources as saying here.

NATO leads the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), made up of more than 51,000 troops from nearly 40 countries, which is assisting Afghan government forces in the fight against the Taliban.

Islamabad, Jan 22 : Pakistan Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar has informed the National Assembly that as many as 518 military personnel have been repatriated to the army since July 2008 whereas 2,451 are still working in civilian departments.

Mukhtar was asked to present the details about the total number of army personnel repatriated to their parent departments since July
2008, and the number and designations of those who were still working in civilian departments, the Daily Times reported.

Islamabad, Jan. 22 : Pakistan Interior Advisor Rehman Malik has said that the rise in extremist activities in the tribal regions of the country was due to the help being offered to the extremists groups from some foreign countries.

He said that foreign hands were patronising terrorists in the Swat valley, and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Addressing a seminar on Pakistan's current political and economic condition here, Malik said: "Terrorism is a cancer, not only for Pakistan but the entire world."

Islamabad  - Pakistani security forces have arrested an al-Qaeda operative believed to be linked with the July 2005 London terror attacks which killed 52 people and wounded hundreds more, an intelligence official said Thursday.

Zabi-ul-Taifi, a Saudi national, was seized along with six suspects Wednesday in a raid by paramilitary troops near Peshawar city, the capital of North-West Frontier Province.

"It was a swift operation and the foreigners were captured without any violence," the official said on condition of anonymity.