Karachi, Aug. 4 : Describing the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) as Pakistan’s first line of defence, President Pervez Musharraf on Sunday rubbished allegations that it was involved in the July 7 bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, and that it had a role to play in last week''s serial bomb blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad.

Addressing businessmen in Karachi, Musharraf said that the people of Pakistan should defend Pakistan against such conspiracies, and warned that weakening the ISI would also weaken the global war on terror.

Karachi - A radical cleric on Friday softened his stance on an American girl student holed up in his madrassa in Pakistan's southern port city Karachi, saying he would allow the teenager to return to her homeland if the government comes to terms with him.

Muna Abanur Mohammed, an American girl of African origin, is among eight foreign students studying at Jamia Binoria who were blacklisted by Pakistani authorities and asked to leave the country immediately following the expiration of their visas.

Karachi - Pakistan stocks plunged 3.89 per cent on Friday amid constant foreign selling attributed to US allegations that the country's military was supporting Islamic militancy in neighbouring Afghanistan, traders said.

The key KSE-100 Index of the Karachi Stock Exchange fell by over 412 points to close at 10,171 as the New York Times on Thursday cited a new CIA assessment saying Pakistani intelligence agents were involved in the July 7 bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul that killed 54 people.

The conclusions were reached on the basis of communications intercepted between the attackers and Pakistani intelligence officers, the Times reported.

Karachi, July 30 : Pakistan’s deposed Chief Justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaud

Karachi - Pakistan's central bank on Tuesday raised its benchmark interest rates by one per cent, the third such move since January to fight galloping inflation and to stop alarming government borrowing.

"Our inflation is reaching alarming levels mainly due to borrowing," said State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Shamshad Akhtar while announcing the monetary policy for the fiscal 2008-09 (July-June).

Akher said raising the rate to 13 per cent would help in curbing rampant government demand as borrowing had doubled in six months, constituting 80 per cent of the entire fiscal deficit that was equivalent to 8.3 per cent of the GDP.

Karachi  - Pakistani stocks nosedived 4.11 per cent Monday ahead of a central bank meeting that was expected to bring a jump in interest rates, traders said.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index of the Karachi Stock Exchange fell 453.68 points to close at 10,578.49.

The plunge was seen a day before the State Bank of Pakistan was forecast to lift its discount rate by 1 per cent to 1.5 per cent to fight inflation.

A rate hike could make investments in stocks less lucrative for investors compared with government-sponsored bonds.