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A small leftist group, which has been refused registration by the Election Commission, yesterday said it would challenge the decision in court.

A two-member bench of the Sindh High Court yesterday ordered the attorney general to respond on August 21 to a petition filed by former prime minister Benazir Bhutto challenging her disqualification.

Pakistan's more than 10,000 religious schools receive roughly around Rs 70 billion ($1.2 billion) a year through foreign and local charitable donations which is almost the equivalent of the country's income tax revenue, a recent study by an international research group said.

Undeterred by the crackdown on their ranks, Pakistan's four outlawed groups, including Jaish-e-Mohammed, are planning to launch their activities under new names, sources in the militant groups said.

A senior Pakistan customs official went out for an evening walk in a posh neighbourhood of the crime-plagued city of Karachi on July 18, but was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen on his way home.

A senior U.S. diplomat said yesterday that a decision about reopening the U.S. consulate in Karachi will be taken soon, but security remains a concern in the wake of fresh terrorist strikes in the country.

The U.S. consulate in the restive port city of Karachi was closed yesterday because of a security threat, a senior U.S. official said.

A state prosecutor yesterday formally charged four militants of carrying out the deadly bombing outside the U.S. consulate in Karachi and making a failed assassination attempt on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

Pakistani law enforcement agencies plan to throw an unprecedented security ring around President General Pervez Musharraf when he arrives in Karachi today to participate in an information technology exhibition, police sources.

A Pakistani court yesterday postponed until next week the trial of four militants charged for the deadly bombing outside the U.S. consulate in Karachi and issued arrest warrants for six of their accomplices who are still at large, court officials and lawyers said.

The city government, headed by a Jamaat-e-Islami member, has banned music during the Independence Day celebrations today at the educational institutions of Karachi, sparking a new controversy in this volatile port city.

Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto yesterday filed a constitutional petition in the Sindh High Court challenging the laws which bar her from electoral politics.