Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) — Pakistan will seek an additional $4.5 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund to help revive an economy hurt by fighting the global war against terrorism.
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Senior US diplomat Richard Holbrooke was set for talks with Indian leaders on Monday expected to focus on the global threat from Pakistan-based militants in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.
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KARACHI: Sri Lanka landed in Karachi on Sunday for a two-match Test series with their outgoing skipper Mahela Jayawardene eyeing to repeat the sort of performance that helped his side outclass Pakistan in the one-day series last month.Jayawardene’’s men are here just days after suffering a 1-4 ODI drubbing at the hands of India on home soil, but the captain was keener to point out the fact that they completed their last visit of Pakistan with a crushing 234-run victory over the hosts in the ODI series finale.”I”m disappointed that we didn”t play to our potential against India, but we have fond memories against Pakistan last time so hopefully we will continue with that,” he told reporters here at a local hotel.Sri Lanka will play a two-day warm-up game here at the DHA Stadium in Karachi on February 17-18 before taking on Pakistan in the opening Test at the National Stadium from February 21. The second and last Test will begin in Lahore from March 1.After beating Pakistan 2-1 in the ODI series last month, Sri Lanka’’s performance graph nosedived against India but Jayawardene is not concerned.”Our Test team is quite different to our one-day team and the way we play and approach is quite different so I don”t think it’’s going to make a huge difference,” he said.The 31-year-old Jayawardene, who has led the Sri Lankan team in 26 Tests and 97 ODIs during the past three years, wants to sign off as captain by winning the Test series.”For us wining a Test series in Pakistan would be brilliant and for me to leave on that note would be icing on the cake,” said the experienced batter, who led his team to victories in 15 Tests but has decided to give up captaincy after the Pakistan series to concentrate on his batting.”I felt it was right time to let it go and concentrate more on my cricket and take on another challenge which is to be a much better cricketer than who I am right now,” he said.”I feel that I have three four good years of batting which I could contribute to the team particularly with all the experience that I have gained,” he stressed.”If I use my experience in the right direction, I could actually contribute much more than I am contributing right now.”Jayawardene, who has played in 100 Tests and 299 One-day Internationals, is expecting it to be a good series in spite of the fact that Pakistan have not played a Test in almost 14 months and will be playing under a new captain - Younis Khan.”I”ve always said Pakistan is a quality team even though Younis has just taken over he has done this in the past and at the same time he is a very experienced cricketer so leading the team I don”t think is going to be a problem for him and the guys around him have quite a bit of experience not just playing for Pakistan but playing for counties and various other teams it’’s going to be a very good series and we are looking forward to the challenge.”I know they haven”t played Test cricket for quite sometime so we have to wait and see how there approach is going to be but for us it’’s going to be a great challenge coming back to Pakistan after some time and playing a Test series.”Sri Lanka will have a new opening combination with the induction of 26-year-old prolific run-getter Tharanga Paranavitana who will partner another left-hander Malinda Warnarpura. Paranavitana replaces lanky left-hander Michael Vandort. Paranavitana on the other hand has been a heavy scorer in domestic cricket.”Tharanga has been very consistent with the bat as an opening batsman and been part of our A team for the last two years,” he said.The skipper said that it is time his ”mystery spinner” Ajantha Mendis comes out with new tricks.”It’’s a good learning process for Ajantha. Now he needs to realize the surprise element might be not there like what Murali did throughout his career for him to now learn new tricks read the minds of the player and try be a smarter bowler,” he said referring to his veteran spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.Sri Lanka Test squad: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Kumar Sangakkara (vice-captain), Malinda Warnapura, Tharanga Paranavitana, Thilan Samaraweera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedera, Prasanna Jayawardene (w/k), Chaminda Vaas, Farveez Maharoof, Mutthiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Dilhara Fernando, Thilan Thushara, Suranga Lakmal.
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In a violent region of northern Pakistan, militants declared a 10-day cease-fire and the government said it was willing to accept the imposition of Islamic law.
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In the aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, the CIA orchestrated back-channel intelligence exchanges between India and Pakistan, allowing the two former enemies to quietly share highly sensitive evidence while the Americans served as neutral arbiters, according to U.S. and foreign governmen…
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ISLAMABAD: The house in Sindh where terrorists who attacked Mumbai planned their operations has been traced, Geo TV reported on Sunday. Geo sh
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ST JOHN”S, Antigua: Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook gave England a confident start to the third Test against West Indies on Sunday.At the lun
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DERA ISMAIL KHAN: A blast has been heard here on Monday, Geo news reported.
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MULTAN: Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Sunday that Pakistani bases were not being used for drone attacks. Talking to media pe
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BANNU: Security has been heightened in Bannu on Monday to meet any untoward incident.According to police sources, strict checking is being done by police and security forces at various points in the city while special jawans of the police are on patrolling across the District round the clock. Meanwhile, police has been equipped with the latest weapons.
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