ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Police tightened security at airports across Pakistan Thursday after receiving reports of a possible suicide attack at the international airport that serves Islamabad. Pakistan's capital was rocked by a suicide attack on the city's Marriott Hotel at the weekend. Officers emptied the parking lot at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport, on the outskirts of Islamabad, said Parvez George of the country's Civil Aviation Authority. Flights were going out of the airport, but police cleared the terminal building of the large crowds that usually gather to see relatives arrive or depart, George said. Muhammad Asghar of Islamabad Police told CNN that authorities placed the airport on high alert after intelligence reports indicated it was under threat of an attack. The country's capital city is on edge since a deadly blast Saturday night at the Marriott Hotel. The explosion killed more than 50 people, including two U.S. military personnel and the Czech ambassador to Pakistan. The bombing wounded more than 250 and sparked a fire that left the hotel in ruins. On Thursday, the Danish intelligence service said one of its employees, Karsten Krabbe, was among the victims of the blast. Krabbe, a 53-year-old married father of two, was a security adviser at the Danish Embassy in Islamabad, which was targeted by a suicide bomber in June. That attack killed six people and wounded more than 20. "Karsten Krabbe lost his life in a cowardly and ruthless terror attack," the Danish intelligence service said in a statement. Reacting to the Saturday's attack, the U.S. government barred employees from major hotels in several Pakistani cities, the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan said. The Embassy in Islamabad added Lahore on Wednesday to a list of three other cities in which U.S. personnel are no longer allowed to visit or stay in major hotels. The Embassy took the measures because of general security concerns, said spokesman Lou Fintor Thursday. He did not comment on a specific threat. In addition to the hotel restriction, the Embassy temporarily suspended visa and other routine consular services for Thursday and Friday. It said it will make available emergency services for U.S. citizens who need passports or are arrested. And an advisory reminded Americans in Pakistan to avoid crowds and demonstrations and to keep a "low profile." It said Americans should vary times and routes while traveling to avoid setting patterns. And it said a travel warning issued on August 7 still stands: U.S. citizens should defer nonessential travel to Pakistan due to continuing security concerns. -- CNN's Zein Basravi and Reza Sayah, and Journalist Nasir Habib contributed to this report

What were officers looking for at Benazir Bhutto International Airport?

What kind of attack was the airport in danger of

Where was the Danish Intelligence employee killed?

Answer: possible suicide attack

Answer: Marriott Hotel

Answer: possible suicide attack at the international airport that serves Islamabad.

Answer: possible suicide attack

Answer: Benazir Bhutto International

Answer: possible suicide

Answer: Marriott Hotel

Summary:
Benazir Bhutto International Airport on high alert .
Intelligence reports indicated airport was under threat of an attack .
Officers combed through the airport compound looking for explosives .
Danish intelligence says one of its employees was killed in Marriott hotel attack .


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Polish authorities in Pakistan say they are monitoring local reports that Taliban militants have executed a kidnapped Polish engineer. Pakistani Taliban militants offer prayers in Mamouzai area of

Orakzai Agency in November. Piotr Stancza was kidnapped September 28 from the city of Attock in Punjab province. Stancza had been based there for a Polish survey company searching for natural gas. Local reports and TV station Dawn News reported Stancza's execution Saturday. Polish Embassy spokesman Peter Adams said his offices were aware of local media reports but were waiting to hear officially from Pakistani authorities. He said all efforts had been made by Polish authorities to pressure the Pakistani government to do whatever it could to secure Stancza's release. "From the Polish side, we did whatever we could, pressuring the Pakistani government on the presidential and prime minister level," Adams said. "Problem was, this was solely Pakistan's responsibility. Demands were only towards [the] Pakistan government." Adams said there had been no demands for ransom. The Taliban had demanded the release of Taliban prisoners being held by the government and a pullout of government security forces from the tribal areas. Although there were assurances that the Pakistani government was doing everything it could and that Stancza would be freed soon, Adams said it was never clear what the government was actually doing to secure his release. "We are waiting for confirmation and waiting for any answer [about] how this happened and why did this happen," Adams said. A spokesman for Pakistan's interior ministry said that the reports of Stancza's death have yet to be confirmed and that the case of his kidnapping was a high priority for the government. Shahid Ullah Baig said the government had been working hard to retrieve Stancza unharmed but did not give details. "The Pakistan government is doing its level best to secure his release," he said, adding, "Human life is more important to us than anything else." Kidnappings and attacks against foreigners have risen sharply in recent months throughout the country. Most recently, an American working for the United Nations was kidnapped in Quetta, and Peshawar has been the scene of various attacks against foreign diplomats and journalists.

Who demanded release of prisoners, pullout of forces?

What group has demanded release of prisoners?

Who is checking local reports in Pakistan?

Answer: Piotr Stancza

Answer: prisoners being held by the government and a pullout of government security forces from the tribal areas.

Answer: Piotr Stancza

Answer: The Taliban

Answer: September 28

Answer: Piotr Stancza

Answer: September 28

Answer: September 28

Answer: September 28

Answer: Taliban

Answer: Taliban

Answer: city of Attock in Punjab province.

Answer: the city of Attock in Punjab province.

Answer: Polish authorities

Answer: September 28

Answer: prisoners being held by the government and a pullout of government security forces from the tribal areas.

Summary:
Piotr Stancza kidnapped September 28 from Attock in Punjab province .
Polish authorities in Pakistan checking local reports .
Taliban had demanded release of prisoners, pullout of forces .


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Mohammad has announced he has pulled out of a peace deal in the violence-plagued Swat Valley, saying the government is not serious about implementing Islamic law, or sharia, in the region.

Supporters of cleric Sufi Mohammad gather as they march during a peace rally in the Swat Valley.

Mohammad brokered the cease-fire in late February between the Pakistani government and his son-in-law, Maulana Fazlullah, who commands the Taliban in Swat Valley.

With the deal, the area would come under sharia law, which -- under the Taliban's strict interpretation -- would prevent women from even being seen in public without their husbands or fathers.

Mohammad has set up a protest camp at the headquarters of his son-in-law's Taliban-aligned group, Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM), according to a police official. The headquarters are located in Batkhelah in the Malakand agency of North West Frontier Province.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Mohammad expressed frustration that President Asif Ali Zardari had not signed off on the peace deal. He blamed the Pakistani government for any bloodshed that might follow.  Watch how peace talks have hit a hurdle »

Mohammad's pullout does not automatically mean the deal is over. The Taliban, itself, has not announced whether or not it too is pulling out.

A lawmaker with the Awami National Party (ANP) of the North West Frontier Province -- where Swat is located -- said he did not expect fighting to resume.

"God willing, there won't be anything that happens to take this [peace] out of our hands," said Hashem Baber of the ANP.

The province's government will send a contingent to meet with Mohammed and hear his complaints.

"We'll meet and talk and if they have an complaints, we'll try to push those away and solve the situation to get back to the peace deal," Baber said.

Critics of the cease-fire have called it a major concession by the Pakistani government in an attempt to hold off Taliban attacks.

Indeed, after the deal went into effect, Fazlullah proclaimed himself the Emir of Swat.

Swat Valley was once one of Pakistan's biggest tourist destinations. It is near the Afghanistan border and is 186 miles (300 kilometers) from the capital, Islamabad.

The central government has long exerted little control in the area, but it launched an intense military offensive in late July to flush out militants from areas of the North West Frontier Province

As retaliation for the military presence, the Taliban carried out a series of deadly attacks, beheadings and destruction of girls' schools. They also continued to gain ground, setting up checkpoints throughout the area.

Sufi Mohammad was released from jail last year by Pakistani authorities after he agreed to cooperate with the government. He was detained in 2002 after recruiting thousands of fighters to battle U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Fazlullah took over TNSM during Sufi Mohammed's jail stint and vowed to continue his fight to impose fundamentalist Islamic law in the region.

Last May, Pakistan's government announced it reached a peace deal with militants in Swat Valley.

In the months that followed, the Taliban seized control of the region and carried out a violent campaign against government officials, including local politicians.

The head of the secular Awami National Party -- which represents the region -- was forced to flee to Islamabad amid death threats from the Taliban.

Pakistan is under enormous pressure to control the militants within its borders, blamed for launching attacks in neighboring Afghanistan where U.S. and NATO forces are fighting militants.

The United States -- using unmanned drones -- has carried out several airstrikes inside Pakistan on suspected militant targets, including one on Wednesday that killed three suspected Taliban militants in the tribal region. Such incursions have infuriated many Pakistanis and their leaders.

Pakistan's military operation in the region is unpopular among Pakistanis, but efforts to deal diplomatically with militants have not worked in the past.

Pakistan's previous leader, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, reached a cease-fire deal with militants

what Mohammad brokered cease-fire between?

Answer: Pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Mohammad

Answer: the Pakistani government and his son-in-law, Maulana Fazlullah,

Answer: Sufi Mohammad

Answer: Mohammad

Summary:
Pro-Taliban cleric pulls out of peace deal in violence-plagued Swat Valley .
Cleric says Pakistani government not serious about implementing Islamic law .
Mohammad brokered cease-fire between Pakistani government and son-in-law .


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Rawalpindi's police chief stopped doctors at the hospital where Benazir Bhutto died from conducting an autopsy, according to a lawyer on the hospital's board. In a video released Sunday, Benazir Bhutto, far right, appears through the sunroof before shots ring out. It was a violation of Pakistani criminal law and prevented a medical conclusion about what killed the former prime minister, said Athar Minallah, who serves on the board that manages Rawalpindi General Hospital. However, the police chief involved, Aziz Saud, told CNN that he suggested an autopsy be done, but that Bhutto's husband objected. The revelation came on Monday after new videotape of Bhutto's assassination emerged, showing her slumping just after gunshots rang out. The tape provided the clearest view yet of the attack and appeared to show that Bhutto was shot. That would contradict the Pakistan government's account. Read Bhutto's full medical report A previously released videotape showed a man at the right of her vehicle raising a gun, pointing it toward Bhutto, who was standing in her car with her upper body through the sunroof. He fired three shots, then there was an explosion. In the video that emerged on Sunday, Bhutto was standing, and her hair and scarf appeared to move, perhaps from the bullet. Bhutto fell into the car, then came the blast.  Watch new tape showing apparent gunman » These images seem to support the theory that Bhutto died at the hands of a shooter before a bomb was detonated, killing another 23 people. Doctors at Rawalpindi General Hospital declared the 54-year-old dead hours after Thursday's attack, but the cause of her death has been widely debated. Pakistan's Interior Ministry announced on Friday that Bhutto died from a skull fracture suffered when she fell or ducked into the car as a result of the shots or the explosion and crashed her head onto a sunroof latch.  See the likely sequence of events » Bhutto's family and political party maintain that the government is lying, and insist she died from gunshot wounds. Bhutto's husband, in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Monday, called for an international investigation into his wife's death, saying the new video proves the Pakistani government "has been trying to muddy the water from the first day." "Everything is now very clear that she was shot," Asif Ali Zardari said. Zardari also called on the U.S. government to push for an international probe. "I want them to help me find out who killed my wife, the mother of my children," he said of the Bush administration. Javed Iqbal Cheema, spokesman for Pakistan's Interior Ministry, said the government's conclusion on Bhutto's death was based on "absolute facts, nothing but the facts" and "it was corroborated by the doctor's report." But Minallah issued an open letter on Monday and released the doctors' clinical notes to distance them from the government statement, and he also talked to CNN. In the letter, Minallah said the doctors "suggested to the officials to perform an autopsy," but that Saud "did not agree." He noted that under the law, police investigators have "exclusive responsibility" in deciding to have an autopsy. Minallah told CNN that he was speaking out because the doctors at the hospital were "threatened." "They are government servants who cannot speak; I am not," he said. He did not elaborate on the threats against the doctors. He said the lack of an autopsy has created "a perception that there is some kind of cover-up, though I might not believe in that theory." "There is a state within the state, and that state within the state does not want itself to be held accountable," Minallah said. Cheema said the government had no objection to Bhutto's body being exhumed for an autopsy if the family requested it. Her widower has said the family was against exhumation because it did not trust the government. Minallah said the family could

Who objected to an autopsy according to Aziz Saud?

Answer: Bhutto's husband

Answer: exhumation

Answer: Bhutto's assassination

Answer: police chief

Answer: Thursday's

Answer: manages Rawalpindi General Hospital.

Answer: Benazir Bhutto, far right, appears through the sunroof before shots ring out.

Answer: ISLAMABAD, Pakistan

Summary:
NEW: New video proves Bhutto shot, widower says .
Doctors claim Pakistani police prevented an autopsy on Benazir Bhutto .
Lawyer Athar Minallah said the move violated Pakistani criminal law .
Police chief Aziz Saud said he suggested autopsy but Bhutto's widower objected .


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Samina Rajput speaks in hushed tones about her husband, Asif, who was killed alongside former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in the December 27 attack that convulsed the nation. Suicide bombings have killed 400 people and wounded nearly 1,000 others in the last three months. "He always used to say ... 'I am ready to sacrifice my life for the party and my country,'" Rajput says. She clings to a weathered book with newspaper clippings of her husband, a 28-year-old Bhutto supporter who had great political ambitions. He wanted a brighter and freer Pakistan, Rajput says, as she turns the delicate pages of the scrapbook. The clippings on the faded pages offer little comfort. But a picture of their wedding day less than two years ago, buried among the pages, makes her face light up somewhat. "As the widow of a martyr, one has to keep dignity, and I will do this up to my last breath," Rajput says, clasping her hands and rubbing them together. Suicide bombings like the attack that killed Bhutto and more than 20 of her supporters, including Asif, have intensified in recent months in Pakistan.  Watch the devastating effects of bombings » On Thursday, a suicide bomber killed at least 23 people and injured more than 58 others outside a court in Lahore, police said. The attack brought to 20 the number of suicide attacks in Pakistan in the last three months, including a failed attack on Bhutto's life in October.  The bombings have killed close to 400 people and wounded nearly 1,000 others in the last three months, according to government officials. Pro-Taliban militants with ties to al Qaeda are carrying out the attacks, according to analysts and government officials. CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen says the number of suicide bombings in Pakistan has "reached unprecedented levels in the past year." Previously, Bergen says, such attacks were rare. "The reason for this rise is because al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban have morphed together ideologically and tactically, and both see themselves at war with the Pakistani state," Bergen says. "Many of the suicide attacks have been aimed at Pakistani politicians, officials and soldiers." Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has vowed to fight militancy and religious extremism, going after Taliban and al Qaeda within the country. Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, Mahmud Ali Durrani, recently told CNN that the Pakistani military is "totally focused on destroying al Qaeda and the Taliban network and not just one person." Still, the suicide bombers are succeeding, targeting political parties, rallies, military installations and anyone seen as a threat. Meanwhile, civilians are caught in the crossfire. "They would like to destabilize our country," Azhar Hamdani, who survived a July attack, says of suicide bombers. Clutching a walker, Hamdani recalls the blast that changed his life. On July 17, 2007, a suicide bomber targeted a rally for Pakistani Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, who was stripped of power by Musharraf. The explosion killed at least 12 people and wounded 35 others in the capital, Islamabad. Hamdani remembers a strong blast throwing him several yards. When he regained consciousness, he was missing his left eye and his right leg was severely injured. "My leg was totally damaged," he says. "My one left eye was damaged and I have several other injuries on my body." But at the time of the blast, Hamdani was not focused on his own pain, he says, because he was surrounded by the bodies of his dead friends lying in pools of blood. The bombings, he says, must be stopped. "I hope that we will succeed and, God willing, we will try to stop these bloody cowards," he says. "I don't think they are Muslim." "Innocent people are suffering." E-mail to a friend CNN's Wayne Drash contributed to this report.

What are the number of attacks in Pakistan?

What did the man wounded in the attack say?

How many suicide bombings have there been?

How many suicide bombings have rocked Pakistan over the last three months?

Answer: 20

Answer: "They would like to destabilize our country,"

Answer: 20

Answer: 20

Answer: The bombings,

Answer: Pro-Taliban militants with ties to al Qaeda are carrying out the attacks,

Answer: Azhar Hamdani,

Summary:
19 suicide bombings have rocked Pakistan over the last three months .
Terror analyst: Number of attacks "unprecedented" as Taliban, al Qaeda join forces .
Man wounded in attack says "bloody cowards" must be stopped .


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Security forces patrolled the streets of the eastern Pakistan city of Gojra on Sunday, one day after seven people were killed and 20 injured when Muslim demonstrators set fire to houses in a Christian enclave and fighting broke out, authorities said. Pakistani human rights activists in Lahore protest on Saturday over the anti-Christian violence in Gojra village. Police said Muslims were enraged over an alleged desecration of pages in the Quran at a Christian wedding last Saturday, and held a rally to protest such an act. The Quran is the Muslim sacred text. Shehbaz Bhatti, federal minister for minorities, told CNN that four women, two men and a child, all Christians, were either killed when their houses were burned or were shot to death. Some 50 houses were burned down and more than 100 were looted by the protesters, Bhatti said. The incident occurred in Gojra City, 160 kilometers or around 100 miles southwest of Lahore. No violence was reported Sunday, Punjab Provisional Minister Rana Sana Ullah told CNN. There was a demonstration by about a thousand Christians who refused to bury their dead until the government registered a criminal case against those they alleged to have carried out the attacks. The government would register a criminal case, Sana Ullah said. Registering a case means a criminal investigation will be opened. Sana Ullah added that the government strongly condemned the incident. He said the attack was not a sectarian issue, but rather terrorism. He blamed the incident on attackers with ties to militants in Northwest Pakistan, where the government is carrying out an offensive against Taliban groups. On Thursday, 15 Christian houses in the region were also torched. Pakistan is predominantly Muslim but has a small Christian community. Meanwhile, police in Islamabad reported the Friday arrest of an al Qaeda member thought to be involved in several attacks. Bin Yamin, a senior police official in Islamabad, identified the militant as Rao Shakir Ali. He is suspected of being involved in strikes on several targets, such as the Danish Embassy, police and a hotel, and is also suspected of targeting a rally for Chief Justice Iftikhar Chauhdary, authorities said. The suspect is a resident of Sargodha, which is 165 kilometers (more than 100 miles) northwest of Lahore and has a house in Rawalpindi that has been used to facilitate insurgent acts, police said. CNN's Tim Schwarz and Journalist Nasir Habib contributed to this report.

Where was the Quran alledgedly desecrated?

Answer: fighting

Answer: 50

Answer: Pakistan

Answer: Pakistan

Answer: Christian wedding

Answer: 50

Answer: houses in a Christian enclave

Summary:
Fighting broke out as Muslims torched 40 to 50 houses in Christian enclave .
Muslims enraged over an alleged desecration of Quran at a Christian wedding .
Muslims burned 15 Christian homes on Thursday .
Pakistan predominantly Muslim, but has a small Christian community .


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Suspected Taliban militants blew up a bridge early Tuesday in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan, suspending NATO supply lines.

A Pakistani policeman sits near a police check post in the tribal area of Khyber Agency on February 12, 2008.

The blast occurred about 6 a.m. Tuesday in the Khata Kushta area of Jamrod in the Khyber Agency in Pakistan Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The bridge connected Landi Kotal and Jamrod. Transport has been suspended, and authorities are assessing damages.

Engineers also are on location and work is under way to open a temporary route. Details were unclear on the size of the blast, but most of the iron bridge was destroyed, local officials said.

No deaths or injuries were immediately reported.

Authorities are looking for alternate supply routes for NATO supply trucks and traffic going from Pakistan to Afghanistan, because the route is the main one between the two countries. All vehicles must cross the bridge when going from Peshawar toward the crossing point into Afghanistan.

This is the first time militants have targeted a bridge or roadway in efforts to disrupt NATO supplies, a local official said.

Previously, militants have targeted truck depots where supply convoys wait to cross into Afghanistan or have attacked trucks on their way through Pakistan and into the Khyber Agency.

On Monday, at least 35 suspected militants were killed as part of ongoing operations in the Swat Valley, the Pakistan military confirmed to CNN.

Government security forces engaged 70 to 80 suspected militants with artillery and attack helicopters about 11 p.m., after observing their movements in the Khwaza Khela District of the Swat Valley, the military said.

Though only 35 militants were confirmed dead, many more were injured in the attack and the death toll was expected to rise, the military said.

Also on Monday, a Taliban FM radio sermon announced that militants had killed 16 Pakistan army soldiers in the Swat Valley. Officials at the Swat media center said that report was false.

Where did the militants blow up a bridge?

What number of deaths or injuries were immediately reported?

How many suspected militants were killed?

Where was the bridge blown up by Taliban militants?

Answer: 35 suspected militants

Answer: in Pakistan Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Answer: region between Pakistan and Afghanistan,

Answer: a bridge

Answer: No

Answer: 35

Answer: Pakistan

Answer: region between Pakistan and Afghanistan,

Summary:
Suspected Taliban militants blown up a bridge in Pakistan's Khyber Agency region .
Khyber Agency is in border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan .
NATO supply lines suspended; No deaths or injuries were immediately reported .
At least 35 suspected militants killed as part of operations in the Swat Valley .


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Suspected Taliban militants blew up a government-run school Monday in Pakistan's violence-plagued Swat Valley, bringing to 183 the number of schools destroyed since fighting began in the area six months ago, officials said.

Students gather outside a destroyed school on January 17 in Kundar in Pakistan's Swat Valley.

A day earlier, radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah threatened to kill more than four dozen government officials if they did not appear before him for opposing the Taliban.

Local newspapers on Monday printed the list of 50 government officials and tribal elders whom Fazlullah has threatened with death.

The boy's high school that was destroyed was located in Mingora, the valley's main city, said Sher Afzal Khan, an education officer for Swat. The attack occurred early Monday and no one was wounded.

Swat Valley, located in North West Frontier Province, was once Pakistan's biggest tourist destination. It is situated near the Afghanistan border and about 186 miles (300 km) from the capital city of Islamabad.

The valley boasted the country's only ski resort and was a draw for trout-fishing enthusiasts until it was overrun by militants, led by Fazlullah. He has launched a violent and deadly campaign to enforce Taliban-style fundamentalist Islamic laws throughout the province.

The militants want to require veils for women and beards for men, and to ban music and television.

The central government has long exerted little control in the area, but it launched an intense military offensive in late July to flush out militants.

As retaliation for the military presence, the Taliban has carried out a series of deadly bombings, and has said the attacks will continue until the troops pull out.

Elsewhere in the North West Frontier Province, a blast killed five people and wounded 15 others Monday morning, officials said.

The bomb, planted on a bicycle, went off in the town of Dera Ismail Khan, said Mohammad Riaz of the province's police force. It killed shopkeepers and pedestrians, added the town's police chief, Abdul Rashid.

CNN's Zein Basravi contributed to this report.

What groups are causing the violence in the North West Frontier Province?

How many people have been killed in the wave of violence?

How many were killed in the wave of violence?

How many schools has this fighting destroyed?

A boy's high school was targeted by what?

Which province were hundreds of people killed across?

How many schools have been destroyed in the past six months?

How many people have been killed in the violence across the North West Frontier Province?

Answer: Taliban militants

Answer: government-run school

Answer: the valley's main city,

Answer: Mingora,

Answer: five

Answer: shopkeepers and pedestrians,

Answer: five

Answer: 183

Answer: Taliban militants

Answer: North West Frontier

Answer: 183

Answer: five

Answer: Swat Valley,

Answer: Kundar in Pakistan's Swat Valley.

Answer: deadly bombings,

Answer: Swat Valley,

Answer: 183

Summary:
Blast targets boy's high school in Mingora, Swat Valley .
Monday attack marks 183rd school destroyed in past six months of fighting .
Hundreds of people killed in wave of violence across North West Frontier Province .


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan announced a 10-day cease-fire on Sunday in Pakistan's Swat Valley, a volatile region in North West Frontier Province that is largely controlled by the Taliban.

The Taliban says it has agreed a 10-day cease-fire with Pakistani forces in the Swat Valley.

The Taliban are holding talks with the North West Frontier Province's government in the town of Timagera in the province's Lower Dir district, he said. Taliban leader Sufi Mohammad is heading negotiations for the militants.

There was no immediate confirmation of the cease-fire from the Pakistani government.

Swat Valley was once Pakistan's biggest tourist destination until it was overrun by militants led by radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah. The valley boasted the country's only ski resort and was once a draw for trout-fishing enthusiasts.

It is believed to be the deepest advance by militants into Pakistan's settled areas -- meaning areas outside its tribal region along the border with Afghanistan.

The negotiations are the latest attempt by Pakistan's civilian government -- which took power last year -- to achieve peace through diplomacy in areas where Taliban and al Qaeda leaders are believed to have free rein.

Swat has been overrun by forces loyal to Maulana Fazlullah's banned hardline Islamic group, Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM) which has allied itself with Taliban fighters. TNSM was once led by Sufi Mohammed, Fazlullah's father-in-law who is leading the latest negotiations. Sufi Mohammed was released from jail last year by Pakistani authorities after he agreed to cooperate with the government. He had been jailed in 2002 after recruiting thousands of fighters to battle U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Fazlullah took over TNSM during Sufi Mohammed's jail stint and vowed to continue his fight to impose fundamentalist Islamic law in the region.

Last May, Pakistan's government announced it reached a peace deal with militants in Swat Valley. Analysts as well as critics within the establishment have described those talks as a failure that gave the Taliban time to regroup and gain more ground.

The Taliban have recently targeted local politicians, including the head of the Awami National Party -- which represents the region -- who was forced to flee to Islamabad.

Pakistan is under enormous pressure to control the militants within its borders, blamed for launching attacks in neighboring Afghanistan where U.S. and NATO forces are fighting militants.

Pakistan's military operation in the region is unpopular among Pakistanis, but efforts to deal diplomatically with militants have not worked in the past.

Pakistan's previous military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, reached a cease-fire deal with militants in South Waziristan in 2006 which was widely blamed for giving al Qaeda and Taliban a stronger foothold in the region.

CNN's Zein Basravi contributed to this report.

Is there conformation of the cease-fire?

Answer: Muslim Khan

Answer: 10-day cease-fire

Answer: no

Answer: 10-day

Summary:
Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan announces a 10-day cease-fire in Swat Valley .
Taliban are holding talks with the North West Frontier Province's government .
No immediate confirmation of the cease-fire from the Pakistani government .


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The Taliban in Pakistan have issued a direct challenge to the legitimacy of the Pakistani government, by declaring the country's entire legal system "un-Islamic." Taliban representatives leave talks in Peshawar in February after reaching a deal on Sharia law in Swat. "Let the judges and the lawyers go to Islamic university," said Muslim Khan, a Taliban spokesman in Pakistan's Swat Valley. "(After) they learn Islamic rules, Islamic regulation, they can continue to work." In a telephone interview Tuesday with CNN, Khan demanded the imposition of Islamic sharia law all across the country. He also called for the creation of jaziya, an Islamic tax, to be levied on all non-Muslims in Pakistan. And Khan denounced any Pakistanis who disagreed with his interpretation of Islam, calling them "non-Muslims." The Taliban militant echoed statements made by Sufi Muhammed, an Islamist fundamentalist leader who helped broker a peace deal between the Pakistani government and the Taliban in Swat Valley. Last week, the deal led to the implementation of sharia law in Swat, an alpine region that was once one of Pakistan's most popular destinations for foreign tourists. Speaking before an audience of tens of thousands on Sunday, Sufi Muhammed declared democracy and Pakistan's judicial system "un-Islamic." Since reaching his peace deal with the government in Islamabad, Muhammed has been appointing qazis, or clerics, to serve as judges in Islamic courts in Swat. The rise of the Taliban in Swat has alarmed and frightened some members of local civil society there. "This is a time bomb for the country," said Aftab Alam, the head of the lawyers' association in Swat district. Speaking by telephone from the town of Mingora, Alam claimed Taliban militants have kidnapped, ransomed and even killed lawyers in recent months. "The only sane voice against the militants, the only sane voice against the criminals, is the lawyer community," he said. "And this is why we have been declared by them, I mean the militants, liable to death." This week, some secular Pakistani political parties publicly condemned the Taliban's strict interpretation of Islam. But many other prominent officials appear unwilling or unable to challenge the creeping Taliban conversion of Pakistani society. For example, Ali Ahmed Kurd, one of the leaders of the lawyers protest movement which helped bring down the government of military ruler Pervez Musharraf, declined to comment on Tuesday when asked by CNN about Sufi Mohammed's comments. In recent months, videos have emerged showing what appear to be Taliban militants in Swat meting out vigilante justice. One video shows men beating a woman accused of adultery with a cane. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan initially claimed responsibility for the public caning in interviews with Pakistani TV stations. But in his interview with CNN on Tuesday he reversed his position, accusing "opponents of Islam" of making fake videos to hurt his movement's image. Meanwhile, in another Taliban-run region called Orakzai, details emerged of militants forcing a small community of Sikhs to pay a jaziya or "minority tax" of 10.5 million rupees, roughly 18,000 dollars earlier this month. During his interview, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said that if his vision of an Islamic society is fulfilled in Pakistan, terror mastermind Osama Bin Laden will be welcome to travel and live openly here. "Sure, he's a Muslim, he can go anywhere," Khan said. Khan added that he would like to see sharia law implemented beyond Pakistan, even in America, a country he knows intimately. For four years, the Taliban spokesman lived in the United States, working as a painter near Boston.

What has Government-Taliban deal lead to?

What were the words of fundamentalist leader about Pakistan's judicial system?

Answer: the implementation of sharia law in Swat,

Answer: Pakistan's Swat Valley.

Answer: the Taliban's strict interpretation of Islam.

Answer: "Let the judges and the lawyers go to Islamic university,"

Answer: the imposition of Islamic sharia law

Answer: publicly condemned the Taliban's strict interpretation of Islam.

Answer: the imposition of Islamic sharia law

Summary:
Taliban in Pakistan demand imposition of Islamic sharia law across country .
Government-Taliban deal has led to implementation of sharia law in Swat Valley .
Fundamentalist leader declares Pakistan's judicial system "un-Islamic"
Secular Pakistani political parties have condemned strict interpretation of Islam .


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday amid tensions between the two countries about U.S. military incursions into Pakistan's tribal areas. Adm. Michael Mullen will meet with Pakistan's new prime minister and its military chief. Adm. Michael Mullen will meet with Pakistan's newly elected prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, and Pakistan's military chief, Gen. Parvez Kayani, Mullen's office said. Relations between the United States and Pakistan have been tense since the U.S. military sent ground forces into Pakistan's tribal regions earlier this month without Islamabad's permission. The incident prompted the Pakistani government to summon the U.S. ambassador to voice its disapproval, as well as deliver a "demarche" (a diplomatic petition or protest) through its ambassador in Washington. Last week, Kayani announced no foreign forces will be allowed to conduct operations inside Pakistan in light of the "reckless" U.S. military ground operation. Kayani said Pakistan's "territorial integrity ... will be defended at all cost and no external force is allowed to conduct operations ... inside Pakistan." His announcement came amid media reports that several months ago, President Bush authorized U.S. special forces to carry out ground assaults inside Pakistan without first seeking Islamabad's permission. Meanwhile, a suicide attack late Tuesday evening in the restive area of Swat killed three soldiers and wounded six others, the Pakistani military told CNN. Pakistan army spokesman Major Murad Khan said the driver of the suicide car bomb tried to ram the gate of a military checkpoint at a school in the Swat District. Troops shot from the check-post before the attacker reached his target, Khan said. The car exploded, and militants shot back as they ran away. The incident happened at a time when Muslims break their fasts in the month of Ramadhan. Swat militants loyal to banned religious leader Maulana Fazlullah have claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the military. The suicide attacker in the car was killed. A few others were also believed to have been killed or injured, but Khan said there were no confirmed numbers because it was dark and the militants removed the bodies of their dead and wounded. The explosion occurred at the Tutano Bandai school of Tehsil Kabal in Swat District in the North West Frontier Province. A military spokesman offer no additional details. CNN's Jamie McIntyre and Zein Basravi contributed to this report.

who is meeting with Pakistan's new prime minister?

In which region Relations between U.S. and Pakistan tense?

How many soldiers were killed in Suicide?

Answer: Adm. Michael Mullen

Answer: tribal areas.

Answer: six

Answer: three

Answer: three

Summary:
Adm. Michael Mullen to meet with Pakistan's new prime minister and military chief .
Relations between U.S. and Pakistan tense since U.S. raid in Pakistani tribal region .
Suicide attack kills 3 soldiers, wounds 6 others in Pakistan region of Swat .


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The new leader of the Pakistani Taliban vowed revenge on Pakistan, the United States and NATO forces for drone attacks along the Afghan border, two local journalists who attended a meeting with him told CNN. File picture taken on November 26, 2008 of Pakistani Taliban commander Hakimullah Mehsud Leader Hakimullah Mehsud met reporters Sunday in South Waziristan, according to the journalists, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the news media. Taliban commanders Wali-Ur Rehman and Qari Hussein, and spokesman Aazam Tariq, were at the meeting as well, the journalists said. Mehsud also vowed to avenge the recent death of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, they said. Officials think he was killed by a drone attack in August. The leader said the Taliban would not disarm as a condition for talks, and added that the militants' withdrawal from the Swat Valley was a strategic move and not a retreat or a defeat, the journalists said. South Waziristan is one of seven districts in Pakistan's tribal region along the Afghan border. The Pakistani military is fighting Taliban militants in the country's north, and missile attacks from suspected U.S. drones have targeted militant leaders. The United States is the only country in the region known to have the ability to launch missiles from drones, which are controlled remotely. U.S. officials do not comment on suspected drone strikes, which have caused tension between Pakistan and the United States.

When did Hakimullah Mehsud meet reporters?

What is the only country known to have ability to launch missiles from drones?

Answer: South Waziristan,

Answer: launch missiles from drones,

Answer: Sunday

Answer: Taliban leader Baitullah

Answer: vowed to avenge the recent death of Taliban leader Baitullah

Answer: United States

Summary:
Hakimullah Mehsud met reporters Sunday in South Waziristan .
Mehsud also vowed to avenge recent death of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud .
U.S. the only country known to have ability to launch missiles from drones .


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- There have been conflicting accounts of how former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto died Thursday. Here is a timeline of the accounts reported by CNN. Late Thursday, Pakistan time: • Pakistani police say that a suicide bomber killed 14 people at a rally in Rawalpindi organized by Bhutto supporters. A Bhutto spokesman says the opposition leader was rushed away from the scene and was safe. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto arrives at a campaign rally Thursday in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. • Pakistan's Geo Television Network, quoting Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, reports the ex-premier was critically wounded in the bombing. • Former Pakistani government spokesman Tariq Azim Khan says Bhutto was hurt leaving the rally, but there is no indication whether she was shot or hurt in the bombing. Reports from police and the Bhutto camp conflict over whether she was injured. • Geo TV quotes Zardari saying his wife suffered a bullet wound to the neck after the suicide bombing. • Khan and Pakistan's primary television networks report Bhutto is dead. Television reports indicate she died of bullet wounds suffered after the suicide bombing. • Khan says it appears Bhutto was shot, but he adds it's unclear whether bullets or shrapnel caused her wounds. • Doctors and a spokesman for Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party confirm the ex-premier's death, but it remains unclear how she was killed. • Police tell CNN that a suicide bomber riding a motorcycle detonated himself near Bhutto's motorcade. She was rushed to nearby Rawalpindi General Hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead. Khan says it's unclear if a bullet or shrapnel dealt the fatal wounds. Friday morning, Pakistan time: • The Pakistani Interior Ministry tells the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan that Bhutto died of a gunshot wound to the neck. The suicide bomber fired shots before blowing himself up, the ministry tells the news agency. A photographer for Getty Images confirms hearing three shots before the blast. • CNN quotes a witness who describes Bhutto's killer as a "thin young man jumping toward the vehicle and opening fire." Friday evening, Pakistan time: • The Interior Ministry tells the Associated Press of Pakistan that flying shrapnel from a suicide bomb killed Bhutto. The bomber also shot at her with a pistol, the ministry tells the state-run news agency, but Bhutto suffered no injuries from bullets. • Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Javed Iqbal Cheema, citing a medical report, says Bhutto was hit on the right side of her skull with shrapnel. • Another Associated Press of Pakistan report quotes Dr. Mussadiq Khan saying that Bhutto showed "no signs of life" on her arrival at Rawalpindi General Hospital and that she was pronounced dead about 40 minutes later. • Cheema says Bhutto died after fracturing her skull on a sunroof lever in her vehicle. Contrary to previous reports, she did not die from bullet or shrapnel wounds and nothing entered her head, the Interior Ministry spokesman said. • Cheema says that Bhutto "fell down or perhaps ducked" when gunshots rang out. She apparently hit her head on a lever, Cheema said, adding that it was stained with blood. • Khan, the doctor who treated Bhutto before she was declared dead, says the former prime minister had a "big wound" on the side of her head "that usually occurs when something big, with a lot of speed, hits that area." E-mail to a friend

who died from a gunshot wound to the neck?

Who says Bhutto died after hitting his head?

What did reports later on Friday say Bhutto died from?

Answer: Bhutto was hit on the right side of her skull with shrapnel.

Answer: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto

Answer: CNN.

Answer: "big wound" on the side of her head

Answer: flying shrapnel

Answer: "thin young man jumping toward the vehicle and opening fire."

Summary:
Pakistani government now says Bhutto died after hitting head on sunroof lever .
Reports early Friday said Bhutto died from a gunshot wound to the neck .
Reports later Friday said flying shrapnel from a suicide bomb killed Bhutto .


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Three suspects were arrested after an explosives-packed van reduced a police building to rubble Wednesday in eastern Pakistan, killing 27. The scene of an apparent suicide car bomb attack on a police building in Lahore on May 27. The morning attack in Lahore -- Pakistan's second-largest city -- also wounded more than 250 people, most of them police officers and staffers, authorities said. Fourteen of the dead included police officers. Three others were identified as bodies of "terrorists," said City Commissioner Khusro Pervez. Immediately after the blast, police arrested two of the suspects, said City Commissioner Khusro Pervez. Local television showed the men being led away by officers. Sir Ganga Ram hospital, which was damaged by the explosion, was treating 128 victims. Authorities expected the death toll to rise as rescue workers picked through twisted metal and other debris from the building, looking for more bodies.  Watch more on the attack » The attack comes amid a Pakistani military offensive to rout militants from their haven in the northwestern part of the country. Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistan Taliban, had threatened to target major Pakistani cities if the operations did not cease. "The enemies of Pakistan are trying their very best to use every venue to destabilize the country," Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters Wednesday. The blast occurred on Mall Road near the city police headquarters and the high court. It is one of Lahore's busiest areas. A passenger van, laden with explosives, broke through a security barrier and was headed toward the police building when guards opened fire to stop it, said Lahore's district coordination officer, Sajjad Ahmed Bhutta.  Watch rescue workers respond to the scene » The two sides exchanged gunfire, with the attackers hurling grenades, said Faisal Gulzar, deputy police superintendent. The van exploded before it could reach the building. It was carrying an estimated 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of explosives, Bhutta said. The impact was immense. The targeted building -- Building 15 -- collapsed. It housed the city's rapid response team, which is dispatched during emergencies. At least 50 people were thought to have been inside the two-story building at the time, said police spokesman Ray Nazar Hayat. The police headquarters that sits adjacent to the building was also damaged. Motorcycles from a nearby dealership were strewed about, charred from the heat. The roof of four operating rooms caved at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, with 40 medical staff members suffering minor wounds. Police waved away onlookers in vain. Many of them jumped over the collapsed walls of Building 15 to look for survivors. Semi-conscious officers in blood-stained uniforms were pulled from under wooden planks. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, with suspicion falling on the beleaguered Islamic militants in the northwest who had vowed revenge. "We're doing our best," Malik, the interior minister, said of the offensive in the northwest. "Please do not forget we're in a state of insurgency. It's a fight for our survival. We had two choices: We surrender our country or we save it for our next generation." Lahore is Pakistan's cultural capital, far removed from the fundamentalist interpretation of Islam that is embraced in the north of the country, which borders Afghanistan. Still, it has sporadically been swept into widening Islamist violence that grips the country. In March gunmen hurled grenades and opened fire on officers at a police training center, killing at least seven cadets. The same month gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying members of the Sri Lankan national cricket team on their way to a stadium for a match. The attack wounded at least eight members of the team and killed a driver and six Pakistani police officers. "Everywhere in the city is insecurity," Haris Nadeem, a student in Lahore, said Wednesday. "You never know when a blast is going to occur or where. A shopping center? A government office?" Still, said Saleem Khan,

How many attackers among the dead, city official says?

How many  killed, more than 250 wounded, according to officials ?

Where was the Vehicle packed with explosives ?

How many were wounded, according to officials?

Answer: Three

Answer: killing 27.

Answer: eastern Pakistan,

Answer: 27.

Answer: more than 250 people,

Answer: police officers.

Answer: killing 27.

Summary:
NEW: Three attackers among the dead, city official says .
At least 27 killed, more than 250 wounded, according to officials .
Attack reduces police building in Lahore to rubble .
Vehicle packed with explosives detonated by building with at least 50 people inside .


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Tuba Sahaab looks nothing like a warrior. She is a slight girl of 11, living in a simple home in a suburb of Islamabad. But in Tuba's case, looks are deceiving.

"I want to give peace to my nation," Tuba Sahaab says, "I will fight for it."

With her pen, Tuba is taking on the swords of the Taliban. She crafts poems telling of the pain and suffering of children just like her; girls banned from school, their books burned, as the hard-core Islamic militants spread their reign of terror across parts of Pakistan.

A stanza of one of her poems reads: "Tiny drops of tears, their faces like angels, Washed with blood, they sleep forever with anger."

Tuba is not afraid to express her views. Of the Taliban forcing young girls out of the classroom, she says: "This is very shocking to hear that girls can't go to school, they are taking us back to the Stone Age."

Less than two hours from Tuba's home, the Taliban have control. The one-time holiday destination of the Swat Valley is now a no-go zone. Curfews are in place at all times. Militants kill with impunity.

Human rights activists and people on the ground in Swat Valley speak of a place called "slaughter square" where the Taliban leave the bodies of their victims with notes saying "do not remove for 24 hours." No one touches the corpses out of fear of reprisals.  Watch Tuba recite her poetry Â»

Tuba Sahaab refuses to be silent. As young as she is, she is wise and brave beyond her years. The young school girl is reaching a bigger audience, regularly appearing in the media.

On the day we spend with her, Tuba and her mother appear on a talk radio program. Back home, she tells me how she would give her life for her country.

"I want to give peace to my nation," she says, "I will fight for it."

And Tuba has an inspiration: U.S. President Barack Obama.

She prayed for his elections, she says. She sees in him the hope of peace in her own country. Tuba Sahaab has a dream to meet her hero. She can hardly contain her excitement.

"I want to go the White Palace and show him my poems, show him what is happening and ask him to come to Pakistan and control it because he is a super power."

Meeting and listening to Tuba Sahaab, it is easy to forget she is still a young girl.

In her playground at school, Tuba dances and laughs with her friends. She loves writing her short stories (she has already published one book) and shows me a cartoon character she has created called "Tomato Man."

Tuba's parents are proud of their daughter. They say they are not afraid even as she speaks out so publicly against the Taliban.

Tuba is their only child but as her mother tells me, she is "worth more than seven sons and seven daughters."

And Tuba has the dreams of any young child. She tells me she wants to be an astronaut and then one day lead her country.

"I will do anything, if my life goes I don't worry, I just want to do something." "I think you will get the chance," I say.

"Yes, if someone gives me the chance you will see what I can do."

Of that, I have no doubt.

What does Sahaab craft?
Who is Tuba Sahaab?
What does Tuba craft?
What does she do?
What is Tuba Sahaab's age?
Where have girls been banned from?
What does Sahaab refuse to do?
How old is Tuba Sahaab?
How old is Sahaab?
What have girls been banned from?
Who has been banned fro school?

Answer: poems

Answer: She is a slight girl of 11,

Answer: poems

Answer: crafts poems telling of the pain and suffering of children just like her;

Answer: 11,

Answer: school,

Answer: be silent.

Answer: 11,

Answer: 11,

Answer: school,

Answer: girls

Summary:
With her pen, 11-year-old Pakistani Tuba Sahaab takes on the swords of the Taliban .
She crafts poems on children in Pakistan oppressed by hard-core Islamic militants .
Girls have been banned from school, their books burned, as militants spread terror .
Refusing to be silent, despite the danger, she regularly speaks out in the media .


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- U.S. Vice President-elect Joe Biden assured Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday that the incoming Obama administration will continue to support Pakistan's efforts to strengthen democracy and combat terrorism, according to Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Vice President-elect Joe Biden meets Pakistani officials in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Friday. Biden told Zardari that the new U.S. administration would also help Pakistan "meet its socio-economic requirements and capacity building," the ministry said in a written statement. The vice president-elect "assured the Pakistani leadership" of the United States' "continued assistance to Pakistan," the statement said. No additional details were provided. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, accompanied Biden on the trip. Biden "described Pakistan as an incredibly valued U.S. ally and said that the U.S. recognized Pakistan's important contribution and sacrifices in the fight against terrorism," the ministry said. Zardari, who took office in September, said "Pakistan needed the support and understanding of the international community in this effort," according to the statement. Pakistan's government is waging a bloody battle against Taliban and al Qaeda militants in its tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan. The United States has provided Pakistan with billions of dollars in aid for those counterterrorism activities. Last year, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed a bill authorizing $7.5 billion in non-military aid over the next five years. The measure is sponsored by committee chairman Biden and the ranking Republican on the panel, Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana. It would provide money for developments such as schools, roads and medical clinics, and it conditions security aid on State Department certification that Pakistan is making efforts against the Taliban and al Qaeda. The bill has not come before the full Senate. Biden also said he was hopeful that India and Pakistan could resolve their conflicts, according the ministry. "The U.S. vice president-elect expressed the hope that both Pakistan and India will be able to overcome the current tensions and would resolve their differences peacefully," the ministry's statement said. November's attacks in Mumbai, India, fueled tensions between Pakistan and India, longtime rivals that have fought three wars since independence and conducted tit-for-tat nuclear weapons tests in 1998. India has said Islamic militants trained in Pakistan were behind the three-day siege of India's financial capital. Pakistani officials have promised to cooperate with the investigation but have insisted that India show it the evidence supporting its case. On Wednesday, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the sole surviving suspect in the Mumbai attacks, which killed more than 160 people, is a Pakistani national, state-run media reported.

What is Lindsay Graham's job?
did the bill pass?
what happeend in islmaabad?

Answer: Sen.

Answer: passed a

Answer: Vice President-elect Joe Biden meets Pakistani officials in Islamabad,

Summary:
NEW: Vice President-elect Joe Biden hopes Pakistan, India overcome tensions .
Biden and Sen. Lindsay Graham meet in Islamabad .
Biden assures Pakistani president of support against terrorism .
Pakistan is one of main focus points in war to defeat the Taliban .


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- U.S. and Pakistani troops exchanged fire Thursday along the Pakistani-Afghan border minutes after the Pakistani military fired shots at two American helicopters that were providing cover for the troops, a U.S. military spokesman said. Pakistan says it shot at two U.S. OH-58D helicopters like this one pictured in a U.S. Army photo. The U.S. Army OH-58D Kiowas, part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan, were patrolling the Pakistani-Afghan border when the Pakistani military fired on them, NATO and U.S. officials said. The Pakistani military said the fire was warning shots, and President Asif Ali Zardari said it was flares. Both Zardari and the Pakistani military said the helicopters had crossed into Pakistani territory -- a charge U.S. officials denied. Rear Adm. Greg Smith of U.S. Central Command said the helicopters were providing cover for a small U.S. military unit accompanying an Afghan border police unit on a routine patrol. After the shots were fired at the helicopters, Smith told CNN, the U.S. troops fired "suppressing rounds" into a nearby hill to get the Pakistanis to stop. That prompted the Pakistani troops to stop firing at the helicopters and fire instead in the direction of the troops, he said. The U.S. troops then returned fire, Smith said. No injuries were reported in the five-minute incident. Smith and other U.S. officials said the helicopter crews did not fire back. But the Pakistanis disagreed, asserting in a written statement that the helicopters "returned fire" after the initial shots were fired. "The helicopters passed over our border post and were well within Pakistan territory" at the time that "security forces fired anticipatory warning shots," the Pakistani statement said. After the shots were fired, "the helicopters returned fire and flew back." The Pakistani statement did not mention exchanging fire with ground troops and did not identify the shots as flares, as Zardari did in New York in an appearance with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "They are flares," he said in response to a question asking why the Pakistani military was firing on NATO helicopters. "Just to make sure that they know they crossed the border line." Asked if such warnings will continue, he replied, "Sometimes the border is so mixed that they don't realize that they crossed the border." Rice, off camera, agreed that "the border is very unclear" and "inhospitable." Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman reiterated the United States' stance that the two helicopters were over Afghan territory. "The Pakistanis need to provide the U.S. a reason to why this took place," he said. The ISAF issued a news release saying that "ISAF helicopters received small-arms fire from a Pakistan military checkpoint along the border near Tanai district, Khowst." "At no time did ISAF helicopters cross into Pakistani airspace." The ISAF did not mention ground troops or say whether the helicopters returned fire. Both the ISAF and Pakistani military said they are working to resolve the issue. Last week, Zardari said Pakistan would not allow foreign nations to violate its sovereignty to pursue terrorists. "We will not tolerate the violation of our sovereignty and territorial integrity by any power in the name of combating terrorism," he said in his first speech to Parliament as president. His remark followed a similar declaration from Pakistan's military chief, Gen. Parvez Kayani, who said this month that Pakistan's territorial integrity "will be defended at all cost, and no external force is allowed to conduct operations." A senior defense official in the Pentagon said the Pentagon is trying to determine the details of Thursday's incident. "What we don't know if this was just a case of trigger-happy members of the Frontier Corps," the official said, "or whether in fact the Pakistani military does have orders to fire on our helicopters." "We are confident our helicopters were on the Afghan side of the border, and we have no report they fired back," the official added. Top U.S. commanders will be talking

What did the Pakistani president say they fired?

What are Pakistani and U.S. officials working on?

What president warned foreign forces to stay out?

Answer: no

Answer: shots

Answer: Pakistani military fired shots at two American helicopters

Answer: Pakistani military

Answer: shots at two American helicopters

Answer: Pakistani military

Answer: resolve the issue.

Answer: Asif Ali Zardari

Answer: President Asif Ali Zardari

Summary:
NEW: U.S. says it returned fire after Pakistanis fired shots at American copters .
Pakistani president says military fired only flares .
Attack comes after president, general warned foreign troops to stay out .
Pakistani, U.S. officials say they are working to resolve the issue .


ISLAMABAD, Paksitan (CNN) -- At least 41 people were killed and dozens wounded in a blast Monday at a security forces checkpoint in northwest Pakistan, authorities said. A girl places flowers at a shrine to army soldiers killed by militants who stormed Pakistan's army HQ. About 45 people were injured in the explosion in the Shangla district in the volatile Swat Valley, said Syed Altaf Hussein, a senior government official in the area. The explosion targeted a military vehicle, officials said. The blast is the latest in a string of attacks in the country. On Saturday, militants attacked the army headquarters in Rawalpindi, killing 11 military personnel and three civilians, according to the Pakistani military's press office. Nine militants died in the attack. A total of 39 hostages were freed Sunday morning after being held by five militants at the army headquarters. In a news conference Monday, the top spokesman for the Pakistani military said Saturday's attack was planned by the Taliban based in South Waziristan. Gen. Athar Abbas said intelligence agents intercepted a phone call in which Pakistani Taliban commander Wali-ur Rehman was informed about the start of the attack. Rehman responded by calling for a prayer for the operation to succeed, Abbas said. Abbas said the leader of the operation, who was captured alive, is from Pakistan's Punjab province. Four other militants were from Punjab as well. Five others were from South Waziristan. During the standoff, two of the militants held 22 hostages in a small room, Abbas said. One of the militants wore a suicide vest connected to a mine and a bomb. He sat in the middle of the 22 hostages. Abbas said this room was the focus of the operation and security forces were successful in storming the room and killing the militant with the suicide vest before he could detonate his bombs. Military officials said they have tightened security around army headquarters. The attacks will not deter Pakistan from launching an offensive in South Waziristan, the Interior Ministry said. South Waziristan is one of seven districts in Pakistan's tribal region along the Afghan border. Intelligence analysts consider it a haven for Islamic militants who have launched attacks in Pakistan and targeted U.S. forces in neighboring Afghanistan. A date for the offensive in the area has not been announced. The Shangla district east of Mingora is one of the areas where the military conducted search-and-destroy operations earlier this year. Troops targeted terrorist hideouts and reported the arrest of one militant leader and the death of another. Mingora is the largest city in the Swat Valley, where the Pakistani military is battling Taliban militants for control. CNN's Reza Sayah contributed to this report.

In what district is the volatile Swat Valley?

In total, how many victims were in nortwestern Pakistan?

Answer: Shangla

Answer: Swat Valley,

Answer: 41

Answer: a security forces checkpoint in northwest Pakistan,

Answer: in the Shangla district in the volatile Swat Valley,

Answer: At least 41 people

Summary:
41 killed in blast at security checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan .
Explosion occurs in the Shangla district in the volatile Swat Valley .
Intercepted phone call tipped officials to Saturday's attack, general says .
Swat Valley has been scene of clashes with Taliban militants .


ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN)  -- The governments of Armenia and Turkey will sign a peace agreement in Zurich on Saturday that would normalize relations after nearly a century of animosity between the neighboring nations, the Swiss government said Friday. The Swiss-mediated peace deal would also open the border between the countries, which has been shut since 1993. The signing ceremony comes more than a month after Armenia and Turkey announced they had agreed to start six weeks of "internal political consultations" on two protocols aimed at establishing diplomatic and bilateral relations. The Swiss-mediated peace deal would also open the border between the countries, which has been shut since 1993. The border was closed after Turkey objected to Armenia's war with Turkish ally Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabagh. Neither country has an embassy in the other's capital. Turkish-Armenian relations have often been overshadowed by the dispute over the massacre of ethnic Armenians in the final days of the Ottoman Empire, more than 90 years ago. Armenians accuse Ottoman Turks of committing genocide, killing more then a million Armenians starting in 1915. Modern-day Turkey vehemently rejects the allegations. The proposed protocols for normalizing relations call for creating a committee of international experts to research archives and "restore mutual confidence between the two nations." There is no mention of the disputed territory of Karabagh, which Armenian troops have controlled since the 1993 Armenian-Azerbaijan war. But the success of the protocols is still uncertain, as the parliaments of both countries still must ratify the agreement. A senior U.S. State Department official -- authorized to brief reporters without attribution because of diplomatic sensitivities -- said the situation remains "difficult." "There's opposition both in Turkey and in Armenia," the senior official said Thursday, "but both governments realize ultimately it's in their interest to have normalized relations and an open border after years of tension and the economic isolation, particularly of Armenia." U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will attend the signing, along with dignitaries from several other countries, including the European Union, according to the Swiss government.

When is the deal expected to be enacted?

What would the Swiss-mediated deal normalize?

Who would the deal normalize relations between?

The animosity dates back to what Empire?

What year has the border been closed since?

Answer: on Saturday

Answer: relations

Answer: 1915.

Answer: the Swiss government

Answer: Armenia's war with Turkish ally Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabagh.

Answer: Armenia and Turkey

Answer: between the countries,

Answer: 1993.

Answer: 1993.

Answer: Swiss-mediated peace

Answer: nearly a century

Answer: Armenia and Turkey

Answer: Ottoman

Answer: 1993.

Answer: 1993.

Answer: a peace agreement

Summary:
Swiss-mediated deal would normalize relations between rival nations .
Accord also open the border, which has been closed since 1993 .
Animosity dates back to Ottoman Empire and massacre of ethnic Armenians .
Both countries still must ratify the protocols, and difficulties remain .


ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Iason Athanasiadis' ordeal began at the airport, shortly after he checked in for his flight to leave Tehran. Iason Athanasiadis said he endured hours of questioning over several weeks in sound-proofed rooms by interrogators he could not see. "I was heading to the gate," the Greek-British journalist said. "This guy materialized on my right. He said 'are you Iason Fowden?' [Athanasiadis' passport name]. I said 'yeah that's me.' He said 'please step to the side ... you're not going to be flying tonight.'" It was an ominous introduction to Iran's security apparatus. Athanasiadis spent the next 21 harrowing days in Iranian prisons, accused of espionage, subjected to interrogations and, on several occasions, beatings. The journalist, a freelance writer and gifted photographer who had been on assignment for the Washington Times newspaper at the time of his arrest, spoke to CNN by phone from his parents' home in Athens Thursday, several days after an extraordinary international lobbying effort helped secure his release. Athanasiadis has extensive experience reporting in Iran. He also did graduate level academic work in Iran in 2004, as part of a program sponsored in part by Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The young freelance reporter realized he was in serious danger at the airport in Tehran on June 19, when a half dozen plain-clothed security officers arrived and began leading him out of the building. The reporter resisted, and began yelling to crowds of nearby passengers that he was a journalist. "I got kind of pulled kicking and screaming and getting punched behind an escalator," Athanasiadis recounted. While being dragged outside to an unmarked car, the journalist said he managed to get the attention of a Western-looking woman waiting in the airport. To this day, Athanasiadis says he does not know the woman's name. But he believes she was instrumental in helping spread the word of his detention. "She was the best thing that happened to me that day," Athanasiadis said. "I just said 'I'm a Greek reporter for the Washington Times. Please contact the Greek Embassy.' And she ran after me with a note pad and pen and asked me to spell my name." International human rights organizations estimate thousands of Iranians have gone missing, since the Iranian government launched its crackdown on opposition activists and journalists following the disputed June 12 presidential elections. Eyewitnesses in Tehran say many families are still struggling to determine the whereabouts and official status of their detained relatives. But in Athanasiadis' case, the Greek Foreign Ministry announced it was working for the journalist's release just days after his arrest. That night, Athanasiadis says security officers forced him to ride into Tehran from the airport, with his head buried in his lap. Later, when he tried to make a phone call from a police station in Tehran, Athanasiadis said security forces tackled him, threw him to the ground, beat him with a club and pepper-sprayed him. Eventually, they transferred him to Tehran's notorious Evin prison, where he witnessed new Iranian prisoners being delivered by the busload to the prison gates. That is where the interrogation began. Dressed in a prison-issue uniform, Athanasiadis endured hours of questioning over the next several weeks in sound-proofed rooms where he was never allowed to see his interrogator. "I just sat in one of these school desk situations, a chair with a desk extension," he explained. "I was told to face the wall ... and they sat behind me and they crooned into my ear." On the second day of his incarceration, a prosecuting judge told Athanasiadis, a fluent Farsi speaker, that he was facing charges of espionage. Since incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of the June 12 election, opposition candidates and their supporters have accused the Iranian government of falsifying election results. In response, the Iranian government has accused Western governments, particularly Britain, of organizing large protests in the streets of Tehran and other cities. "

How many days was Athanasiadis in prison?

How many days did the journalist spend in jail?

For how many days was Iason Athanasiadis  in prison?

Who had the journalist been on assignment for?

At what location was Iason Athanasiadis  arrested?

Answer: 21

Answer: 21 harrowing

Answer: 21 harrowing

Answer: Washington Times

Answer: Iason Athanasiadis

Answer: the airport in Tehran

Answer: journalist

Summary:
Iason Athanasiadis arrested at Tehran airport on June 19 .
Journalist had been on assignment for the Washington Times .
Spent the next 21 harrowing days in Iranian prisons accused of espionage .
Released after intense diplomatic effort by Greek government .


ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- More than 80 years after his family was ordered from the country, the grandson of one of the last Ottoman sultans was buried Saturday as hundreds of admirers looked on. Relatives carry the coffin of Osman on Saturday after his funeral ceremony in Istanbul. Ertugrul Osman, grandson of Sultan Abdulhamid II and heir to the Ottoman throne, died this week in Istanbul of kidney failure at the age of 97, after having lived most of his life in exile in a humble third-floor walk-up apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Osman's funeral in the garden of the mammoth Sultanahmet Mosque was attended by Turkish state ministers, artists and media glitterati. They lined up to pay their respects to Osman's widow, Zeynep Osman, herself a descendant of the royal family of Afghanistan. One woman pressed her forehead to Mrs. Osman's hand in a traditional Turkish show of respect, saying "I'm just an ordinary person, but I would like to kiss your hand." "His death marks the passing of an era," wrote Jason Goodwin, author of "Lords of the Horizons," which tells the history of the Ottoman Empire, in an e-mail to CNN. "Osman himself was born into a family that still ruled an empire stretching from the Balkans to the Indian Ocean. He was named after the founder of his dynasty, who lived seven centuries ago." During annual campaigns at the peak of its power, the Ottoman Sultan's army of Janissaries struck fear into the hearts of European monarchs. For 400 years, the Ottomans declared themselves the "caliphs" -- spiritual leaders -- of the Muslim world. But the empire declined during the 19th century, eventually suffering a humiliating defeat and partition at the hands of Allied armies during World War I. In 1922, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish Republic, sent the last Ottoman sultan packing aboard a British warship. Two years later, Ataturk banned the caliphate, declaring Turkey a secular state. Ertugrul Osman, who had played as a boy in the imperial palaces of Istanbul, was sent with the rest of his family into exile. He lived for decades in Europe, then moved after World War II to the United States. Friends say he ran a successful mining business in Chile. They described Osman as a polyglot Renaissance man with a passion for politics and opera and a taste for evening cocktails. Over the years, Osman told reporters he had no interest in assuming the Ottoman throne. In the early 1990s, after more than half a century outside the country, Osman returned to Turkey at the invitation of a Turkish prime minister. Friends say that, prior to getting a Turkish passport in 2004, he traveled using documents identifying him as an Ottoman citizen. The hundreds of mourners at Saturday's funeral stunned other surviving members of the Ottoman royal family. One man rushed Bulent Osman, a tall, elderly French-born nephew of the deceased, kissing his hand and crying in Turkish? "My prince, we are guilty for how we treated you!" "I am not a prince," Osman later explained to a reporter in French-accented English. "I am quite surprised. It is the first time I have seen such an outpouring." The royal family seems to be especially revered by devout muslim Turks, who see the sultan's descendants as a link to the abolished Islamic caliphate. "They are our grandfathers," said a young man named Fatih, who wore the long beard, turban and robes of a fundamentalist Islamic sect. "They glorified our religion and brought it to the highest level." The funeral was attended by an eclectic mix of mourners -- stylishly dressed members of the royal family who grew up in Europe alongside fervent Islamists, some of whom pushed through the crowd ordering women to move to the back to pray. Hundreds of police officers blocked traffic as Osman was buried in a garden filled with the gravestones of Ottoman pashas and viziers, beside the ornate tombs of his grandfather Sultan Abdulhamid II and

Who attended Osman's funeral?
What is the name of grandson?
one of the last what?
When was the grandson buried?
who was buried?
Who died of kidney failure at age 97?
who attended the funeral

Answer: Turkish state ministers, artists and media glitterati.

Answer: Ertugrul Osman,

Answer: Ottoman sultans

Answer: Saturday

Answer: of one of the last Ottoman sultans

Answer: Ertugrul Osman,

Answer: Turkish state ministers, artists and media glitterati.

Summary:
Grandson of one of the last Ottoman sultans was buried Saturday .
Ertugrul Osman died this week in Istanbul of kidney failure at the age of 97 .
Osman's funeral attended by Turkish state ministers, artists, media glitterati .


ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Police used pepper gas and water cannons to disperse crowds of demonstrators who took to the streets Tuesday to protest a meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

A protester fires a catapult at police during demonstrations in Istanbul.

Some protesters broke shop windows in and around Taksim Square before scurrying for cover as police armored cars hosed them with water.

Taksim Square, in downtown Istanbul, is blocks from the site of the IMF meeting.

Delegates are in the city to discuss ways to battle poverty and to strategize ways to prevent a repeat of last year's global economic crisis.

Though Turkey is one of the world's 20 wealthiest economies, a huge income gap exists. The latest government statistics show that nearly one in five Turks lives below the poverty line, despite the country's economy enjoying steady growth for much of the past decade.  Watch CNN reporter overwhelmed by tear gas »

Over the past year, the economic crisis has pummeled Turkey's export-driven industries, pushing unemployment to record highs.  See images of protests »

The downturn has hit everyone from Istanbul's garbage pickers, who say there is less useful trash to scavenge, to Istanbul's cabbies, who complain that fewer customers can afford rides. iReport: Send your photos, videos

On Thursday, a protester threw a shoe at the IMF director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, at the end of a question-and-answer session Thursday at a university in Istanbul. The shoe missed.

Other demonstrators at Bilgi University unfurled a banner and chanted, "Go away, IMF. You're stealing money."

What are the delegates in the city to discuss?

What are the IMF delegates doing in town to discuss?

Answer: a meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Answer: in and around Taksim Square

Answer: ISTANBUL, Turkey

Answer: ways to battle poverty

Answer: Istanbul.

Answer: ways to battle poverty and to strategize ways to prevent a repeat of last year's global economic crisis.

Summary:
Police use water cannons to disperse anti-IMF protesters in Istanbul .
Some protesters broke shop windows in and around Taksim Square .
IMF delegates are in the city to discus ways to battle poverty .


ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Regular programming has just been interrupted by a news conference. A slender black man in a suit steps up to a podium, flanked by American flags and a White House logo.

Michael Lamar was laid off in January but has a new job as a Barack Obama look-alike.

"I wish I could announce such an economic package," he says, "but there is a bank in Turkey that did it. It is Garanti. I wish we had Garanti in America."

Don't be fooled. This is a commercial on Turkish TV. The actor is a 44-year-old Barack Obama look-alike from Whitehall, Pennsylvania, named Michael Lamar. And he is shilling for a Turkish bank.

In the month before the real Barack Obama is to visit Turkey, this ad campaign went out all across the country on television and on billboards, using the iconic, Warholian image of the American president to sell low-interest loans.

The "Mad Men" behind the concept say their Obama look-alike was the perfect guy to sell what they described as Garanti Bank's own economic stimulus package.

"We probably wouldn't be doing this commercial if it was the previous president," said Can Celikbilek, a copy writer at the advertising company, Alametifarika. "But in the case of Obama, he does represent hope, not only for the States but for the whole world."

For Obama look-alike actor Lamar, there was some irony about getting flown to Turkey to star in a commercial for a bank. He is a recent casualty of the global economic crisis.

"I was laid off in January of this year from JP Morgan Chase Bank in the U.S.," Lamar said, in a telephone interview from Pennsylvania. "After 18 years in the company, I was just laid off. One of the cutbacks. I'm currently unemployed right now."

Or, was unemployed.

Lamar's striking resemblance to the American president has suddenly offered the former software analyst a possible new career for supporting his wife and child.

"I'm available full-time now," Lamar said. "I'm going to see where this leads me."

Lamar is now being represented by a casting agency in Los Angeles that specializes in celebrity look-alikes.

Since he discovered his new "talent," he has traveled to the Netherlands to appear in a commercial for a liquor chain and to Paris, where an activist organization brought him in to meet lawmakers at the National Assembly, as part of a campaign to raise awareness about racism and racial profiling in France.

"This was very exciting for me, a true privilege!" Lamar said.

During his brief visit to Turkey, locals did double-takes when they saw Lamar walk past.

"Even in the studio, the crew [members] were like, 'Oh! Is that Obama?" said Celikbilek of Alametifarika advertising.

Using the image of an American president to promote anything in Turkey is a remarkable reversal.

U.S. approval ratings in Turkey plunged to 9 percent, according to a 2007 Pew Research poll, making America less popular in Turkey then almost anywhere else in the world, even though the two countries are NATO allies.

There was widespread anger among Turks at the war in neighboring Iraq. But the election of Barack Obama appears to have dramatically improved perceptions of America.

"Bush was a dictator who attacked other countries," said Abdurrahman Ozdemir, who sells cigarettes from a small stall on the street. "But we love Obama ... because he does not want to go to war with other countries."

"We started to love and like America because of Obama," said a 33-year-old woman named Begum Arinc. "I don't want to see people dying. I don't want to see any war. That's why I want to believe in Obama."

Where will Obama be soon on presidental visit?

How much have U.S approval ratings pluged in Turkey over the past few years?

How long did Lamar work for JP Morgan Chase?

Where did Micheal Lamar work before being laid of?

What country will president Obama visit soon?

Answer: Turkey,

Answer: Turkey,

Answer: 9 percent,

Answer: JP Morgan Chase Bank

Answer: Turkey,

Answer: Barack Obama look-alike.

Answer: 18 years

Answer: Michael Lamar.

Answer: Turkey,

Answer: JP Morgan Chase Bank

Answer: JP Morgan Chase

Answer: Turkey,

Answer: Turkey,

Summary:
Michael Lamar strikes an Obama-like figure in ads for a bank in Turkey .
Lamar worked for JP Morgan Chase for 18 years before being laid off .
President Obama will be in Turkey soon on presidential visit .
U.S. approval ratings in turkey have plunged in recent years .


ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- The Turkish military said Friday it is weighing bids from American, Russian and Chinese defense contractors as it seeks to buy at least $1 billion worth of long-range missile defense systems. The Turkish military says a missile defense deal could include U.S. Patriot missile systems. Among the missile systems Turkey is considering are U.S. Patriot missile systems, the military said. "We will purchase four batteries," Turkish armed forces spokesman Metin Gurak announced at a weekly press briefing in the Turkish capital, according to the state news agency, Anatolian. "The actual figure will be determined during the bidding process, but the cost is expected to be around $1 billion." The news contradicts earlier reports in the Turkish and American media that the Turkish military was considering purchasing as much as $7.8 billion worth of Patriot missiles from the United States. Turkish diplomats and military commanders have denied speculation that the Patriots could be used as part of U.S.-backed missile defense shield against its eastern neighbor, Iran. "It is wrong to draw links between the Patriot and Iran," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told CNN's sister network, CNN Turk, Friday morning. "We neither have a perception of threat from any of the neighboring countries, nor have any military or security related preparation against them." Thursday, the Obama administration announced it was scrapping a missile defense program for Eastern Europe, after years of angry objections from Russia. The White House has said the program was aimed at protecting allies from Iran, not from Russia.  Read the story Russia is Turkey's largest trading partner. Meanwhile, relations have warmed considerably between the Iranians and the Turks in recent years. The Turkish government is putting itself forward as a neutral party, offering to host talks between Iran and the United States, France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China on Iran's controversial nuclear program. But Turkey is also a member of the NATO military alliance, and it has long had close military ties with Washington. During the first Gulf War, Patriot missile batteries were temporarily stationed on Turkish territory. Turkish officials say the missile defense batteries it wants to buy would be part of a larger, long-term program to modernize the country's military. Prominent Turkish intellectuals have questioned the purchase. "Does Turkey really need these missiles?" asked Lale Kemal, a columnist who writes about military affairs for Turkey's Zaman newspaper. "Turkish military acquisition projects are not going through parliamentary or government scrutiny. We don't have a transparent military procurement system. So how can I or anyone say that Turkey needs them?" Defense contractors have until Oct. 13 to submit bids for the missile defense package.

What missiles does the potential deal include?

Turkey considering bids to supply at least $1 billion worth of what type of systems?

Potential deal includes what type of U.S. missiles?

Obama scrapped U.S. plans for a missile defense shield in which area?

Answer: a missile defense program for Eastern Europe,

Answer: systems.

Answer: long-range missile defense

Answer: U.S. Patriot missile systems,

Answer: Patriot

Answer: U.S. Patriot missile systems.

Answer: Eastern Europe,

Summary:
Turkey considering bids to supply at least $1 billion worth of defense systems .
Country's military says potential deal includes U.S. patriot missiles .
Some question whether Turkey really needs to purchase extra missiles .
Obama scrapped U.S. plans for a missile defense shield in eastern Europe .


ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- The head of a Kurdish nationalist party in Turkey addressed his party members Tuesday in the Kurdish language -- which is illegal -- prompting the national broadcaster to pull the plug on the live broadcast.

Ahmet Turk began his speech in Turkish before switching to Kurdish.

In his address, Democratic Society Party leader Ahmet Turk began his speech in Turkish, addressing the value of a "multilingual culture" and decrying the fact that the Kurdish language is not protected under Turkey's constitution.

"We have no objection to Turkish being the official language, yet we want our demands for the lifting of the ban on Kurdish language to be understood as a humanitarian demand," he said.

Turk then announced he would deliver the rest of his speech in Kurdish and, at that point, state broadcaster TRT cut the broadcast.

"Since no language other than Turkish can be used in the parliament meetings according to the constitution of the Turkish Republic and the Political Parties Law, we had to stop our broadcast," the TRT announcer stated. "We apologize to our viewers for this and continue our broadcast with the next news item scheduled."

The situation is somewhat ironic because Turkey began a new Kurdish language state television channel, TRT6, on January 1. Turk pointed out that paradox in his speech to parliament.

"Despite the Kurdish broadcast on TRT 6, there is no legal protection (for the language)," he said. "(Politicians) get punished for speaking Kurdish while Prime Minister (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan speaks Kurdish during rallies. Therefore, Kurdish is forbidden to Kurds yet free for (the ruling party) and the state."

The issue comes ahead of hotly contested elections scheduled to be held on March 29. Political analysts have said Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, known by its Turkish acronym AKP, is trying to gain votes in the Kurdish southeast, which has traditionally been held by the Democratic Society Party, or DTP.

Erdogan's launching of the Kurdish language channel is considered a historic development not only because speaking the language in parliament is illegal, but also because the Turkish republic for decades officially denied the existence of ethnic Kurds, calling them "mountain Turks" instead.

-- CNN's Ivan Watson contributed to this report.

What did Ahmet Turk switch to in his address?

What language is the new channel featuring?

Who broadcast the speech to party members?

Who switched to Kurdish to address party members?

What was ironic behind the shutting down of the broadcast?

What is the name of the Turkish state broadcast network?

What language cannot be spoken on Turkish TV, in some cases?

What language did Ahemt Turk switch to during his address?

Answer: speech in Kurdish

Answer: Kurdish

Answer: TRT

Answer: pull the plug on the live

Answer: Ahmet Turk

Answer: Ahmet Turk

Answer: Turkey began a new Kurdish language state television channel, TRT6, on January 1.

Answer: the fact that the Kurdish language is not protected under Turkey's constitution.

Answer: TRT

Answer: Kurdish

Answer: Kurdish

Summary:
Ahmet Turk switched to Kurdish during address to party members .
Turk decried fact Kurdish language not protected under Turkish law .
Turkish state broadcaster TRT then cut the broadcast .
Ironic because Turkey has started a new Kurdish language state TV channel .


ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Turkish authorities have arrested 13 people in connection with blasts that killed 17 people in Istanbul last week, Interior Minister Besir Atalay said Saturday. Video from last week's bombing in Istanbul shows bloodied people being loaded into ambulances. Of those arrested, 10 were sent to judicial court, Atalay said in a televised news conference. He described the attack as the "work of the bloody separatist group," but did not identify a group by name. No one has claimed responsibility for the blasts, which went off within minutes of each other in Istanbul's crowded Gungoren community. About 154 people were wounded, state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Istanbul Gov. Muammer Guler, who called the blasts "an act of terror," said last week that the explosive devices were placed 15 meters (49 feet) from each other. The first was a stun grenade that was detonated to draw attention before the second blast went off, he said. The other, a bomb, had been placed in a trash can. Turkey -- a candidate for European Union membership -- has pushed its anti-terror campaign on multiple fronts. Tensions between  Turkey » and Kurdish rebels have risen over the Kurdistan Workers' Party's increasing attacks and Turkey's subsequent crackdown. The rebels, known as the PKK, have waged a decades-long battle for an autonomous Kurdish region in Turkey's southeast. Last month, 86 people -- including former military officials, journalists, politicians and businessmen -- were indicted on charges of being involved with an alleged terror group called Ergenekon, which aims to topple the Turkish government. The arrests and indictments dramatize the sharp and serious political tensions between the country's Islam-rooted ruling party -- the Justice and Development Party, or AKP -- and its outspoken critics from the nation's secularist population.

what did minister mention about earlier bombing?

Answer: No one has claimed responsibility

Answer: last week,

Answer: Turkish authorities have arrested 13 people in connection with blasts that

Answer: Istanbul

Answer: 13 people

Answer: separatist group,"

Answer: authorities have arrested 13 people in connection with blasts

Answer: "work of the bloody separatist group," but did not identify a group by name.

Answer: Istanbul

Summary:
Attack was conducted by "bloody separatist group," Interior minister says .
2 explosions, minutes apart, hit residential area in Turkey's largest city Sunday .
Those arrested were responsible for earlier bombing June 15, says minister .


ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Turkish, Iraqi and Syrian ministers met in Ankara on Thursday to discuss water shortages in the major Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which run through all three countries.

Iraqi fishermen ride their motor boat in the waters of the Tigris River in Baghdad.

The meeting comes amid a diplomatic spat over Iraqi accusations that Syria is harboring terrorists.

The Tigris River has plunged to record low levels, Iraqi farmers told CNN. Iraq is suffering a drought that its officials are calling a "catastrophe."

Baghdad and Damascus want Turkey, where the source of the Tigris and Euphrates is located, to increase the flow of water passing through its network of dams.

"Syria and Iraq are badly in need of water but our Iraqi brothers feel the need much more ... it is why this meeting is so important," Turkey's official Anatolian Agency quoted Syrian Irrigation Minister Nader al-Bounni as saying at the start of Thursday's tri-partite meeting to address water resources. "Our dams are empty and we have human needs."

Also attending the meeting was Iraq's Water and Natural Resources and Turkey's Environment and Forestry minister, as well as its Energy minister .

But at the start of the meeting at a hotel in the Turkish capital, Turkey's energy minister seemed to rule out delivering significant quantities of additional water to Iraq and Syria.

"We are aware of the water needs of Syria and Iraq," Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told journalists at the entrance to the conference. "Water is not plenty in Turkey, and therefore we cannot exceed the determined amount too much."

Turkey provided Syria and Iraq 500 cubic meters of water a second, Yildiz said. But, he added, central and eastern Turkey had only received 350 cubic meters/second of water this year.

The Turkish government said rainfall over its part of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers plummeted by about 46 percent in the past three years.

Over the past decade, some environmental and political analysts have written about the scenario of a "water war" possibly breaking out in the Middle East as countries affected by climate change compete over dwindling access to fresh water.

However, there are more immediate political tensions complicating relations between the neighboring countries.

Syria and Iraq have withdrawn their ambassadors from each others' capitals after a series of deadly suicide truck bombings in Baghdad killed more than 100 people last month.

Iraq demanded Syria hand over several suspects it accuses of organizing the attacks. Damascus has denied charges that it is harboring insurgents.

This week, Turkey's foreign minister shuttled between Baghdad and Damascus, carrying messages between the two capitals in an effort to defuse tensions.

Which river has plunged to record low levels?

What country does Iraq and Syria want to increase its water flow?

What have they withdrawn from each others' capitals?

Answer: Tigris

Answer: to increase the flow of water passing through its network of dams.

Answer: Tigris

Answer: has plunged to record low levels,

Answer: Turkey,

Answer: provided Syria and Iraq 500 cubic meters of water a second,

Answer: ambassadors

Answer: Turkey,

Summary:
Tigris River has plunged to record low levels, Iraqi farmers say .
Iraq, Syria want Turkey, where rivers' source is located, to increase water flow .
Meeting comes amid Iraqi accusations that Syria is harboring terrorists .
They have withdrawn their ambassadors from each others' capitals .