ISLAMABAD – Pakistan rejected on Saturday a U.S. official’s assertion that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar are operating from Pakistani territory.

Pakistan holds elections for the lower house of parliament and assemblies in its four provinces on February 18. The elections were postponed from January 8 after the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on December 27.

PATHAN KOT, Pakistan – Election banners and flags of all three of Pakistan’s main political parties flutter across Punjab, the country’s biggest province and the main battleground for votes in a February 18 election.