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.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon was warmly received by his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a welcome ceremony here in Tehran on Sunday.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iran and Tajikistan on Sunday signed a protocol on defense cooperation.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon here Sunday voiced pleasure with the desirable prospects awaiting Tehran-Dushanbe relations.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will certainly take a trip to Iraq by the end of this (Iranian) year, foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said here on Sunday.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iranian and Tajik foreign ministers in a meeting here on Sunday underlined the need for the two countries to expand ties and boost cooperation in fighting terrorism.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Scientists at the stem cell department of Iran’s Royan Research Center have successfully produced a mouse using embryonic stem cells.

TEHRAN (FNA) – The year 2008 is a crucial year where many regional and international developments are taking place which have direct impact on both Iran and Pakistan.