KHYBER PASS & BEYOND (8#) -

Get out your trusty opera guide - you may
need to take some notes in the margins for this one:

# British/Pakistani General Faisal Alavi, brother-in-law of VS Naipaul, may have been the victim of a treacherous plot when he was shot to death last month in Islamabad. Covert intrigue, serpentine situation, multi-national complications; reads like a thriller.

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# The Mumbai terror attack is the chatter at Pakistani dinner parties, writes Ayesha Tammy Haq from Karachi in a dispatch to The Times of India.

It's all about "joining hands to deal with issues that affect both countries" and without "mutual bashing."

# Ajmal Amir Kasab, the captured
terrorist confesses and expresses remorse.

# Lawyer Mukesh Deshmukh from Amravati has offered to represent Kasab and is expected to file an application to do so in a Mumbai sessions court on Monday.

* * * * * *
# Peshawar is under attack again. [geo] - [tfp]

# From the proverbial Undisclosed Location... Taliban spokesman Maulvi Omar told journalists by phone that he and his buddies plan to intensify their attacks on Nato supplies in Peshawar and Khyber and expect to cut off supplies to Nato forces in Afghanistan.

# Nato is exploring other options in resupply routes.

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