RAWALPINDI: Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto tonight [Dec 9] described the current visit of the Paramount Ruler of Malaysia, Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah as a “great honour to Pakistan”. “Pakistan and Malaysia have old and well-established relations”, the Prime Minister said at a banquet he hosted… . Mr Bhutto spoke briefly before proposing a toast to the health of the Malaysian Ruler and the Queen, to the friendship between the two countries and the “everlasting” prosperity of the Malaysian people. No formal speeches were made… . The Malaysian Ruler proposed a toast to the health of the President … and Prime Minister … and to the “continued well-being and happiness” of the people of Pakistan. — News agencies

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies from Peshawar,] two persons sustained serious injuries, in an explosion in the United States Information Centre, situated on the busy Arbab Road in the fashionable Peshawar Saddar area here this evening [Dec 9]. Fire also started inside the library hall of the centre after the explosion, filling the … building with smoke. … The explosive was reportedly planted … in the library hall.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2024