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Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday pardoned Asia Bibi (also referred to as Asia Noreen by some media), the first woman sentenced to death for blasphemy. Bibi, who had been imprisoned for one-and-a-half years without being allowed to give her statement in court, was released soon after the presidential pardon. “This is the only acceptable outcome to what has been a travesty of justice from the outset,” said Nasir Saeed, coordinator for U.K.-based Center for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS). “Asia Bibi should never have been charged with blasphemy, let alone found guilty and sentenced to death.” Saeed...

Sherwangei, Pakistan (CNN) -- A passport bearing the name of Said Bahaji, a suspect linked to the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, has been found in a town captured by the Pakistani military. The passport was found in South Waziristan, where the Pakistani military has been battling to wrest territory from the Taliban in Pakistan. It contained a Pakistani visa issued in August 2001 showing that the bearer entered Pakistan on September 4, 2001, and appeared unusually new for a document eight years old. CNN has not independently confirmed its authenticity. The photo in the passport resembles...

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — An explosion rocked a women's market in Pakistan's main northwest city of Peshawar on Wednesday, killing at least 16 people in the latest attack to shake the country as the army battles Islamist militants along the Afghan border. At least 35 people were wounded in the blast, police said. It coincided with a trip to Pakistan by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was in the capital, Islamabad, some three hours drive away. The explosion hit Peepl Mandi, a neighborhood in the city where many Shiite Muslims live. Police official Sajid Khan said it struck...