THE CHANCES of the deposed Pakistani prime minister living to a ripe old age appeared to have lessened considerably yesterday, when a co-defendant in the army junta's hijacking case against him agreed to turn state witness in exchange for immunity.

Pakistan's new military strongman General Pervez Musharraf has promised to purge the state of corruption before restoring democracy. Seasoned Pakistan-watchers will recall that when that earlier cartoon of a dictator - General Zia ul-Haq, of the waxed moustache and raccoon eyes - was in his heyday he, too, used to speak of cleaning up the country and then holding elections.

ALLAN BORDER captained Australia while amassing a record number of Test runs and now, as expected, he has been given the opportunity to pass on his vast experience to his nation's current crop of international players, but only for next month's tour of Zimbabwe.

INDIAN AIR force jets shot down a Pakistani naval patrol aircraft yesterday, killing all 16 aboard, after claiming it had strayed over the international border. But Pakistani naval sources categorically denied that the French-built Atlantique plane, designed for anti-submarine patrolling and reconnaissance, had invaded Indian airspace.

Rosemarie Morley has just served two years in a Pakistani jail. She talks exclusively to HESTER LACEY

GRAHAM LAYTON made an outstanding contribution to health care of the poor in Pakistan. After 30 successful years in the construction industry, he set up eight hospitals, providing free eye care to over four million patients, including 400,000 eye surgeries.

IT IS RAMADAN in Islamabad: the restaurants are deserted all day, the mosques are crammed with the devout, and the populace are going about their tasks with a weary, hangdog, hungry air.

IT IS more an eyesore than a school. In this ostentatious middle- class suburb of Islamabad, where the concrete villas are clad in fancy tiles, sits a huddle of half-finished structures separated by a stretch of mud.

NAWAZ SHARIF, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, narrowly escaped assassination yesterday when a bomb exploded under a bridge shortly before he was due to cross it, killing four people.

Boy meets girl. They fall in love and marry. It's an everyday story - except that the couple have ignited a tinderbox of communal tensions and now her father wants them killed

A BRITISH woman who tried to smuggle heroin out of Pakistan is facing the possibility of a further 10 years in a Karachi jail - despite having already served her prison sentence.

A PAKISTANI couple whose love crossed fierce tribal lines are reported to be seeking sanctuary in Britain following thousands of death threats. The pair are currently in hiding in Pakistan after an attack which left the groom with four bullets in his spine.

A terrifying crime syndicate is the force behind the thriving illegal bookmaking industry in India. By Peter Popham in Delhi

Eye on the World