AP - Pakistani police arrested a group of Islamist militants plotting to kill the prime minister in a gun and suicide bomb attack at his house, officials said Thursday. The seven men also are accused of targeting other government leaders for assassination.   Militants in Pakistan have frequently attacked government officials, security officers and political leaders as part of a campaign to destabilize the U.S.-allied government and take over the state. Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was killed in a gun-and-bomb attack near Islamabad in 2007.   The conspiracy against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was nearly complete, police officials said.

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Thursday said the alliance was ready to support possible peace talks with the Taliban but ruled out halting military operations against the Afghan insurgency.

While the NATO-led force was willing to provide "practical assistance" for reconciliation efforts, "we should continue our military operations" against the Taliban, Rasmussen told a news conference.

Talks with the insurgents must be led by the Afghan government "but our position is if we can facilitate this process through practical assistance then why not?" said the NATO secretary general, without providing further details.