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Musharraf tightens grip under emergency rule
Islamabad (AFP) Nov 4, 2007 Pakistani forces deployed around key state buildings and rounded up leading critics Sunday as President Pervez Musharraf sought to shore up his flagging grip on power by imposing emergency rule. In coordinated moves, military ruler Musharraf suspended the constitution, sacked the chief justice, imposed strict media curbs and arrested some of his biggest opposition critics. Accusing the judiciary and Islamic militants of destabilising the country, he said he was acting to stop the nuclear-armed nation committing "suicide," and appealed for understanding from the West. Troops and police poured into Islamabad and surrounded the Supreme Court, which had been due within days to rule on the legality of Musharraf's victory in an October 6 presidential election. The fate of elections scheduled for January remains unclear, and there are fears Islamic militants may retaliate with further attacks -- or even that the army may rise up against Musharraf. "We are heading for a very uncertain time because this coup will be challenged by political parties. This will also build strain between him and the military," Hasan Askari, former head of political science at Punjab University, told AFP. The White House led global criticism, but Musharraf -- who grabbed power in a 1999 coup but has since become a key US ally in the fight against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban -- insisted he had no choice. "Inaction at this moment is suicide for Pakistan, and I cannot allow this country to commit suicide," he said in a late-night address. "Kindly understand the criticality of the situation in Pakistan... Pakistan is on the verge of destabilisation." Police set up barricades and unrolled coils of barbed wire to block access to the parliament, presidential residence and Supreme Court buildings. They and paramilitary soldiers fanned out nearby, and set up posts near the state-run radio, television stations and luxury hotels. Shops were open but traffic was thin and markets were quiet. Police arrested Javed Hashmi, acting chief of the Pakistan Muslim League-N party of former premier Nawaz Sharif, after earlier rounding up cricket legend turned politician Imran Khan, other opposition figures and senior lawyers. "I am neither afraid of prison nor of generals, because I have served the major part of my political life in prison," Hashmi told reporters alerted to the raid on his house in the central city of Multan. Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto warned the country was slipping back toward dictatorship. "This is not emergency, this is martial law and the people of Pakistan will protest against it," she told reporters after rushing home from Dubai. The move could wreck attempts to forge a power-sharing deal with Bhutto as well as the January elections, meant to put the nation of 160 million people back on the path to democracy. Musharraf's first decisive step after announcing the state of emergency was to replace outspoken chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, a thorn in his side since the general first tried to sack him in March. The new chief justice, Hameed Dogar, cancelled Chaudhry's caseload. As well as considering legal challenges to Musharraf's election, Chaudhry had been hearing hundreds of human rights appeals from families of people who went missing over the last four years because of alleged Al-Qaeda links. Musharraf had pledged to step down as army chief by November 15 if he won the election and the court upheld it, but that now appears unlikely. Bhutto -- whose October homecoming parade was targeted in a suicide attack that killed 139 people -- said emergency rule merely encouraged extremists but added she was ready to talk with Musharraf. The White House called emergency rule "very disappointing." "President Musharraf needs to stand by his pledges to have free and fair elections in January and step down as chief of army staff before retaking the presidential oath of office," spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. The United States however said there was no plan to suspend military aid to Pakistan. China, one of Pakistan's closest allies, expressed its concern and said it hoped stability could be maintained. There was a muted reaction too from Pakistan's neighbour and nuclear rival India, its foreign ministry expressing "regrets" at Musharraf's move. rj-mmg-dk-sz/km/sst Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links News From Across The Stans
Analysis: 84 days with the Taliban
Berlin (UPI) Nov 1, 2007 A German man who was the Taliban's hostage for three months has for the first time spoken about his ordeal. It's a tale of terrorism, corruption and psychological warfare up in the mountains of Afghanistan, where the Taliban, and not the Western forces, call the shots. |
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