Filed at 1:36 p.m. EDT
By The Associated Press
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
and his Cabinet have been dismissed, army-controlled television said
today. Troops took control of airports and government buildings
throughout the country.
A message scrolled across the television screen announcing that Sharif's
government had been ousted. It said Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf, who had
been fired hours before by Sharif, would address the nation in a
broadcast speech.
In reaction to Musharraf's dismissal, troops quickly seized television and
radio stations across the country, temporarily halting transmissions, and
took over major airports.
Troops cordoned off Sharif in his residency in Islamabad, took over the
houses of several other top ministers and seized other government
buildings.
Sharif fired Musharraf while the military leader was on a visit to Sri
Lanka. Soon afterward, army personnel moved rapidly though the
capital, seizing important buildings and putting state-run television off the
air.
Musharraf flew back to Pakistan later in the day and was met by a large
contingent of soldiers at the airport in the southern city of Karachi. He
was seen leaving the airport, which was also closed by the military,
accompanied by several jeeps filled with soldiers.
Musharraf was in the southern city of Karachi preparing to deliver his
speech, the army information office said.
After the television building in Islamabad was seized, hundreds of
Pakistanis gathered in the street outside, singing, ``Long live the army.'
Instability in Pakistan would heighten tensions in South Asia, home of the
world's two newest nuclear powers, India and Pakistan, which clashed
earlier this year in a dispute over the divided Himalayan region of
Kashmir.
U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin said it was not yet clear
if the army action was a coup. However, ``if there has been a coup we
would obviously seek the earliest possible restoration of democracy in
Pakistan,' he said.
India's army went on a state of high alert along the border, a senior
officer in India's northern command in Kashmir said on condition of
anonymity.
In New Delhi, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee held a crisis meeting
with his top security and foreign policy advisers. The reports from
Pakistan ``are causing grave concern,' said Vajpayee's spokesman,
Ashok Tandon.
In Islamabad, soldiers leaped over the fence surrounding the television
building and went inside, witnesses said.
Sharif was inside his official residence, which was surrounded by
soldiers, a government official told The Associated Press on condition on
anonymity after he left the prime minister's home. About 20 staffers were
then ordered out of the residence, but they would not comment to
journalists outside.
Soldiers were also seen taking over the houses of several top ministers --
including Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz and Information Minister Mushahid
Hussein. Troops also surrounded and forced the closure of Islamabad
International Airport, according to witnesses.
In southern Karachi and in the Northwest Frontier province, the army
also took over television stations and the governors' residences,
according to witnesses who saw the soldiers entering the buildings and
surrounding them with armed guards.
In Lahore, Sharif's hometown, soldiers in jeeps and trucks have taken up
positions on the main road and at government buildings. There also were
reports that army trucks were moving toward the airport in Lahore, the
Punjab provincial capital.
In recent weeks there have been reports of a yawning rift between the
army and the civilian government.
Musharraf's term as army chief was to end in April 2000.
Sharif ordered him replaced by Gen. Zia Uddin, head of the country's
secret service and considered a close ally of Sharif's. Before it went off
the air, Pakistan Television showed Sharif and Uddin clasping hands as
his promotion to army chief was announced.
Sharif also dismissed the Chief of General Staff Mohammed Aziz,
according to defense sources.
The rift between Sharif and Musharraf developed after the prime minister
ordered militants to withdraw this summer from Indian territory in the
Kargil region of Kashmir, ending a bitter two-month border dispute with
India.
Many feared the border dispute would escalate into an all-out war
between the two nuclear enemies.
The withdrawal was negotiated between Sharif and President Clinton,
but it reportedly did not have the support of the army chief, who many
western analysts say orchestrated the takeover of Indian territory in
Kargil.
The powerful army has ruled in Pakistan for 25 of its 52-year history,
and army takeovers have occurred repeatedly. |
