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Politics : THE WHITE HOUSE -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (8445)	9/8/2007 3:32:19 AM
From: Gersh Avery	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25737

"now says he'll send troops into Pakistan to find bin laden... how naive..." Ummm .. There's probably a better chance of finding OBL in Pakistan than finding him in Iraq.

To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (8445)	9/10/2007 10:21:59 AM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25737

"now says he'll send troops into Pakistan to find bin laden... how naive..." Polls show that the American people STRONGLY support the idea though... so maybe it's not so very 'naive'. (Or at least... not up there in the rankings of 'naivety' anywhere near as high as the idea that occupying Iraq is likely to do anything other then play right into Islamic extremist hands.)

To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (8445)	9/10/2007 10:25:14 AM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 25737

Pakistan sends former premier Sharif back into exile 15 hours ago afp.google.com ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Pakistan deported former premier Nawaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia Monday, just hours after he returned from exile hoping to ignite a popular campaign to oust military ruler President Pervez Musharraf. In a dramatic showdown at Islamabad airport, the 57-year-old Sharif refused to hand over his passport as he came home from seven years abroad, sparking an immediate confrontation and prompting police to board his plane. The two-time premier, ousted by close US ally Musharraf in a bloodless 1999 coup, was then arrested on corruption charges and put on a plane to the Saudi city of Jeddah four hours after he touched down. The combative Sharif had pledged his return would provide "a final push to the crumbling dictatorship" of Musharraf, who is facing the worst crisis since he took power amid a wave of political turmoil and Islamist violence. "Nawaz Sharif is now out of Pakistan. He is going back to Saudi Arabia," Religious Affairs Minister Ijaz-ul Haq told AFP. "The Saudis have openly demanded his return to Saudi Arabia. He has not only embarrassed Pakistan but also the leadership of Saudi Arabia by violating the agreement," he said. Sharif had agreed to remain in Saudi Arabia until 2010 as part of a deal that saw him released from prison, where he was locked up on corruption charges soon after Musharraf's coup. The deportation defied Pakistan's increasingly independent Supreme Court, which has been sparring with the president and last month ordered the government not to hinder Sharif's homecoming. The European Union urged the Pakistani government to respect the ruling, adding that Sharif should have the chance to defend himself in a Pakistani court. Sharif had arrived earlier on a Pakistan International Airlines flight from London. He shook people's hands and his supporters on board the jet chanted "Go, Musharraf! Go!" and "Long live Nawaz Sharif", a passenger told AFP. "After negotiations he accepted an offer to go back and returned in a special plane to Jeddah," a senior government official told AFP. "He came to the VIP lounge and he was shown the arrest warrants. He was also shown the agreement that he has made with the Saudi government to remain out of the country for 10 years," the official said. Baton-wielding police clashed with around 100 of Sharif's supporters and arrested key members of his party as he returned, while security forces threw up a five-kilometre (three-mile) security cordon around Islamabad airport. Another five Sharif supporters were injured in an exchange of fire with police in northwest Pakistan, police said. Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party condemned his deportation and filed a legal challenge in the Supreme Court, saying the government was in contempt of court. "I believe that the Saudi government has also interfered in Pakistan's internal affairs and shown disrespect to the constitution and the Supreme Court," party spokesman Siddique-ul Farooq told AFP. Sharif said before his flight left London that it was time for president-in-uniform Musharraf to go. "I am going back to my country with the resolve to rid my motherland of problems and lawlessness it is plunged into because of the policies of one man -- General Pervez Musharraf," he told Pakistan television. After being ousted in 1999, Sharif was sentenced to life in prison for tax evasion and treason but was released in December 2000 on condition that he and his family live in exile in Saudi Arabia for 10 years. The Supreme Court ruled last month that they could fly back. The court has repeatedly proved to be a thorn in the side of Musharraf since he tried to sack its chief judge, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, earlier this year. That bid set off the protests which spiralled into a full-blown political crisis for Musharraf, who has recently been negotiating a power-sharing deal with another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, to try to stay in office. Bhutto has said she will announce a date for her own return on Friday. Musharraf has also faced growing criticism from the United States, which has taken him to task over Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants operating on Pakistani soil and urging him to make good on pending elections.