And these assholes have the bomb?...Pakistan at 'dangerous' juncture
MATTHEW PENNINGTON
Associated Press
November 3, 2007 at 6:08 PM EDT
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — General Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan on Saturday, suspending the constitution, replacing the chief justice before a crucial Supreme Court ruling on his future as president, and plunging the country deeper into political turmoil.
The government blocked transmissions of all but state-run TV and cut telephone services in Islamabad, where paramilitary soldiers swarmed around the court and parliament. Police started rounding up opposition politicians, and there were reports of aerial gunfire in the southern city of Karachi, but the capital was quiet.
State-run PTV reported that the country's top judge, who had emerged as the main check on Gen. Musharraf's dominance, was replaced.
Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif demanded the military leader step down and urged Pakistanis to rise up against him. He spoke from Saudi Arabia, where he was deported in September after attempting to return from exile.
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Pakistani paramilitary soldiers sit alert in a truck as they arrive in front of the President House after Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency Saturday. (AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images)
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State of emergency
Another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, returned immediately from Dubai to Karachi, where police escorted her from the airport. She escaped an assassination bid in the city last month that killed more than 140 people.
"I agree with him that we are facing a political crisis, but believe the problem is dictatorship, I don't believe the solution is dictatorship," she told Sky News television by telephone on her arrival.
The state of emergency follows weeks of speculation that Gen. Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup and later made Pakistan a U.S. ally in its war on terror, could take the step. The country has been beset by rising Islamic violence since the summer, including a surge of suicide bombings and fighting between Islamic militants and security forces that have killed hundreds.
In a televised address, Gen. Musharraf said Pakistan was at a "dangerous" juncture and Islamic extremists had directly challenged the government's authority.
"The extremism has even spread to Islamabad, and the extremists are taking the writ of the government in their own hands, and even worse they are imposing their obsolete ideas on moderates," he said.
He said he hoped democracy would be restored following parliamentary elections — due by January and meant to pave the way for civilian rule. But he did not say when those elections would be held.
India, Canada, Britain and the United States voiced concern over the developments.
"We regret the difficult times that Pakistan is passing through," said Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna.
"We trust that conditions of normalcy will soon return permitting Pakistan's transition to stability and democracy to continue," he said.
In Ottawa, Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier condemned the imposition of emergency rule.
"We are deeply concerned about this development and urge the government of Pakistan to cancel the state of emergency and the new provisional constitutional order immediately," he said in a statement.
"These measures undermine democratic development, judicial independence and the possibility of free and fair elections to which the people of Pakistan are entitled," Mr. Bernier added.
"I am gravely concerned by the measures adopted today," British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said in a statement.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it was "highly regrettable" that Pakistan's president had declared a state of emergency. She urged restraint on all sides and a swift return to democracy.
The United States "does not support extraconstitutional measures," Ms. Rice said from Turkey, where she was participating in a conference with Iraq's neighbours.
The U.S. and European governments had this week urged Gen. Musharraf against declaring an emergency, fearing it would jeopardize the country's transition to democracy. But elements in Pakistan's ruling party had been pushing for it in case the Supreme Court disqualifies Gen. Musharraf's Oct. 6 presidential victory because he contested the vote while still army chief, diplomats say.
A copy of the emergency order obtained by The Associated Press justified the declaration on the grounds that "some members of the judiciary are working at cross purposes with the executive" and "weakening the government's resolve" to fight terrorism.
The provisional constitution order allows courts to function but suspends some fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution, including freedom of speech. It also allows authorities to detain people without informing them of the charges.
PTV reported that a new chief justice had been appointed to replace Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, whom Gen. Musharraf tried and failed to oust this spring, sparking a popular movement against military rule. Judge Abdul Hameed Dogar was sworn in by Gen. Musharraf in his place.
Military vehicles patrolled and troops blocked roads in the administrative heart of the capital. Paramilitary troops with automatic weapons and standing behind rolled barbed wire blocked access to an official compound housing legislators. Relatives of legislators and even a ruling party senator were barred from crossing.
In Karachi, about 100 police and paramilitary troops were deployed outside Ms. Bhutto's house, apparently as a protective cordon, witnesses said. A bomb disposal squad also searched the house.
Independent Geo TV reported that the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Aitzaz Ahsan, had been arrested. He was a lawyer for Mr. Chaudhry in the case that led to his reinstatement in July.
As telephone lines were cut, it was not possible to contact government spokesmen for confirmation.
Omar Cheema, a spokesman for cricket star-turned politician Imran Khan, said police had informed Mr. Khan that he was now under arrest at his house in the eastern city of Lahore.
Police were also rounding up supporters of Mr. Sharif and Mr. Khan's parties in Punjab province, a senior police official in Lahore said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media.
Mr. Chaudhry and other judges drove out of the Supreme Court building in a convoy of black cars under police escort over two hours after the emergency was declared. They were moved to their official residences nearby. Officers stopped reporters from approaching.
Seven of 17 Supreme Court judges rejected the declaration of emergency and ordered top officials, including the prime minister, and military officers not to comply with it.
"We feel that government has no ground/reason to take extra constitutional steps, particularly for the reasons being published in the newspapers that a high profile case is pending and is not likely to be decided in favour of the government," the judges said in a two-page ruling. |
