Nothing is confirmed, but it seems like things may not be all that stable in Islamabad:
KABUL, Aug. 8 — Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, may decide to impose emergency rule because of deteriorating security conditions and the growing threat of violence by Islamic extremists, a senior government official in Islamabad said Wednesday.
Musharraf, meanwhile, abruptly canceled a long-planned visit to the Afghan capital, where he and Afghan President Hamid Karzai were to launch a four-day peace conference aimed at improving bilateral cooperation in the fight against Islamic extremism.
Officials in Islamabad said at first that Musharraf could not attend because of other “engagements” at home. But rumors grew that the president had met with senior advisers to discuss the pros and cons of imposing a state of emergency. Late Wednesday, Tariq Azim, minister of state for information, told Pakistan’s GEO television that the idea remained a possibility.
“Given the external and internal threats we are facing, especially on the border areas, the possibility of emergency cannot be ruled out,” Azim said. Rashid Qureshi, a spokesman for Musharraf, denied reports that the president planned to suspend citizens’ rights.
Under the country’s constitution, the president may impose emergency rule if Pakistan faces a severe internal or external threat. Such a decree could restrict freedom of speech and movement. Elections, now scheduled by year’s end, could be postponed or suspended.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke with Musharraf in a call early Thursday Pakistan time, a senior State Department official said, according to the Associated Press. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not detail the 17-minute conversation.
Some Pakistani critics and foreign analysts suggested Wednesday that Musharraf was considering the move in a desperate bid to cling to power amid separate challenges from the country’s secular pro-democracy movement and from radical Islamic groups.
As the article points out, if Musharaff does end up imposing emergency rule, it would be a sign of weakness, not a sign of strength.
September 11th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
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