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November 19, 2007

Pakistan: Islam, Dictatorship, Corruption

This article by Adrian Morgan (Giraldus Cambrensis of Western Resistance) appeared today in Family Security Matters and is reproduced with their permission.

Pakistan: Going From Bad To Worse To Dangerous

Strategic Failures

On Saturday November 3, President Pervez Musharraf announced that he had imposed martial law in Pakistan. Earlier, I discussed the background events which led to the coup. Now, more than a fortnight after the situation began, it has reached a point from which there appears to be no easy solution. Musharraf has promised to introduce elections by January 9, 2008 but he has set no date for the removal of the state of emergency.

Musharraf had gained the support of the United States because he promised to act as an ally in the "war on terror". He vowed to clamp down on the Al Qaeda extremists who had hidden out in North Waziristan in the region adjoining the border with Afghanistan. Little has been achieved on that front. Decisive action was taken by the United States to target Al Qaeda extremists - as happened on January 13, 2006 when the U.S> mounted an airstrike on Damadola near the Afghan border, where an Al Qaeda meeting was taking place. The strike had been designed to hit Ayman al-Zawahiri, deputy head of Al Qaeda. In practice, the strike killed Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, aka Abu Khabab, Al Qaeda's explosives and poisons expert.

On December 1, 2005, an explosion took place in Haisori, a village near Miranshah in North Waziristan. Pakistani authorities claimed that the explosion was caused by men in a house, preparing bombs. Days later, it transpired that one of those killed in the blast was Abu Hamza Rabia, the Egyptian-born third in command of Al Qaeda. Eyewitnesses claimed that the house had been targeted by missiles, apparently fired from a US Predator drone. When Hayatullah Khan, a local journalist, showed photographs of shrapnel from the blast which bore English wording, he was kidnapped the following day, apparently by Islamists. His body was found in July, 2006. Hayatullah Khan had been shot in the head.

There are reasons to doubt the official Pakistani version of events. It has been suggested that Hayatullah Khan was abducted and killed by members of ISI - the national intelligence agency. Reporters Sans Frontiers has claimed that at least 21 journalists have been kidnapped by the ISI since Musharraf came to power. Journalists who do not reside locally have been banned from working in Pakistan's tribal areas without official consent.

One of Musharraf's political opponents was the Chief Justice, Iftikhar Choudary, who had condemned arrests of thousands of civilians by the ISI. These had been made "without due process". On March 9 this year, and again during the recent state of emergency, Choudary was deposed by Musharraf.

Under Musharraf, the Taliban - which was assisted in its rise to power in Afghanistan by the intelligence agency ISI - has not only been able to flourish in North-West Frontier Province, but has grown in power and influence. Instead of acting to crush their influence, Musharraf allowed the Islamist parties of the MMA to broker a "peace deal" with the Pakistani Taliban in Waziristan on September 5, 2006. This deal actually reimbursed members of the Taliban for their "losses" incurred in military battles.

After Britain's London bombings of 7/7, Musharraf had promised to stamp down on extremist madrassas. Two of the 7/7 bombers were believed to attend such an establishment in Pakistan. Musharraf ordered a clampdown, and demanded registration of all madrassas. One of the madrassas to offer violent resistance in 2005 was the Jamia Hafsa, from the Red Mosque complex in Islamabad, the capital. This year, students of the two madrassas from the Red Mosque were involved in kidnappings, arson and threats of suicide attack. Musharraf's plan to register all madrassas was eventually abandoned. Its main opponent was religious affairs minister Ijaz ul-Haq, son of the dictator Zia ul-Haq who had initially encouraged mass construction of madrassas. Zia ul-Haq had been a frequent worshipper at the Red Mosque. Until the disorder which began in January this year, senior figures from the ISI also worshipped at the Red Mosque.

Imran Khan

Former cricketer Imran Khan opposes the war on terror, but his case illustrates clearly just how far Musharraf is prepared to trash democratic values. The day after Musharraf announced martial law, Imran Khan was placed under house arrest. He was the first member of the parliament to be treated this way. Hs party, the Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) has only one member in the National Assembly, Khan himself. Though Imran Khan is critical of U.S. foreign policy, he has never represented a threat to Musharraf's regime. The day after his house arrest was imposed, Khan escaped and went into hiding.

Using his vast wealth, Khan had established a cancer hospital, named after his late mother. The Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital in Punjab province provides much-needed treatment and research in a country where reliable medical treatment is unavailable to many. For 75 percent of cancer patients, treatment at the hospital is free. On Friday November 9, Pakistani police surrounded the hospital, in case Imran Khan should choose to hide there.

The police move effectively closed down the hospital. That specialist cancer treatment should be denied to civilians, merely because Musharraf wants to make an example of his vocal critic, shows how morally destitute his regime has become.

On Wednesday, Imran Khan appeared in public for the first time since martial law was imposed. At Punjab University in Lahore, he surfaced on a campus, where hundreds of students were mounting a demonstration against the "emergency" measures. He was carried aloft on students' shoulders and then the situation changed. Members of the student wing of the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party blocked his way, seized Khan and dragged him into the university's high-energy physics center, effectively holding him prisoner. Khan emerged shortly after with his captors, and was then placed into a police car and driven away.

Initially, it had been assumed that the official charges against Khan were to be based upon public order legislation. Later in the day, it was announced that Imran Khan, who has never condoned terrorism in his political career, has been charged under anti-terrorism legislation. If a high-profile public figure can be treated in this fashion, the situation for ordinary civilians is dire.

Two days before his arrest, Khan managed to send out a text message to his lawyer in Britain, where he claimed that his life was in danger. At that time, he was concerned more about the actions of the secular Muttahida Qaumi Moovement (MQM) party, whose leader Altaf Hussain is based in Britain. Hussain arrived in the U.K. in 1992 after fleeing from a murder charge which had been brought against him. Earlier this year, Khan had tried and failed to have the MQM head prosecuted in Britain for causing violence in Karachi. 42 people died in riots on May 12. In a SMS text mesage, Khan had written to his lawyer: "Once MQM [Mr Hussain] thinks he is safe then my Karachi workers and my own life will be at great risk."

Now, Khan's life is threatened by the military dictatorship. The potential sentence under Pakistan's anti-terrorism legislation is life imprisonment or death. Jemima Khan, Imran Khan's former wife, said on British television on Wednesday night that several lawyers who have been detained under Musharraf's state of emergency are "known to have been tortured."

The Army Act

When Musharraf imposed martial law, he suspended the constitution, removing key protections for civilians, such as freedom of speech, freedom of association, civilians' right to equality under the law and equal protection under the law, and even Article 9 of the national constitution - their right to life.

Already, TV cameras have shown on a daily basis civilian protesters being arrested for appearing in the streets to protest Musharraf's dictatorship. The police in Pakistan are notorious for corruption and partial enforcement of the law. In most cases, civilians were punched or beaten with batons as they were bundled into police vehicles. The full number of civilians placed in detention under the "state of emergency" is not known, but it runs into hundreds.

Musharraf's latest move in his battle against the citizenry of Pakistan is to revive the Army Act of 1953. This ruling was introduced after Islamist factions such as the members of the Jamaat-e-Islami party had been attempting to attack and kill members of the peaceful Ahmadiyyah sect. The religious riots had led to the first imposition of martial law, only six years after Pakistan had become an independent and officially secular democracy.

The Army Act has not only been updated, it has also been back-dated. Now, any civilian accused of certain crimes will not have the right to be tried in a court of law. Instead, such civilians will face courts martial. The ordinance does not relate just to crimes committed in the present. Crimes which are said to have been committed since January 1, 2003, will now be tried under court martials.

The range of these crimes include categories imposed from the time when Pakistan was under British rule. Certain crimes listed under the Pakistan Penal Code will now automatically result in courts martial.

According to Pakistan newspaper Dawn, offenses ranging from libel to murder will now fall under the jurisdiction of the army. Asma Jahangir is chair of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. She was among the first people to be placed under house arrest when the coup was announced. She said of the backdating of the Army Act: "This has also allowed the government to legitimize all illegal acts of disappearances carried out by intelligence agencies with impunity."

A former ambassador to the United States, Abida Hussain, was also arrested last week for "disturbing the peace". She said from jail: "Does George Bush see that now even sports heroes, leaders of mega-parties and humble servants of the republic are behind bars? It's a dangerous situation, and Musharraf is a dangerous and desperate man."

Already, journalists who have expressed concern at the coup are being detained, and as a result, reporting of events outside of the main cities has become unreliable and contradictory.

Benazir Bhutto

The U.S. State Department had encouraged Musharraf to allow former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) to return to the nation. She arrived back in Pakistan on October 18, and at the time it was thought that she could stand for election as president. This scenario could conceivably have allowed Musharraf to be the president and Bhutto to be prime minister. It would not have been an ideal example of democracy, especially considering charges of corruption made against Bhutto, but it would have been a step along the way to true democracy.

On Friday November 9, Benazir Bhutto was placed under house arrest, to prevent her from attending a protest rally in Rawalpindi. An armed police cordon was set up around her home. Shortly after this, her house arrest was lifted. The United States welcomed the decision to lift her detention.

On Tuesday, November , Bhutto was once again placed under house arrest. She had been intending to engage in a protest march on Tuesday. This march by members of her party, lasting 185 miles, was called "The Long March". After she was placed under house arrest for a second time, the march failed to go ahead.

For Bhutto, this action appeared to be the last straw. The day before she was placed under house arrest, she had already ruled out any chance of power-sharing with Musharraf. She declared: "We are saying no to any more talks. We cannot work with anyone who has suspended the Constitution, imposed emergency rule, and oppressed the judiciary. That's why we are holding the 'long march'."

Though deeply disliked by Islamist parties, Bhutto has gained from a surge in popularity since Musharraf's coup d'etat. Her outspoken criticism of the man who had urged her to share power has been seen as patriotic. She plays up to this image, by claiming that she is acting "to save Pakistan... I know it is dangerous but what alternative is there when the country is in danger?"

On Wednesday, members of Bhutto's party were arrested.

Now, Bhutto has become so hostile to Musharraf that she is prepared to work together with another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif. This individual had been ousted by Musharraf in his coup d'etat of December 1999. Nawaz Sharif had been in power when Pakistan carried out its first nuclear tests on May 28, 1998. Aware of potential economic sanctions, Nawaz had imposed his own state of emergency when the three initial nuclear tests took place, and had frozen all foreign investors' accounts in Pakistan's banks.

On Wednesday, Bhutto told the Washington Post: "I am now working with all political leaders, including Nawaz Sharif. We feel all the political forces should come together. We may work together or we may work side by side. The issue is that we both agree there should be democracy. The important thing is that Pakistan is returned to its people, that martial law is ended, that General Musharraf steps down."

Nawaz Sharif has been in exile. He tried to return to Pakistan recently, but was immediately deported to Saudi Arabia, in defiance of an August ruling issued by Pakistan's Chief Justice Iftekar Choudary, who was deposed when the coup took place. Nawaz is publicly declaring his approval of the notion of forming an official alliance with Bhutto.

Nawaz Sharif is not regarded by U.S. officials as a positive choice for leadership of Pakistan, but Musharraf's suspension of the constitution is forging some strange alliances.

From Tuesday to Thursday, demonstrators from Bhutto's PPP party had engaged in noisy protests about her detention in Karachi. On the morning of Thursday, three young people were shot dead. The youngest two were aged 9 and 12. Five other people were injured. Police denied any responsibility, with the Karachi police chief claiming: "It is possible that they were gunned down by protesters or by gangsters who are also rioting."

On Thursday, November 15, Benazir Bhutto's house arrest was lifted, as was the home detention of leading human rights activist Asma Jahangir. Bhutto was visited by US Consul General Bryan Hunt. He spoke to her about the possibility of her being able to work with Musharraf. She told reporters: "I told him that it was very difficult to work with someone who instead of taking us toward democracy took us back towards military dictatorship."

The Nuclear Threat

Pakistan's nuclear capacity was developed illegally using technology and equipment smuggled by Abul Qadeer Khan. There are an estimated 24 to 55 nuclear bombs in Pakistan, under the control of the army. The safety of these devices is a source of debate.

Muhammad Sadiq, spokesman for Pakistan's Foreign Office maintained that the nation's atomic weaponry was safe and were not going to fall into the hands of extremists or terrorists. He said: "Our strategic assets are as safe as that of any other nuclear state." He added: "There are multiple layers of command and control and the weapons are not in danger of falling into any hands. Pakistan's nuclear program is very well-guarded."

The former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. State Department, Richard Armitage, claimed that the nuclear weaponry was safe. He said: "That nuclear arsenal is, one, dispersed, and second, carefully guarded by the army. I think - in the short or even medium term - should things turn badly, we are not going to worry about nuclear weapons in the first instance."

John Bolton of the American Enterprise Institute, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is less confident. He said: "It's a political issue. If the military comes unstuck, if it divides, then the technical fixes won't protect those weapons. Even the military is filled with Islamic fundamentalists. I'd have to put securing those weapons at the top of our agenda."

Geoff Morrell, press secretary at the Pentagon, has said this week: "At this point, we have no concerns. We believe that they are under the appropriate control."

During the first week of the coup, Lt. Gen. Carter Ham, director of operations for the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, expressed concerns about the security of the nuclear weaponry in Pakistan. He had said then: "Any time there is a nation that has nuclear weapons that has experienced a situation such as Pakistan is at present, that is a primary concern."

Currently, the U.S. sends much of its supplies to the military in Afghanistan via Pakistan. In the event of the current situation deteriorating further, the Pentagon is working on an alternative contingency plan to keep its troops in Afghanistan served with adequate supply lines.

Musharraf himself has claimed that the nuclear arsenal will remain safe, but only if they are under the control of the army. He said on Saturday: "They cannot fall into the wrong hands, if we manage ourselves politically... The military is there - as long as the military is there, nothing happens to the strategic assets, we are in charge and nobody does anything with them."

Nawaz Sharif, head of the rival wing to Musharraf's party, argued that the nuclear weapons would remain safe, whether Musharraf remained as president or not.

Opportunities For Islamists

The Jamaat-e-Islami party has traditionally opposed Musharraf, yet members of the student wing supported the imprisonment of the moderate politician Imran Khan. When Musharraf supervised a form of democracy which allowed the party and its Islamist allies to hold 65 seats in the National Assembly, they still led calls for revolution and for the death of Musharraf.

During the military dictatorship of General Zia ul-Haq, who ruled from 1977 until 1988, the Jamaat-e-Islami party benefited through the imposition of severe sharia-based legislation. Though the leading lights of the party, and also the MMA coalition of Islamist parties, oppose the imposition of martial law, they appear to be exploiting the situation to present themselves as defenders of the constitution - even though they wish to see Pakistan under sharia law.

The head of the Jamaat-e-Islami party is Qazi Hussain Ahmed. He instigated the so-called "peace accord" in Waziristan which gave concessions to the Pakistan Taliban. On Tuesday, the Daily Times claimed that reports had been received that Qazi Hussain Ahmed, described as a "Taliban commander" had sent suicide bombers to Lahore city in Punjab province. Qazi Hussain Ahmed is the leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami and president of the MMA. He is known to support Osama bin Laden and the Taliban, and has previously been accused of sheltering members of Al Qaeda.

Benazir Bhutto has claimed that she has contacted Qazi Hussain Ahmed about mounting an official opposition to Musharraf. Whether the Islamist leader will join forces with Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif and others is unknown, but he supports her calls for the restoration of the recently-deposed Chief Justice, Iftikhar Choudary. In early summer, Jamaat members protested with lawyers against Choudary's March dismissal. Qazi has announced: "We will launch country wide movement along with the lawyers and political parties to end military dictatorship."

Qazi has claimed that he had sent a member of his party to rescue Imran Khan from student members of the Jamaat party who had imprisoned him, but his envoy had arrived too late.

In Regal Chowk in volatile Pakistani-occupied Kashmir, several Jamaat-e-Islami activists were arrested on Monday for protesting the emergency rulings. On Friday, Qazi Hussain Ahmed claimed that the state of emergency was pushing Pakistan to the brink of civil war.

Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, the head of the US-designated terror group Jamaat ud-Dawah (not banned in Pakistan) argued that the only solution to the national crisis was the imposition of Sharia. He said: "Islamic Sharia is the only possible solution to the current political crisis faced by the country. Freedom without giving sacrifices is not possible and many of us have now realized it."

The Regional Assembly of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) was entirely dominated by the MMA coalition. It was suspended during Musharraf's emergency decree, but NWFP is currently sliding into anarchy with local warlords and foreign Islamists attempting to impose Sharia law.

Swat is a district of NWFP which was formerly regarded as a popular tourist destination. Its lush valleys and mountains earned it the title of the "Switzerland" of Pakistan. This year, the situation of Islamists taking control of 59 villages in Swat was one of the factors which were blamed for the imposition of martial law. The emergency siatuation has done nothing to contain the actions of Islamists in this region. At sunset on Tuesday this week, the town of Alpuri in Swat fell under the control of local Taliban leader Maulana Muhammad Alam and 500 of his followers. Six out of Swat's eight sub-districts have now fallen under Islamist control.

The administrative capital of Swat, the town of Mingora, has been placed under a curfew, as has the adjoining district of Malakand. The army has been engaged in fierce fighting in the region. Some of the Islamists are said to be foreign. Some may be of Uzbek origin and connected with Al Qaeda, and others are known to be Afghan Taliban members.

On Thursday, the most recent Swat district to fall to the Islamists had been reclaimed by the army. The loss of life was high - over two days of fighting 53 militants were killed. According to eyewitness accounts, twenty civilians were killed in the fighting.

In Parachinar in Kurram Agency, one of the tribal regions near the Afghan border, at least ninety-one people have been killed in sectarian religious war. Eighty of these are civilians. After Friday prayers Sunni and Shia groups fought each other with rocket launchers and mortars. More than 100 people have been injured.

While the army acts to control the outbreaks of separate uprisings, the tribal regions of Waziristan where Al Qaeda and the Pakistan Taliban have a strong power base are less easy to contain. On Saturday night, a bomb exploded in a house in North Waziristan, killing a woman inside. The bomb had been placed near her bed, and had been triggered by remote control. The woman was the widow of murdered journalist Hayatullah Khan, whose photographs had caused embarrassment to both the Pakistani authorities and to the local Islamists. Her murder at this time raises again questions about who had kidnapped and murdered Hayatullah Khan - Islamists or the ISI?

International Criticism

Pakistan is a member of the Commonwealth (Commonwealth of Nations), a grouping of 51 nations which had previously been colonies of Britain, with the addition of Britain and Mozambique. After Musharraf had seized power in his 1999 coup, Pakistan was suspended from the Commonwealth. The nation was only reinstated five years later, when Musharraf promised to step down as head of the army. The notion of a President wearing a military uniform appeared dictatorial.

Musharraf is still promising to step down as head of the army by the end of this month. He had earlier said that a former chief of the ISI, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, would assume the role of army chief on November 15. Kayani is pro-American and regarded as a moderate.

As a result of imposing martial law, the Commonwealth has once again threatened to suspend Pakistan's membership. On Monday, November 12, members of the Commonwealth met in London. They issued a statement condemning the situation in Pakistan. Additionally, they gave Musharraf until November 22, when the next Commonwealth meeting will take place, to place the nation back on course for democracy. If improvements were not to be made by then, suspension would ensue.

Individual nations within the Commonwealth, such as South Africa, have joined in the condemnation of Musharraf's actions. Alexander Downer, Australia's foreign minister, has argued that it does not care who runs the country as much as it cares about having democracy restored in Pakistan.

On Tuesday, Britain's prime minister Gordon Brown made his first speech on foreign policy. He deplored Musharraf's imprisonment of political opponents and urged their immediate release, and called for media restrictions in Pakistan to be lifted. He did not call for Commonwealth action to be taken against Pakistan.

Musharraf has eagerly grasped foreign aid, yet he has done little to improve the situation of civilians in Pakistan. Suspension from the Commonwealth would automatically reduce financial assistance given to the Pakistani regime. Since 9/11, America has donated an estimated $10 billion in aid. The European Union has urged Musharraf to step down and remove the state of emergency, but is unwilling to cut financial aid to the country.

Switzerland, which is not a member state within the European Union, has stopped a delivery of anti-aircraft systems to the Pakistani military on account of Musharraf's imposition of martial law. Six vehicle-mounted anti-aircraft units have been delivered in a deal worth a total of $121 million. The remaining 15 "Skyguard" units will not be sent until some sense of political "normality" resumes.

Shortly after Musharraf imposed martial law, President Bush urged him to leave his post as head of the army and to reinstate democracy. Mohammed Sadiq, the Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman told news agency Agence France-Presse that the situation was an "internal matter" for Pakistan. He said: "The president has stated that our friends should show understanding of the ground conditions and the serious challenges we face in the shape of extremism and terrorism."

On Tuesday, November 13, President Bush said of Musharraf: "He understands the stakes of the war, and I do believe he understands the importance of democracy... He's agreed to hold elections in January, and he's agreed to take his uniform off. And our judgment is that the sooner he can suspend his emergency decree, the faster Pakistan gets back on the road to democracy. When I talked to him, I said: 'You got to get Pakistan back on the road to democracy as quickly as possible.' And that means elections, and that means that, in my judgment, the road to democracy means you can't be the head of the military and the president at the same time."

The United States ambassador to Pakistan, Anne W Patterson, has urged a return to the principles of democracy, but like President Bush, she has stopped short of an outright condemnation. She said: "Pakistan's move toward democracy has been seriously set back by the events of November 3.. One of President Musharraf's greatest achievements was the flowering of a free and vibrant media. There is no way to put this genie back in the bottle by cutting off the media now... the November 3 imposition of a state of emergency put this economic growth of Pakistan and upward mobility at risk."

On Wednesday, officials from the State Department and Pentagon discussed the message to be taken on Friday to Musharraf by Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte. Additionally, the officials considered the question of who would be the successor in power, should Musharraf be forced to quit.

Following his meeting with President Musharraf on Saturday, Negroponte said that he had told the Pakistani leader: "Emergency rule is not compatible with free, fair and credible elections, which require the active participation of political parties, civil society and the media. If those steps are not taken, it will certainly undermine elections."

Annually, America subsidizes the army with $1 billion. Threatening to remove this funding could cause Musharraf's support within the army to desert him. Members of the current U.S. administration view General Kayani favorably, and appear to approve him replacing Musharraf as head of the army. One State Department official said: "On the asset side of the ledger, we've got a really good relationship with Kiyani. People know him. He has long term political ambitions and he's patient enough to keep them in the long term."

During his visit to Pakistan, John Negroponte had separately met General Ashfaq Kayani and other key figures.

The End Of Government

One positive event has taken place. Before the imposition of martial law, the current government was due to wind up on Thursday, in preparation for proposed January elections. The dissolution of the existing government did take place. For the first time in Pakistan's 60-year history, a government managed to survive until the end of its natural five-year term - even though the country was in a state of emergency. Under Article 44 of the Constitution, Musharraf can remain as president until a new president is elected.

On Thursday, Musharraf announced the appointment of a caretaker government, to allow for preparations for elections. Mohammed Mian Soomro, the 57-year old chairman of the Senate, was made caretaker prime minister. He belongs to Musharraf's party, the Pakistan Muslim League.

Musharraf said: "An old cabinet is gone and a new cabinet - a caretaker government - has been sworn in. Life continues, no body is permanent. One comes, one serves, tries one's best in the interest of the nation ... and then when they have to go, that is the way of nature. They have to leave, and this is what is democracy."

Musharraf has not yet stepped down as head of the army, but he has changed the order by which - as army chief - he imposed the state of emergency and martial law. On Thursday, he amended the Provisional Constitutional Order so that - as president - he retains the power to revoke the state of emergency.

When Musharraf imposed the state of emergency on November 3, one of his first actions was to shut down transmission of independent television news channels. The two most important of these was Geo TV. On Thursday, AaJ TV and Dawn News, two independent news channels were allowed to broadcast. Geo TV also had its transmissions unblocked on Friday, but within 24 hours it was blocked again. Another station - Ary One World TV - was also blocked again. Ary and Geo are both based in Dubai. The blocking action against Ary and Geo was claimed in some news sources to have been instigated by Musharraf himself, even though the United Arab Emirates government has claimed that it acted on its own initiative.

The Pakistan-based news channels had been allowed to return to air, but only after they had signed an agreement to not be critical of the President. The international media monitor, Reporters Sans Frontieres, condemned the "self-censorship". The situation with Geo TV has been personalized, with the station being ordered to fire named journalists.

The prospect of Benazir Bhutto being able to stand in the January elections is now being placed under threat. Musharraf had ordered an amnesty for her, as she and her husband faced serious corruption charges. Five legal challenges have been mounted against the amnesty in the Supreme Court. Malik Muhammad Qayyum, the Attorney-General is himself unsure of the legality of the amnesty. He said: "Only the courts can decide to throw charges out, not governments... Before Bhutto came back the president had directed me to defend it (Bhutto's amnesty) to the maximum, but now I'm not sure what the stance will be. The thing is, they erred in drawing it up."

At the end of this month, President Musharraf will officially step down as head of the army. He has ensured that only he, and not his army successor, will be able to rescind the emergency decrees and the rule of martial law.

Musharraf is still denying the nation a free and unfettered media, and restrictions against public gatherings remain in place. The longer the state of emergency continues, then increasingly the hopes for a fair election in January are slipping away.

Adrian Morgan

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Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at November 19, 2007 5:19 AM

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