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2007
Pakistan Election: Pakistan in turmoil as Musharaff declares
'Martial Law'
THE
president of Pakistan said last night
that he was declaring a state of emergency
because terrorists threatened the authority of his government.
Defending
his decision in the face of strong condemnation from Britain
and America, General Pervez Musharraf
said Pakistan had reached a “dangerous
juncture”, with its sovereignty at stake.
He
spoke as Benazir Bhutto, the former prime
minister who recently returned from exile, flew back to
Karachi after a family break and accused
him of imposing martial law. She vowed
to fight for the constitution to be reinstated.
The
stage seemed set for a confrontation between the general
who ordered troops onto the streets yesterday and Bhutto,
who had hoped to win back the premiership in elections
due in January.
Musharraf’s critics predicted he would
cancel the elections and curb his opponents’
freedom. Soldiers surrounded Bhutto’s
house, and Imran Khan, the opposition
activist and former Pakistan cricket captain, was placed
under house arrest.
The
general acted after a series of suicide attacks by Al-Qaeda
and Taliban extremists against the military.
Violence that had previously been confined to tribal areas
bordering Afghanistan spread last week into the North
West Frontier.
There
have also been attacks in major cities, including the
bombing of Bhutto’s bus in Karachi last
month in which up to 145 people were killed.
But
Musharraf’s emergency rule began
three days before Pakistan’s Supreme Court was expected
to overturn his recent reelection by parliament as president.
Critics said that this was the real reason for the timing
of the announcement.
Musharraf
claimed in a television address that the government had
become paralysed by “judicial interference”. The chief
justice, a vocal critic of the president, was among those
detained last night.
Aitzaz
Ahsan, the chief justice’s lawyer, who was also arrested,
said from a police station that the Supreme Court had
been about to strip Musharraf of the
presidency. “He’s left us no alternative now but to take
to the streets,” Ahsan said.
After
greeting supporters at Karachi airport
within hours of emergency rule being declared, Bhutto
pledged to offer new leadership. She would discuss with
other political leaders “a course of action to reverse
the suspension of the constitution”, she said.
David
Miliband, the foreign secretary, expressed grave concern
at Musharraf’s action. Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary
of state, called for elections to go ahead in the new
year, but the Pentagon said military aid to Pakistan
would not be cut.
For
more breaking news on the upcoming 2007 Pakistan
Elections,
click HERE .
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