More anti-Musharaff protests in Pakistan

[silver 2039]

ISLAMABAD: Nearly 1,000 Pakistani lawyers and opposition supporters held fresh protests on Wednesday against the removal of the country's top judge by President Pervez Musharraf.

Crowds shouted "Go Musharraf, Go" outside the Supreme Court in Islamabad, where suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was to appear before a judical council hearing misconduct charges against him.

A lone pro-Musharraf man who appeared holding a picture of the president was roughed up by female opposition workers outside the court building, a reporter said.

The man was shown being thrashed by the women who surrounded him, snatched Musharraf's poster and tore it into pieces.

The man was later rescued by plain-clothed security men. Police arrested scores of opposition activists in the capital and nearby Rawalpindi late Tuesday, with newspapers saying up to 250 were detained.

Political sources said others were held in the eastern city of Lahore. Military ruler Musharraf, a key ally in the US-led "war on terror", dismissed Chaudhry on March 9, sparking nationwide demonstrations and a tense political crisis in the volatile South Asian nation.

The suspended chief justice has denied charges laid by Musharraf that he abused his position to get his son a senior police job and amassed a fleet of cars. "President Musharraf has plunged the country into uncertainty by confronting the judiciary," Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the head of Pakistan's alliance of hardline Islamic parties, said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/..._protests_in_Pakistan/articleshow/1921513.cms

Well is Musharaffs power in Pakistan beginning to shake? Can he keep his hold on the country. While I dislike Musharaff I dislike the idea of him losing power even more. He is at least can be reasoned with. As for others....

 

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has refuted reports that he was thinking about replacing Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz holding him responsible for the crisis generated over the suspension of Chief Justice Iftikar M Chaudhry.

Regretting that such reports continued to be circulated despite clear denials from various levels of the government, a spokesman for the President denied all speculation regarding change in the government and a deal with an opposition party.

The President has categorically and repeatedly stated that the government was functioning successfully and noticeable progress had been achieved on many fronts, an official statement issued on Sunday said.

This government will face the electorate with confidence in the coming elections, he said and advised every one including the opposition to concentrate on the forthcoming elections which would be manifestly fair and transparent.

Anybody creating confusion at this stage was clearly doing a disservice to the democratic process, he said.

Responding to reports on a deal with an opposition party, the spokesman clarified that all political parties had an equal opportunity to contest the elections freely under the law and no concession or deal was offered to any, a news agency reported.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ing_removal_of_Pak_PM/articleshow/1877329.cms


Is that so?

ISLAMABAD: The top emissaries of Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf and exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, have finalised the draft of a deal between the two leaders, according to a media report today.

Under the deal, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) will first support Musharraf's re-election by the present assemblies which will be endorsed by the new houses after the general elections, according to a report in the The Daily Times .

In return, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which was pursuing a host of corruption cases against Bhutto and her spouse Asif Ali Zardari in Swiss courts, would drop them, said the report.

According to the report, the emissaries of the two leaders gave the finalised draft of the deal on Sunday night after four rounds of talks held in Dubai and Islamabad in less than a week.

A close relative of Benazir is said to be brokering the deal on her behalf, while a six-member team, headed by Tariq Aziz, National Security Council Secretary and top aide of the President, represented Musharraf at the talks.

Bhutto's close associate and PPP leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim was also involved in the talks, said the report. During the fresh round of talks in Dubai last Friday and Saturday, the president's uniform, that is, his continuation as Army Chief, remained the bone of contention.

However, the president's team assured Bhutto of "flexibility" on the issue if she did the same, said the report. Before leaving for Dubai, the government team met with Benazir's emissaries at Fahim's farmhouse in Chak Shahzad in Islamabad.

PPP spokesman Fratullah Babar, however, denied the report saying that the party's principle stand was that it would not endorse Musharraf as a president in uniform.

"We stand by that and there is no change in that," he said while reacting to the newspaper story. “It is a part of the disinformation campaign by the government against Benazir,” said Babar.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani said Bhutto was "begging" for a deal from President Pervez Musharraf and the PML government.

Addressing a public rally in Kohat, Durrani said that contrary to her claims for the last seven years that she won't back Musharraf, Bhutto was now convinced that Musharraf's development agenda had nationwide support.

Durrani said that "The doors of the East have been shut on those who are looking towards the West" for acquiring power. "We will not strike a deal with people who compromise national honour to foreigners," he said.

Commenting on Minister of Railways Sheikh Rashid's claim that the PPP was close to a deal with the government, Durrani told a private television channel that this was Rashid's personal opinion.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...l_Report/articleshow/msid-1918507,curpg-2.cms