IHT : Pakistan government says it is not ruling out imposing state of emergency

Pakistan government says it is not ruling out imposing state of emergency

The Associated Press | August 8, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Embattled Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's government may impose a state of emergency due to "external and internal threats" and deteriorating law and order in the volatile northwest near the Afghan border, a spokesman said Thursday.

Tariq Azim, minister of state for information, also said some sentiment coming from the United States, including from Democratic presidential hopeful Barak Obama, over the possibility of U.S. military action against al-Qaida in Pakistan "has started alarm bells ringing and has upset the Pakistani public."

But it appeared the motivation for a declaration of an emergency would be the domestic political woes of Musharraf, a key U.S. ally in its fight against terrorism.

Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, has seen his popularity dwindle and his standing badly shaken by a failed bid to oust the country's chief justice — an independent-minded judge likely to rule on expected legal challenges to the military leader's bid to seek a new five-year presidential term this fall.

During a state of emergency, the government can restrict the freedom to move, rally, engage in political activities or form groups as well as take a slew of other measures, including restricting the parliament's right to make laws and can even dissolve parliament.

Pakistani television networks reported that a declaration of an emergency was imminent, but other senior government officials said no final decision had been made.

"I cannot say that it will be tonight, tomorrow or later. We hope that it does not happen. But we are going through difficult circumstances so the possibility of an emergency cannot be ruled out," Azim told The Associated Press.

Azim said it was being discussed because of "some external and internal threats and the law and order situation." He referred to recent Pakistani military action against militants in northwestern border areas that he said had resulted in the deaths of many soldiers.

More than 360 people have died during a wave of suicide attacks and clashes between militants and security forces that began with a bloody army assault on a pro-Taliban mosque in Islamabad in early July.

Musharraf is under growing American pressure to crack down on militants at the Afghan border because of fears that al-Qaida is regrouping there. U.S. President George W. Bush recently signed into law a measure that ties U.S. aid to Pakistan to progress in combatting militants.

The Bush administration has also not ruled out unilateral military action inside Pakistan, but like Obama, has stressed the need to work with Musharraf.

The Pakistani government's comments on a possible emergency declaration came hours after Musharraf abruptly announced he was canceling a planned trip to Kabul on Thursday to attend a U.S.-backed tribal peace council with Afghan President Hamid Karzai aimed at curtailing cross-border militancy by the Taliban and al-Qaida.

In Washington, a State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, initially said the Bush administration was surprised and dismayed by Musharraf's snub, but spokesman Sean McCormack offered a much milder reaction.

"President Musharraf certainly wouldn't stay back in Islamabad if he didn't believe he had good and compelling reasons to stay back," McCormack said. "Certainly we would understand that."

One of Musharraf's worries at home is a Supreme Court hearing set for Thursday about a petition in which exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother are seeking to be allowed to return to Pakistan contest parliamentary elections due by early 2008. Sharif was ousted in 1999 in the coup that brought Musharraf to power.

Speaking from London to Pakistan's Geo TV, Shahbaz Sharif, brother of Nawaz Sharif, said a declaration of a state of emergency would be aimed at stopping two "pillars of the country, two citizens of the country" from coming back.

"This will be another blunder by Musharraf. There is no justification, no basis for emergency," he said.

Another exiled former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, who is widely reported to have met with Musharraf recently in the United Arab Emirates to discuss a power-sharing deal, said that imposition of emergency would be a "drastic" step that the government should not take.

"This is a very big step. This kind of drastic step will not be taken ... this will be a negative step for the restoration of democracy," she told Pakistan's Geo TV from New York. "This will be a retrogressive step and the country will go back."

An aide to the president, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said Musharraf was due to meet with Cabinet ministers, the attorney-general and leaders from the ruling party on Thursday to discuss whether an emergency should be declared.

He did not expect a declaration of an emergency in the early hours of Thursday.

Another senior government official, who also requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said Musharraf had held several meetings Wednesday with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, legal experts and top figures of the ruling party and the leaking of possible emergency plans indicated that it was a serious option.

Under Pakistan's constitution, the head of state — the president — may declare a state of emergency if it is deemed that the country's security is "threatened by war or external aggression, or by internal disturbance beyond" the government's authority to control.

If a state of emergency is to be extended beyond two months, it must be approved by a joint sitting of parliament, the constitution says.

Associated Press writers Munir Ahmad and Sadaqat Jan contributed to this report.