NYT : Musharraf Is Asked to Resist Emergency Rule

Musharraf Is Asked to Resist Emergency Rule

By SALMAN MASOOD, DAVID ROHDE and JANE PERLEZ | Published: November 2, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Friday, Nov. 2 — Since Monday, American and European diplomats have been urging the embattled president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, to refrain from imposing emergency rule to maintain his hold on power, a Western diplomat said today.

“What they are saying is that this would put in jeopardy all kinds of assistance and support,” said the Western diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “It would be just very difficult to support this government.”

The warnings from Western officials to General Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1999, come as reports are emerging that his government has drafted an order to impose a state of emergency. The details of the order have not been released, but it could increase General Musharraf’s powers and delay nationwide elections scheduled for January.

Adm. William J. Fallon, the senior American commander in the region, arrived in Islamabad on Thursday night for a meeting with the general to discuss rising militant attacks in the country.

For the last several months a chorus of senior American officials has visited or telephoned General Musharraf and urged him not to impose emergency rule. In August, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called him at 2 a.m. and pressed him not to declare emergency rule.

Next week the Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the presidential election that General Musharraf won last month. Opposition parties boycotted the elections and have filed court motions for the results to be nullified. They also are questioning whether he can continue to serve as both the country’s president and its military chief.

General Musharraf has promised to resign from the military by Nov. 15, the end of his current term, and then to serve as a civilian president.

Western officials have urged him to abide by the court ruling. But analysts have said he would lose a great deal of influence without his uniform, and some worry that if the court rules against him, he might declare emergency rule to retain power.

Ms. Rice today urged General Musharraf to go ahead with the elections planned for January.

“I am not going to get into the details of our conversations but I think it would be quite obvious that the United States would not be supportive of extra-constitutional means,” she said today on a trip to Turkey, Reuters reported. "Pakistan needs to prepare for and hold free and fair elections," she said, adding that she had not spoken to General Musharraf in recent days.

Opposition politicians say that the government is raising the specter of emergency rule to intimidate the Supreme Court’s judges.

Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the minister for railways, who is considered to be close to General Musharraf, confirmed that emergency rule was being considered in the wake of recent terrorism acts. But he denied the step was intended to influence the court.

“The country is very tense,” he said, referring to threats of continued suicide bombings. “But I must be very clear that no decision has been taken yet.”

In the latest instance of violence, a suicide attacker struck an Air Force bus on Thursday, killing eight people. That followed a suicide attack earlier this week in Rawalpindi, the garrison town near Islamabad, the capital.