McClatchy : Iraq redux? Obama seeks funds for Pakistan super-embassy

Iraq redux? Obama seeks funds for Pakistan super-embassy

By Saeed Shah and Warren P. Strobel | McClatchy Newspapers | May 27, 2009

ISLAMABAD — The U.S. is embarking on a $1 billion crash program to expand its diplomatic presence in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan, another sign that the Obama administration is making a costly, long-term commitment to war-torn South Asia, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

The White House has asked Congress for — and seems likely to receive — $736 million to build a new U.S. embassy in Islamabad, along with permanent housing for U.S. government civilians and new office space in the Pakistani capital.

The scale of the projects rivals the giant U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, which was completed last year after construction delays at a cost of $740 million.

Senior State Department officials said the expanded diplomatic presence is needed to replace overcrowded, dilapidated and unsafe facilities and to support a "surge" of civilian officials into Afghanistan and Pakistan ordered by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Other major projects are planned for Kabul, Afghanistan; and for the Pakistani cities of Lahore and Peshawar. In Peshawar, the U.S. government is negotiating the purchase of a five-star hotel that would house a new U.S. consulate.

Funds for the projects are included in a 2009 supplemental spending bill that the House of Representatives and the Senate have passed in slightly different forms.

Obama has repeatedly stated that stabilizing Pakistan and Afghanistan, the countries from which al Qaida and the Taliban operate, is vital to U.S. national security. He's ordered thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan and is proposing substantially increased aid to both countries.

In Pakistan, however, large parts of the population are hostile to the U.S. presence in the region — despite receiving billions of dollars in aid from Washington since 2001 — and anti-American groups and politicians are likely to seize on the expanded diplomatic presence in Islamabad as evidence of American "imperial designs."

"This is a replay of Baghdad," said Khurshid Ahmad, a member of Pakistan's upper house of parliament for Jamaat-e-Islami, one of the country's two main religious political parties. "This (Islamabad embassy) is more (space) than they should need. It's for the micro and macro management of Pakistan, and using Pakistan for pushing the American agenda in Central Asia."

In Baghdad and other dangerous locales, U.S. diplomats have sometimes found themselves cut off from the population in heavily fortified compounds surrounded by blast walls, concertina wire and armed guards.

"If you're going to have people live in a car bomb-prone place, your are driven to not have a light footprint," said Ronald Neumann, a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and the president of the American Academy of Diplomacy. Neumann called the planned expansions "generally pretty justified."

In Islamabad, according to State Department budget documents, the plan calls for the rapid construction of a $111 million new office annex to accommodate 330 workers; $197 million to build 156 permanent and 80 temporary housing units; and a $405 million replacement of the main embassy building. The existing embassy, in the capital's leafy diplomatic enclave, was badly damaged in a 1979 assault by Pakistani students.

The U.S. government also plans to revamp its consular buildings in the eastern city of Lahore and in Peshawar, the regional capital of the militancy plagued North West Frontier Province. The consulate in the southern megacity of Karachi has just been relocated into a new purpose-built accommodation.

A senior State Department official confirmed that the U.S. plan for the consulate in Peshawar involves the purchase of the luxury Pearl Continental hotel. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly.

The Pearl Contintental is the city's only five-star hotel, set in its own expansive grounds, with a swimming pool. It's owned by Pakistani tycoon Sadruddin Hashwani.

Peshawar is an important station for gathering intelligence on the tribal area that surrounds the city on three sides and is a base for al Qaida and the Taliban. The area also will be a focus for expanded U.S. aid programs, and the American mission in Peshawar has already expanded from three U.S. diplomats to several dozen.

In all, the administration requested $806 million for diplomatic construction and security in Pakistan.

"For the strong commitment the U.S. is making in the country of Pakistan, we need the necessary platform to fulfill our diplomatic mission," said Jonathan Blyth of the State Department's Overseas Buildings Operations bureau. "The embassy is in need of upgrading and expansion to meet our future mission requirements."

A senior Pakistani official said the expansion has been under discussion for three years. "Pakistanis understand the need for having diplomatic missions expanding and the Americans always have had an enclave in Islamabad," said the official, who requested anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the matter publicly. "Will some people exploit it? They will."

In Kabul, the U.S. government is negotiating an $87 million purchase of a 30- to 40-acre parcel of land to expand the embassy. The Senate version of the appropriations bill omits all but $10 million of those funds.

(Shah is a McClatchy special correspondent. Jonathan S. Landay contributed to this article.)

NYT : Attacks on Pakistani Military Kill 15

Attacks on Pakistani Military Kill 15

By CARLOTTA GALL | November 25, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 24 — Two suicide car bombers attacked military targets on Saturday morning in Rawalpindi, the site of the military’s headquarters, killing at least 15 service members, a military spokesman said. The bombings raised tensions in the country, which is already beset with political and security problems.

The bombings were the latest in a series of attacks on the army and intelligence services, which have been linked to militants fighting an insurgency in northwestern Pakistan. Militants fighting in the Swat valley, a tourist spot just several hours’ drive from the capital, are under pressure from a large-scale military operation mounted last week to push them out of towns and villages in the region.

The military said Friday that it had pushed the militants out of a strategic town of Alpuri, which they occupied several weeks ago.

The country entered its fourth week of political turmoil under de facto martial law, imposed by the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who said it would help him fight terrorism. His opponents accuse him of using his extraordinary powers primarily to secure another presidential term by dismissing the Supreme Court and appointing a new one packed with his supporters.

The police have been deployed in large numbers to detain members of the judiciary, the lawyers’ movement and opposition political parties.

The Election Commission on Saturday confirmed General Musharraf as the winner of the Oct. 6 presidential election, after a ruling by the new Supreme Court rejected challenges to his eligibility to have run for another five-year term as president while holding the top army post. The court said General Musharraf should resign as army chief before taking the presidential oath. The attorney general, Malik Abdul Qayyum, told local news media that the president might take the oath on Wednesday.

A number of opposition parties met Saturday and said they would boycott the parliamentary elections, set for Jan. 8, unless their demands for the lifting of de facto martial law were met within four days. Among them is the party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has announced that he will return from exile in Saudi Arabia to his hometown, Lahore, on Sunday. But political parties were also scrambling to meet the Monday deadline for candidates to submit their election papers.

One of Saturday’s bombings in Rawalpindi occurred when a small car rammed a bus full of intelligence personnel just as it was entering the gate of Hamza Camp, a walled compound where the Inter-Services Intelligence agency and Military Intelligence maintain offices and residential buildings.

Fifteen people on the bus died, said Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, the chief military spokesman.

Minutes earlier, another suicide car bomber was turned away from a checkpoint near a side entrance to the army General Headquarters several miles away in another part of Rawalpindi, the garrison town just south of the capital. As he turned the car, he detonated the bomb, killing himself and wounding three soldiers at the checkpoint.

The bombings follow a pattern of recent suicide attacks that military officials say is a sign militants are hitting back at the forces that are pursuing them the hardest in what is a growing struggle. A bomber blew himself up in September in the mess hall of Pakistan’s United States-trained special forces unit, the Special Services Group, killing at least 15.

Also in September, two bombers attacked targets near the military headquarters in Rawalpindi, killing 25. One of the bombers had boarded a bus taking personnel from the Inter-Services Intelligence agency to work, killing 18. On Nov. 1, a bomber on a motorbike rammed an air force bus in the town of Sargodha, killing himself and eight others.

Independent : Suicide blasts kill at least 35 in Pakistan

Suicide blasts kill at least 35 in Pakistan

Today's return of exiled former PM Sharif will add to political turbulence

By Andrew Buncombe, Asia Correspondent | November 25, 2007

At least 35 people were killed in Pakistan yesterday when suicide bombers struck twice – one attack targeting a bus carrying members of an intelligence agency, the other at an army headquarters check-point. The two explosions took place in Rawalpindi, the military city just south of the capital, Islamabad.

In the first attack a car laden with explosives was driven into a bus carrying staff from the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI). The bus was apparently a 72-seater vehicle, but more people may have been on board. "We suspect that pro-Taliban militants who are fighting security forces in our tribal areas are behind this attack," an official told the Associated Press.

Hizer Hayat, the owner of a nearby grocery store, said the blast occurred at 7.40 am. "After the explosion, I went out on the street and found the ignition switch for a car amid the debris. I later gave it to an intelligence agent," he said. The attack was the second major assault against the ISI in recent months. In September a suicide bomber detonated a device after boarding an ISI bus, also in Rawalpindi. On that occasion 25 people were killed.

Islamic militants have been blamed for dozens of suicide attacks this year. Most have occurred near the Afghan border, but several have taken place in the country's main cities. In Afghanistan, suicide attacks have also shot up, with more than 130 this year. The latest, against Italian troops building a bridge west of Kabul, killed nine civilians yesterday, including three children, and an Italian soldier.

Amid political turmoil in Pakistan, the former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, is expected to arrive back in the country today after seven years in exile. He is due to fly to Lahore from Saudi Arabia. Mr Sharif previously tried to return in September, only to be immediately deported by President Pervez Musharraf. Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, a former cabinet minister and close aide to Gen Musharraf, said that on this occasion Mr Sharif would not be pushed out.

His return will add a new ingredient to Pakistan's already turbulent political stew. Unlike another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, he has always ruled out any sort of deal with Gen Musharraf, who ousted him in a military coup in 1999 and forced him to leave the country.

Ihsan Iqbal, a spokesman for Mr Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N party, said the Saudis had been stung by criticism in Pakistan, and were also aware that Gen Musharraf had scheduled parliamentary elections for 8 January. "They don't want Saudi Arabia to become an election issue in Pakistan," Mr Iqbal said.

LAT : Sharif gets a hero's welcome

Sharif gets a hero's welcome

Ten of thousands of supporters hail the deported leader's return to Pakistan as the politics get more complicated.

By Laura King, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer | November 25, 2007

LAHORE, Pakistan -- Tens of thousands of cheering, chanting supporters showered former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with rose petals as he triumphantly returned from exile today, posing a thorny new challenge not only to President Pervez Musharraf but also to the pro-Western opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

Sharif's comeback, just 11 weeks after he was summarily deported by Musharraf, the military leader who once overthrew him, marks a complex new phase in the political turmoil that has gripped the nuclear-armed country, a key U.S. ally, for much of the year.

As Musharraf-decreed emergency rule enters its fourth week, his opponents are jockeying for position, seeking an advantage not only against him but possibly against one another as well. Sharif is more religiously conservative and less overtly friendly to the West than either Musharraf or Bhutto.

"Obviously, it's huge," said University of Oregon professor Anita Weiss of Sharif's return. The author of several books on Pakistan said that many Pakistanis see in Sharif "a mature, elder" -- she paused for emphasis -- "male statesman."

In Lahore, the eastern city that is Pakistan's political nerve center, Sharif's backers sought to muster a display of support comparable to the enormous crowds that turned out to welcome Bhutto last month -- before her homecoming procession was shattered by a suicide bombing that killed nearly 150 people.

"Look at all these people," said party leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, shouting to be heard in the airport's cavernous arrival terminal, which was filled with chanting supporters who had surged past police barricades. "And we had only a few days' notice."

The celebrations, which drew tens of thousands of people, continued long into the night

Sharif's plans were finalized Friday after a meeting with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, who flew the former leader here in a special plane and provided him with a bulletproof Mercedes, which he did not use, however, for his tumultuous journey into the center of Lahore from the airport.

With fireworks arcing into the sky, supporters danced in front of his convoy, slowing progress to a crawl. Honking cars and buses, with flag-waving supporters dangling from rooftops and out windows, jammed the road long into the night.

Sharif, clad in a traditional white shalwar khameez, or tunic and baggy trousers, topped with a black vest, told supporters he had not made compromises with Musharraf to be allowed back into his homeland.

"My return is not the result of any deal!" he told the crowd at the airport.

Much of the impetus for Sharif's return is thought to have come from Saudi Arabia, which was embarrassed by its role in the previous deportation. Musharraf, who made a 24-hour visit to the kingdom last week, was reportedly told by Saudi officials they were unwilling to risk prestige and popularity by appearing to hold Sharif against his will.

Amid the jubilation today, Sharif's followers appeared to ignore that he was an unpopular prime minister in 1999, when Musharraf's coup was widely welcomed. As Pakistan's leader, he was plagued by accusations of corruption and incompetence.

"It shows how much there is hunger for change," said Khalid Butt, the editor of the Pakistan Observer.

At the airport, supporters hoisted Sharif and his politician brother, Shabbaz, onto their shoulders, shouting, "Nawaz, Nawaz!" And "Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif!"

"After all these years, our leader is home," said Hajira Rasheed, a party worker in her 50s who wore a baseball cap emblazoned with Sharif's image.

The arrival came on the eve of the deadline for registering to take part in parliamentary elections scheduled for Jan. 8. Party officials said Sharif and his wife and brother would all register as candidates, though the party still held open the option of a boycott.

Bhutto, too, prepared to register her candidacy on Monday, signaling that her Pakistan Peoples Party was probably unwilling to sit out the contest. Opposition parties say it would be extremely difficult to hold a free and fair election while the country remains under de facto martial law.

Under the decree, Musharraf suspended the constitution, fired the chief justice and imposed curbs on independent news channels.

"The constitution of Pakistan should be restored, and there should be rule of law," Sharif told his supporters at the airport.

Even if Sharif's party agrees to take part in the upcoming vote, it was not clear whether he himself would be allowed to run, because he has criminal convictions stemming from his efforts to resist Musharraf's coup against him.

Musharraf turned on Sharif after the then-prime minister tried to fire him. Their confrontation came to a dramatic climax when Sharif tried to prevent Musharraf's plane from landing after a trip abroad. The general was able to make radio contact with senior military staff on the ground, and the takeover was complete by the time his plane landed.

Musharraf promised to step down as military chief by month's end after his new loyalist Supreme Court ruled last week that his election by parliament last month was legal.

In the wake of Musharraf's coup, Sharif was charged with offenses including treason and hijacking and, in a plea bargain, agreed to go into exile for 10 years. He later said that pledge was made under duress.

Party officials said hundreds of Sharif supporters were rounded up by dawn, hours before his arrival, in a harsh reminder that Musharraf still wields sweeping powers in the wake of his Nov. 3 emergency decree. Police disputed the figures, saying those detained amounted only to dozens.

More than 5,000 people, most of them lawyers, human-rights activists and opposition politicians, were jailed in the days following Musharraf's decree. Many have since been released, but new arrests are still taking place, and several of the country's most senior lawyers remain in prison.

A day before Sharif's arrival, suicide bombers struck a heavily fortified area of Rawalpindi, the site of Pakistan's military headquarters. Up to three dozen people died in that attack, the first major suicide bombing since the start of emergency rule.

Musharraf said the escalating Islamic insurgency was the main reason for his emergency decree, although most observers believe the real aim was to silence the Supreme Court, led by activist Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

Chaudhry, fired in the first hours of emergency rule, effectively remains under house arrest.

The re-emergence of Sharif as a political force poses a fresh quandary for Musharraf, who has come under heavy international criticism for his emergency declaration.

Musharraf's own party is a breakaway from the party Sharif heads, which still retains a large following and would be well positioned to siphon off support from the general.

It was unclear whether Sharif might try to ally himself politically with Bhutto. Some analysts believe Musharraf relented and allowed Sharif to return to diminish Bhutto's role as the main opposition leader.

Sharif's earlier homecoming, on Sept. 9, lasted less than four hours. When his plane landed in Islamabad's international airport, he never managed to make it out of the terminal. Musharraf's government sealed off the airport, and waiting government forces bundled Sharif onto a plane back to Saudi Arabia.

laura.king@latimes.com

Reuters : Former PM Sharif returns from exile to Pakistan

Former PM Sharif returns from exile to Pakistan

By Simon Gardner | November 25, 2007

LAHORE, Pakistan, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif returned from exile in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, coming back to a country under emergency rule imposed by President Pervez Musharraf.

He said he was determined to rid the country of dictatorship.

"We want democracy and nothing else," Sharif told the BBC by telephone on arriving back in his hometown Lahore from the Saudi city of Medina. "I am here to play my role and also make my own efforts to rid the country of dictatorship."

U.S. ally Musharraf imposed emergency rule on Nov. 3 to safeguard his presidency, but, under pressure from Saudi's King Abdullah, he reluctantly acquiesced to Sharif's return.

Musharraf deposed Sharif in a bloodless coup eight years ago.

Sharif will lead his party in a Jan. 8 general election, if he decides against boycotting a poll that most people doubt will be either free or fair.

Khalid Maqbool, governor of central Punjab province, described Sharif's return to his hometown as a step toward national reconciliation after the bloodless 1999 coup.

"We think this is a very positive development," Maqbool told Dawn News, an independent Pakistani news channel, minutes after Sharif's plane touched down.

Sharif, accompanied by his wife Kulsoom and politician brother and fellow exile Shahbaz Sharif, arrived on a jet provided by the Saudi monarch.

Hundreds of people managed to breach the security cordon at the airport to welcome them home, although police carrying riot shields, batons and rifles had been deployed.

Pakistan police detained thousands of supporters of Sharif prior to his arrival from Medina, according to party loyalists.

"We want all steps taken on Nov. 3 to be withdrawn," Sharif told independent Pakistani news channel ARYOne World television before departing.

Sharif plans to discuss a possible boycott of a parliamentary election set for Jan. 8 with the other main opposition party led by Benazir Bhutto, another former premier who Musharraf allowed back last month in the hope that she would become an ally.

Bhutto welcomed Sharif's return but did not talk in terms of a boycott as she filed her nomination papers at her constituency in southern Sindh province.

"God willing, an election will be held and People's Party and the people will win," Bhutto told reporters.

Musharraf co-opted the rump of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League after ousting him. Leaders of the ruling PML fear many of their party may now defect to Sharif's camp.

Resigned to Sharif's coming back, Musharraf hopes the former prime minister's party will take part in the election, so the vote's questionable credibility will not be further diminished by an opposition boycott, according to a presidential aide.

The general secured his own second five-year term by using emergency powers to purge Supreme Court judges who might have annulled his re-election by parliament last month.

He is expected to quit as army chief and take his oath as a civilian leader in the coming days. His next big problem is whether the new parliament will be friendly or hostile.

(Additional reporting by Kamran Haider in Lahore and Zeeshan Haider in Islamabad; Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

© Reuters 2007 All rights reserved

Dawn : Nawaz to return aboard Saudi king’s plane : Ex-PM will file papers: Shahbaz

Nawaz to return aboard Saudi king’s plane : Ex-PM will file papers: Shahbaz

November 25, 2007

LAHORE / LONDON, Nov 24: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will be landing at the Lahore airport at 4pm on Sunday, PML-N sources told Dawn.

The twice-exiled PML-N leader will be using a special plane of Saudi King Abdullah when he, along with his wife Kulsoom Nawaz, former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif and other family members, will leave for Pakistan from Saudi Arabia.

Shahbaz Sharif and Begum Kulsoom Nawaz left London on Saturday evening for Madina to join Nawaz Sharif.

According to the party’s tentative reception plan, immediately after landing at the Lahore airport, Mr Sharif will be taken to Data Sahib’s shrine through Saddar Bazaar, Dharampura, Garhi Shahu, Laxmi Chowk, Gowalmandi, and Circular Road.

After offering prayers at the shrine, he will leave for his Raiwind residence.

Nawaz Sharif’s spokesman Zaeem Qadri said the former prime minister would address a public meeting at Bhati Gate. However, the party has not sought official permission for the purpose.

He said the party had not sought any official security cover for Mr Sharif. The government had been told: “As we are threatened by none, there is no need for any security blanket.”

However, Shahbaz Sharif’s son Hamza Shahbaz said the PML-N leader would use a bullet-proof vehicle gifted by King Abdullah. The vehicle was flown to Lahore airport on Saturday night by a C-130 plane.

Local party officials claimed that tens of thousands of people would greet the Sharifs at the airport.

Zaeem Qadri said the party had mobilised workers belonging to the Lahore division. However, activists from other areas and provinces were also coming to welcome their leader.

The party’s chairman, Raja Zafarul Haq, acting president Javed Hashmi, Nisar Ali Khan and leaders from other provinces started pouring into the city on Saturday evening.

Sources in the Punjab government indicated that PML-N workers might not be allowed to enter the airport because of security concerns.

A source based in Jeddah said Mr Sharif’s adviser, Brig (retd) Niaz, was in touch with the authorities in Islamabad to assure them that the party’s show would remain peaceful.

POLL BOYCOTT:

Talking to Dawn before leaving London, Shahbaz Sharif favoured boycotting the coming elections.

He, however, agreed that by participating in the polls, the opposition would be able to “corner President Musharraf into rigging them, exposing him both inside and outside the country”.

And he also implied that a boycott would not succeed unless the PPP joined it.

He answered in the affirmative when asked if Nawaz Sharif, who had been convicted in the hijacking case, would be able to file his nomination papers. “If Benazir, who too is a convict, could file the nomination, why cannot Nawaz.”

In reply to a question what had changed between Sept 10 -- when the Saudi government allowed Mr Nawaz to live in Saudi Arabia after he was expelled from Pakistan -- and now, Mr Shahbaz said he was not privy to the discussions that took place between his brother and the royal family.

However, he spoke of an “unspoken understanding” between Nawaz Sharif and King Abdullah that if Benazir Bhutto returned home, the Saudi government would no more be obliged to continue to play host to the Sharifs.

He did not rule out the possibility that the seeming loss of goodwill among the people of Pakistan for the Saudi government because of its collaboration with President Musharraf could have influenced Riaydh to reject Islamabad’s pleas this time.

In reply to a question whether the Saudi intelligence chief and Lebanon’s Saad Hariri had urged the Sharifs them to delay their departure for Pakistan until after Gen Musharraf’s election, Mr Shahbaz answered in the affirmative. But, he added, the two officials opposed only Nawaz’s return, and not Shahbaz’s.

He also did not rule out the possibility that King Abdullah had received the “right kind of advice” from London when he was here on an official visit last month.

Sources say when British officials urged the Saudi king to let Sharifs go back home, the king turned around and asked them if London would accept Nawaz this time if he was again sent out by President Musharraf. No one was willing to hazard a guess as to the British officials’ response.

Shahbaz Sharif said he could see the logic in the contention that once Nawaz Sharif went back, it would be almost impossible for the Chaudhry brothers to keep the PML-Q from disintegrating.

“With no political party to rig the elections and with the Army and the ISI not available to him after he takes off the uniform, Gen Musharraf will be left with no option but to hold fair and free elections.”

Daily Times : Nawaz returns in style

Nawaz returns in style

* Sharifs also have deal with Musharraf
* Nawaz cannot contest elections because of conviction
* Hamza denies any deal

By Qamar Jabbar | November 25, 2007

LAHORE: Former premier Nawaz Sharif has reached an understanding with the government, whereby he and possibly Shahbaz Sharif may not destabilise the Musharraf regime or boycott the elections, according to sources in government. Also, while Sharif may not personally contest the upcoming general elections, Kulsoom Nawaz and Hamza Shahbaz would be allowed to contest the elections from Lahore, sources told Daily Times on Saturday.

Nawaz, following a meeting with Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, met with senior Pakistani officials and close associates of President General Pervez Musharraf, and agreed that the Sharif family could return to Pakistan as long as the PML-N did not boycott the elections, PML-Q sources told Daily Times. They said the understanding also involves the restoration of some of Nawaz’s business interests in the country and his Model Town residence. ISI DG Gen Nadeem Taj and Brig (r) Niaz, a mutual “friend” of Gen Musharraf and Nawaz, mediated the negotiations in Jeddah. The sources said that Nawaz had also agreed not to destabilise Gen Musharraf’s “transition” to democracy or try to overthrow him.

Conviction: According to the understanding, as revealed by PML-Q sources, Nawaz cannot contest the election because of his conviction, as has been stated by Attorney General Qayyum Malik. Shahbaz does not face any conviction but there’s a case of a plea bargain in which he is party as director of Hudaibia Mills and according to some legal experts, this is equivalent to a conviction and hence makes him ineligible.

However, caretaker Information Minister Nisar Memon has said that everyone is free to contest the polls, which is causing confusion and all sorts of rumours are being spread about the new understanding between the Sharifs and the government.

No deal: However, Hamza Shahbaz, son of former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif, rejected the claims his family had reached any understanding with the government, adding that they were returning to Pakistan according to the Supreme Court’s decision. He said they would all actively participate in the elections. Nawaz, Shahbaz and Kulsoom will contest the elections from NA-120, NA-119 and NA-118, respectively and their nomination papers have already been obtained from the returning officers concerned.

The Sharif family’s decision to return on November 25 means they will return a day before the submission of nomination papers.

Meanwhile Shahbaz Sharif told a private TV channel that Nawaz has no enmity with anyone and he is returning to the country to serve the people of Pakistan. A senior government official told a foreign news agency that the government would not obstruct Nawaz Sharif’s homecoming this time. “We have no plans to arrest him,” the official said.

Former premier Nawaz Sharif will return to the country today (Sunday) along with his wife Kulsoom Nawaz, brother Shahbaz Sharif and Ishaq Dar. He would land at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore at around 2pm, reported Online. The Saudi monarch is sending Sharif to Pakistan on a royal plane and has gifted him two bulletproof Mercedes cars and also lent him a helicopter for use during the elections.

Times of India : Bhutto, Sharif to submit nomination papers on Monday

Bhutto, Sharif to submit nomination papers on Monday

November 25, 2007

ISLAMABAD: Despite a call by an opposition group for boycotting the upcoming general elections, former Pakistan prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif will file their nominations on Monday, the last day to submit the papers for their candidature.

Pakistan People's Party chairperson Bhutto will file her nomination papers from two parliamentary constituencies in Larkana, a traditional stronghold of her family in Punjab province.

Bhutto will file her nominations on Monday in Larkana, her party sources said.

Sharif, the head of the PML-N party, will file nominations with his wife Kulsoom and his brother Shahbaz Sharif in Lahore.

The All Parties Democratic Movement, of which the PML-N is a member, yesterday said it would boycott parliamentary polls if President Pervez Musharraf did not end the Emergency, restore fundamental rights and reinstate deposed judges of the Supreme Court within four days.

The APDM said it was also in talks with the PPP to convince Bhutto to boycott polls held in a state of Emergency. Bhutto, who travelled from Islamabad to Karachi on Sunday after meeting with PPP leaders to assess the political situation, has so far been non-committal on boycotting the election.

Both the PML-N and the PPP have indicated that if all political parties agreed on a boycott, their candidates could withdraw their nomination papers.

PML-N leader Ishaq Dar, a confidant of Sharif, said it was "common sense" as Sunday is the last date to file nominations papers.

DNA : The deal which brought Sharif back on Pak soil

The deal which brought Sharif back on Pak soil

Sharif promises King Abdullah that he won’t use politics of agitation against Pervez Musharraf

by Amir Mir | November 25, 2007

LAHORE: Having spent seven years in exile, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned to Pakistan on Sunday evening, but not without striking a deal with the Musharraf regime through the good offices of Saudi King, Abdullah. The deal states that Sharif would not resort to politics of agitation to overthrow Musharraf — his arch rival, who had toppled Sharif’s government in October 1999 and sent him into forced exile.

According to highly-placed insiders in the Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League, before being allowed to return home with Royal protocol, Sharif had given a commitment to King Abdullah that he won’t confront Musharraf. Sharif, however, wanted to ensure that Musharraf does not reopen the pending cases against him or tries to stop him from contesting the elections.

According to government sources, the deal between Sharif and the Musharraf regime involves the restoration of Sharif’s business interests in Pakistan and his Model Town residence, which was confiscated by the regime.

A Sharif family source said that during his meeting with Sharif on Saturday, King Abdullah recited some verses from the Quran, while urging Sharif to contribute for the well-being of Pakistan. The king not only asked the Pakistan government to take care of his security, but also gifted a bullet-proof car to the former Pakistan prime minister.

Thaindian News : Saudi King gifts two bulletproof cars to Nawaz Sharif

Saudi King gifts two bulletproof cars to Nawaz Sharif

November 25, 2007

Islamabad, Nov 25 (ANI): Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz has gifted two bulletproof Mercedes cars and also lent former premier Nawaz Sharif a helicopter for use during the elections from his personal fleet, before his departure for Pakistan.

The vehicle would remain in use of Nawaz Sharif during the election campaign, The Nation reported.

King Abdullah during his farewell meeting with Sharif said: “As he (Nawaz Sharif) was dear to him, so he (king) was concerned about his security and well-being,” sources said.

Sources further disclosed that Nawaz Sharif had accepted the offer and later the car was airlifted here in Lahore, his hometown, on Friday where it was handed over to his nephew Hamza Shahbaz Sharif.

It is pertinent to mention that following suicide attack on the PPP rally in Karachi on October 18 in which more than 140 people were killed, the US Embassy had provided Benazir Bhutto with a bulletproof car equipped with latest explosive-device jamming system.

The car would remain in her use throughout the election campaign. (ANI)

AP : Former PM Sharif Returns to Pakistan

Former PM Sharif Returns to Pakistan

By SLOBODAN LEKIC | November 25, 2007

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned home to a hero's welcome Sunday and called on President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to end emergency rule before elections, a fresh challenge to the U.S.-backed leader.

"These (emergency) conditions are not conducive to free and fair elections," Sharif told reporters at the airport after arriving from Saudi Arabia. "I think the constitution of Pakistan should be restored, and there should be rule of law."

Sharif, the head of one of the country's main opposition parties, said he had not negotiated his return with Musharraf, who overthrew him in a 1999 coup. Musharraf expelled Sharif when he first tried come back to Pakistan this year.

"My return is not the result of any deal," Sharif told reporters. "My life and death are for Pakistan."

Thousands of frenzied supporters pushed past police barricades into the airport in this eastern city, carrying Sharif and his brother on their shoulders and cheering wildly as Sharif stood among them on a raised platform. An armored car carrying Sharif left the airport on a procession toward a shrine in the center of the city, surrounded by screaming supporters.

Musharraf has grown increasingly unpopular since he declared a state of emergency on Nov. 3, locking up thousands of opponents, purging the Supreme Court and muzzling the media.

If Sharif and other opposition parties refuse to take part in parliamentary elections slated for January, it would undermine Musharraf's claim to be taking the country back toward democracy. Equally tricky for Musharraf would be an alliance between Sharif and another recently returned prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.

"If they come to us with a proposal of any electoral alliance, we will consider this positively," Bhutto said aboard a flight from Karachi to her hometown of Larkana, in southern Pakistan. "I welcome him home."

A spokesman for Sharif's part said he, his brother and his wife will all file papers Monday that would allow them to run if they choose to do so.

The presidential spokesman was not available Sunday for comment on Sharif's return.

However, the pro-Musharraf ruling party, which broke away from Sharif's group after the coup, is already wooing him as a potential ally.

Ruling party spokesman Tariq Azim urged the Sharif camp to "forget the old egos and start with a clean slate."

The scene at Lahore airport was eerily reminiscent of the early jubilation that greeted Bhutto when she came back to her home city of Karachi in October, but the number of supporters was far lower. Bhutto's return was greeted by a massive suicide bomb which killed about 150 people in a procession through the streets.

In a reminder that Pakistan remains under emergency rule, security forces had rounded up some Sharif activists and attempted to seal off the airport.

But the supporters who found their way through tight security swarmed into the terminal building waving the green flag of his party and shouting slogans including "Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif!" and "Go, Musharraf, go!"

Police lifted batons to drive them back from the arrival area, but had no space to swing them amid the dancing, jubilant crowds.

Television footage showed Sharif, dressed in his trademark white shirt and a dark waistcoat, on an airport stairwell next to his brother, also a politician, and surrounded by security officials, waving to the cameras.

Tight security that had surrounded Sharif after his plane touched down appeared to melt away amid the chaos.

Both Bhutto and Sharif have been seeking to return to power after the parliamentary elections. But the ballot, which the West hopes will produce a moderate government able to stand up to Islamic extremism, has been thrown into confusion by Musharraf's seizure of emergency powers.

Major opposition parties — including Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party — have been lining up to take part in the elections with preliminary steps such as filing nomination papers.

Bhutto, a more liberal and openly pro-U.S. politician than Sharif, filed her papers to contest the election on Sunday in Karachi. She says her party could still pull out if Musharraf doesn't ensure the vote is fair.

Sharif indicated his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N, would demand a restoration of constitutional rule before it took part in the vote, but that any decision on whether to boycott would be taken in conjunction with other groups.

Sharif has been angling for a return ever since Musharraf overthrew him and gave the jailed politician a choice: accept 10 years of exile or face life in prison on charges including hijacking and terrorism. The charges stemmed from Sharif's desperate attempts to turn away a packed civilian plane carrying Musharraf — then the army chief — back from a trip abroad.

As the Pakistan International Airways plane ran low on fuel, Musharraf used the cockpit radio to contact his senior commanders on the ground, who quickly took over the country. By the time the plane touched down in the southern city of Karachi, Musharraf was Pakistan's new leader and Sharif was under arrest.

In September Sharif boarded a flight from London to Islamabad, but police in the Pakistani capital swiftly sent him back to Saudi Arabia.

This time, the Saudi leadership reportedly pressured Pakistan to accept him. Saudi King Abdullah provided the plane that carried Sharif home.

Ahsan Iqbal, a spokesman for Sharif's party, said some 1,800 activists were detained in a crackdown ahead of the former premier's return.

However, federal Information Minister Nisar Memon said he was exaggerating.

"There are no arrests as such," Memon said. "About 100 people have been confined so that they do not create any issues. We don't want the same mess as there was in Karachi."

Authorities issued no warnings that Islamic militants bitterly opposed to Musharraf and Bhutto for their pro-U.S. police might target the religiously conservative Sharif.

However, his arrival came one day after suicide bombers killed up to 35 people in nearly simultaneous blasts at the heart of Pakistan's security establishment in Rawalpindi, a garrison city adjacent to the capital, Islamabad.

It was not clear who was behind the explosions — which targeted a bus carrying intelligence agency workers and a checkpoint near army headquarters — but authorities said suspicion rested on Islamist militants who are fighting an increasingly bloody insurgency against government troops in the northwest of the country.

The army said Sunday that 30 pro-Taliban fighters and one Pakistani soldier died in an operation to capture militant positions in the Swat valley, a former tourist destination just 100 miles from Islamabad.

Musharraf cited rising religious extremism as a reason for declaration a state of emergency. However, many of those targeted under the crackdown have been political opponents, lawyers and members of the media.

More than 5,500 people have been detained since the crackdown began, but authorities insist virtually all have been freed since last weekend, when visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte urged Musharraf to restore the constitution.

Associated Press writers Sadaqat Jan and Paul Haven in Islamabad and Abdullah Shihri in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, contributed to this report.

CTV : Exiled former Pakistani PM Sharif to return

Exiled former Pakistani PM Sharif to return

CTV.ca News Staff | November 24, 2007

Another major figure in Pakistan politics is planning to return from exile as the country reels from major suicide bombing attacks.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is to arrive in the eastern city of Lahore on Sunday.

Sharif has been living in exile in Saudi Arabia since shortly after his ouster from power in 1999.

Sadique al-Farooq, a senior member of the Pakistan Muslim League-N party, said Sharif is unlikely to stage a mass rally like opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, another former prime minister.

As Bhutto's caravan slowly made its way through the streets of Karachi on Oct. 18, a massive blast killed more than 140 of her supporters.

Al-Farooq said he still expected thousands to come out and greet the opponent of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who overthrew Sharif.

After doing so, Musharraf gave Sharif two choices: Accept 10 years in exile or life in prison on charges that included hijacking and terrorism.

The hijacking charge stemmed from Sharif's attempt to turn back an airliner bringing back Musharraf from a trip abroad.

Musharraf used the cockpit radio to contact his commanders, who staged a coup. When the plane landed, Sharif was under arrest and Musharraf was Pakistan's new leader.

Sharif had tried to return in September, but Musharraf had him sent back to Saudi Arabia.

However, there are reports the Saudis are pressuring Musharraf to accept Sharif back to Pakistan.

The bombings

The early-morning attacks on Saturday targeted Pakistan's security establishment. A car loaded with explosives rammed a bus containing members of Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan's spy agency. Minutes later, a bomber attacked an army checkpoint.

Two senior intelligence officials told The Associated Press that at least 35 died in the bus attack.

An army statement would only confirm 15 deaths, plus the suicide bomber. The second attack left two security personnel seriously wounded and the bomber dead, it said.

"We suspect that pro-Taliban militants who are fighting security forces in our tribal areas are behind this attack," one of the intelligence officials said.

Musharraf declared a state of emergency on Nov. 3 in part because of militant activity, but opponents have said he's focused more on squelching his secular opponents like lawyers, politicians and the media.

With files from The Associated Press

Pakistan Times : Nawaz Sharif arrives Pakistan Today

Nawaz Sharif arrives Pakistan Today

'Pakistan Times' Wire Service | November 25, 2007

LAHORE: PML-N workers in Lahore are all set to welcome the former Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif his brother Mian Shahbaz Sharif and wife Kalsoom Nawaz who will be arriving in Lahore today, Sunday.

The workers will make 25th November a historic day by welcoming Mian Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif in an unprecedented way, says Hamza Shahbaz. Addressing a party meeting at PML-N’s office here on Saturday, PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz said the time has come for the workers to welcome their leaders.

He urged all party representatives to mobilize workers in their respective constituencies. He also said the people of this city will prove tomorrow that Lahore is the stronghold of PML-N. PML-N leader Khwaja Saad Rafique said that Sunday will get rise democracy in Pakistan.

He said the PML-N workers will break all barricades on their way to Lahore Airport. The two-time former premier is due to land in Lahore on Sunday afternoon on board a Saudi royal plane, his party said earlier. An official has urged Sharif's party not to organize a mass welcome home rally "because of the current threat of suicide bombings and the law and order situation."

Online News (Pak) : Nawaz arrives today

Nawaz arrives today

November 25, 2007

ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister and PML-N head Mian Nawaz Sharif would be returning to the country today (Sunday) along with his wife Kalsoom Nawaz, brother Shahbaz Sharif and Ishaq Dar.

He would land at Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore at around 2 pm via a special plane from Madinah Al-Munawara.

A large number of PML-N workers, APDM leaders, lawyers and civil society members would be present at the airport to welcome Nawaz Sharif.

Nawaz Sharif talking to party secretary general Zafar Iqbal Jhagra told that he is not coming to the country under any deal and is coming due to the wishes of the people.

He said that his farewell meeting with Saudi King Abdullah was constructive and he had thanked the Saudi king for his hospitality.

Nawaz Sharif also told him to cancel the meeting as he would be returning to the country and he wants to preside over the session himself.

Meanwhile Shahbaz Sharif talking to a private TV channel said that Nawaz Sharif has no enmity with anyone and he is returning to the country to serve the people of Pakistan.

He said that PML-N wants to set things right in the country and pave way for democratic set up. He said decision on lection would be taken at APDM meeting. He said that Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto are still in contact with each other and PML-N wants that all decision on elections be made with joint consensus.

Meanwhile a senior government official talking to foreign news agency said the government would not obstruct exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s homecoming this time.

"We have no plans to arrest him," the official told foreign news agency.

"The president has said he would provide all political parties an equal chance to participate in the elections."

Daily Times : Editorial: The ‘Nawaz Sharif factor’

Editorial: The ‘Nawaz Sharif factor’

November 24, 2007

In the latest development in the wake of General Pervez Musharraf’s visit to Saudi Arabia, the exiled ex-prime minister and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PMLN), Mr Nawaz Sharif, is to arrive in Pakistan soon — according to some party sources, in a couple of days. There is a lot of speculation about the sort of “deal” that materialised during the general’s visit making possible the return of Mr Sharif. The most convincing version, in the light of the past behaviour of the Saudi government, is that the Saudis put their foot down and told the general that Mr Sharif could not be kept out of Pakistan while Ms Benazir Bhutto was reaping the advantage of being in the thick of national politics.

Until now Mr Sharif has stood at the head of the “rejectionist-confrontationist” view that is now fast eroding. There was a time when opinion surveys placed him at the top of the winners’ list in the proposed elections by a big margin. He was lionised for not submitting to the ignominy of a “deal” with the general while Ms Bhutto was pushed down the list of favourites for abandoning the hard line she had adopted in the Charter of Democracy she signed under the banner of Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD). Indeed, growing disenchanted with Ms Bhutto’s constant “dialogue” with the general, he had called an all parties conference in London and emerged once again at the top of an All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) challenging the general with an ultimate boycott of the January elections.

But Mr Sharif faced difficulties on a number of counts. His original party, the PML, had been hijacked by the general, and only a rump was left with him that sought to remain in the public eye through the politics of denunciation and rejection. Meanwhile, two major parties, the PPP and Jamiat Ulema Islam Fazl (JUIF), decided to be flexible in the face of General Musharraf’s challenge and parted ways with the APDM, in the process causing setbacks to Mr Sharif and the leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Qazi Hussain Ahmad and Imran Khan. His next step was bold and could have worked to reverse the setback: he decided to return to Pakistan and create a new political situation to make the general and his party go on the defensive.

The real and final political disaster happened when his party failed to mobilise a public rally on the day of his arrival at the Islamabad airport. On the other hand, when Ms Bhutto arrived in Karachi, defying advice from the general, the welcome she received from her party was historic in many ways. The tables were turned. Suddenly, in place of the PMLN, the PPP became the challenger of the status quo. The public view swung once again in favour of Ms Bhutto. She began to give less and less slack to the general on issues relating to the elections and took him on frontally after the imposition of Emergency and the PCO. But she never crossed the Rubicon of boycotting the elections. Paradoxically, her “contradictions” have eclipsed the “consistency” of Mr Sharif.

Now the boot is on the other foot. It is Mr Sharif who has done a deal with the Saudis and the Musharraf regime, enabling him to come back along with his family and contest the elections. But Mr Sharif will have a tough time mobilising support for his party. His vote is divided between the ruling PML and Jamaat-e-Islami. The PML is firmly entrenched in Punjab on the basis of governance and the usual Punjabi politics of “spoils” and will only be challenged in the south of the province by the PPP. The Jamaat has been cruelly dealt with by the JUIF in the clerical alliance MMA and has just suffered a setback in Lahore in the shape of a students’ revolt against its students’ wing. Meanwhile, General Musharraf is playing his “positive” cards in quick succession. He will soon step down from his post of the army chief, he has announced the elections on January 8, he has lifted the ban on almost all the TV channels, he will lift the Emergency now that he has secured his advantage through seven constitutional amendments, and he can count on international support.

The decline of Mr Sharif has come from the decision already gelling among the political parties not to boycott the elections. His party can no longer afford to boycott the polls because staying out will keep him out of the contention without giving him any future advantage.

NYT : Two Blasts Target Pakistani Military

Two Blasts Target Pakistani Military

By CARLOTTA GALL | November 24, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 24 — Two suicide car bombers attacked military targets this morning in Rawalpindi, the site of military headquarters, killing at least 15 service personnel, a military spokesman said. The bombings raise tensions in the country, which is already beset with political and security problems.

The attacks were the latest in a series of attacks on the army and intelligence service that have been linked to militants fighting an insurgency in north-western Pakistan. Militants fighting in the Swat valley, a tourist spot just several hours drive from the capital, are under pressure from a large-scale military operation mounted last week to push them out of towns and villages in the region. The military said Friday that it had pushed the militants out of a strategic town of Alpuri, which they had occupied several weeks ago.

The bombings also come as the country entered its fourth week of political turmoil under de facto martial law, imposed by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. While General Musharraf said he is trying to fight terrorism, his opponents accuse him of using his extraordinary powers primarily to secure another presidential term for himself. He recently dismissed the Supreme Court and appointed a new one packed with supporters who have removed judicial obstacles to his remaining in power. Police have been deployed in large numbers to detain members of the judiciary and lawyers’ movement, and opposition political parties over the last three weeks.

The Election Commission today confirmed General Musharraf as the winner of the Oct. 6 presidential election, following a ruling by the newly appointed Supreme Court dismissing challenges to his eligibility to stand for another five year term as president while still holding the top army post. The court ordered General Musharraf to resign as chief of the army before taking the oath as president. The Attorney General, Malik Abdul Qayyum, talking to local news channels, said the president may take the oath on Wednesday.

A number of opposition parties met today and said they would boycott the parliamentary elections set for Jan. 8 unless their demands for the lifting of emergency rule were met within four days. Among them is the party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who has announced he will return from exile in Saudi Arabia to his home town of Lahore on Sunday. But political parties were also scrambling to meet the Monday deadline for candidates to submit their election papers.

One of today’s bombings occurred when a small car rammed a bus full of intelligence personnel just as it was entering the gate of Hamza Camp, a walled compound where the intelligence agency, the InterServices Intelligence, and Military Intelligence maintain offices and residential buildings. The bus was packed with security personnel arriving for work.

Fifteen people on the bus died, as did the suicide bomber, said Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, the chief military spokesman.

Minutes earlier another suicide bomber in a car was turned away from a check point near a side entrance to the army General Head Quarters several miles away in another part of Rawalpindi, the garrison town just south of the capital. As he turned the car, he detonated the bomb, killing himself and wounding three army personnel manning the checkpoint. The Associated Press, quoting an unnamed official at the scene, reported that as many as 35 people died altogether, 33 in the bus and two more at the checkpoint.

The bombings follow a pattern of recent suicide attacks on special forces and intelligence personnel that military officials say is a sign that militants are hitting back at the forces that are pursuing them the hardest in what is an escalating struggle. A bomber blew himself up in September in the mess hall of Pakistan’s American-trained special forces unit, the Special Services Group, killing at least 15 men and wounding more.

Also in September, two bombers attacked targets near the military head quarters in Rawalpindi, killing 25. One of the bombers boarded a bus taking personnel from the InterServices Intelligence to work and killed 18 intelligence workers. On Nov. 1, a bomber on a motorbike rammed an Air Force bus in the town of Sargodha, killing himself and eight people.

ISN (Switz.) : Pakistan: Emergency and chaos

Pakistan: Emergency and chaos

General Pervez Musharraf's quest for unlimited power poses serious questions for US policymakers as the nuclear-armed nation slides into anarchy amid threats of Talibanization and political chaos.

Naveed Ahmad | ISN Security Watch | Islamabad | November 22, 2007

A whirlwind visit by US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte has had little effect on the situation in Pakistan. Despite Washington's advice, martial law has not been lifted and the constitution has not been revived. In the meantime, Musharraf's army remains engaged in a controversial campaign against the so-called local Taliban in the picturesque Swat mountains as the Pakistani strongman announces a schedule for critical general elections.

In contravention of Negroponte's demands, the judiciary and media remain the prime targets of Musharraf's second martial law.

Failing to find the required 17 judges for a new Supreme Court - one loyal to Musharraf - the court has been reduced to 12 judges, all of whom have taken an oath of allegiance to the general. Further striking at the court's authority, Musharraf on Wednesday promulgated a presidential decree establishing that no court could rule on the imposition of the 3 November state emergency.

"Even his own hand-picked judges do not enjoy Musharraf's confidence and cannot take up a petition challenging his decision to suspend the constitution," Abdullah Dogar, a senior lawyer at the Supreme Court, told ISN Security Watch in a telephone interview from the provincial capital Lahore.

The independent-minded Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and other judges have been under house arrest since 3 November, when they ruled that Musharraf's second martial law and suspension of the constitution was illegal and unwarranted.

As Negroponte arrived in Islamabad 17 November, on orders from Musharraf top Pakistani networks Geo TV and ARY Digital were taken off the air by authorities in Dubai, where their transmissions originate.

The two broadcasters already had been taken out of Pakistan's cable line-up, and the latest action means their signals are no long available by satellite. However, the Geo News website has so far evaded the government effort to block it from streaming news bulletins.

While Islamabad has announced the release of political prisoners, protesting journalists have faced brutal baton charges and arrests. In the coastal metropolis of Karachi alone over 200 journalists were arrested earlier this month.

A week before imposing a state of emergency across the country, Musharraf launched a military operation in Swat, invoking Western fears of a Taliban backlash in Pakistan. So far, dozens of people have been killed and thousands displaced while media has had little access to the situation on the ground.

"The Swat operation is Musharraf's advertising campaign for the American audience," Roedad Khan, a veteran bureaucrat and civil society activist, told ISN Security Watch. He questioned the timing of the military campaign.

However, breaking with tradition, Musharraf may be unsuccessful in pleasing Taliban-wary observers this time around, especially ahead of general elections at a time when the public is highly critical of what it views as Islamabad's image as a puppet of Washington.
Eleventh-hour allies

In the meantime, a majority of political parties have rejected the 8 January date set for general elections. Both liberal and Islamist parties are seeking a restoration of the constitution, the lifting of curbs on the media and the re-establishment of the Election Commission before any polls are allowed to take place.

The Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP), led by Benazir Bhutto, has yet to decide whether it will participate in the 8 January polls. Top Islamist leader Qazi Hussain Ahmad is in talks with other opposition parties in his bid to boycott the elections.

Nawaz Sharif, the two-time prime minister exiled in Saudi Arabia, spoke to ISN Security Watch via telephone earlier this week. "We do not desire to participate in these sham elections under Musharraf," he said. His party is seeking a unified boycott decision from all opposition parties.

"We would boycott the polls if Ms Bhutto agreed to do the same," Qazi Hussain told a Lahore press conference.

Under pressure from Washington to reach a power-sharing agreement with Bhutto, Musharraf revived contact with the former prime minister following Negroponte's visit.

"The PPP response has been positive but their demands are increasing by the day," a top political aide to Musharraf told ISN Security Watch on the condition of anonymity.

The source said he believed that the PPP would not boycott the forthcoming elections regardless of a decision by the other opposition parties.

A September survey by the Washington-based International Republican Institute forecast that the two moderate opposition parties would win 64 percent of the vote in a free and fair poll. The conservative Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid is predicted to garner 16 percent of the vote. All the religious parties combined would win barely 15 percent. The same poll showed that 74 percent opposed Musharraf's re-election.

However, with now a dozen handpicked figures sitting as Supreme Court judges, the general may get the much-needed walkover toward a new term in the presidency.

After recent critical statements by Bhutto, Musharraf is not too comfortable with his US-backed ally. He traveled to Riyadh 20 November in a bid to invoke Saudi pressure on Sharif for a power-sharing formula, but the defiant exiled politician refused to meet the general, forcing him to cut short his visit and return to the negotiating table with Bhutto.

Since Negroponte's visit, the US Embassy has been carrying out ground work to revive a broad-based political alliance between Musharraf's league and Bhutto's PPP.

The former prime minister's strength originates from the mounting international pressure on the general to lift curbs on the media and the judiciary and restore the fundamental rights of the people.
Commonwealth lashes out at Musharraf

The country is facing the risk of the suspension of its membership in the 53-nation Commonwealth bloc for the second time since October 1999 for significantly undermining basic rights. Islamabad was welcomed back into the fold on the condition that Musharraf would doff his military uniform - a promise that has gone unfulfilled.

"Pakistan under Musharraf's emergency rule has no place in the Commonwealth," the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative said in a statement.

A bloc statement said that if General Musharraf did not meet the group's demand by a 22 November meeting on the eve of a bloc summit in Uganda, then Pakistan's membership would be suspended.

Fiji was excluded from the Commonwealth last year following a military coup, while Zimbabwe was banned in 2002.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour told reporters in New York that the restoration of Pakistan's judiciary was as important as the holding of elections.

"Not only is the election process an important one, but the restoration of the judiciary I think is equally important," she said in an interview for US media. She also called on Pakistan to lift the state of emergency "in plenty of time to create an environment conducive to free and fair elections."

Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, executive director of think-tank Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency, questions the entire election schedule. "We believe little time has been given for the parties to decide about participating in the 2008 elections under emergency," Ahmed told ISN Security Watch.

Other civil society circles term Musharraf's hurriedly called elections yet another ploy to stay in power while invoking fears in the West of growing pro-Taliban sentiments in the troubled North-West Frontier Province.

"Unlike 2002 elections, this time credibility is hard to come by for the actions taken by the tyrant general," Asma Jehangir, a Pakistani human rights activist who was recently released from custody by the government, told ISN Security Watch in a telephone interview from Lahore.
Questioning US intentions

Ignoring Bhutto's call for a suspension of military aid to Pakistan, US President George W Bush continues to back Musharraf, raising renewed questions over Washington's commitment to the country's democratic transition.

A significant number of lawyers released from custody on Monday, face treason charges while protesting students have been threatened with expulsion from educational institutions.

Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who is attempting to mobilize a youth movement against the military regime, finds US policy on Pakistan faltering yet again.

"The general has not only failed to curb terrorism but his self-centric policies have rather fueled extremism throughout the country," he told ISN Security Watch in a telephone interview.

Musharraf may quit his army chief office in the next few days when he is formally sworn in for a fresh term as president, but the decision heavily depends on a revived deal with Bhutto.

Every day, the Pakistan print media is flooded with advice for Washington, calling on the US State Department to feel the pulse of the people and "trust the public verdict instead of imposing a paranoid and insecure general."

Tariq Fatemi, a retired senior diplomat, wrote in Pakistan's Dawn newspaper on 22 November, "If the US wants to be viewed as a friend of Pakistan, it needs to appreciate that only a genuine civilian elected democratic dispensation can enjoy the legitimacy."

Naveed Ahmad is ISN Security Watch's senior correspondent in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Besides reporting for Pakistani TV channel, Geo News and Germany's DW-TV, he is also a special correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers group in the US.

Khaleej Times (India) : Media under siege

Media under siege

BY DR MOEED PIRZADA (World View) | November 22, 2007

IT IS Karachi. We are all standing, pushing and shoving, outside the offices of Jang, Pakistan's largest paper. This private compound, off the famous II Chundrigarh Road, was packed to the last inch. We are here to protest the continuing ban on country's largest TV network.

Most of us work for either the Jang, The News or the GEO, but I spot faces from the Dawn and the CNBC and other TV channels. Like everyone around me, I had two candles, one in each hand. Flames tremble in Karachi's evening breeze and we struggle to keep them alive; for they are: Flames of Freedom.

Surrounded by cameras and large plasma screens that capture and display our gyrating bodies, we all are singing: “jeenay do, jeenay do, logo ko zinda rahnain do (...let us live, let us live...let people live their lives)". These are the only screens on which we can see ourselves; all the GEO channels — even the sports and entertainment — have been banned. On three sides, the walls of the compound surround us, and towards the only exit: policemen look on, amused. Like the media in Pakistan, we are also under siege.

I have just moved here from London. And General Musharraf's “emergency plus” has followed me. Doubts about the sanity of my own move only multiplied. But today looking around, I am happy. I think I made the right decision. Air is rife with a passionate belief for change; this is the new Pakistan we used to dream of. But yet, this scene has an eerie resemblance to Antonio Banderas's 'House of Spirits' the movie set in the context of Allende's Chile. Then it was Henry Kissinger, and we just had a visit by John Negroponte. On whose side they are this time? We still don't know. Perhaps we will never know.

With the imposition of “emergency plus”, all TV channels had suddenly disappeared. From media regulator, PEMRA, we learnt that the cable operators have voluntarily taken off the news channel in 'higher national interest'. Oh really? However, soon the government produced a 14 pages 'Code of Conduct', demanded that certain anchors be fired and the new interim set up be supported by the media. Those who signed on the dotted line, or just agreed in private, were allowed back — one day before the visit of Negroponte. Impressions are always more important than the reality.

But for some more special treatment was reserved. GEO and ARY, the biggest of the news networks, remained blocked on the cable networks. In case of GEO, its sports, youth and entertainment channels were taken off as well. GEO Sports had the exclusive rights to Indo-Pakistan cricket series. Ptv was to show it, on its terrestrial arm, as part of the contract. All gone. People sulk in disbelief and disappointment and the network has to suffer a loss of US$15 million, for cricket alone. But who cares? These niceties matter when you have rule of law. Since 99 per cent of viewerships watch the independent channels on cable that means practically these channels are unavailable in Pakistan. Yet Gen Musharraf decides to pressurise a friendly country to stop their broadcasts. Why? Because diasporas were watching them? I think hard, but there is no easy answer.

Pakistani novelist, Mohsin Hamid, thinks that General Musharraf was pushed into his desperate steps — ie emergency plus — by the intransigent judges, idealist lawyers and the irresponsible media. His arguments go to the heart of the debate, “transition versus transformation”, that raged across Daily Times, a Lahore-based paper, some weeks ago. Prominent author Ayesha Siddiqa sparked it when she criticised the editor, Ejaz Haider, who had argued that Pakistan needed a smooth transition. Ayesha, like many others in the lawyers' movement, had believed that what Pakistan really needs at this stage is a transformation; a real change of the system. And I think Aitzaz Ahsan was a transformationist, at least from the days when he published his book, “Divided by Democracy” co-authored by Lord Desai.

But I am not much of a romantic journalist. Henry Kissinger's Diplomacy used to be my holy book; in the discipline of international politics I strongly identify with what is called 'realism' and in all these years since 1999, I had strongly believed that General Musharraf and his benevolent dictatorship is needed for the continuing growth and stability. My friend Ayesha Siddiqa had always called me a Musharraf stooge; she even suspected that I am perhaps on the pay roll of one or the other agency. And when Ayesha was sparring with Ejaz Haider I firmly believed that Ejaz was right and Pakistan needed a smooth transition.

Today, the eminent barrister is languishing in Adiala Jail and the noted author is staying away from the country. So can we argue that those who believed in 'transition' have won the argument? Unfortunately, sometimes you lose by winning. Today I, like many others, believe that the General may have been a good man, but he has lost his plot — and he has lost it miserably. And, moreover, unlike Mohsin Hamid and many others, I am not even convinced that our good general was just pushed, by a few intransigent judges or irresponsible media anchors, into taking his steps. His acts since the terrible November 3 look far too scripted; and when we look more closely at his regimen for the media it becomes obvious that he wanted to paint with a broad brush.

The new Supreme Court disposed of five constitutional petitions related to the general in the course of a single day. A real court, however responsible it may be, will find it difficult to become such an efficient tool. It was not about a few judges; it was about the overall confidence the judiciary had acquired through its own convoluted journey. So could it be about a few anchors? Should we be so naïve to buy that a government that can hold on its own against the advice of its financial supporters — Negroponte and company — is really stuck at four of five men and women? Even when they have no real authority?

No sir! This is a bigger and more ambitious plot. Jang/GEO network is now the only media group that is still standing; it is losing almost a million dollars a day; soon it won't have any liquidity to pay salaries to thousands of its workers. The Musharraf government wants to financially cripple this most popular of the media community to set an example — just like the judiciary. What he needs from the media is the kind of unquestioned loyalty PCO judges owe him. And that is why general Musharraf made that extra-regional leap, interfering in the laws of a friendly country, to silence the broadcasts that were blocked in his country anyway. He wants a quick capitulation, for the next stage: managed elections with desired results, without anyone to hold the mirror. But then they say: there is many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip.

Dr Moeed Pirzada is a broadcaster and political analyst; he has been a Britannia Chevening scholar with British foreign & Commonwealth Office at London School of Economics & Political Science

Thainidian News : Musharrafs regime is on verge of collapse, despite US involvement: Imran Khan

Musharrafs regime is on verge of collapse, despite US involvement: Imran Khan

ANI | November 20, 2007

Islamabad, Nov 20 (ANI): Cricketer-turned-politician and leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan has said that the regime of President General Pervez Musharraf would not continue despite involvement by the US, and reiterated his resolve to fight against the dictatorship.

Khan, who is presently imprisoned in Dera Ghazi Khan prison under strict anti-terror laws, has reportedly started a hunger strike to press for the restoration of the constitution and reinstatement of the judges, who were deposed under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO).
Political vendetta and victimization of media and lawyers are the glaring examples that the rulers are on verge of collapse, he said.

Condemning an alleged incident of women and children being mistreated during a protest demonstration in Lahore, Khan said that people would continue to fight for the democracy in the country.

Our struggle is not against any party but against the enemies of the country who are perpetuating dictatorial actions in the garb of democracy, The News quoted Khan, as saying to Central Deputy Secretary Information Chaudhry Iftikhar Ahmed in a telephonic conversation.

He also lauded the students of Punjab University for coming out on roads to protest his detention.

Khan, who had earlier demanded death penalty to Musharraf for committing the treason by imposing emergency in the country, was arrested on November 14 after he emerged from hiding for the first time since emergency rule was imposed on November 3.

BBC : Imran Khan released from prison

Imran Khan released from prison

November 21, 2007

The Pakistan opposition politician, Imran Khan, has been released from prison in southern Punjab where he has been held under anti-terrorism laws.

The former cricketer was arrested by police last week after attending a protest at Punjab University in Lahore.

On Monday, Mr Khan began a hunger strike in protest at his detention.

He is demanding the restoration of the constitution and the reinstatement of supreme court judges who were sacked after emergency rule was declared.

Mr Khan's release comes a day after Pakistani authorities freed more than 3,000 people who were detained under emergency regulations imposed by President Pervez Musharraf on 3 November.

A spokesman for the interior ministry said many others would be released soon.

Unexpected release

A senior leader of Mr Khan's Tehrik-i-Insaf party, Omar Cheema, told the BBC that he had been released from Dera Ghazi Khan jail on Wednesday.

The prison's superintendent, Sheikh Inamur Rehman, later confirmed the release, adding that it had been carried out on the instructions of the provincial government at 1945 local time (1445 GMT).

"I personally saw him off at the prison gate," he told the AFP news agency.

The BBC's Chris Morris had travelled to the prison with three of Mr Khan's sisters earlier on Wednesday, only hours before his unexpected release.

After visiting him inside, Mr Khan's sister Allema confirmed he had eaten no food since Monday and drunk as little as 100ml of liquid over the past two days.

She said her brother appeared rather weak and that they were very concerned by his deteriorating health.

"But he chided us for showing weakness and he said we should urge the youth of Pakistan to go on a token hunger strike to press for the restoration of the judiciary," Ms Khan added.

Our correspondent says Mr Khan's family were as surprised as anyone by his release.

When 3,000 detainees were released on Monday, the Pakistani interior ministry said that anyone who had been charged would not be released anytime soon.

Mr Khan's release may therefore be partly because his detention was making waves internationally and causing embarrassment for the government, our correspondent says.

While he may not be one of the leading politicians in Pakistan, Mr Khan is a known name around the world, he adds.