Two prominent US Senators on Monday said Pakistan's beleaguered President Pervez Musharraf should look for a "graceful exit" instead of being forced out of power in the wake of parliamentary election results in which opposition parties scored stunning victories.
Her interview with President Pervez Musharraf, a significant part of which was later denied by the President's spokesperson, and her simplistic deconstruction of 'all things Pakistan' is increasingly making her a hate-subject in the country.
The Bush administration may fail to save its most trusted friend because the PPP and PML-N are determined to form a coalition and clip all those powers through which a president can dissolve parliament.
'Instead of crying foul, we should all show magnanimity,' Musharraf said during a programme on state-run television channel on Monday.
"Pakistan today is the most dangerous place in the world. Pakistan faces the threat of both Talibanisation and Balkanisation, which are gaining in strength," she wrote in her 328-page book.
Much is being made of Kayani's attempt to surround himself with his own men. That is only partially true and in many ways legitimate too. However, it does not seem that he would have unnecessarily pushed Lt-Gen Taj out of the ISI in less than a year of the latter's having taken charge of the agency if internal and external actors had not begun to cast doubts over the agency's internal and external conduct
"I can never let down the Kashmiris, (I) can never forget Kashmir. A solution for Kashmir is closest to my heart and I will take it forward towards a resolution," he said.
Former Pakistani Generals, including ex-army chief Mirza Aslam Beg, have criticised President Pervez Musharraf's handling of the Kashmir problem and said there could be no long-term friendship with India unless the issue is resolved.
In a message on the eve of the 'Kashmir Solidarity Day' to be observed on Tuesday across Pakistan, Musharraf said, "We firmly believe that an enabling environment is necessary for the success of the peace process".
Pakistan allowed the US to conduct limited operations in its territory against Al Qaeda and Taliban militants during the reign of former president Pervez Musharraf, ex-foreign minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has said. "Pakistan had allowed the US to conduct limited operations," Kasuri, a close confidant of Musharraf, told Geo News channel in an interview.
Pakistan on Friday test-fired the nuclear-capable, medium-range 'Ghauri' missile.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf returned to Islamabad on Tuesday from a four-nation visit to Europe during which he attempted to shore up support for his controversial regime.
Khan also echoed the complaints of the PPP delegation, led by Bhutto's close friend and confidante Sherry Rehman, which is also visiting Washington. He alleged that Musharraf and his regime were planning on rigging the elections and hence his party was boycotting the February 18 elections.
In Jhelum and a few other places, the police fired teargas and made several arrests to control the surging crowds.
Addressing the European Union Parliament, Musharraf said, "We are as concerned with democracy as you are. I assure you that elections will be fair and peaceful".
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has ruled out any possibility of rigging in the upcoming general elections and said his government has made "fool-proof" arrangements to put Pakistan on the path to "true democracy".
Malik also claimed that R&AW had 'failed to understand the importance of the intercepted telephonic conversations between Musharraf and his army officers,' according to a release issued by the Observer Research Foundation, which brought out the book The Military Factor in Pakistan by Lt Col R S N Singh. Malik, who heads the Foundation, narrated how the Kargil infiltration by the Pakistani Army happened soon after the 'much-hyped' Lahore Declaration between Vajpayee & Sharif.
Pakistan will be in 'great trouble' if President-elect Asif Ali Zardari does not change the policies of his predecessor Pervez Musharraf, which have 'derailed the Kashmir issue', the founder of the outlawed Lashker-e-Taiba has said.Militant ideologue Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, who now heads the Jamat-ud-Dawah, called on the people of Pakistan to gather at the Line of Control to show solidarity with the residents of Jammu and Kashmir.
Asserting that there will be no further delay in the February 18 parliamentary elections in the country, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf rejected the allegations of pre-poll rigging and setting up ghost polling stations.
Unfazed by the demands from the estranged ally PML-N and the influential lawyers movement, Pakistan's ruling PPP has decided against re-instating deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry to his previous post and said he will have to work under the incumbent if re-appointed.
"Musharraf has become highly controversial and elections would not be free and fair under him," Sharif told a news conference after chairing a meeting of his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party to chalk out its strategy for the February 18 parliamentary polls.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has conceded for the first time that a gunman may have shot former Premier Benazir Bhutto.
Asserting that there was no option but to postpone Pakistan's general election due to the law and order situation created by former premier Benazir Bhutto's assassination, President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday said that the army would be deployed across the country to ensure fair and peaceful polls. "I had always wanted the polls to be held as per schedule on January 8. But the new date is absolutely reasonable," he said in an address to the nation.
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 in Islamabad on Sunday said.
At least 13 people were killed in violent protests in various parts of the country that erupted after Bhutto was killed in Rawalpindi on Friday evening.
'There is no way what is happening, in terms of stopping me from taking private cars or using tinted windows or giving jammers or four police mobiles to cover all sides, could happen without him.' After the October bombing, she accused elements in the government and security services of trying to kill her and asked President Musharraf for 'basic security.'
Benazir Bhutto had too many elements against her -- anti-US, pro-Al Qaeda jihadi elements, the Zia-ul Haq loyalists, junior members of the Pakistan army and, possibly, the Pakistan air force.
India and Pakistan have a real opportunity to take relations forward after the exit of President Pervez Musharraf, feels Adrian Levy, co-author of Deception: Pakistan, the United States and the Global Nuclear Weapons Conspiracy.
The lone Hindu to reach the highest echelons of Pakistan's judiciary, Bhagwandas refused to endorse the emergency and was dismissed by Musharraf along with other judges. He was the second highest ranking apex court judge after deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry.
Nawabzada Talal Akbar Bugti, who heads a faction of the Jamhoori Watan Party, submitted an application to Quetta city police station for lodging an FIR against Musharraf in connection with the murder of his father and 66 other people of his tribe.
Pakistan's leading newspapers on Tuesday said former President Pervez Musharraf's exit from the country's top post was 'inevitable' and wondered why he took so long to step down, while pointing out the need for the nation to move on.
In a statement made available to rediff.com, Obama, said, 'Musharraf has made the right decision to step down as President of Pakistan. It is in the interests of his country and the Pakistani people to end the political crisis that has immobilized the coalition government for too long.'
The Pakistan Cricket Board chief Nasim Ashraf quit on Monday in what is seen as one of the first fall-outs following the resignation of President Pervez Musharraf. Ashraf's resignation was announced by the PCB just an hour after Musharraf resigned.
"No impeachment or no chargesheet can stand against me... But I think this is not the time for individual bravado. This is the time for serious thought. In the interest of the country, I have decided to resign. The resignation will reach the National Assembly speaker shortly," the 65-year-old former army chief said in an emotional internationally televised address.
"President Musharraf has been a good ally and everyone knows that we disagreed with his decision in terms of the state of emergency that he declared. But he was just to his word, he took off his uniform. It is now a democratic government in Pakistan," she said. "I want to keep our focus on what we must do with the democratic government of Pakistan," she said while answering a question on the political crisis in Pakistan.
According to a statement issued by the law ministry, an amendment was made to article 41 to allow the election of the President before the completion of his tenure of five years. Article 44 was amended to change the grounds for the disqualification of the President.
The Al Qaeda has launched a blistering attack on Pakistan's beleaguered President Pervez Musharraf accusing him of betraying Muslims by supporting the US-led war in Afghanistan.
The US may not want to interfere in the impeachment process against President Pervez Musharraf terming it an internal affair, but is apparently willing to help ensure "full indemnity" and "honourable stay" in Pakistan for its key ally in the war on terror should he agree to quit.
The military-bureaucratic dominance is a menacing reality in Pakistan, as a result of which the nation is unable to build a vibrant democracy.
The people of Pakistan are in a dark, foreboding mood.According to an International Republican Institute opinion poll, as many as 86 percent of Pakistanis believe their country is headed in the wrong direction.
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