With pressure piling up on Pakistan's embattled President Pervez Musharraf, the former military ruler has decided in principle to quit and will announce his decision in this regard on the country's Independence Day on August 14, a media report has said.
PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has said that the time has come for a "final" parleys with the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) over the impeachment of President Pervez Musharraf and restoration of judges deposed during last year's emergency.
Prince Karim Al-Hussaini, Aga Khan IV, the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, passed away in Lisbon at the age of 88 on Tuesday, February 4, 2025.
It was the civilian leadership that was disinclined to withdraw fearing loss of face, the former US Central Command chief has said.
Last year, Musharraf declared Ifikhar Muhammad Chaudhry a non-functional chief justice of Pakistan. This year, he is becoming the first non-functional President of the country. Some close friends have already advised Musharraf to step down quietly, but the General is still confident that his hand picked army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kyani will rescue him soon.
'He has about as much chance of coming back to power as (former Soviet) President (Mikhail) Gorbachev,' The News quoted Richard Holbrooke, US administration's Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, as saying to a gathering of American diplomats and security experts.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said the concept of suicide attacks was against the spirit of Islam and his government was determined to fight terrorism in all its manifestations.
In a frank admission, former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has said he made a "mistake" by sacking Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry nearly two years back.
Pervez Musharraf had plans to oust the elected government of Nawaz Sharif a year before he actually led a military coup in 1999, says a retired general whose appointment as army chief served as the catalyst for the former military ruler's action.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said he would raise India's concerns on terrorism when he meets Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in Havana next week on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement Summit.
"We have fought wars over this Line of Control. So a dispute cannot be a solution. Certainly not," he told the BBC.
They continue to be implicated in investigations of terrorism suspects half a world away, most recently the group Jamaat ud Dawa in the London airplane bombing plot.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has nothing to do with the reinstatement of judges deposed during last year's emergency, the presidential spokesman said on Wednesday. Spokesman Major General (retired) Rashid Qureshi said that a final decision in this regard would have to be taken by Pakistan's ruling coalition government. The President is performing his duties in accordance with the constitution and will continue to do so, Qureshi said.
The former deputy secretary of state said the US president should make it clear to his Pakistani counterpart that support to terrorism and incursions across LoC is 'absolutely unacceptable'.
The White House has said the return of Pervez Musharraf, the former dictator of Pakistan, is an "internal matter" of the country, even as a top United States diplomat in Islamabad said that the event is unlikely to have much impact on the results of the May 11 general polls.
The PPP and PML-N, in a charter signed two years ago, had committed to setting up a commission to review the Kargil conflict. Musharraf claimed that Sharif, the then prime minister, was aware of the Pakistan army's advances into Kargil. Sharif has denied the charge, and is seeking a probe to fix responsibility for the war.
Pakistan's Election Commission on Saturday confirmed President Pervez Musharraf's re-election for a five-year term and the military ruler is expected to take oath after doffing his uniform on November 29. The new Supreme Court on Friday validated his re-election on October 6 which had been marred by an Opposition boycott and asked the Election Commission to notify the result.
