Pakistan should not make efforts to "hide" the involvement of its nationals in the Mumbai terror attacks, former President Pervez Musharraf has said, insisting that "we can't deceive the world".
The Pakistan People's Party, heading the coalition, decided to keep the ministerial portfolios, except for Finance, vacant hoping to bring around Nawaz Sharif's party which pulled out its ministers after the deadline for reinstating the judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf expired on Monday.
The crucial talks between the top leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition ended inconclusively on Friday, with Pakistan People's Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari seeking more time from his ally Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif, to consider the modalities for reinstatement of the deposed judges. Sharif said that his party remained committed to the restoration of the judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf, by May 12. Zardari did not talk to the media.
In a move that could benefit Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, leading Pakistani rights activist Ansar Burney on Thursday asked President Pervez Musharraf to convert all death sentences in the country to life imprisonment. "This is an issue on which we have spoken several times during our meetings and an issue on which I have already sent several appeals," the former human rights minister said.
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 nomination of Husain Haqqani as the new Pakistani ambassador to the United States, by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, is being seen as a resounding slap on the face of President Pervez Musharraf. Haqqani -- a former journalist, diplomat and currently associate professor at Boston University is one of Musharraf's fiercest critics. In fact, Haqqani has not visited Pakistan for years, fearing possible imprisonment. Haqqani has been scathing in his attacks of Bush govt
Though she is not willing to vote for the President even if all cases against her are withdrawn, she has indicated that she would covertly support the reelection by asking her party to abstain at the time of voting, sources said.
Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf has said that despite taking the lead role in fighting the war on terror, his country is being 'treated unequally', hurting the country's leadership and people. "Pakistan is being treated so unequally while we are the ones who are in the lead role fighting the global war on terror," Musharraf said.Musharraf is currently on tour to the US. He was very critical of the US missile strikes inside Pakistan.
"Now that the atmospherics have improved, the two countries need to move to dispute resolution, especially the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir," Kasuri said.
Pakistan on Monday ruled out any unilateral demilitarisation along the Line of Control and said President Pervez Musharraf's offer to withdraw troops should be seen in the overall context of his proposals to resolve the Kashmir issue.
Pakistanis are objecting to Stanford University's invitation to former president Pervez Musharraf to lecture at the varsity later this week.
Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf today said surgical strikes cannot be carried out against Pakistan and if such an eventuality arises the country is prepared to respond with "full force."
The president is also of the view that the Gwadar port project in Balochistan will be affected if he leaves the scene and consequently, Pakistan's "time-tested relations with China could suffer a setback", official sources told the Dawn newspaper. Musharraf also believes that in his absence, no leader or party will be "able to maintain cordial relations with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement," they said.
Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said that military aid provided by the United States to Pakistan for the war against terror during his tenure had been used to strengthen defences against India, the first such admission by any top Pakistani leader.
Musharraf's lecture tour of foreign countries, including India, had been firmed up before the Mumbai terror attacks in November, a source close to the former military ruler told The News daily. Musharraf is expected to start the tour with his first lecture in the US on January 14, the paper reported.
Former President Pervez Musharraf said India "cannot dare cast an evil eye" on Pakistan as long as the armed forces are there to defend the country.
Faced with the Sunday deadline, the Pakistan People's Party on Friday said that it would announce the name of the new prime minister this weekend. However, senior party leaders continued to wrestle with differences on the issue over a month after the parliamentary polls.Differences in the PPP on who should lead the coalition government continued with vice chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim, once a frontrunner for the post, saying he had suggested a formula to Zardari.
Pakistan's caretaker Human Rights Minister Ansar Burney has appealed to President Pervez Musharraf to convert the death sentence of Indian national Sarabjit Singh to life imprisonment on humanitarian grounds.Burney sent an appeal for mercy to Musharraf on Wednesday to convert the death sentence of Sarabjit into life imprisonment on humanatarian grounds, as he has already spent 17 years in jail which is more than life imprisonment.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday summoned Pakistan's parliament on March 24 to elect the new Prime Minister, though there was still no word from the Pakistan People's Party and its allies on their nominee for the top post.Musharraf received the official communique regarding the convening of the National Assembly to elect the leader of the House from the Prime Minister's Secretariat on Thursday morning.The President signed the summary.
The Pakistan government on Wednesday deferred by 30 days the execution of Indian national Sarabjit Singh, who was set to be hanged on April 1 following his conviction for alleged involvement in bomb attacks in 1990. President Pervez Musharraf deferred the execution of Sarabjit by 30 days after the Indian government made a formal appeal for clemency yesterday, sources in Pakistan's Foreign Office said.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf may accept New Delhi's request of clemency on humanitarian grounds for Sarabjit Singh, an Indian national on death row for carrying out multiple bomb explosions in the Islamic nation's Punjab province, in which 14 people were killed in 1990. A Pakistan's Foreign Office (FO) official said the President could consider pardoning Singh. "If that happens, it will be purely on humanitarian grounds," the Nation quoted him as saying.
In Jhelum and a few other places, the police fired teargas and made several arrests to control the surging crowds.
A Pakistani court has asked the Lahore police to explain why they refused to register a criminal case against former president Pervez Musharraf for 'illegally' ordering a crackdown on judges during the emergency in 2007, more than a week after the ex-military ruler was booked by the Islamabad police on same charges.The additional district and sessions judge on Tuesday issued a notice to the chief of Islampura police station.
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.
Claiming that his position is 'strong', Musharraf refused to bow to pressure from the PPP-PML-N combine and step down. Musharraf's allies the PML-Q backed the President and said that the PPP and PML-N together did not have a two-thirds majority and would therefore be unable to strip the president of his powers or impeach him.
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.
Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has convened a meeting of his loyalists in Dubai on April 2 to formally launch a political party, which is likely to be named the All Pakistan Muslim League.
'Instead of crying foul, we should all show magnanimity,' Musharraf said during a programme on state-run television channel on Monday.
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.
"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.
"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.
A British lawmaker of Pakistani origin has talked of the possibility of former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf being put on trial in the United Kingdom as he failed to respond to summons from the top court in Islamabad over his controversial decisions to impose emergency and fire judges two years ago.
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 on Friday test-fired the nuclear-capable, medium-range 'Ghauri' missile.
In an interview to Karan Thapar on his Devil's Advocate programme on CNN-IBN, he said, 'What happened after that was bad and that lead to lot of turmoil in Pakistan, certainly. But if you say whether that was a mistake? No. I took action which was absolutely constitutional and legal.'
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.
No decision has yet been taken, however, on which match the general would witness.
Residents of the sleepy and pastoral Chak Shahzad area on the outskirts of the Pakistani capital have mixed feelings about their new neighbour former President Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf, who stepped down in August after staying nearly nine years in power, is expected to soon move into a sprawling farm house he has built in Chak Shahzad, a neighbourhood that has a mix of residential homes and dairy farms.
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