‘Pakistan’s friends’ should ask US to stop supporting dictator: Asma

[Leo 9]

‘Pakistan’s friends’ should ask US to stop supporting dictator: Asma

PESHAWAR: Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Chairwoman Asma Jehangir, who was put under house arrest for three months on Saturday after the proclamation of an emergency by General Pervez Musharraf, urged the “friends of Pakistan” to ask the United States “to stop supporting the instable dictator, as his lust for power is bringing the country close to a worse form of a civil strife”.

Asma said in a statement, “It is time now for the international community to insist on preventive measures otherwise it may take decades to clean the mess.”

She feared that the government would put restrictions on the media and the judiciary after Gen Musharraf declared an emergency and held the Constitution in abeyance, suspending citizens’ fundamental rights.

“The situation in Pakistan is uncertain. There is a strong crackdown on the media and lawyers. Most judges of the Supreme Court and the high courts have not taken oath under the new provisional constitutional order. Former chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is under house arrest. Supreme Court Bar Association President Aitzaz Ahsan and two former SCBA presidents Muneer Malik and Tariq Mahmood have been imprisoned for one month under preventive detention laws,” she said, adding that scores of politicians were also arrested.

“The president said that he had to clamp down on the press and the judiciary to curb terrorism. Those he has arrested are progressive, secular minded people while the terrorists are offered negotiations and ceasefires,” she said.

snip

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C11%5C05%5Cstory_5-11-2007_pg7_14

[acmavm]

1. Hokey smokes Rock! These people sound serious.

<snip>

".... We believe that Musharraf has to be taken out of the equation and a government of national reconciliation put in place. It must be backed by the military. Short of this, there are no realistic solutions, although there are no guarantees that this may work,” she stated. staff report

<snip>

[Leo 9]

2. Musharraf's Emergency Rule May Spur, Not Deter, Al-Qaeda Threat

Musharraf's Emergency Rule May Spur, Not Deter, Al-Qaeda Threat

By Naween A. Mangi and Jay Shankar

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's imposition of emergency rule to fight terrorism without legal constraints may lead to worsening violence in the world's second-largest Muslim state, analysts say.

Musharraf, 64, ordered the arrest of as many as 500 people since he suspended the constitution, clamped down on the media and fired the nation's top judge Nov. 3, saying extremism had ``peaked throughout the country.'' Pakistan witnessed the worst terrorist attack in its 60-year history last month when suicide bombers targeted opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on her return to contest nationwide elections that now may be delayed.

``Imposition of emergency does not help the military fight its battle against terrorism,'' said Lisa Curtis, senior research fellow at the Washington-based Heritage Foundation. ``The security services will also be distracted now with efforts to control civil society rather than focusing attention on preventing terrorist attacks.''

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday said the U.S. will review its foreign aid to Pakistan. The U.S. has pumped billions of dollars into Pakistan since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to strengthen the military in a failed bid to catch al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and halt extremist attacks.

snip

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=aO45qi0_thcs&refer=india

[DCKit]

3. Well, they'll CALL it Al Qaeda in Pakistan.....

but what it actually is will turn out to be a popular uprising.