DAR AL ISLAM - PAKISTAN: NO NEED FOR EMERGENCY RULE

Musharraf Sees No Need for Emergency Rule in Pakistan (Update1)
By Khalid Qayum

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf, facing the biggest test to his eight-year military rule, won't declare a state of emergency to quell unrest because he wants to hold national elections next year, the Information Minister said.

"The challenges of terrorist attacks are there but the president thinks the present situation does not call for imposing emergency,'' Mohammad Ali Durrani said in a phone interview from the capital, Islamabad, today. "Musharraf said he doesn't want to disrupt the political process.''

Opposition to Musharraf has escalated as he plans to ask lawmakers for a second five-year presidential term before parliamentary elections in January. A key ally of President George W. Bush, the 63-year-old Pakistani leader faces dwindling support in the U.S., where Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said he would consider sending in American troops if Musharraf didn't to take a tougher line against al-Qaeda.

The minister spoke with the president on the phone today to clarify reports he was planning to impose emergency rule. "The reports he plans to impose emergency are mere speculation,'' Durrani said.

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-i-Azam party did not suggest imposition of emergency rule, Durrani said, without identifying who made the suggestion to the president.

Terrorist Attacks

Musharraf, a U.S. ally in the war against terrorism, is dealing with a series of attacks in the country that killed more than 160 people in the past month. The attacks followed an army raid at Islamabad's Red Mosque on July 10 that killed 75 pro- Taliban militants and ended a challenge by clerics who wanted to impose Islamic law in the capital.

The president may declare a state of emergency because of deteriorating security, Junior Information Minister Tariq Azeem told GEO television channel yesterday.

"This would be a really bad idea,'' Michael Krepon, co- founder of the Henry L. Stimson Center in Washington said earlier in an interview. "It would weaken his ties with Washington. It would especially weaken his ties with Congress.''

Pakistan's opposition parties have demanded Musharraf quit as president and army chief and restore full civilian rule in the country, while the religious parties oppose his support for the global war against terrorism.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the chief of Islamic alliance Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal, filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the legality of Musharraf's decision to run for a second term as president while he is also the country's army chief. The court has yet to set a date for the hearing.

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Pertinent Links:

1) Musharraf Sees No Need for Emergency Rule in Pakistan (Update1)