Die Tage Musharrafs scheinen gezählt
NZZ Online: Die Zeichen mehren sich, dass Pakistans Präsident Musharraf in den nächsten Tagen zurücktreten könnte. Vieles deutet darauf hin, dass Musharraf dem drohenden Amtsenthebungsverfahren entgehen möchte und ins Exil abwandern will. Für die USA bedeutet dies, dass die Karten in diesem geopolitisch wichtigen Gebiet neu gemischt werden.

hoh. Er war General, Putschist und Präsident. Nun droht dem zeitweilen engsten Verbündeten der USA im Hindukusch ein glanz- und ruhmloser Abgang. Die Rede ist von Pervez Musharraf, Präsident der Republik Pakistan. Seit Tagen betreiben die USA Diplomatie auf Hochtouren. Ihr Ziel lautet: Musharraf dazu bewegen, vor Beginn eines Amtsenthebungsverfahren gegen ihn zum Rücktritt zu bewegen. Das ist für einen Staats- und Militärmann eine besonders bittere Pille, lenkte er doch die Geschicke des Landes während gut zehn Jahren. Die Tage Musharrafs scheinen gezählt: Rücktritt von Pakistans Präsidenten immer wahrscheinlicher >>> | 15. August 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Gebundene Ausgabe) >>>

Bhutto’s Death May Bring Musharraf Down
THE TELEGRAPH: As in Yeats's Easter 1916, death changes our view of certain people utterly. It's a tricky thing to broach the martyrdom and apotheosis of someone you didn't like and have publicly criticised.

The news reports after Benazir Bhutto's death repeatedly featured footage of her uttering the fateful words, "Don't worry, God willing, I will be safe. I will be safe."

I'd seen that same interview earlier and at the time I commented scornfully on the platitudes carefully chosen to appeal to her Western audience, the peculiar nasal delivery, the disingenuousness.

What I saw after her murder was only vulnerability, the uncertain smile that followed the words, and her bravery. And it made me profoundly sad.

Who can doubt that Benazir was physically brave? With an executed father and two murdered brothers, no one could have been more aware of the risks of entering Pakistani politics. But she refused to be intimidated by threats from local opponents and extremists who viewed her as an American stooge.

She continued campaigning even after the attempt on her life the day she returned to Pakistan on October 18, which left up to 140 people dead. In the end she was killed just two miles from the spot where her father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was hanged 28 years earlier. As prime minister, Benazir Bhutto did little >>> Says Jemima Khan

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

White House Loses Faith in Musharraf’s Leadership
THE TELEGRAPH: The United States has signalled for the first time that President Pervez Musharraf’s days in power may soon end.

American officials have said that the White House is reportedly losing faith in General Musharraf’s leadership.

Until now the general had been a pillar of Washington’s war against terrorism.

But almost two weeks after Gen Musharraf declared a state of emergency, the Bush government is said to be considering what to do in the event of an imminent end to his premiership. US signals Musharraf's days may be numbered (more) By Isambard Wilkinson

Mark Alexander

Gemeinsam gegen Musharraf
NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG: In Pakistan haben sich die früher rivalisierenden Oppositionsführer Benazir Bhutto und Nawaz Sharif auf ein Bündnis gegen den amtierenden Präsident Musharraf geeinigt. Dieser bemühte sich unterdessen um die Bildung einer Übergangsregierung, die bis zur geplanten Parlamentswahl am 9. Januar im Amt bleiben soll.

(sda/afp) Die beiden ehemaligen Regierungschefs hätten in einem Telefonat am Mittwoch vereinbart, ihre Differenzen zu vergessen, um einen «gemeinsamen Kampf» für einen Rücktritt Musharrafs zu führen, sagte der Chef von Sharifs Muslim-Liga (Nawaz), Raja Zafar-ul Haq, am Donnerstag der Nachrichtenagentur AFP.

Bhutto habe zugesichert, den Kampf im Land fortzusetzen, bis Musharraf sowohl die Armeeführung als auch das Präsidentenamt aufgebe. Sharif lebt derzeit in Saudiarabien im Exil. Gemeinsam gegen Musharraf: Pakistanische Oppositionspolitiker Bhutto und Sharif schliessen Bündnis (mehr)

Mark Alexander

Benazir Calls on Musharraf to Quit: “He’s Out of His Depth,” She Says
BBC: Pakistan's detained opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has called for President Pervez Musharraf to step down.

Ms Bhutto made the call after police mounted a massive security operation to prevent a protest march in Lahore, where she is under house arrest.

It is the first time Ms Bhutto has urged Gen Musharraf to quit altogether. Bhutto calls on Musharraf to quit (more)

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Bhutto under house arrest

Mark Alexander

Bush Must Put His Money Where His Mouth Is
COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: If anyone in the Muslim world still believed in the Bush administration’s historic promise to support democracy over political expediency, those hopes are being shattered with the crisis unfolding in Pakistan.

If ever there was a clear-cut case for the administration to put action behind its rhetoric, this is it. And yet Washington is standing behind Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, even after he imposed emergency rule, suspended the country’s constitution, muzzled the media and continues to round up hundreds of political opponents.

In June 2005, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the world that the United States would no longer tolerate repressive regimes in the name of keeping political stability. “For 60 years, my country, the United States, pursued stability at the expense of democracy in this region here in the Middle East — and we achieved neither,” she said at the American University in Cairo. “Now, we are taking a different course. We are supporting the democratic aspirations of all people.” U.S. must cut ties to Pakistan dictator (more)

Mark Alexander

Is Musharraf Losing His Grip on Pakistan?
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: A violent crackdown ended the Red Mosque siege in Islamabad and allowed Musharraf to reestablish his authority over Pakistan -- for the time being. With al-Qaida vowing reprisal attacks, the conflict with Islamic fundamentalists threatens to throw the country into turmoil.

In his youth, Abdul Rashid Ghazi had a reputation as a headstrong young man. As a member of the warlike Mazari tribe from northwestern Pakistan, his stubbornness appeared to indicate a certain fighting spirit. If nothing else, it definitely reflected a strong rebellious streak. He defied his father Abdullah's wish that he receive a formal Islamic education, dropped out of Koran school and refused to grow an appropriately pious full beard when he reached adulthood. Instead, he insisted on shaving.

Later, Ghazi returned to the fold after all. He studied international relations in Islamabad and went to work for the Ministry of Education. After his father, the founder of the Red Mosque, was murdered by rival Islamists in 1998, the prodigal son even embraced religion, becoming a leader known as a maulana. Are Musharraf's Days in Power Numbered? (more) By Rüdiger Falksohn, Padma Rao and Tobias Schreiter

Mark Alexander

Musharraf Gets Tough on Muslim Terrorists
THE TELEGRAPH: President Pervez Musharraf pledged to combat Muslim extremists across Pakistan yesterday as furious crowds demonstrated against the storming of the Red Mosque and two suicide bomb attacks left six dead.

In a televised address to the nation, Gen Musharraf said that those inside the mosque and its adjacent madrassa, or Muslim college, were "terrorists" who directly threatened Pakistan's security. They had also tarnished Islam's reputation as a tolerant and peaceful religion.

"What do we as a nation want?" he asked. "What kind of Islam do these people represent? In the garb of Islamic teaching they have been training for terrorism. They prepared the madrassa as a fortress for war and housed other terrorists in there."

Gen Musharraf praised the army for wresting the mosque and its madrassa "from the hands of terrorists" and said: "I will not allow any madrassa to be used for extremism." Musharraf declares war on Muslim extremists (more) By David Blair

Mark Alexander

Pakistaner vom Kaida zum Aufstand gegen Musharraf aufgerufen
NZZ ONLINE: Das Terrornetzwerk al-Kaida hat die Pakistaner in einer im Internet verbreiteten Botschaft zum Widerstand gegen den pakistanischen Präsidenten Musharraf aufgerufen. Dieser hatte die Rote Moschee in der Hauptstadt Islamabad stürmen lassen, in der sich muslimische Extremisten verschanzt hatten.

(sda) Nach dem Sturm der pakistanischen Armee auf die Rote Moschee in Islamabad hat das Terrornetzwerk al-Kaida zum Aufstand gegen Pakistans Präsident Pervez Musharraf aufgerufen. “Wenn ihr euch nicht wehrt, wird Musharraf euch vernichten“, sagte die Nummer 2 der Terrororganiation, Aiman az-Zawahri. Al-Kaida ruft Pakistaner zum Aufstand gegen Musharraf auf: Internetbotschaft der Nummer 2 des Terrornetzwerks (mehr)

Mark Alexander

Al-Qa’eda Calls for Revenge Against Musharraf
THE TELEGRAPH: Al-Qa'eda called for revenge against President Pervez Musharraf last night following the death of scores of Islamist militants during the storming of a besieged mosque in Pakistan.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's second in command, said in an internet video that the "crime" at Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, in the centre of Islamabad, "can only be washed by repentance or blood. If you do not retaliate… Musharraf will not spare any of you.
"You must back the mujahideen in Afghanistan… the jihad in Afghanistan is the door to salvation for Afghanistan and Pakistan." Al-Qa'eda targets Musharraf after bloody siege (more) By Isambard Wilkinson in Islamabad

TIMESONLINE:
Hundreds feared killed in mosque siege

THE GUARDIAN:
21/7 bomb plotters sentenced to life as judge says they were under control of al-Qaida By Duncan Campbell

Mark Alexander

Musharraf Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Photo of President Musharraf courtesy of TIMESONLINE

TIMESONLINE: President Musharraf could declare a state of emergency in Pakistan amid growing civil unrest against his increasingly embattled regime.

Security forces were placed on high alert yesterday, detaining hundreds of activists on the eve of an anti-government rally in Karachi. Rival demonstrations are planned by supporters of General Musharraf, raising fears of violent clashes in the southern port city today. Pakistan set to declare state of emergency (more)

Mark Alexander