Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Times Online:

President Musharraf of Pakistan today pledged to hold elections in February and give up his military uniform, in a fresh attempt to head off international condemnation of the massive internal crackdown he declared last week.

In a statement, coming hours after a telephone ultimatum from President Bush, the Pakistani leader pledged to hold a poll on February 15 and added that, if the Supreme Court validates his election to serve a second term, he would also remove his Army uniform.

However, despite the statement, there was no let-up in the curbs placed on General Musharraf’s opponents today as the country’s state of emergency continued.

The opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), headed by Benazir Bhutto, claimed that at least 800 activists had been rounded up and arrested ahead of a mass-demonstration scheduled for tomorrow, which the Government has declared to be illegal.

In addition, it emerged today that three Pakistani politicians and a union leader have been charged with treason for making anti-government speeches in the southern port city of Karachi. The maximum penalty for those found guilty is death.

Pakistan, one of the West’s key allies in the battle against Islamist extremism, has witnessed a huge internal crackdown since General Musharraf imposed the state of emergency because of what he said was growing Islamic militancy and an interfering judiciary. He suspended the constitution, sacked the chief justice and clamped curbs on the media.

However, criticism of the move reached a head last night when President Bush personally telephoned the Pakistani President and urged him to hold elections.

“My message was that we believe strongly in elections, and that you ought to have elections soon and you need to take off your uniform,” the President said, adding that General Musharraf was an “indispensable ally”.

Today, in an apparent response to the international pressure, General Musharraf told state media: “General elections in the country will be held by February 15 next year. It was my commitment and I am fulfilling it.”

He also renewed a pledge to quit as Head of the Army once the Supreme Court validates his recent election as president for another term. “When they allow this notification, that is the time when I can take the oath as president and remove the uniform,” he said.

The Government added that a media blackout would also be eased soon, with channels like BBC News 24, Sky News and CNN to be allowed on air.

However any hope that the President’s announcement would head off the chorus of international criticism appeared to be dashed today when PPP officials claimed that police had rounded up activists who they believed were preparing to join Ms Bhutto’s protests tomorrow.

The party claimed that at least 800 people had so far been arrested, and there were fears tonight that Pakistani security services could detain Ms Bhutto herself, or subject her to house arrest, to stop her leading a demonstration.

“Police have launched a crackdown against our party workers at village, town and city level,” it Punjab provincial secretary general, Ghulam Abbas, told the AFP news agency. Police confirmed up to 50 arrests, but a government official denied that any specific crackdown had been ordered.

Pakistani security forces claimed that they had banned the planned protest in the interests of security because Islamist suicide bombers were planning attacks in Rawalpindi at the time Ms Bhutto holds her protest.

“We have very specific intelligence reports that up to eight suicide bombers have entered Rawalpindi,” said the city’s police chief, Saud Aziz. “Naturally they will target big public meetings like what you have seen in Karachi.”

Twin suicide bombings killed 139 people in Karachi on October 18 at Ms Bhutto’s homecoming parade after eight years in self-imposed exile. Mr Aziz reiterated that police would prevent Bhutto staging the rally.

Ms Bhutto has vowed to press ahead with the rally, and claimed that General Musharraf’s statement promising elections did not go far enough. “We want an election date, we want a retirement date. This is a vague statement. We want the uniform off by November 15,” she said.

The United States issued a statement, however, welcoming clarification of the election date. “We think it is a good thing that President Musharraf has clarified the election date for the Pakistani people,” spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

Meanwhile, it emerged that three left-wing Pakistani politicians and a union leader had been arrested earlier this week after making speeches against General Musharraf at the Karachi Press Club during a meeting of civil society groups about how best to protest the state of emergency.

They were interrogated by police before being brought to court and formally charged today, said a court official, who did not want to be named.

Two of the men belonged to the National Party, whose spokesman, Jan Buledi, confirmed the treason charges.

As the internal crackdown continued, Pakistani security forces appeared to be losing their battle against pro-Taleban Islamist militants. The Times reported today that dozens of Government officers had surrendered to militants in several towns in the Swat Valley, a beauty spot beloved of Western hikers.

Ms Bhutto has protested that General Musharraf is guilty of battling against democratic protesters instead of the Islamists, who represent the biggest threat to Pakistani democracy.