It seems the power sharing agreement hit a snag so it is going to be a drawn out affair. I didn't think Musharraf would go quietly into the night.

If all three that want power are in the country, then they will be fighting each other sonstantly for control. An ugly situation will get a lot uglier.

Sharif is due back in country any day now and Musharraf is trying to steal any thunder he may have. Bhutto needs to watch this, she is said to be returning.


Islamabad: Police have started arresting activists of Pakistan Muslim League-N in Punjab province a week before former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's return to the country, a party spokesman yesterday.

"We have received reports of police raids and arrests of workers and local leaders at various places in the province," the spokesman, Siddique-ul-Farooq said.

He said details about the round-up of party workers were being collected, while a private television channel reported that around 45 PML-N activities had been arrested.


LINK

With 3 potential leaders in the country I look for a lot of civil unrest. It should be interesting.

State of emergency is back! He is struggling hard ahiead of his oppositions return.


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Sept. 4 -- A top adviser to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf acknowledged Tuesday that the general's options for staying in power are increasingly bleak and said that a declaration of emergency is being considered as a way of keeping him in office.

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, said that while a complete military takeover under martial law had been ruled out, a state of emergency that would allow for the postponement of elections for up to a year and the curtailment of individual liberties was still on the table. "Martial law is a very harsh word," Hussain said in an interview. "Emergency rule is not so harsh."


STORY

Dammit! I think we should demand that we be included inb all analysis, for we were dead on here.



ISLAMABAD: The presidential camp is not sure that success of its ongoing talks with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto would mitigate General Pervez Musharraf’s menacing political woes and predicaments.

“We know that Ms Bhutto’s support to Musharraf, if it comes through obviously laced with lots of ifs and buts, would hardly offset the threat to be posed to him by the ominous return of exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan as well as the judicial activism,” an informed source told The News.

He admitted that Nawaz’s decision to come back though violative of the “ten-year exile agreement” is politically well timed as the former premier has correctly studied the public mood and the president’s difficult position.

Musharraf, the source said, is of the view that Ms Bhutto’s support at this crucial juncture of his rule would help his re-election as president to some extent. Additionally such backing, he said, would somehow deflate the paramount challenge to be thrown by Nawaz.


STORY

Musharraf, the source said, is of the view that Ms Bhutto’s support at this crucial juncture of his rule would help his re-election as president to some extent

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I can't see how she can help his re-election.

I've come to the conclusion that nobody can predict how this will play out. Statements change every day, and no 2 are the same.

Right now she is populatr figure in Pakistan, even with all the corruption during her last two PM-ships. She would give Musharraf a more people face. It will not last long but it would help the election.

What to do, what to do? The elections that all want could be a double edged sword.


WASHINGTON --
As Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's grip on power slips, a difficult question looms for the Bush administration: Could the "free and fair" elections the United States is demanding lead to a government that would undermine U.S. efforts to fight terrorists in South Asia?

U.S. officials repeatedly have urged Musharraf, a general who overthrew the elected government in a 1999 coup, to restore democracy. But the emphasis faded after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, when Musharraf became a strong ally in the hunt for extremists and was seen as a source of stability in a volatile, nuclear-armed country and region.

Now, as religious groups, lawyers, judges, journalists and exiled opposition leaders clamor for Musharraf to go, anything other than free elections in coming months might throw Pakistan into deeper turmoil.


LINK


This is not a very popular thread, but it will be when the sh*t hits the fan.

Too bad the Repubs cannot do this. it would make their run to the White House alot easier. lol


Pakistani authorities are expected to deport Nawaz Sharif, the exiled former Prime Minister, back to Saudi Arabia as soon as he returns to Pakistan tomorrow in a bid to topple President Pervez Musharraf.

A senior government official told The Times that the decision had been made in consultation with Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz, the Saudi intelligence chief, who met General Musharraf in Pakistan over the weekend.

Mr Sharif was toppled by General Musharraf in a bloodless coup in 1999, given a life sentence and then sent into exile in Saudi Arabia in 2000. He moved to London last year.

He is due to fly back to Islamabad tonight despite warnings that he could be jailed again and an extraordinary public appeal from the Saudi prince for him to honour an agreement to stay away from Pakistan for 10 years.


LINK

Nawaz Sharif seems to be pushing the envelope. I wouldn't be surprised to see him deported again.

Surprise1 He was arrsted when he landed and was deported back to Saudi. Now that is what I call democracy, if you do not like your opponent--deport him. Bhutto might want to rethyink her return for now.

Irecently read this story.

A recent poll done in Pakistan for a U.S. anti-terrorism group shows al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is more popular there than President Pervez Musharraf.

The poll done last month for Terror Free Tomorrow of Washington involved interviews with 1,044 Pakistanis in all the four provinces of the Muslim country, CNN reported.

The results show 46 percent approving bin Laden, compared to 38 percent for Musharraf and 9 percent for U.S. President George Bush. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, now in exile, has an approval rating of 63 percent.


Now that is something to consider when trying to come upo with a plan.

The results show 46 percent approving bin Laden, compared to 38 percent for Musharraf and 9 percent for U.S. President George Bush. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, now in exile, has an approval rating of 63 percent.

Benazir Bhutto seems to be the big winner, but the margin was a bit surprising.

Bhutto is popular like Thomposon was, they were not part of the process. She and her admin were so corrupt that she was thrown out, but few seem to remmeber thast and that it will be so again. She is a smart woman and I cannot hold that against her.