These are desperate acts of dying dictatorship.
http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\11\19\story_19-11-2007_pg7_27
Musharraf intensifies campaign against perceived threats
- Prior to visit, Negroponte was seen as last, best chance to avoid political turmoil
Daily Times Monitor
ISLAMABAD: President General Pervez Musharraf’s continuing campaign against what he perceives as dual threats to his government — the free-flow of information and a growing Islamic insurgency – does not appear to have been lessened by a visit from US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte.
According to a report released on The Wall Street Journal website on Sunday, Major General Shuja Pasha has said, “The troops are ready for a major offensive against the militants.”
Meanwhile, the report by Zahid Hussain and Fasih Ahmed states that Negroponte delivered a blunt message to Gen Musharraf, telling him that emergency rule must be lifted and his opponents freed ahead of elections.
Last, best chance: Prior to his visit, the US official was seen as the last and best chance to avoid political turmoil in Pakistan. He met with Gen Musharraf and deputy army commander General Ashfaq Kayani for more than two hours on Saturday. “I urged the government to stop such actions, lift the state of emergency and release all political detainees,” Negroponte told a news conference at the US embassy on Sunday at the end of his trip. “Emergency rule is not compatible with free, fair and credible elections.”
But the US official also praised General Musharraf’s efforts in the war on terror, and said he was heartened by the announcement of an election date for January 9. Negroponte was measured in his comments, but expressed some impatience with Gen Musharraf, saying he hoped to see more steps toward democracy soon.
According to the report, while Gen Musharraf imposed the state of emergency because of the deteriorating security situation in the country, many of the public signs of the new regime have centered on locking up opposition politicians and lawyers who demonstrated against the measures. As part of its clampdown, the government also imposed a blackout on all local and foreign cable news channels.
Last week, many private news channels agreed to abide by the government’s new laws and were allowed back on air. Under the new laws, these channels may not “ridicule” the “head of state, or members of the armed force, or executive, legislative or judicial organs of the state”. But two channels, Geo News and ARY One World, had rejected the edicts and continued to broadcast from Dubai until the UAE government shut them down.
On the military front, Pakistan’s army is pursuing one of its largest military campaigns against Islamic militants in the northern region close to the Afghan border. A curfew has been clamped in the Swat and Malakand districts as security forces backed by helicopter gunships and artillery pounded militant positions in areas that fell into militant control last week.
Gen Pasha said as many as 600 foreign militants, including Uzbeks, Chechens and Arabs, were part of the Islamic militia. “We have clear evidence of the presence of foreign fighters,” said the major general, who is directing military operation in the area.