These people should all be arrested and tried for various crimes.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23249965-2703,00.html
Musharraf’s spymasters run for cover
Bruce Loudon, Islamabad | February 21, 2008
PAKISTAN’S top spymasters and other officials closely linked to President Pervez Musharraf were reported to be “running for cover” yesterday, apparently fearful of the imminent takeover by a democratically elected government.
A wave of sympathy helped the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto win the most seats in the National Assembly in Monday’s election.
But Bhutto’s widower, Asif Ali Zardari, who took over as PPP leader after she was killed in December, has been warned against forming a coalition government with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (N).
In secret talks, Mr Musharraf’s key political aide, Tariq Aziz, warned the PPP leader against doing a deal with Mr Sharif, the President’s most outspoken critic and the man he deposed as prime minister in 1999.
Instead, Mr Aziz tried to persuade Mr Zardari to form a coalition with members of the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League (Q) which was devastated in the election because of its close identification with the President, but will still command 38 seats in the new parliament.
Mr Zardari said later that he would do no deals with members of the party, but it seems likely that Mr Musharraf will try to drive a wedge between the PPP and PML(N) as a way of shoring up his rapidly eroding position.
Yesterday, in a series of newspaper interviews Mr Musharraf insisted that questions about his possible resignation did not arise.
“They are way off in their demands,” his official spokesman, Major General Rashid Qureshi, added. “This is not the election for president. President Musharraf is already elected for (another) five years.”
Mr Zardari and Mr Sharif yesterday demanded that Mr Musharraf quit immediately, following the huge opposition win which was seen as a referendum on his Government.
“It is the public mandate, not me, that says Musharraf should resign,” Mr Zardari declared. “Now we will take the (resignation) demand into parliament.”
Mr Zardari also called on an ethnic Pashtun party that kicked Islamist parties out of power in the North West Frontier Province where militants operate. The Awami National Party, headed by Asfandyar Wali Khan, won 10 seats in the North West Frontier Province.
The ANP’s victory in a region that has previously supported right-wing Islamic fundamentalist parties, could have important implications for the battle against jihadi militancy across the Pashtun tribal region that straddles the border with Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, one of Pakistan’s leading newspapers The News reported “uncertainty” among hundreds of political appointees occupying key positions in the regime, fearing a “potential hit list for the new government” that would “include many big names, who were considered untouchable during the absolute rule of President Musharraf”.
The newspaper said it expected the chief of the Intelligence Bureau, Brigadier Ejaz Shah, to be sacked, saying: “The known friend of President Musharraf is considered the most vulnerable because he was one of three persons named by the slain Benazir Bhutto in her life as the mastermind of (the) October 18 terrorist attack on her (in Karachi).”
The News said the director-general of the feared ISI, Lieutenant General Nadeem Taj, was also likely to be axed as boss of what is supposed to be a civilian agency.
Meanwhile, it emerged yesterday that the frontrunner to become prime minister of a PPP-led government is the veteran party stalwart Makhdoom Amin Fahim, who served as vice-chairman of the party under Bhutto.
A Sindhi, he is said to enjoy good contacts within the powerful military establishment, while being acceptable to the democratic parties.
Agencies
