Musharraf

It would at least be better than if General Musharraf grabbed power, as he might.

At the least, such a lapse in the security afforded to Mr Musharraf and his supporters would be unimaginable.

Indeed Mr. Zardari, who inherited the PPP from his wife and vast , powers from his predecessor, Pervez Musharraf, had a painful 2009.

General Musharraf and his wife took time off to visit the Taj Mahal for a carefully staged photo opportunity.

It was not immediately clear whether Mr Musharraf, currently in London, would return to contest the case.

As so often happens to dictators , however decent they seem to start with, General Musharraf has come to see himself as "indispensable" .

Some analysts said the decisive factor in the defeat of the party that backs Musharraf, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), was the president.

Pakistan's President, General Pervez Musharraf, once referred to his uniform as a "second skin. "

However Musharraf would not say when he will lift the state of emergency he implemented a week ago.

Mr. Musharraf appeared upbeat as he arrived . "I respect your emotions, " he said, as his supporters shouted, "Long live Musharraf! "

He took on a prominent political role after her death, and recently assumed the presidency after Pervez Musharraf resigned under pressure.

Speaking about Musharraf's prevention of the cross-border incursion into India-controlled Kashmir, Bush said: "He must show his efforts. "

He said he has more confidence in Mr. Zardari than in the previous Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf.

But it also overreached in trying to take over civil administration under general-cum-president Pervez Musharraf.

Musharraf's sinking popularity has spurred speculation that he might declare a state of emergency to smother vocal opposition.

However allies of Pervez Musharraf say he won't step down and is ready to fight the charges.

Yet even then it was hard to persuade a nervous General Musharraf to put Pakistan's nuclear hero out of business.

In short, if the tide has not turned against General Musharraf, a marriage between the lady and the general looks convenient.

Opposition parties are accusing supporters of Mr. Musharraf of trying to rig the elections.

That this blueprint is gathering dust suggests the scale of the problems facing General Musharraf in the FATA.

Musharraf said the China-Pakistan friendship has been rooted deeply in the peoples of the two countries.

Middle-class protests against Mr. Musharraf have risen in recent months, triggered by his ouster of the Supreme Court's chief justice.

But to see General Musharraf as lone defender against the Islamic tide is to misread Pakistan.

General Musharraf, who has no power to sack judges, has filed a complaint against Mr Chaudhry to the Supreme Court.

But Negroponte's visit was being seen by many in Pakistan as an attempt to shore up President Pervez Musharraf.

Musharraf was saluted by his troops in farewell ceremonies Tuesday on his last full day as Pakistan's army chief.

He made no mention of President Musharraf's efforts to retain his role as armed forces chief.

Zardari told reporters in Islamabad that the parties plan to restore parliament powers that had been weakened under President Musharraf.

General Musharraf, who has survived at least two assassination attempts, is certainly no coward.

What happens to Musharraf in private life, and who will replace him as elected president, will absorb Pakistani politics for a while.

A democratic government would have to cohabit with the army and maybe also with a (downsized) President Musharraf.

Musharraf stressed that to keep closer bilateral coordination and cooperation in international affairs is of great significance.

Pakistan firmly opposes any attempt to politicize the Beijing Olympic Games and any actions to disrupt the event, Musharraf said.

President Musharraf has still not lifted emergency rule, despite pressure from his Western allies.

In Peshawar, protesters also burned the office of a small party allied with Musharraf.

Mr. Musharraf's resignation capped days of secret talks that involved the army as well as Pakistan's key allies, Saudi Arabia and the U. S.

China's role as a key defence supplier for Pakistan's armed forces is expected to be the focus of Mr Musharraf's visit.

"I'm grateful for the extreme understanding that the president has shown towards the concerns of Pakistan, " said General Musharraf.

Mr Musharraf must hope his opponents will at least fail to win a two-thirds parliamentary majority.

In the middle of Punjab, the army's heartland, this was the first significant popular protest against General Musharraf.

Mr. Musharraf has been a staunch ally of Washington in the global anti-terrorism campaign.

Yet few seem to have loved Mr Chaudhry, until he refused General Musharraf's order to resign.

The military government needed a pliant Chief Justice if Musharraf was to stay in office without removing his uniform.

To be fair to Mr Musharraf, some of the bungling described in the report is unremarkable in Pakistan.

At the heart of their dispute are 60 judges, sacked by Mr Musharraf during the emergency.

It was accelerated by a process of devolution introduced by Mr Musharraf, which put the district under elected mayors, not bureaucrats.

It was unrealistic to expect a "soft landing" from Musharraf's hybrid government to a partial democracy mediated by Benazir.

He likes to talk up his part in pushing out the old military regime of General Pervez Musharraf, now in exile in London.

Now Mr Chaudhry is out to settle scores with nine senior judges accused of contempt of court for accepting jobs late in Mr Musharraf's rule.

He vowed the coalition would not include lawmakers with President Musharraf's Pakistan Muslim League party.

It could be again after the decision by the country's Supreme Court to declare Pervez Musharraf's former state of emergency illegal.

Musharraf 'a friend to the United States and one of the world's most committed partners in the war against terrorism and extremism.

That provoked an anti-Musharraf backlash, and increased pressure on the Supreme Court to rule against the president.

The reports say Ms. Bhuto wants a clear statement that President Musharraf will resign as army head by the end of the year.

It was largely in an effort to woo him back that Mr Zardari agreed to Mr Sharif's other main demand: to impeach Mr Musharraf.

"This cruelty is the work of those terrorists with whom we are fighting, " Mr Musharraf said in a brief televised address.

Sunday, a leader of Pakistan's senate said Mr. Musharraf would be charged with violating the constitution and 'gross misconduct.

In recent weeks, Musharraf has restored some of the rights he snatched away when he declared what amounted to martial law on Nov.

Having rigged two rounds of local-government elections, Mr Musharraf's supporters have bagged most of these posts.

President Musharraf has stressed that resolving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is crucial to Muslims and the war on terrorism.

As Pervez Musharraf is now an elected civilian president, he won't have the same command over the army he has had as army chief.

The United States has said that it is reviewing its aid to Pakistan as a result of Musharraf's actions.

Lawmakers could try to impeach the president, but Mr. Musharraf also has power to dismiss parliament.

Gen. Pervez Musharraf looks less reliable as an ally in the war on Islamic terrorists.

Musharraf accused Western leaders and media of politicizing the Olympics by criticizing China's human rights record and its policy in Tibet.

The next stage will come when parliament debates whether to try Mr Musharraf for treason.

A slaughter in Karachi, and a vengeful judge, are signs that Pervez Musharraf is struggling to remain in power.

Musharraf seems determined to push ahead with elections in October that would likely reelect him as president.

The clubbable, whisky-quaffing, poodle-cuddling Mr Musharraf is no fundamentalist.

Pakistan's general election was a humiliation for the embattled presidency of Pervez Musharraf.

Instead, I have gone for General Musharraf's declaration of a state of emergency.

Mr. Musharraf will swear-in a democratically-elected prime minister on Tuesday replacing the figurehead he had appointed.

Soldiers marched past and saluted Musharraf, who wore ceremonial dress, medals and a green sash.

The agent of these abuses was often a district mayor, or nazim , an office established by Mr Musharraf.

She wants General Musharraf to rid her of the corruption charges, brought by Mr Sharif, that have kept her in exile.

But western diplomats said it was hard to ascertain the mood within the army, once led by Mr Musharraf.

And Mr Musharraf would appoint caretaker federal and provincial governments to run the country during its election season.

One poll by the U. S. -based International Republican Institute has Mr. Musharraf's approval rating at only 15 percent.

Second, as an unelected usurper of the presidency, Mr Musharraf saw the mainstream political parties as his chief political rivals.

Over the years, however, General Musharraf has squandered the goodwill he enjoyed at home and abroad.

Meanwhile, President Musharraf has amended the constitution to prevent future legal challenges to his actions.

Based on these results, Britain and America were able to persuade Mr Musharraf to accept Bhutto, then in exile, as a partner.

This trade-off was a product of year-long power-sharing negotiations between Miss Bhutto and General Musharraf.

General Musharraf took power in a bloodless 1999 coup, and was later elected president by referendum.

Pervez Musharraf, in his Pakistan Day address, also credited his regime with paving the way for the return to civilian government.

It's the first public comment since Musharraf imposed a state of emergency.

For his part, General Musharraf wants the PPP to support his policies as a loyal opposition.

She was granted an amnesty this month by General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president.

Mr. Musharraf, however, faces militant threats, legal troubles and an uncertain political future.

To ensure it kept its nose out of politics for a change, the government had therefore urged Mr Musharraf to quit.

Before officials announced a final vote tally, opposition leaders are discussing uniting against President Pervez Musharraf.

In his address at the national stadium in the capital Sunday, Mr. Musharraf hailed a "new real era of democracy" for Pakistan.

Bhutto and General Musharraf have been holding talks on a power sharing deal, but have yet to reach an agreement.

In the presence of six other uniformed generals, at his army headquarters in Rawalpindi, General Musharraf ordered Mr Chaudhry to resign.

No one we spoke with said they voted for the PML-Q, the main party supporting President Musharraf.

But two tawdry facts remained: Mr Musharraf had never won an unrigged election; and had long been unpopular.

For much of this summit the real substance has been hidden behind stage-managed photo calls including General Musharraf at the Taj Mahal.

Bhutto assassination, Pakistan issued a court warrant, approved the arrest of former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

Concerning Pakistan, all the candidates deplore General Pervez Musharraf's declaration of martial law.

Mr. Musharraf has been Washington's staunch ally in the U. S. -led international war against terrorism.

They have been bickering instead over their unfulfilled pledge to reinstate judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf.

On the fringe of this drama, the country's Islamist parties, which have also supported Mr Musharraf, were obliterated.

The whole matter comes down to a power struggle between President Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto.

Mr. Musharraf's plea for unity follows opposition calls for him to step down.

After the court's decision, General Musharraf's hand has become weaker and Ms Bhutto's demands are likely to increase.

European Union observers said pro-Musharraf parties unfairly benefited during election campaigning.

In a cogent hour-long address, televised live and delivered with few notes, Mr Musharraf defended his nine-year rule.

Despite the previous violence, and expectations that Mr Musharraf would rig the election, the poll had generated fragile hopes in Pakistan.

It would also very likely mean the end for Mr Musharraf, as the probable price of Mr Sharif's involvement in government.

Pakistani lawmakers are considering a large constitutional reform package that includes measures that could weaken Mr. Musharraf's powers.

Following a meeting with Mr. Musharraf, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said a stable Pakistan was key for regional stability.

One is to fight another legal battle with the Election Commission against Gen Musharraf's candidacy .

Mr Musharraf secured 98 per cent of valid votes cast in an electoral college composed of national and provincial assemblies.

As president, Mr. Musharraf can dissolve parliament - which some observers have suggested he may do if parliament moves against him.

General Musharraf does not rule by the will of the people, but dictatorially within a hobbled democratic system.

Leaders of the opposition predict the results will be rigged, while President Musharraf says the counting will be free and fair.

Pakistan's present military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, himself a child of partition, calls India "the arch-enemy" .

Both had been compromised under Musharraf's autocratic rule.

By circumventing the constitution, and by twice dismissing the Supreme Court, Musharraf has inflicted long-term damage on the country.

In February 2008 Mr Bueno de Mesquita predicted that Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, would leave office by the end of summer.

Musharraf's ratings have plunged over the past year, especially after he imposed six weeks of emergency rule and purged the judiciary.

Mr Musharraf eventually resigned when parliament threatened to impeach him; Mr Zardari won an indirect ballot to replace him.

But President Musharraf says he will not permit international supervision of the Pakistani nuclear program.

A day earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon shook hands with Pakistan's President Musharraf.

His predecessor, Pervez Musharraf, and Mr Karzai scarcely bothered to conceal their mutual antipathy .

But since Mr. Musharraf resigned, they have been at an impasse, with the PPP reluctant to reinstate the jurists.

The anti-Musharraf results have opened new strains in his relationship with the west.

Last month Mr Zardari joined forces with Nawaz Sharif, a former prime minister, to hound Pervez Musharraf from the presidency.

In such an arrangement, the PPP and PML(Q) would share power in Punjab; and Mr Musharraf would keep his job.

Mr. Musharraf has sworn in a new group of senior judges, including a new Supreme Court chief justice .

Musharraf said that the bilateral friendly cooperation has withstood the test of times and enjoys a solid foundation.

Yet General Musharraf says he accepts the Supreme Court's judgment and that elections will be held on time.

Earlier, the leader of President Musharraf's Pakistan Muslim league conceded defeat, well before the announcement of official results.

A military band played martial tunes and the national anthem as Musharraf visited the joint staff headquarters in Rawalpindi.

Before inviting the Supreme Court to legitimise his coup, General Musharraf felt compelled to sack half its members.

Gen Musharraf's opponents had argued that his election was illegal because he was still head of the army.

Opposition groups blamed the pro-Musharraf MQM party of organising the unrest, but it denied the claim.

He also appreciated Musharraf for initiating peace and giving top priority to regional cooperation.

Musharraf's maneuver is the latest in a long series of broken promises to return his country to democracy.

Musharraf asked Tang to convey his cordial greetings and good wishes to President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji.

The separate calls followed a new wave of suicide bombings in Pakistan, and came just days after Pervez Musharraf resigned.

The Pakistan People's Party argues Mr. Musharraf's appointed judges, also called PCO judges, should remain in power.

Mr. Musharraf appealed for political unity to address Pakistan's pressing economic problems.

According to a poll for the International Republican Institute, 70% of Pakistanis think Mr Musharraf should quit.

Pakistani officials say they hope General Musharraf's visit also will improve relations with Russia.

The rate at which Mr Musharraf's few achievements have crumbled to dust is shocking.

Musharraf's election will neither consolidate his position nor bring stability to Pakistan.

After all, unlike the more conciliatory PPP, Mr Sharif has taken a fiercely principled stand against Mr Musharraf.

The current army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, a former Musharraf loyalist, could never allow that.

General Musharraf means to get re-elected as president by the current parliament.

Some pundits predict General Musharraf will be forced to step aside, perhaps by the army itself.

In so doing, they exposed Mr Musharraf's nine-year rule as a political aberration.

With Musharraf's handpicked judges sworn in, opportunities for legal redress seem slight.

The opposition says the government of President Pervez Musharraf wants the election delayed to boost the votes for his supporters.

Mr. Bush spoke at the conclusion of talks with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

He joined Pakistan ex-PM Benazir Bhutto in saying Gen Musharraf should resign as army chief and hold elections.

AS MILITARY dictators go, Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf has always seemed rather a decent sort.

Mr. Musharraf is expected to step down once a guarantee of safe passage and immunity from prosecution has been struck.

THE enemies of General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, are multiplying.

The drones started under President Pervez Musharraf, the former military ruler.

Later the governor of the state threw a banquet to welcome General Musharraf.

At America's request, Mr Musharraf shifted troops from the eastern border to secure the north-west frontier.

Yet General Musharraf has perhaps done more than any leader in either country to nudge them into line.

General Musharraf has built his international alliances on the fear that whoever replaces him will be worse.

Pervez Musharraf resigned the presidency of Pakistan (August).

To march towards Islamabad and reinstatement of sacked judges by Musharraf was merely an issue.

Some Pakistanis trace the gradual decline and fall of Musharraf to the army's performance then.

Miss Bhutto had accused several Musharraf henchmen of plotting to assassinate her.

Mr. Musharraf's critics accused him of seizing power because he feared the Supreme Court would rule against him.

Musharraf is just making a strategic retreat, however.

But Pervez Musharraf, an army coaster turned army-backed president, made a dignified exit on August 19th.

Mr. Bush talked earlier to former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

The win, coming in the wake of Mr. Musharraf's ouster, also stamps out vestiges of military rule in Pakistan.

The army, once the source of Mr. Musharraf's power, has offered little in the way of succor, apart from some armed security.

Mr. Sharif is expected to push for charging Mr. Musharraf with crimes while in office.

Let us say that Musharraf resigns and leaves.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif wants President Musharraf to step down.

Musharraf fully agreed with Tang's assessment of bilateral relations.

That's what makes Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's latest move so worrisome.

The three met with President Musharraf and Senator Kerry described Mr. Musharraf's reaction to the election results.

"Go-Musharraf-go" slogans have become common at pro-democracy gatherings.

If convicted he Musharraf could be jailed for three years, Khan said.

Such expanded powers were bestowed on the presidency by Gen. Musharraf, who took office following a 1999 military coup.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf says he will not step down, despite big opposition wins.

If Mr Chaudhry is dismissed, the clamour against General Musharraf will grow.

While under house arrest, she called on President Pervez Musharraf to resign.

Top leaders of Pakistan's political opposition will need to bend as much as Musharraf and many of the top brass.

If the MQM meant to deter General Musharraf's opponents with violence, it failed.

Q: Please brief us on the significance and agenda of President Musharraf's visit to China.

Mister Khan had met earlier Wednesday with Mister Musharraf to request a pardon.

More depressing is the demise of Mr Musharraf's biggest triumph, a detente with India.

The torch relay will begin in the afternoon, with Pakistani President Musharraf scheduled to attend the ceremony.

Mr. Musharraf took power more than seven years ago in a military coup.

Pakistan's benchmark stock index jumped 4. 5% on news of Mr. Musharraf's resignation, and the rupee strengthened against the dollar.

Mr. Musharraf resigned on Monday to avoid impeachment.

Musharraf called bin Laden's death "absolutely illegal. "

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has appealed for calm after 34 people died in the country's worst political violence in years.

The other immediate problem is who will replace Mr. Musharraf as president.

Mr Musharraf is also now exiled to London, yet Mr Sharif continues to demand he be prosecuted for treason.

On a day of royal comeuppance, 19 of Mr Musharraf's former ministers lost their seats.

Yet it is not clear that Mr Musharraf and his crew could change the result.

The agreement was drafted in secret just before Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf resigned in 2008.

Mr Musharraf sent the army into Swat and bombed Mr Mehsud's hideouts in Waziristan.

President Musharraf described suicide bombers as "mad people" who are misguided into thinking they are serving Islam.

There are three reasons to doubt the rosy view of Mr Musharraf as a valiant standard-bearer for liberal, secular decency.

He has grilled ex-Pakistani general Pervez Musharraf and ex-British prime minister Tony Blair.

I fully agree with President Musharraf's comments on bilateral ties.

When asked which leader they thought could handle their problems best, 32% picked General Musharraf and 25% Ms Bhutto.

The US can't afford to keep backing Musharraf if more Pakistanis turn against him.

On February 21, 2006, Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council met with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf at Ziguangge, Zhongnanhai.

Musharraf said that both countries share very sound relations.

Musharraf's choice: President of Pakistan or dictator of 'Problemistan'?

Neither can General Musharraf count on the mullahs .

His supporters say that Mr Musharraf wants the judiciary headed by a lawyer whom he can more easily manipulate.

They are supporting just one leader, General Pervez Musharraf.

General Musharraf denies that. He says he pardoned Mister Khan because the scientist has done much for national security.

Finally, in October 1999, Pervez Musharraf's coup ushered in a long exile for both.

And China being an increasingly important ally, militarily and economically, for Pakistan, that is exactly what Musharraf did.

For now, Mr Musharraf seems safe from prosecution.

As for Mr Musharraf, Mr Chaudhry has left his fate to parliament.

He says we will be in contact with the leaders and we hope after the departure of General Musharraf we will hopefully reach a consensus.

Talks started under the now discredited Gen Pervez Musharraf.

The Supreme Court deals a blow to General Musharraf.

Musharraf: Confidence building is solution of Kashmir. That is the biggest confidence building measure.

He became president after Gen. Musharraf resigned in August 2008.

Mr. Musharraf hopes to move beyond his past.

In 1995, Musharraf has been an Army lieutenant in the military Commander of Punjab province.

Broadly speaking, there are two views in India of General Musharraf.

Asked which politician they most agreed with, 29% of respondents picked Ms Bhutto and 21. 6% General Musharraf.

Mr Musharraf's war is not going well.

Mr. Musharraf's party is in third with 38 seats.

Jiang said that he is pleased to meet Musharraf in Almaty.

But Musharraf lost power in August 2008 and the talks reached a dead end.

Musharraf began his military career in 1964.

Musharraf further called the May raid an "act of war. "

The two parties have split over the issue of restoring judges fired last year by Mr. Musharraf. Mr.

This is just what Mr Musharraf does not have.

And they will be looking past that initial decision, past the Musharraf decision, to decide what is good for them as parties.

General Musharraf has therefore accepted something very close to what India demands: no exchange of territory;

President Pervez Musharraf handed over his power as the army commander to his successor, Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani

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