Pakistani politics (catch all)

[davidbfpo]

The state of emergency in Pakistan is well covered in this link:

http://www.pakistanpolicy.com

No doubt there will be much comment in the UK papers tomorrow and beyond.

Meantime here's my initial reaction. Violence is spreading in Pakistan, mainly in NWFP and the willingness of the security forces to fight remains questionable. From my experience of Kashmiri Pakistanis they all too often prefer "sitting on the fence" and take a long time to become active.

Watch and wait on the dice Musharraf has thrown.

davidbfpo

[davidbfpo]

BBC-News website has this updated account of Pakistan:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7077310.stm

How the Taliban and other violent groups opposed to Musharraf react is unclear. Let alone the impact on the situation in Afghanistan.

davidbfpo

[davidbfpo]

Within an editorial in The Daily Telegraph (London) an interesting paragraph, was this the "straw that broke" Musharraf's "back":

Gen Musharraf made up his mind to declare emergency law after hearing that the chief justice planned to summon the head of Pakistan's intelligence agencies this week to ask why hundreds of people were being held without charge.

The editorial: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...04/wpak104.xml

An interview or remarks by Benazir Bhutto: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...04/wpak304.xml

davidbfpo