Musharraf demands polls under Pak Army guard

TrendPK.com
ISLAMABAD: Former President General (rtd.) Pervez Musharraf Saturday demanded the holding of next general elections in the country be held under guard of Pakistan military.

Talking to former soldiers through a video link, he said the people enervating Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the armed forces are the enemies of the country.

The former president said the present political system should get along to wait for the general elections to take place on the stipulated time.

Musharraf said the cases are being launched against him on political basis, adding he does not want his homecoming on the shoulder of a foreign power; nor does he want cooperation from the ISI or the military.

However, he added, taking part in the national politics is his due right.

He demanded the impartial and transparent elections, adding such is possible only if the elections are held under the supervision of Pak Army. TrendPK

Musharraf to be arrested as he arrives in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will arrest former military ruler Pervez Musharraf if he returns home as announced at the end of the month, the interior minister said Wednesday.
  
“I assure this house that if he lands in Pakistan he will be arrested because he is a PO (proclaimed offender),” Rehman Malik told the upper house of parliament. AGENCIES

Nawaz agreed to support Musharraf: WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks claimed that President Asif Ali Zardari told former US ambassador Anne Patterson that PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif was willing to support Pervez Musharraf. In another cable, it was revealed that the United States stopped Zardari from buying cheap oil from Iran.

Former US ambassador Anne Patterson wrote on March 10, 2008 that Zardari told her that Nawaz Sharif was ready to support Musharraf and accommodate Justice Dogar as the chief justice. According to another cable, Zardari told former ISI chief Nadeem Taj that Justice Iftikhar should be shifted to his ancestral house in Quetta.

Nadeem Taj said that people’s sympathies were with Justice Iftikhar and the move could backfire.

On one occasion, the American ambassador asked Zardari that what would happen to his 30-day deadline, he (Zardari) replied laughingly that political dates should not be taken seriously.

In February 2008, Anne Patterson wrote that Zardari feared Musharraf would try to harm Pakistan People’s Party through Amin Fahim. Zardari said that Nawaz’s demand about judiciary would be buried in a committee and he (Nawaz) would also be satisfied.

US ignored Bhutto’s request for security: WikiLeaks

ISLAMABAD: Just two months before she was killed in a terror attack, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto had approached then US Ambassador in Islamabad asking for help to evaluate her personal security but it was ignored, latest WikiLeaks cables have revealed.

Bhutto handed over a written request to US Ambassador Anne W Patterson two months before she was killed asking her to carry out an evaluation of the security because she feared for her life, say the WikiLeaks cables.

The cables reveal that the US chose to look the other way, suggesting that Benazir should work constructively with General Pervez Musharraf’s government,

Two lawyers gunned down in Karachi

KARACHI: Two brothers, both also lawyers, were killed in a firing of unidentified gunmen in the Musharraf Colony here on Saturday.

Following the incident, the lawyers protested and boycotted routine activities in the City Court.

According to details, two brothers Altaf Hussain and Nazeer Hussain were gunned down when unknown gunmen opened fire on their car in the Musharraf Colony, in the limits of the Maripur police station.

Police told the media that the slain brothers belonged to Chakwal and had been living in Karachi from last several years.

There was no enmity of them with anyone, told their brother.

Slain lawyer Altaf Hussain was a former member of the Karachi Bar Association.

The members of the Karachi Bar Association’s governing body protested and boycotted routine activities in the City Court and demanded quick action against the killers. TrendPK

ATC issues non-bailable warrant against Musharraf

RAWALPINDI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Saturday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against former President Pervez Musharraf in Benazir Bhutto’s assassination case.

ATC Judge Rana Nisar Ahmed Khan conducted the hearing into the case at Adiyala Jail.

Prior to the hearing, police produced accused, Aitzaz Shah, Abdul Rashid, Husnain Gul, Rafaqat, Sherzaman, Saud Aziz and Khurram Shehzad in the court.

The FIA pleaded for non-bailable arrest warrant against Pervez Musharraf, arguing the former president has been named as accused in the interim chalan presented to the court. FIA said that attempt was made to involve Musharraf into the probe, but he is not available.

Accepting the plea, the court issued non-bailable warrant against Musharraf.

According to an FIA spokesman, the head of a team probing Benazir Bhutto assassination case and Mumbai attacks, Khalid Qureshi has been replaced with Wajid Zia. TrendPK

Govt. to follow court’s order in BB murder case: Awan

LAHORE: Federal Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan has said that the government will adhere to whatever order the court will issue regarding arrest of former President Pervez Musarraf in Benazir Bhutto’s assassination case.

Speaking to newsmen here on Saturday, Awan said the government will fully cooperate with the court on the issue of Musharraf’s arrest. TrendPK

I ask world to recognize Taliban in 1997, says Musharraf

The world committed a huge mistake by not acknowledging the Taliban government in 1997, Former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf said in an article he wrote in a US daily Wall Street Journal.

The former president writes that he asked the global community to acknowledge the Taliban government, Had they conceded to my advise, the circumstances would have been different. The West won the Afghan war due to Pakistan, but took all the credit in the end, Musharraf said. He further said that the US and the world is making a big mistake by recognizing the Tajik minority in Afghanistan, adding that Not all the Pashtuns are Taliban. He called for change in syllabus of the seminaries for the complete elimination of the extremists.

Saudi Royal family wants to see Sharifs in power

According to the recently issued Wikileaks’ reports it is a common notion in Pakistan that the Saudi Royal family wants to the Sharif family to be in power and that is why Saudi Arabia is hesitating to help the PPP government. On the other hand Saudi government expressed its disappointment over Nawaz Sharif’s return to Pakistan from London and asked Musharraf to deport him again to Saudi Arabia.

According to the report, a diplomat in the Pakistani embassy in Riaz was of the view that a girl from the Sharif family has been married to a grand son of Shah Fahad bin Abdul Aziz aand therefore Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has become a part of the royal family. The reports have also revealed that the Saudi government was directly involved in the pardon agreement of Mina Muahammad Nawaz Sharif and that Mian Muahmad Nawaz Sharif violated the agreement by participating in active politics.

Saudi envoy to the USA Adil Zubairi also disclosed the facts that the Saudi government allowed Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif to go to London on the condition that he would not go back to Pakistan but he ( Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif ) violated the terms of agreement. The Saudi government asked Musharraf to deport Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif back to Saudi Arabia where he would be given all the due respect but his status would be like that of a house-arrest personality. Adil Zubairi also said that at that time there was no alternative of Musharraf while Benazir Bhutto and Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif did not have the capability to fight the menace of terrorism and therefore Saudi government was compelled to support Musharraf otherwise Pakistan would be destabilized that could give Osama Bin Laden to have an access to the nuclear assets of Pakistan.

Osama might be in Bajaur, Musharraf tells McCain

WASHINGTON: Musharraf told Senator McCain that Osama might be in Bajaur.

WikiLeaks has disclosed the conversation between US Senator John McCain and former president Pervez Musharraf in which latter talked about the possibility of the presence of al Qaida top leaders Osama Bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri in Bajaur tribal region.

The US embassy cables disclosed Musharraf as saying that although he had no direct evidence, he thought al Qaeda leaders Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri were hiding in Bajaur Agency, bordering Afghanistan’s Kunar province where US forces were not deployed.

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