A furious Taliban leadership has decided to send their fighters to Islamabad as a reaction to the army operations in the Swat valley on the troubled border with Afghanistan.
Musharraf was definitely in a position to become a real peace-maker with the help of Manmohan Singh and Benazir Bhutto in 2007 but he missed this golden chance. He missed 2007 because he created a political turmoil in Pakistan by attacking the judiciary. He also missed a chance to win the Nobel Peace Prize along with Manmohan Singh due to his self-righteousness. He has missed everything now
Last year, Musharraf declared Ifikhar Muhammad Chaudhry a non-functional chief justice of Pakistan. This year, he is becoming the first non-functional President of the country. Some close friends have already advised Musharraf to step down quietly, but the General is still confident that his hand picked army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kyani will rescue him soon.
Although Sharif wanted Musharraf to be arrested and tried in a court of law on charges of treason, Zardari has convinced his new political partner to allow Musharraf an honourable exit by requesting him to step down. The new allies, however. decided that if Musharraf refused to step down, they would seek his impeachment.
Three new victors -- the Pakistan People's Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Awami National Party have shown their majority many days ago, but President Pervez Musharraf is playing delaying games and using secret agencies to break the majority party PPP from the PML faction of Nawaz Sharif.
Some elements in an intelligence agency were using their links in the PPP and the media to establish that Supreme Court Bar Association President Aitzaz Ahsan is trying to become a candidate for the position of either the prime minister or the president through the PML-N. But their efforts to create a rift between the two opposition parties, which are planning to form a coalition government, failed.
The Bush administration may fail to save its most trusted friend because the PPP and PML-N are determined to form a coalition and clip all those powers through which a president can dissolve parliament.
By the evening of February 18 it was clear that Pakistan People's Party, PML of Nawaz Sharif and Awami National Party have swept three provinces and the PML-Q performed well in Baluchistan.
One of the advisors did not rule out the possibility of a new election after six months.
People of Pakistan will not accept a 'rigged victory' for the pro-Musharraf parties.
Bridging an increasingly diverse West with the Islamic world was Benazir's dream and agenda.
A few days before her assassination, Benazir Bhutto told journalist Hamid Mir that she was aware of the threats to her life but she believed that 'there is a difference between a politician and a leader. A politician always asks for sacrifices and a leader always sacrifices.' She said she was ready to sacrifice her life for Pakistan.
Some promises made in Benazir Butto's new manifesto strike at the very root of Musharraf's power base while others -- including handing over control of the Military Initelligence and the nuclear arsenal to the prime minister -- go even beyond that.
The imposition of emergency in Pakistan has not created any pressure on the Taliban groups operating in Swat district. The radical group has not only announced the imposition of Shariah but also removed national flags from all government buildings in the areas under their control.
Pakistan is going through a very critical time today. It needs reconciliation not only between some individuals but also between political parties having adverse views.
Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf is planning to attack Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry again with the active support of Benazir Bhutto and covert support of the United States. High level meetings are going on in Islamabad in the last two days to chalk out a new strategy against Justice Chaudhry who is becoming a real threat to the Musharraf-Benazir understanding by puncturing the presidential ordinance through which PPP leaders were granted amnesty.
All the behind the scenes drama and the between the lines intrigue from Pakistan, a day before the presidential poll.
Musharraf was serious about sharing power with Bhutto but her demands exposed her real intentions; she actually overestimated her importance and tried to grab everything from Musharraf through negotiations
The US government has urged Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai to stop a secret Iran-Taliban pact against North Atlantic Treaty Organistion troops in Afghanistan.
'The deal between two individuals will not materialise unless it is expanded to all the major political parties on a specific national agenda.'
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