[NYTr] Musharraf Defies Court: Deports Deposed Ex-PM - Again!

Mon Sep 10 16:46:24 EDT 2007

See also:

US Undersecretary of State Visits Pakistan - 9/7/07
https://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/Week-of-Mon-20070903/068053.html

Musharraf reopens charge against Sharif - 9/8/07
https://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/Week-of-Mon-20070903/068075.html

sent by mart

AP via Yahoo - Sep 10, 2007
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070910/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_politics

Pakistan leader exiles ex-premier again

By MATTHEW PENNINGTON
Associated Press Writer

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf defied Pakistan's Supreme Court on
Monday, sending commandos to the airport and tossing out a bitter rival
hours after he returned from exile in hopes of a making political
comeback and opposing the military leader.

The expulsion of Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted as an elected prime
minister by Musharraf in a 1999 bloodless coup, could deepen the
general's unpopularity and undermine the legitimacy of upcoming
elections.

Not long after he arrived from London to cheers from supporters
accompanying him on the plane, Sharif was charged with corruption and
money-laundering and bundled away by police from the airport VIP
lounge. Four hours after landing, he was on a special flight to Saudi
Arabia.

His unceremonious departure for the country where he had been exiled in
2000 scuttled his plans for a grand homecoming to campaign against the
U.S.-allied Musharraf's bid for election to a new presidential term
amid growing public resentment over military rule.

"Musharraf has probably taken a decision to twist any law to do what he
can do to stay in power. This is the politics of survival," said Rasul
Bakhsh Rais, a political scientist at Lahore University of Management
Sciences. "He is relying on strong-arm tactics, not the law and the
constitution."

The deportation drew criticism from the European Union, which noted the
Pakistani Supreme Court ruled last month that authorities had no right
to block Sharif's return.

The United States, which has valued Musharraf as an anti-terrorism ally
since the Sept. 11 attacks, had a more guarded reaction.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the deportation "runs
contrary to the Supreme Court decision." But he declined to comment
further, saying the "matter is still under legal consideration."

Sharif's party appealed the deportation to the Supreme Court, which has
issued a series of rulings challenging Musharraf's dominance since his
failed attempt in March to oust the court's top judge ignited protests
demanding democracy and civilian rule.

The president is also struggling against Islamic extremism that has
spread from the Afghan border region, where pro-Taliban militants are
gaining sway and al-Qaida is feared to have regrouped.

"Pakistan is entering a period of great instability," said Talat
Masood, a retired general and political analyst who predicted Sharif's
deportation would cause more unrest. "This will agitate those people
who are trying to fight for the rule of law and the independence of the
judiciary and wanting the army to go back to the barracks."

Clashes broke out Monday between security forces and Sharif supporters
who attempted to greet him at the airport.

Police blockaded roads with trucks, tractors and barbed wire. They
fired tear gas and Sharif supporters threw rocks in at least two
locations near Islamabad and a bridge on the main highway leading to
the capital from Pakistan's northwest frontier. Several people were
injured at each clash, Associated Press reporters said.

Protests were called for Tuesday, and a hard-line Islamic coalition
allied with Sharif said it would join the demonstrations.

"This is an insult to our judiciary. This is a joke played on democracy
and the constitution of Pakistan," said Ameer ul-Azeem, the coalition
spokesman.

Not everyone condemned the deportation. The opposition party led by
Banazir Bhutto, another exiled former prime minister with ambitions to
return for parliamentary elections, adopted a neutral stance.

Her Pakistan People's Party said the Supreme Court "rightly ruled" that
Sharif had a right to return home, but added that his reported 1999
agreement to avoid corruption charges by going into exile for a decade
was a matter between him, those who helped broker the deal and
Pakistan's courts.

Sharif's renewed exile could help clear the way for Bhutto and
Musharraf to reach a power-sharing agreement.

Musharraf wants her party's support to help him secure a new five-year
presidential term when parliament elects a leader by mid-October.
Bhutto wants corruption charges against her dropped and a chance to
become prime minister for a third time after parliamentary elections
due by mid-January.

Bhutto could face public criticism and dissent within her party if she
teamed with Musharraf.

Musharraf and Bhutto "might think the path is now clear for them, but
the longer term ramifications are going to be a new political
polarization and doubts about the fairness of the electoral process,"
said Rais, the political scientist in Lahore.

At least four senior opposition leaders were under house arrest, among
several hundred political party activists rounded up recently,
officials said.

They included the head of an political alliance that supports Sharif,
Qazi Hussain Ahmed; another hard-line Islamic lawmaker, Liaqat Baluch;
the acting president of Sharif's party, Javed Hashmi; and party
chairman Raja Zafarul Haq, party and government officials said.

Sharif, the son of a wealthy industrialist, appointed Musharraf to the
post of military chief in 1998, but his attempt to fire the general a
year later triggered the coup that put Musharraf in power.

Accused of denying landing rights to a plane carrying Musharraf that
was short on fuel, Sharif was jailed but later released and sent to
Saudi Arabia after allegedly pledging not to return for a decade.

The government has accused Musharraf of reneging on the deal, which was
reached with the assent of the Saudi government. The Saudi intelligence
chief said Saturday in Islamabad that Sharif should respect the accord.

When Sharif arrived early Monday on a Pakistan International Airlines
flight from London, his jetliner was surrounded by black-uniformed
commandos.

He was taken to the airport's VIP lounge, where a senior investigator
from Pakistan's anti-corruption body accompanied by police officers
served an arrest warrant.

The investigator, Azhar Mahmood Qazi, said Sharif was being arrested on
money-laundering and corruption charges stemming from a sugar mill
business several years ago. Sharif was accused of laundering $21.2
million, he said.

Soon after, Sharif was put on a flight to Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, and
witnesses said he left that airport in a motorcade with sirens blaring.

[Associated Press writers Zarar Khan, Sadaqat Jan, Munir Ahmad, Chris
Brummitt and Alisa Tang contributed to this report.]