[sacw] IPS: Backgrounder on Pakistan

[Harsh Kapoor]

FYI
Harsh Kapoor
-------------------------------------

Oct 13 1999
IPS backgrounder/situationer

>From Beena Sarwar

LAHORE, Oct 13: Pakistans dismissed Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General
Parvez Musharraf in his address to the nation early this morning only added
to the uncertainty created on the evening of Oct 12, after his dismissal
by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and his counter-move of the army taking
over the country and placing Sharif under house arrest.

The COAS, who was only recently given an extension as Chairman Joint Chiefs
of Staff Commission, learnt that he had been sacked at around 6.00 pm on
Tuesday, moments after boarding a civilian flight from Colombo to Karachi.

PK 805 was refused permission to land at Karachi and told to proceed to
Islamabad, an hour and forty minutes flight time away. It was only Gen.
Musharraf himself came to the radio controls and identified himself as
COAS, ordering Tower Control at Karachi Airport to allow the plane to land
as it was running short of fuel, that the pilot was allowed to turn around
the flight.

PK 805, already heading north towards Islamabad, then returned to Karachi,
landing at 7.47 pm. It is still unclear on whose orders attempts were made
to send the flight on to Islamabad.

By then the military had already taken over all vital installations,
including airports, and Pakistan Television and Radio, disarmed Sharifs
guards and detained him at the PMs residence in Islamabad. Also in custody
were all the ministers -- and the nominated COAS Lt. Gen. Khwaja Ziauddin,
the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence who had been handpicked for
the post by Sharif.

Last October, in another unprecedented move, Sharif had appointed Ziauddin,
with whom he has close personal ties, as ISI Chief without consulting COAS
Musharraf. Although the ISI reports to the Prime Minister rather than the
Army Chief, the decision is usually taken after consultation and
consensus. The differences between PM and COAS increased following
Musharrafs response of posting army officers of his choice in the
Intelligence service.

The army take-over of Oct 12 was heralded by the suspension of regular
television and radio transmission soon after 7.00 pm, as well as
interruption of cellular phone services. For the next several hours,
viewers without access to satellite channels were kept in further suspense
by a repetitive string of patriotic songs and old documentaries,
interspersed after about 9.00 pm with written announcements that the COAS
Gen. Musharraf will address the nation soon.

The announcement was changed later to read that The Nawaz Sharif
government has been dismissed, and the COASs speech would be telecast
later tonight instead of soon.

When he finally appeared on air at 2.45 am, Gen. Musharraf made a brief,
carefully worded speech in English, avoiding mention of martial law or
elections. However, in order to be able to flout Sharifs orders to step
down, he will have to suspend the constitution and impose martial law a
move which may take place today, believe constitutional experts.

In his address, Musharraf only confirmed what was already common knowledge:
that the army had moved in to take over control. Declining to give a
lengthy policy statement at this moment, he ended by saying that he would
however, do that very soon.

The reason presented for the move was self-serving policies being
followed, which have rocked the very foundation of the Federation of
Pakistan, incessant public pressure (on the armed forces) to remedy the
fast declining situation from all sides of the political divide, and
Sharifs attempts to politicize the army, de-stabilize it and tried to
create dissension within its ranks.

Referring to the armed forces as the last remaining viable institution in
which all of you take so much pride and look up to, at all times, for the
stability, unity and integrity of our beloved country, Gen. Musharraf said
that his move was a last resort, to prevent any further de-stabilization.

He asserted that the situation in the country is perfectly calm, stable
and under control, and warned that no outside forces (should) think that
they can take advantage of the prevailing situation. He requested
listeners to remain calm and support your armed forces in the
re-establishment of order to pave the way for a prosperous future for
Pakistan.

In a bid to prevent panic withdrawals from bank accounts, the State Bank
late last night announced a bank holiday today (Oct 13). Although markets
are quiet, life in the cities appears calm with regular traffic flowing
and shops open. It is business as usual, except for the posting of
soldiers at key arteries all over the country to prevent anyone escaping,
said one.

The turn of events was not entirely unexpected, given that the buzz in
political corridors had for some time been about major political changes in
the offing but then, in Pakistan, there are always rumours of political
changes, as cynics put it.

The recent rumours were given impetus with the visit to Washington two
weeks ago by ISI chief Lt. Gen. Ziauddin along with Punjab Chief Minister
Shahbaz Sharif (the prime ministers brother). Their return to Pakistan was
followed by an unexpected and categorical show of US support for the
Pakistan government, with a US State Department press release warning
political and military actors to refrain from making any
extra-constitutional move to overthrow the democratically elected
government.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan government for the first time linked religious
terrorism in the country with training and support given to militants in
Afghanistan, and asked the Taliban government to hand over those being
imparted such training on Afghan soil.

The latest round of sectarian violence in Pakistan, which has claimed
dozens of lives, is thought to be linked to these developments, as
Pakistans most wanted terrorist Riaz Basra and the USAs enemy number one
Osama bin Laden now placed in one category, receiving sanctuary and
support in Afghanistan.

The deal, speculated analysts, was that the Sharifs had sought US support
to appoint Ziauddin instead of Musharraf as army chief following unrest in
army ranks after the Kargil misadventure, in return for a tall order:
Pakistan signing the CTBT, making peace with India including a settlement
of the Kashmir issue -- and taking action against religious extremists.

The confirmation and extension of Musharrafs position as acting Chairman
Joint Chief of Staffs Commission for a further two years was thought to be
a belated attempt to lull the army into compliance and ease the discontent
caused by Sharifs dash to Washington which culminated in the ignominous
end to the Kargil hostilities.

The appointment of Musharraf as Chairman JCSC superseded Navy Chief Adml.
Fasih Bukhari, who was next in line for the position, and who was allowed
by Sharif to resign following Musharrafs confirmation.

There was another significant upheaval last Friday, when it was learnt that
Army Corps Commander Quetta Lt. Gen. Tariq Parvez, the cousin of federal
minister Nadir Parvez, had was being made to retire on Oct 13. He was
believed to be guilty of violating army discipline by conducting
one-on-one meetings with the political leadership, conspiring to overthrow
Musharraf as COAS and bringing in ISI chief Lt. Gen Ziauddin.

The behind-the-scenes moves to remove him, revealed to the COAS by the
Military Intelligence (MI) had apparently led Musharraf to make
arrangements to safeguard his position before leaving for Colombo last
week. He is now known to have made contingency plans in case of such a
move by Sharif, according to reports in todays newspapers, and as evident
by the smoothness with which the army takeover happened.

In a news alert of Oct 12, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a
New York-based organization defending media freedom around the world, has
expressed concern that the military takeover may lead to the imposition of
tight controls over reporting there, particularly in light of the army's
quick assertion of control over the country's broadcast media.

It noted that in the 52 years since Pakistan's independence from the
British, the nation has undergone 25 years of army rule marked by the
erosion of civil liberties. Previous military dictators have imposed
strict censorship regulations, with harsh penalties for journalists whose
reporting was not to their liking.

Fears of such restrictions will only be confirmed or proved unfounded after
Gen. Musharraf makes his next move and announces his plans for the country.
Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has echoed the feelings of many by
asking the Pakistan Army to announce the date for the next general
election before returning to the barracks.

In an interview with BBC television, she said she didnt support coups but
blamed Sharif for ruthlessly trampling on the rule of law and attempting
to divide the army politically violating the constitution and treating the
country as a family corporation.

She added that the army takeover had less to do with Kargil than with the
way Sharif was running the country.

Since taking oath, Sharif has sent packing a Chief Justice, two naval
chiefs, two army chiefs (the second of which has refused to go), come down
with a heavy hand on the press, non-government organisations and political
opposition, and treated the federating units with scant respect.

We have been reduced to a banana republic, lamented I.A.Rehman, the
respected political analyst and human rights activist. These events have
been invited by the political genius of this country. We can only hope
that better sense prevails and we can resume our path along the democratic
road.

(ends)