Musharraf tightens grip under emergency rule

Musharraf tightens emergency, elections under threat   

ISLAMABAD:Pakistani forces rounded up hundreds of opponents Sunday as President Pervez Musharraf sought to shore up his grip on power by imposing emergency rule and possibly postponing elections.   

Defying international condemnation, military ruler Musharraf had a day earlier suspended the constitution, sacked the chief justice, imposed strict media curbs and arrested more than 500 opposition activists and lawyers.   

Accusing the judiciary and Islamic militants of destabilising the country, Musharraf said Saturday he had acted to stop the nuclear-armed nation from committing "suicide," and appealed for understanding from the West.   

Troops and police poured into Islamabad and surrounded the Supreme Court, which had been due within days to rule on the legality of Musharraf's victory in an October 6 presidential election.   

The government said parliamentary elections scheduled for January could be put back, amid fears that Islamic militants may retaliate with further attacks and that tensions between Musharraf and the army could escalate.   

"There could be some timing difference on the election schedule but we have not decided yet," Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said. "In an emergency, the parliament could give itself one year."   

Aziz said up to 500 people had been detained across Pakistan in the past 24 hours.   

The White House led global criticism of the emergency declaration, but Musharraf -- a key US ally in the fight against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban -- insisted he had no choice.   

"Inaction at this moment is suicide for Pakistan, and I cannot allow this country to commit suicide," he said in a late-night televised address.   

Police and paramilitary soldiers on Sunday set up barricades and unrolled coils of barbed wire to block access to the parliament, presidential residence and Supreme Court buildings.   

The security forces fanned out nearby, and set up posts near the state-run radio headquarters, television stations and luxury hotels. Shops were open but traffic was thin and markets were quiet.    Pakistani media were incensed by the developments. "Gen. Musharraf's second coup", said a headline in Dawn, referring to his first power grab in 1999, while the Daily Times said: "It is martial law."   

"We are heading for a very uncertain time because this coup will be challenged by political parties. This will also build strain between him and the military," political analyst Hasan Askari said.   

Police arrested Javed Hashmi, acting chief of the Pakistan Muslim League-N party of former premier Nawaz Sharif, and leading rights activist Asma Jahangir after earlier detaining cricket legend-turned-politician Imran Khan.   

"I am neither afraid of prison nor of generals, because I have served the major part of my political life in prison," Hashmi said alerted to the raid on his house in the central city of Multan.   

Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who rushed home from Dubai on Saturday night, branded Musharraf's emergency declaration an attempt to impose martial law - but did not rule out a proposed power-sharing deal with him.   

"It all depends on whether General Musharraf restores the constitution immediately and forms an independent election commission for the holding of fair, free and impartial elections," she told the BBC from Karachi.   

Musharraf's first decisive step after announcing the state of emergency was to replace outspoken chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, a thorn in his side since the general first tried to sack him in March.   

The new chief justice, Hameed Dogar, cancelled Chaudhry's caseload.   

As well as considering legal challenges to Musharraf's election, Chaudhry had been hearing hundreds of human rights appeals from families of people who went missing over the last four years because of alleged Al-Qaeda links.   

Police on Sunday surrounded a compound where Chaudhry and other judges live.   

Musharraf had pledged to step down as army chief by November 15 if he won the election and the court upheld it, but that now appears unlikely.   

The White House called emergency rule "very disappointing." The United States however said there was no plan to suspend military aid to Pakistan.   

China, one of Pakistan's closest allies, expressed concern and said it hoped stability could be maintained. Pakistan's neighbour and nuclear rival India expressed "regrets".