Pervez Musharraf

Pakistan's ruling party introduced a bill that would allow President Pervez Musharraf to remain army chief despite his pledge to step down from the military post by the end of the year. The bill, which would override a provision in the constitution, was expected to pass in both the National Assembly and Senate.

A Pakistani soldier convicted of taking part in a failed assassination plot against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf was hanged today, an official and a military spokesman said. Islam Sadiqqui, was among several soldiers arrested after Al Qaeda operatives and Pakistani radicals, including army officers, tried to blow up Musharraf's motorcade near this capital city on Dec. 14, 2003. No one was hurt in the attack.

Pakistan's military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has decreed that any former prime minister who held the post for two terms is ineligible to hold it again. The move is apparently intended to shut out Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif from October elections aimed at returning Pakistan to democracy. Musharraf seized power in 1999, toppling Sharif in a bloodless coup. Bhutto and Sharif are in exile but have indicated that they may return prior to the vote.

Warning of a "malicious campaign" against the state, Pakistan's top generals voiced support for President Pervez Musharraf as officials banned protests in the capital to stifle criticism of the military ruler. Opposition to Musharraf has mushroomed since his decision to suspend the head of the Supreme Court. However, recent moves by the leader, a key U.S. ally, have stoked fears that his face-off with opposition parties is taking an authoritarian turn.

Lawyers were set to boycott courts to protest President Pervez Musharraf's removal of the Supreme Court's chief judge. The judge was removed last week after he had pressed the government to provide information on the whereabouts of dozens of missing people said to be secretly held by Pakistani intelligence agencies. A government minister said Musharraf removed the jurist after receiving complaints.

Pakistani security forces arrested a man suspected of links to Al Qaeda and involvement in a plot last year to kill President Pervez Musharraf. Omar Rehman was detained in North-West Frontier Province, about 95 miles north of the capital, Islamabad. Automatic assault rifles and other weapons were seized, an official said. No other details were immediately available. Musharraf escaped two attempts on his life in December in which 15 people were killed.

Lawmakers passed a bill allowing President Pervez Musharraf to remain as army chief, reversing his earlier promises to step down from the post and raising cries from opponents who say he has too much power. Musharraf's government, which pushed the new law through, said the measure would ensure stability. The law's passage through the National Assembly came just days after the fifth anniversary of the bloodless coup that brought Musharraf to power.

Pakistan's Senate gave final legislative approval to constitutional changes that grant President Pervez Musharraf extraordinary powers in return for his promise to step down as army commander by the end of 2004. Critics say the deal, which gives Musharraf the power to sack the prime minister and disband parliament by decree, is window dressing on what is essentially military rule.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf withdrew new curbs on media covering Pakistan's growing political crisis, backing down after nationwide protests by journalists and opposition parties. The president issued a decree a week ago that sharply increased regulators' ability to sanction broadcasters who violate a code of conduct that bars programming deemed too critical of the armed forces or likely to undermine national unity.

Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced visit to Pakistan today to press for President Pervez Musharraf's help in combating a new Taliban offensive in Afghanistan and a resurgent Al Qaeda. The visit came after Cheney stopped in the Arab sultanate of Oman, where he reportedly held talks with its foreign minister. A U.S. Embassy spokesman declined to detail the focus of Cheney's visit to Oman, an oil-producing state across the strategically important Strait of Hormuz from Iran.