Pervez Musharraf

President Pervez Musharraf denied telling the Washington Post that many Pakistanis felt that crying rape was an easy way to make money and get a Canadian visa. He said the remark was made by someone else. But reporter Glenn Kessler said the president's remarks were taped and quoted correctly. Musharraf was quoted as saying: "A lot of people say if you want to go abroad and get a visa for Canada or citizenship and be a millionaire, get yourself raped."

Nearly two weeks after throwing out Pakistan's elected government, the army on Monday announced the members of a new National Security Council. The five men and one woman will run the country until the military chief decides to hold elections. So far, Gen. Pervez Musharraf has refused to say when elections will be held, and few Pakistanis seem to want elections any time soon, preferring to see endemic corruption tackled first. Musharraf, who led the bloodless coup Oct.

Hundreds of opposition supporters protested across Pakistan, denouncing President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's decision to retain the powerful post of army chief. About 1,500 protesters marched in the southern port city of Karachi, and nearly 600 people gathered in the northwestern city of Peshawar. Smaller rallies were held in Multan, Lahore, the capital, Islamabad, and elsewhere.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is confident voters will give him five more years in power if he decides to call a referendum on his rule, Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider said Sunday. Musharraf, who took power in a coup in October 1999, says he needs more time to push through the economic and political reforms needed to bring stability to his country.

President Pervez Musharraf will stay on as army chief if he is not reelected, a government attorney said Tuesday, fueling opposition claims that he could be setting the stage to declare a state of emergency. Atty. Gen. Malik Mohammed Qayyum, who outlined Musharraf's plans at a Supreme Court hearing on challenges to the president's candidacy, denied that any moves toward authoritarianism were being considered. "There will be no martial law," he said. "There will be no emergency."

With his country facing heightened international scrutiny after deadly bombings in Britain and Egypt, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf asserted Monday that Al Qaeda was too weak to organize terrorist attacks from his nation's soil. "We have shattered and eliminated their command system there," he said.

President Bush on Wednesday waived sanctions on Pakistan imposed after President Pervez Musharraf seized power in a 1999 bloodless coup, rewarding a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism. The waiver clears the way for Pakistan to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in direct U.S. economic aid. In a written statement, Bush said the sanctions waiver would facilitate the transition to democratic rule in Pakistan and was important to U.S. efforts to fight international terrorism.

Campaigning for Jan. 8 elections, Benazir Bhutto on Tuesday accused President Pervez Musharraf of failing to stop the spread of Islamic militancy and promised to crack down if she won. Bhutto spoke to about 4,000 supporters in the central city of Lodhran as the campaign intensified. The parliamentary elections are seen as crucial to restoring democracy after a six-week state of emergency accompanied by a crackdown on the judiciary and opposition.

Despite widespread criticism, President Pervez Musharraf unilaterally amended the Pakistani Constitution on Wednesday, granting himself sweeping powers--including the right to dissolve parliament--and extending his term in office. "Pakistan is passing through a very crucial transitional period," Musharraf told reporters in announcing his decision to impose the amendments, which were unveiled in June. "We are taking Pakistan from democratic dictatorship to elected democracy.

Tens of thousands of protesters swarmed into Pakistan's capital for a raucous rally led by lawyers demanding the reinstatement of judges and the ouster of President Pervez Musharraf. The gathering, which began Friday amid sweltering heat and continued until around dawn today, threatened to widen a rift within the governing coalition. Some analysts said it could prod the partners to find a way to restore the justices and hasten the exit of the unpopular U.S.-backed president.