Islamabad, Pakistan – The government of embattled Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said Thursday it may impose a state of emergency because of “external and internal threats” and deteriorating law and order in the volatile northwest near the Afghan border.
Tariq Azim, minister of state for information, said some sentiment coming from the United States, including from Democratic presidential hopeful Barak Obama, over the possibility of U.S. military action against al-Qaeda in Pakistan “has started alarm bells ringing and has upset the Pakistani public.”
But it appeared the motivation for a declaration of an emergency would be the domestic political woes of Musharraf, a key U.S. ally in the war on terrorism who took power in a 1999 coup.
His popularity has dwindled and his standing has been badly shaken by a failed bid to oust the country’s chief justice – an independent-minded judge likely to rule on expected legal challenges to Musharraf’s bid to seek a new five-year presidential term this fall.
The Pakistani government’s comments on a possible emergency declaration came hours after Musharraf abruptly announced he was canceling a planned trip to Kabul, Afghanistan, today to attend a U.S.- backed tribal peace council aimed at curtailing cross-border militancy by the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
The decision to cancel the trip appeared linked to the government’s deliberations over declaring a state of emergency.
During a state of emergency, the government can restrict the freedom to move, rally, engage in political activities or form groups and impose other limits such as restricting the parliament’s right to make laws. It can even dissolve parliament.
“These are only unconfirmed reports, although the possibility of imposition of emergency cannot be ruled out and has recently been talked about and discussed, keeping in mind some external and internal threats and the law and order situation,” Azim told The Associated Press.
Azim referred to recent Pakistani military action against militants in northwestern border areas that he said had resulted in the deaths of many soldiers.
Meanwhile, Musharraf on Wednesday pulled out of a “peace jirga” in Kabul that is to bring more than 600 Pakistani and Afghan tribal leaders together with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Afghan officials said the jirga would proceed as planned without Musharraf.
In Washington, the State Department said the U.S. understands Musharraf’s decision to pull out of the planned meeting in Afghanistan.
“President Musharraf certainly wouldn’t stay back in Islamabad if he didn’t believe he had good and compelling reasons to stay back,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. The Bush administration has also not ruled out unilateral military action inside Pakistan, but like Obama, has stressed the need to work with Musharraf.
