ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — President Gen. Pervez Musharraf freed thousands of opponents from jails Tuesday in a sign that he is rolling back a wave of repression under emergency rule and flew to Saudi Arabia to talk about the future of an exiled rival.
Saudi officials said there were efforts to arrange a meeting between Musharraf and Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted as prime minister by the general’s 1999 coup. However, a Pakistani official said Musharraf’s goal was to prevent Sharif from returning before parliamentary elections Jan. 8.
Back home, the political cauldron continued to boil, with dozens of journalists detained for several hours after clashing with police during a protest and newly freed opposition lawyers vowing to keep up their agitation.
But there was also some relief for Musharraf. Ex-Premier Benazir Bhutto, leader of a key opposition party, deferred a decision on whether to boycott the elections, which the West hopes will produce a moderate government able to stand up to rising Islamic extremism.
The Interior Ministry said 3,400 people had been released from jail, among them political activists and lawyers at the forefront of protests against Musharraf before and after he decreed emergency rule on Nov. 3, purging the Supreme Court and taking independent television news off the air.
Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said more than 2,000 others remained behind bars but would be released shortly. “The process has started. More are being released today,” he said.
The government did not say what prompted the mass release. But it came two days after a visit by Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, who issued a blunt call for Musharraf to end emergency rule.
While Washington remains Musharraf’s key backer, providing billions of dollars in aid in return for Pakistan’s help against al-Qaeda and the Taliban, the aid and investment from Saudi Arabia give it considerable influence.
Musharraf talked with Saudi security officials for several hours before meeting with King Abdullah, Saudi authorities said, without giving any details of the discussions.
An official in Musharraf’s office in Islamabad said Saudi leaders wanted the general to let Sharif return home and compete in the elections. Musharraf argued that letting Sharif, a leader in the other main opposition party, come back now would worsen the unrest and threaten the country’s stability, the official said.
“He (Musharraf) is counting on Saudi Arabia’s historic ties (with Pakistan) to help him out of this crisis,” a Saudi official said.
Both Saudi and Pakistani officials agreed to discuss Musharraf’s trip only if they were not quoted by name.
Pakistani media said Musharraf would travel today to the Red Sea town of Jidda, where Sharif lives, on route to perform a pilgrimage to Mecca.
