If the government crackdown is indeed this large Musharraf could smell the U.S. behind the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and perhaps the bringing of Bhutto from forced exile in U.S. friendly Dubai.
When the U.S. marks a country for democracy or democratic reforms they have already picked out a candidate compliant to Washington’s wishes.
-Am
Govt cracks down on PPP, cancels trains from Sindh
* PPP claims 20,000 workers arrested * Several wounded in clash with Karachi police
By Mubasher Bokhari and Razzak Abro
LAHORE: Police continued cracking down on Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) activists on Thursday and arrested thousands of them from all over the country while Pakistan Railways (PR) cancelled and barred group reservations in trains bound for Lahore till April 16.
The PPP claimed the government had arrested about 20,000 party leaders and activists countrywide in a bid to stop them from welcoming Asif Ali Zardari, set to land at Lahore Airport tomorrow (Saturday). Also, dozens of PPP activists were injured and at least 100 were arrested during a clash with police at Karachi Cantt Railway Station on Thursday evening.
The clash started when PPP activists gathered at the railway station with flags and welcome banners in hand to board Lahore-bound trains to welcome Asif Ali Zardari arriving in Lahore tomorrow (Saturday) and were baton-charged by police.
Many activists succeeded in entering the station and police followed them and beat them in an attempt to disperse them.
Punjab PPP Media Adviser Muhammad Iqbal Sialwi said on Thursday that police had arrested more than 2,000 PPP leaders and activists from several Punjab cities to prevent the planned welcome for Asif Zardari. However, Punjab PPP President Qasim Zia and MNA Sherry Rehman claimed that police had arrested about 15,000 workers in the Punjab. She also said the party would issue a list to the local international media today (Friday).
Police continued raiding the homes of PPP activists in Lahore and arrested hundreds. “They are beating PPP activists including women and are treating them badly,” said PPP Federal Council Secretary General Khalid Ahmad Khan Kharal. Some PPP activists were arrested in front of Lahore Airport.
Mr Sialwi said hundreds of PPP stalwarts were detained in Pakpattan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Jhelum, Deena, Hafizabad, Sialkot, Kasur, Okara, Vehari, Burewala, Mailsi, Multan, Shujaabad, Bahawalpur, Chishtian, Bahawalnagar, Faisalabad, Samundari, Gujrat, Toba Tek Singh, Kamoke, Nowshera Virkan, Muraliwala and Rahwali.
Meanwhile, Karachi PPP leaders told a press conference at Karachi Press Club that Railways had cancelled the seats of at least six carriages reserved by the PPP. The PPP leaders called this an unlawful act on PR’s part, as it could not cancel seats that had been paid for.
PPP sources also said PR had cancelled 700 seats booked for Lahore by local PPP leaders and activists allegedly to stop them from travelling to Lahore to welcome Asif Zardari.
Also, a party spokesman claimed that more than 5,000 party activists had been arrested across Sindh. Similar incidents were reported from Sukkur, Khairpur, Mirpurkhas, Badin, Nawabshah, Nowsheroferoze, Mithi, Dadu, Thatta and other areas of the province. Capital City Police Officer Tariq Jameel denied the PPP claim of police arresting about 100 activists.
Musharraf is in a bit of a bind the widening rift between him and conservative religious groups could, if he does not win solidly, mean an alliance with liberal secular forces such as Bhutto’s party.
Bhutto and entourage look to be backed by the United States. Any alliance with Bhutto’s group would give Bush a much stronger foothold in Pakistan. #msg-6045554 #msg-6055889
This could help keep the Chinese Navy out of Gwadar and will form a tighter circle around Iran.
China's submarines, especially its nuclear attack submarines, will frequent Gwadar [a deep sea port in the Pakistani province of Balochistan, which is being described as China's 'listening post' in the Persian Gulf] in the near future.#msg-670604367
-Am
Pakistan vote seen determining Musharraf options Thu Aug 18, 2005 10:32 PM IST
By Zeeshan Haider
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistanis voted on Thursday in the first phase of local elections that could determine whether President Pervez Musharraf will eventually incorporate liberal opponents into a future government.
Police reported sporadic violence in which three people died and more than 100 were hurt.
The three-phase elections are officially being held on a non-party basis, but factions are openly backing candidates to try and ensure their power bases ahead of 2007 general elections.
Voting to elect councillors was held in 53 districts and that in the remaining 56 will be held on Aug. 25.
Two men were killed in separate exchanges of gunfire between rival groups of supporters in the central province of Punjab and one man was killed in another shooting incident in the southwestern province of Baluchistan.
In the volatile port city of Karachi, where authorities have deployed 10,000 troops to boost security, about a dozen people were hurt in shooting incidents and other clashes.
On Sept. 29, the councillors elected in the first two rounds will elect powerful district chiefs, known as Nazims, who can use their clout to influence the 2007 parliamentary polls.
The national assembly and four provincial assemblies formed from the general election will chose a president for a five-year term later in 2007.
Aides say Musharraf, a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism who seized power in a bloodless 1999 coup, will stand in the next presidential election. He is widely expected to win, but what sort of coalition he will work with remains unclear.
MUSHARRAF'S RIFT WITH CONSERVATIVES
District poll rivalry is particularly intense in Punjab, Pakistan's most populous and politically most important province.
The main contest there is between the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League and the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party of self-exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Analysts say Musharraf will be hoping for solid wins by Muslim League-backed candidates, especially in Punjab and the southern province of Sindh.
Otherwise he would have to consider alignments with liberal secular forces like Bhutto's party, given the apparently widening rift between him and conservative religious groups opposed to his support for the war on terrorism.
Musharraf, who like other military leaders has relied in the past on backing of religious conservatives, has urged voters to shun the Islamic parties that won control of North West Frontier Province and a share of power in Baluchistan in 2002 elections.
Analysts say a poor showing by the Muslim League in the elections and Musharraf's widening differences with the six-party Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Islamic alliance would increase the chances of reconciliation with Bhutto's party.
Bhutto has lived in exile since 1999, and Musharraf in the past has repeatedly accused her of corruption and warned that she would be arrested if she tried to return.
He has muted such criticisms since he began speaking of the need for reconciliation with moderate forces last year following worsening militant violence, including two attempts on his life.
Reconciliation with the still popular Bhutto would help ease Western criticism of Musharraf's curbs on democracy, but Musharraf would risk a dilution of his current sweeping powers.
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