Embattled Pakistani president promises February election

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf yielded to pressure Thursday and announced elections will be delayed no longer than a month, a decision the U.S. praised even as a key opposition leader denounced it.

Supporters of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who were arrested appear at the District Court on Thursday.
(Tariq Panja/Associated Press)

The national election will be held before Feb. 15, Musharraf told reporters.

Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto quickly responded by saying it wasn't good enough and she believes people want the election by mid-January as originally planned. She also demanded Musharraf step down as army chief by Nov. 15.

The president's concession failed to meet Bhutto's other demands issued Wednesday, which include ending the state of emergency declared Saturday and restoring the constitution.

U.S. President George W. Bush waded into the crisis for the first time Wednesday with demands for an end to the emergency rule and Musharraf's dual role as president and army chief, but the White House on Thursday seemed pleased with the latest news.

"We think it is a good thing that President Musharraf has clarified the election date for the Pakistani people," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

Bhutto supporters arrested ahead of rally

Bhutto has threatened to rally the public in a long march from Lahore to Islamabad if the president doesn't heed all her demands.

Her party is also planning a rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on Friday, though the mayor and police have vowed to stop anyone from reaching the park where Bhutto hopes to address supporters.

The party said hundreds of its supporters have been arrested ahead of the Friday protest against the government's imposed emergency rule.

Jamil Soomro, a spokesman for Bhutto, said police arrested 800 supporters, but the government denied the crackdown.

"According to my information, only four members from her party were detained last night when they defied a ban on rallies," Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said Thursday.

Political protests have been banned, one of the many restrictions put in place since Musharraf's declaration of a state of emergency that suspended the constitution and gave authorities sweeping powers.

Media constraints were eased Thursday when some previously blacked out international cable channels, including the BBC, suddenly reappeared on the air. The government pulled the plug on independent domestic and international news networks.

Treason charges laid

Despite the ban, demonstrations have been held by lawyers and human rights activists throughout the country. Since Saturday, the government says 2,500 people have been arrested, but opposition groups put the number at 3,500.

On Thursday, a court official said four of those arrested have been charged with treason for making anti-Musharraf speeches.

The men, three politicians from small leftist political parties and a labour union activist, are the first to face charges of treason, which carries a maximum penalty of death, since the state of emergency was imposed.

"All of this adds up to a great deal of intimidation in advance of [Friday's] rally," CBC reporter Adrienne Arsenault said.

Bush has 'frank' talk with Musharraf

Musharraf has faced growing pressure from the international community. On Wednesday, U.S. President George W. Bush stepped into the crisis for the first time by speaking with the Pakistani leader over the phone in what he described as a "frank" discussion.

Bush urged the army chief to give up his uniform. "You can't be the president and the head of the military at the same time."

The White House has been criticized for not taking a harder stance with Pakistan. Since Pakistan became a key U.S. ally in the so-called war on terror in 2001, about $11 billion in aid has flowed to the country. Counterterrorism funding is unlikely to stop, senior government officials have said.

Musharraf has said the reason for the emergency declaration was to prevent political instability and curb extremism.

The country of 160 million has been wracked by Taliban- and al-Qaeda-linked violence such as suicide bombings and clashes in its northwest.

Critics claim, however, that the emergency rule is meant to keep Musharraf in power. He seized power in a 1999 coup and his decision on Saturday to impose emergency rule came ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on his recent re-election as president.

With files from the Associated Press