Musharraf Court Clears Way For Next Term

A Supreme Court hand-picked by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf swiftly dismissed legal challenges to his continued rule on Monday, opening the way for him to serve another five-year term - this time solely as a civilian president.

The opposition has denounced the new court, saying any decisions by a tribunal stripped of independent voices had no credibility. Musharraf purged the court on Nov. 3 when he declared emergency rule, days before the tribunal was expected to rule on his eligibility to serve as president.

The United States has put immense pressure on Musharraf to restore the constitution and free thousands of political opponents jailed under the emergency before Pakistan's critical parliamentary election on Jan. 8.

Pressure of another kind was exerted by Pakistan on the United Arab Emirates, where foreign-based journalists of Pakistan's independent Geo TV have been broadcasting out of Dubai since Musharraf's crackdown. On Sunday Geo's news broadcasts were shut down.

In response, about 150 journalists and civil rights activists in Islamabad held protests against this latest action against the press.

Monday's court ruling could hasten Musharraf's decision to take off his army uniform. The general has said he would quit as armed forces commander by the end of the month, assuming he was given the legal go-ahead by the court to remain as president.

Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar dismissed three opposition petitions challenging Musharraf's victory in a disputed presidential election last month, saying two had been "withdrawn" because opposition lawyers were not present in court.

The third was withdrawn by a lawyer for the party of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, who suggested the court was illegitimate.

"We asked for (the case) to be postponed because we said there is no constitution," she told reporters in Karachi after a meeting with the U.S. ambassador. She said she had no plans to revive power-sharing negotiations with Musharraf, broken off after the general's decision to declare emergency rule.

"We are not going back to the former track," Bhutto said. "We are interested in a road map for democracy, but we do not have the confidence that Gen. Musharraf's regime could give us that road map."

At a protest in Islamabad, Omer Farooq, a journalist with AVT Channel, said the reconstituted court lacked credibility.

"This decision by the Supreme Court will not at all be taken seriously by anyone, anyone in the country, whether civil society, journalists, (or the) legal fraternity," Farooq said.

One of Musharraf's first acts after seizing extraordinary powers was to purge the Supreme Court of independent-minded judges. Opponents had argued that he ought to be disqualified under a constitutional ban on public servants running for elected office, which they said applied because Musharraf was still army chief.

The military ruler told The Associated Press last week that he expected the retooled court to quickly endorse his re-election, and he was right. Deliberations lasted less then a day on the most serious cases challenging Musharraf.

The court said it would rule Thursday on another petition from a man whose candidacy for the Oct. 6 presidential election was rejected by the election commission. Only then can it authorize the election commission to announce Musharraf the winner of the vote.

An official in Musharraf's office welcomed Monday's ruling and said it kept the general on track to quit the army by the end of November.

"It allows the president to fulfill his commitment about becoming a civilian president, and the president will not waste time in ... removing his uniform after a final court ruling," the official said. He asked for anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

With pressure mounting to get the country on a path to democracy, the government on Monday set Jan. 8 as the date for parliamentary elections.

The opposition has threatened to boycott, saying a vote held while its members are detained and its freedom to assemble blocked would have no validity. They also have questioned the neutrality of a caretaker government installed by Musharraf last week.

Despite an outcry both here and in Washington, there were no indications Musharraf intended to lift his state of emergency before the vote.

In his first public comments since a sit-down with Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, Musharraf vowed that the elections would be fair, but also defended the emergency, which has seen thousands of the general's opponents jailed, the judiciary purged and independent media muzzled.

"I took this decision in the best interest of Pakistan," Musharraf said at a ceremony late Sunday to inaugurate a bridge in the southern port city of Karachi.

"I could have said thank you and walked away," he told the state news agency. "But this was not the right approach because I cannot watch this country go down in front of me after so many achievements and such an economic turnaround."

Musharraf urged the opposition not to boycott the vote, saying that any who do would be acting because they feel they cannot win - not because the playing field is unfair.

Anne Patterson, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, on Monday visited the Karachi office of Geo Television Network, one of two independent Dubai-based news stations shut down under pressure from Pakistan.

"The media must be free to report on events and share their opinions with the public," Patterson emphasized during her meeting with the senior editorial staff and management of the network, a statement from the U.S. Consulate General said.

Negroponte, Washington's No. 2 diplomat, was blunt in comments Sunday after his meetings with Musharraf and other senior military and political figures, saying the emergency rule was "not compatible with free, fair and credible elections."

But Pakistan was quick to dismiss those concerns, saying the senior American diplomat brought no new proposals on his weekend visit, and received no assurances after urging Musharraf to restore the constitution.

The face-off leaves the Bush administration with limited options in steering its nuclear-armed ally back toward democracy. Senior Bush Administration officials have said publicly that they have no plans to cut off the billions of dollars in military aid that Pakistan receives each year.

Protests At Home And Abroad

An estimated 1,000 students from Punjab University marched through the streets of Lahore on Monday to protest the imposition of martial law and the detention of opposition leader, Imran Khan. Security forces in riot gear stood by the entrance to Punjab University
as the students marched.

Imran Khan was arrested and detained by security forces when he attended a rally at the university last week.

The students called for the release of Khan who is popular with Pakistan's youth movement.

"They have taken out Imran Khan from the University without any reason. Although he came here just to lead the students," Ghazanfar Khan, a Punjab university student told AP Television.

In London, about 400 pro-democracy supporters demonstrated outside the Pakistani Embassy, calling for the resignation of Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf and the lifting of martial law in the country.

The protest was organized by Jemima Khan, former wife of jailed Pakistani opposition leader Imran Khan, and leaders of the international Free Pakistan Movement (FPM).

Jemima Khan and human rights activist Hina Jilani delivered a petition to embassy officials calling for the lifting of martial law, the release of those detained in the recent military crackdown, and the resignation of Musharraf.

Embassy officials thanked Khan for the petition but made no further comment.

Khan said: "I think it's time for Musharraf to resign. I think Musharraf... it's gone too far, he needs to go."

Pakistani writer, Tariq Ali, called for the release of Pakistan's protesting judiciary.

Ali said: "Eight Supreme Court judges have resigned and are under house arrest. Virtually all the main independent television stations have been banned, not allowed to broadcast, and the West still goes on imagining that this is a benign dictator."

George Galloway, British Member of Parliament for the Respect Party, ridiculed Musharraf's proposal to hold elections in Pakistan in January.

"The idea that he (Musharraf) can, under martial law, conduct free and fair elections is beyond parody," Galloway said.

In downtown Seattle, several dozen Pakistani Americans rallied in an effort to get Musharraf to step down. One protestor told CBS News correspondent Jeff Pohjola that Musharraf is using the guise of the war on terror to suspend the constitution and ensure his own power.

"It is great that Pakistan and Musharraf himself is a partner on the war on terror, but that does not give him a license … to crush civil rights," he said.