Pakistan govt frees former PM
The former prime minister's house arrest order has been lifted as she vows to continue to oppose the government
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Published by Gibson Square, out November 15th, 204 pages, £12. |  |
Friday, 16, Nov 2007 01:02
The government of Pakistan has lifted a house arrest order imposed on former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
The detention order was imposed on Tuesday to prevent Ms Bhutto from leading a rally against emergency rule imposed in the country. Police guards placed barbed wire around the house the leader was staying at and arrested activists who demonstrated against the decision.
Ms Bhutto, who returned to the country from exile after reaching an agreement with Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf, has vowed to not work with the government any longer. She has also announced that she will enter into negotiations with other opposition parties.
In other news, General Musharraf has nominated a caretaker prime minister to take over the country and is set to swear in an interim government ahead of parliamentary elections. Senate chairman Mohammedmian Soomro is set to take over from incumbent premier Shaukat Aziz.
The country's assemblies recently completed their five-year tenure and new lawmakers will be elected in polls which the president has said will be held by election authorities in the first week of January.
Gen Musharraf, who is also the chief of the army, has named November 31st as the latest final date for him to give up his army uniform.
He had previously said he would give up his post as the Pakistani army's chief of staff after being elected for a second term as president on October 15th.
After having the legitimacy of his candidacy questioned in the country's supreme court, Gen Musharraf announced a state of emergency on November 3rd, delaying his resignation.
His commitment to stand down before December remains conditional on the supreme court validating his second term in power, but as he has used the state of emergency to remove judicially independent judges this seems likely.
The first deaths caused by unrest in opposition to the state of emergency were reported today. Police said two boys, aged 11 and 12 respectively, and an adult were killed in violence in Karachi.