Pakistan officials free more dissidents

Musharraf ready to quit as army chief, aide says

At least 10 people were injured in Quetta yesterday as police confronted a demonstration against media restrictions. (BANARAS KHAN/AFP/Getty Images)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The government freed more jailed political activists yesterday and a senior official said President Pervez Musharraf might step down as army chief this weekend, moves that could blunt opposition threats to boycott parliamentary elections.

It remained unclear, however, when Musharraf might lift a state of emergency that has worsened Pakistan's political turmoil just as the government confronts rising Islamic militancy.

The United States and other Western nations are pressuring him to end emergency rule if he hopes to repair his bruised credentials as a democrat and a reliable ally in the fight against international terrorism.

Attorney General Malik Mohammed Qayyum said that Musharraf would quickly fulfill his promise to quit his army post and be sworn in for a new five-year presidential term as a civilian.

"It may happen on Saturday. . . . I know the president, and he will honor his commitment," Qayyum said.

Meeting another key demand of domestic critics, Washington, and the European Union, authorities said they have now freed most of the thousands of activists rounded up since Musharraf suspended the constitution and decreed emergency powers Nov. 3.

Law Minister Afzal Hayder announced on state television that the government had released 5,634 lawyers and political party members. He said 623 people remained in custody, but that they would be let go soon.

Those freed included Imran Khan, a former cricket star who has become a firebrand in the opposition to Musharraf's rule. Khan said he would continue a hunger strike begun in custody and boycott the election in hopes of forcing Musharraf to give up all power.

"Musharraf is staging a drama to deceive America and the West whom he scared that without him the nuclear bomb will get into extremist hands," Khan told reporters.

Some people have voiced concerns that the crisis could undermine the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, but the top US military officer said this week that there were no signs of that.

Also freed was Javed Hashmi, acting president of the party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Musharraf's most dogged foe. In a phone interview, Hashmi called for opposition parties to boycott the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections to avoid giving credibility to Musharraf.

Khan has a high profile but limited political clout, and Musharraf's focus is on preventing Sharif from teaming up with the other key opposition leader, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Their secular parties are the biggest blocs in the opposition.

Bhutto's party welcomed the release of jailed activists but it charged that thousands more of its supporters were still in custody and said Musharraf could not be trusted.

Spokesman Farhatullah Babar said it was too soon for the party to express any opinion on the possibility Musharraf might give up his powerful post as chief of the army.

"President Musharraf has made such promises before the nation and the international community in the past as well, and we will comment when he actually steps down as the army chief," Babar said.

Washington has been hoping for a rapprochement between Bhutto and Musharraf, whom US officials call a key ally in confronting the Taliban and Al Qaeda. An alliance with her secular party would lend him badly needed democratic legitimacy.

Despite the conciliatory moves from the government, police officers clubbed dozens of journalists yesterday during street protests in Faisalabad and Quetta against media restrictions imposed by emergency rule. The protesters chanted "Musharraf, we do not accept your laws" and "Long live the freedom of journalism."

Musharraf justified emergency rule by citing the escalating danger posed by Islamic extremists. Yesterday, the army reported killing some 65 militants in a northern valley, bringing to more than 200 the number of fighters slain there in a week. The militants dispute the figures.