Pakistan's Musharraf Heckled in Speech
15 minutes ago
By SADAQAT JAN, Associated Press Writer
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf was heckled Saturday by lawmakers shouting for him to quit office as he made his first-ever speech to Parliament since seizing power in a military coup more than four years ago.
Opposition legislators chanted "Go Musharraf, go Musharraf" and "Friends of dictators are traitors" as soon as Musharraf took the podium. They kept up the cry throughout his 40-minute speech. The noise worsened as Musharraf's supporters countered by thumping on tables in a show of applause.
Meanwhile, a bomb scare at Islamabad's airport forced the diversion of two domestic flights, said a Pakistan International Airlines official, Imran Gardezi. The detour prevented one high-profile opposition lawmaker from attending the speech.
Musharraf, who survived two assassination attempts last month, spoke of the needs to crush terrorism, to keep Pakistan's nuclear weapons secure and to prevent proliferation of atomic arms. He also urged a resolution of the long-standing conflict with India over the divided territory of Kashmir.
Security was extremely tight, with armored personnel carriers patrolling and access blocked in a half-mile perimeter around Parliament.
"A few people are committing the curse of extremism in our society ... who want to impose their narrow-minded ideas on others," Musharraf said, swapping his army uniform for a white jacket for the occasion.
Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali complained about the heckling, saying "the opposition must learn respect for parliamentary values."
Tehmina Daulatana, a National Assembly member and vocal opponent of Musharraf, was on board a flight from Lahore that was forced to sit on the Islamabad runway for 50 minutes without disembarking passengers before being diverted to Peshawar. A separate flight from the southern city of Karachi was forced to return there.
Daulatana, like other passengers, was not informed about the reason for the diversion and alleged that it was intended to prevent her from attending the speech, telling The Associated Press by telephone: "What kind of general is he who is scared of a woman?"
The speech capped a highly charged two weeks. Musharraf struck a deal with Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to start talks on resolving the standoff over Kashmir; the military has stepped up operations in tribal borderlands to hunt down al-Qaida fugitives; and a car bombing injured 15 people outside a church in the southern city of Karachi.
"We have to carry out operations against foreign elements in our tribal areas, which can be a cause for terrorism, with full force," Musharraf said.
Amid accusations that Pakistani nuclear technology has proliferated to Iran, Libya and North Korea, Musharraf promised to strengthen Pakistan's deterrent while stressing the need to "assure the world that we are a responsible nation and will not let nuclear weapons spread."
Musharraf concluded his speech with a salute and punching his fists in the air. Shouts of protest continued undiminished.
The speech marked a turning point for Musharraf in a transition from military to nominally civilian leader, following a deal with a coalition of hard-line, pro-Taliban religious groups that paved the way for him to finish his five-year term as president until 2007.
The arrangement came just days after Musharraf survived the second of two attempts to assassinate him by suspected Islamic militants, who despise him for allying Pakistan to the United States in the war on terrorism.
Musharraf secured the support of a majority of lawmakers in Parliament and the four regional assemblies, after promising hard-liners that he would step down as chief of the army ? where real power lies ? by the end of 2004.
The president remains deeply unpopular among partisans of former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, both of whom are in exile. Musharraf overthrew Sharif's government in a bloodless coup in 1999 and dismissed Parliament.
Later, Pakistan's Supreme Court validated the takeover but ordered Musharraf to hold parliamentary elections. In 2002, Musharraf complied with the order ? but before the elections made changes to the constitution to gain sweeping powers, including the authority to dismiss Parliament and the prime minister.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news%3Ftmpl%3Dstory%26u%3D/ap/20040117/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_musharraf%26cid%3D516%26ncid%3D716
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