Despite opposition, Pakistan's Musharraf gets term until 2007

By Paul Watson and Mubashir Zaidi
Los Angeles Times

	Pervez Musharraf
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The Pakistani leader, who seized power in a 1999 coup and has become a key ally in the U.S.-declared war on terrorism, won votes of confidence in both houses of parliament, the latest bid to legitimize his presidency.

The balloting came just before a crucial summit, which Musharraf will host, of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. It will start Sunday in the Pakistani capital.

Leaders of the seven-nation group, which includes India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Maldives, are expected to sign a regional free-trade agreement.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will attend, making his first visit to Pakistan in four years, and is expected to meet with Musharraf. Many people in India and Pakistan, weary of a 56-year conflict over the disputed Kashmir region, hope the summit will bring formal peace talks closer.

India and Pakistan, which have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 and have in recent years become nuclear powers, yesterday reached another milestone when a Pakistan International Airways 747 jumbo jet arrived in New Delhi from Lahore. It was the first commercial flight between the countries since India severed air links in 2002.

The countries also exchanged lists of nuclear facilities and installations yesterday under a bilateral agreement signed in 1989. The first such exchange of lists took place Jan. 1, 1992; it is supposed to take place at the start of each year.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, Musharraf signed on early to the Bush administration's battle against terrorism. Pakistani authorities say they have detained about 500 suspected al-Qaida members. Two men linked by authorities to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were captured in Pakistan.

Last June, Musharraf became the first South Asian leader to be invited to Camp David, meeting with President Bush at the Maryland retreat.

After the walkout by opposition lawmakers yesterday, Musharraf won support from 191 lawmakers in the 342-member National Assembly, with no votes against him. In the Senate, 56 members out of 100 voted in favor of Musharraf. One senator voted against him.

Assemblies in the nation's four provinces — Punjab, North-West Frontier, Baluchistan and Sindh — also approved Musharraf's rule despite walkouts.

In announcing the results on state-run television, the chief election commissioner, retired Justice Irshad Hasan Khan, declared that lawmakers had approved a five-year presidential term for Musharraf, beginning with a disputed 2002 referendum on his rule.

Musharraf's critics in the mainstream political opposition argue he has empowered Islamic hard-liners by continuing a military alliance with Pakistan's mullahs that dates to former military dictator Zia ul-Haq's regime, from 1977 to 1988. To break a yearlong deadlock with an alliance led by Islamists in parliament, Musharraf struck a deal last month in which he agreed to quit the military within a year to win support for his rule through at least 2007.

Two constitutional amendments ratified by lawmakers this week give the president power to dismiss parliament and the prime minister with the Supreme Court's approval. Musharraf then named a new chief justice, Nazim Hussain Siddiqui. He was on the bench in 2002 when the court ruled against opposition parties that argued the 1999 coup violated the constitution.

Musharraf, who declared himself president in 2001, still commands the armed forces and has never stood for election.

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