Pervez Musharraf

Pervez Musharraf
12th President of Pakistan
Incumbent
Assumed office 20 June 2001
Prime Minister	Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Shaukat Aziz
Preceded by	Muhammad Rafiq Tarar
Personal details
Born	(1943-08-10) August 10, 1943 File:Imperial-India-Blue-Ensign.svg Delhi, British India
Political party	Pakistan Muslim League (Q)

Pervez Musharraf (Urdu: پرويز مشرف) (born August 10 1943) is the President of Pakistan, the Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army and the fourth Pakistani General to govern the country in the wake of a coup. He took power on October 12, 1999, ousting Nawaz Sharif, the elected Prime Minister, thereby assuming the title of Chief Executive. Later on, he became the President of Pakistan. Pervez Musharraf's brother, Naved, practices medicine and lives in Oak Brook, Illinois.

Early life

Pervez Musharraf is the second of three sons, was born in Nahr wali Haveli Daryaganj in Delhi, British India on August 11, 1943. After the Partition of India, Musharraf along with his parents immigrated to Pakistan and chose to settle in Karachi.

He comes from a lower middle class family; his father, Syed Musharrafuddin, worked for the foreign ministry as a senior official in the Pakistan Embassy in Turkey. He spent his early years in Turkey, from 1949 to 1956. Musharraf is married to Begum Sehba, who is from Okara; they have one son, Bilal Musharraf who is a graduate student at Stanford University and a daughter Ayla Raza who works as an architect in Karachi, and have four grandchildren, two from each child.

Education

Musharraf attended Saint Patrick's High School, Karachi, graduating in 1958 before going on to attend Forman Christian College in Lahore. For seven years his family lived in Turkey as his father got a job in Ankara. He reveals in his memoirs that he was in a critical condition after falling from a mango tree as a teenager, and he treats this as his first direct experience with death.

Military career

Pervez Musharraf
Service/branch	Pakistan Army (PA – 6920)
Years of service	1964-
Rank	Chief of Staff
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Kargil War

In 1961, he entered the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul, graduated 11th in his class and was commissioned in 1964 in the Artillery Regiment (16(SP) Self Propelled artillery unit now based in Bahawalpur,PK). Later he joined Special Services Group and then was posted to Field Artillery Regiments. A graduate of the Staff College, Quetta, and the National Defence College, Rawalpindi, Musharraf is also a graduate of the Royal College of Defence Studies of the United Kingdom. In 1965, Musharraf reveals in his memoirs that he was charged with taking unauthorized leave and was about to be court-martialed for it, but was let off due to the war with India.

Indo-Pakistani War

Musharraf participated in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 as the 2nd Lieutenant in the 16 (SP) Field Artillery Regiment. His regiment saw action as part of the First Armoured Division’s offensive in the Khemkaran sector, where a major offensive was planned against the Indian Army. Despite possessing a quantitative advantage and significant superiority in armor, the 1st armoured division (labelled "pride of the Pakistan Army") suffered a crushing defeat and Khemkaran became known as a graveyard of Pakistan tanks.. By all accounts the vital advance failed at the Battle of Asal Uttar, as Pakistan lost a golden opportunity to make major strategic gains, and was a turning point in the war. His regiment was later moved to the Lahore front which was seriously threatened by the Indian Army. Later on it was sent to take part in the major battles around Chawinda.

Later, in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 he served as a Company Commander in the SSG Commando Battalion. Originally scheduled to be flown to East Pakistan along with other SSG troops, he was redeployed in Punjab as war broke out and all flights over India were cancelled. He later admitted that he "broke down and wept" when he heard the "disgusting" news of Pakistan's unconditional surrender to India. Later he commanded Regiments of Artillery, there after an Artillery Brigade and then went on to command an Infantry Division. In September 1987, heading a newly formed SSG at Khapalu base (Kashmir), he launched an unsuccessful assault to capture the Indian held posts of Bilafond La in Siachen Glacier.

On promotion to the rank of Major General on January 15, 1991, he was assigned the command of an Infantry Division. Later, on promotion to Lieutenant General on October 21, 1995 he took over command of 1 Corps,the elite strike Corps. In 1998, following the resignation of General Jehangir Karamat, he was personally promoted over other senior officers by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, as an obedient General and took over as the Chief of Army Staff.

Role in Kargil Conflict

Main article: Kargil War

From May to July 1999, Pakistan and India were involved in the Kargil Conflict, an armed conflict between the two countries in the Kargil district of Kashmir. It was planned and executed during General Musharraf's term as Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff under Prime Minister Sharif. The conflict sparked tensions between civic and military branches of government and, ultimately triggered P.M. Sharif's decision to dismiss General Musharraf.

Ex-CENTCOM Commander Anthony Zinni, and P.M. Sharif, have stated that Musharraf requested that the Prime Minister withdraw Pakistani troops from Kashmir. Sharif has claimed that Musharraf was solely responsible from the Kargil attacks. On the other hand, Musharraf claims that the decision was made by Sharif, who was under United States pressure. However, his role in planning the Kargil attacks has been universally criticized by several independent reports for showing "a shocking lack of strategy."

Presidency (2001 - )

Military Coup d'état

Main article: 1999 Pakistani coup d'état

Musharraf became de facto Head of Government (using the title Chief Executive and assuming extensive powers) of Pakistan following a bloodless coup d'état on 12 October 1999. That day, the constitutional Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attempted to dismiss Musharraf and install Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director Khwaja Ziauddin in his place. Musharraf, who was out of the country, boarded a commercial airliner to return to Pakistan. Senior Army Generals refused to accept Musharraf's dismissal, which was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Sharif ordered the Karachi airport closed to prevent the landing of the airliner, which then circled the skies over Karachi. In the coup, the Generals ousted Sharif's administration and took over the airport. The plane landed with allegedly only a few minutes of fuel to spare, and Musharraf assumed control of the government. Sharif was put under house arrest and later exiled. He and other leaders have subsequently been prevented from entering Pakistan. Reportedly, the disagreement between Musharraf and Sharif centered around the Prime Minister's desire to find a diplomatic resolution to the conflict with India in the Kashmir region.

The existing President of Pakistan, Rafiq Tarar, remained in office until June 2001. Musharraf formally appointed himself President on June 20, 2001, just days before his scheduled visit to Agra for talks with India.

Presidential elections

Shortly after Musharraf's takeover, several people filed court petitions challenging his assumption of power. However he got The Oath of Judges Order 2000 issued. It required the judges to take a fresh oath of office swearing allegiance to military rule. Judges must swear that they will make no decisions against the military rule. Many judges refused and resigned in protest. Subsequently on May 12, 2000, the Supreme Court of Pakistan now filled which judges of the General's pleasing and who had now taken oath not to take any decisions against the Military Junta, ordered Musharraf to hold general elections by October 12, 2002. In an attempt to legitimize his presidency and assure its continuance after the approaching restoration of democracy, he held a referendum on April 30, 2002 to extend his presidential term to five years after the October elections. However, the referendum was boycotted by the majority of Pakistani political groupings, which later complained that the elections were heavily rigged, and voter turnout was 30% or below by most estimates. A few weeks later, Musharraf went on TV and apologized to the nation for "irregularities" in the referendum.

General elections were held in October 2002 and a plurality of the seats in the Parliament was won by the PML-Q, a pro-Musharraf party. However, parties opposed to Musharraf effectively paralysed the National Assembly for over a year.

The deadlock ended in December 2003, when Musharraf made a deal with the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal party, a six-member coalition of Islamic parties, agreeing to leave the army by December 31, 2004. He subsequently refused to keep his promise. With that party's support, pro-Musharraf legislators were able to muster the two-thirds supermajority required to pass the Seventeenth Amendment, which retroactively legalized Musharraf's 1999 coup and many of his decrees.

In an interview in March 2007, Musharraf said that he intends to stay in the office for another five years. The leader of the pro-Musharraf party has also said that Musharraf would be re-elected from the current assemblies and not after the 2007 elections.

Electoral College vote

In a vote of confidence on January 1, 2004, Musharraf won 658 out of 1,170 votes in the Electoral College of Pakistan, and according to Article 41(8) of the Constitution of Pakistan, was "deemed to be elected" to the office of President until October 2007.

Assassination attempts

On December 14, 2003, General Musharraf survived an assassination attempt when a powerful bomb went off minutes after his highly-guarded convoy crossed a bridge in Rawalpindi. Musharraf was apparently saved by a jamming device in his limousine that prevented the remote controlled explosives from blowing up the bridge as his convoy passed over it. It was the third such attempt during his four-year rule. Eleven days later, on December 25, 2003, two suicide bombers tried to assassinate General Musharraf, but their car bombs failed to kill the president; 16 others nearby died instead. Musharraf escaped with only a cracked windscreen on his car. Militant Amjad Farooqi was apparently suspected as being the mastermind behind these attempts, and was killed by Pakistani forces in 2004 after an extensive manhunt. On July 6, 2007, there was another attempted assassination, when an unknown group fired an anti-aircraft gun at Musharraf's plane as it took off from a runway in Rawalpindi. 39 people were arrested, detained and put at an undisclosed location by a joint team of Punjab Police and Pakistan Intelligence Agencies.

Domestic issues

Elections during Musharraf's administration

On 12 May 2000, the Supreme Court ordered Musharraf to hold national elections by 12 October 2002; elections for local governments took place in 2001. Elections for the national and provincial legislatures were held in October 2002, with no party winning a majority. In November 2002, Musharraf handed over certain powers to the newly elected Parliament. The National Assembly elected Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali as Prime Minister of Pakistan, who in turn appointed his own cabinet.

On January 1, 2004 Musharraf won a confidence vote in the Electoral College of Pakistan, consisting of both houses of Parliament and the four provincial assemblies which are dominated by the landed elite of the country, most of whom have been given governmental posts under Musharraf. Musharraf received 658 out of 1170 votes, a 56% majority, but many opposition and Islamic members of parliament walked out to protest the vote. As a result of this vote, according to Article 41(8) of the Constitution of Pakistan, Musharraf was "deemed to be elected" to the office of President. His term now extends to 2007.

Prime Minister Jamali was resigned on 26 June 2004, after losing the support of party, the PML-Q. His resignation was at least partly due to his public differences with the party chairman Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, and was rumored to have happened at the command of General Pervez Musharraf, although neither man has confirmed this. Jamali had been appointed with the support of Musharraf's and the pro-Musharraf PML(Q). Most PML(Q) parliamentarians formerly belonged to the Pakistan Muslim League party led by Nawaz Sharif, and most ministers of the cabinet were formerly senior members of other parties, joining the PML(Q) after the elections upon being offered powerful offices. It is believed that Musharraf replaced Jamali due to his poor performance and in his place Musharraf nominated Shaukat Aziz, the minister for finance and a former Joint President of Citibank and head of Citibank Private Banking as the new prime minister. The talk of Jamali leaving were around days before Jamali went but it was denied as rumour by politicians and even Jamali himself. Musharraf choose Shaukat Aziz due to his successful measures in revitalizing Pakistan's economy as the Finance Minister. The new government is mostly supportive of Musharraf, who remains the President and Head of State in the new government. Musharraf continues to be the active executive of Pakistan, especially in foreign affairs. Although whether he stays the president after he gives up the post of Chief of Army staff is still to be seen.

Dual-office controversy

A pro-Musharraf party, the PML-Q, won a plurality in the elections of October 2002, and formed a majority coalition with independents and allies such as the MQM. Nevertheless, the opposition parties effectively deadlocked the National Assembly, refusing to accept the legitimacy of Musharraf's authority. In December 2003, as part of a compromise with the main Islamist opposition group, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, an alliance of Islamic parties, General Musharraf said he would step down as Army Chief by January 1, 2005. In return, the MMA agreed to support a constitutional amendment that would retroactively legalize Musharraf's coup, and restore some formal checks and balances to Pakistan's system of government. In late 2004, Musharraf went back on his agreement with the MMA and pro-Musharraf legislators in the Parliament passed a bill allowing Musharraf to keep both offices.

Economy

At the time Musharraf took over the government, Pakistan was regarded as a failed state by many international experts, as it was close to bankrupt. Total foreign exchange reserves were less than one month's import. Investor confidence was at an all-time low.

The economic reforms by the Musharraf government totally reversed the situation; now the economy is one of the fastest growing economies in Asia. Pakistan foreign exchange reserves now exceed $15 billion, as against less than $1 billion when he took office. The foreign investment in Pakistan in the first 9 months of the 2006-2007 financial year have exceeded $5.0 billion. Per capita income of Pakistan in current dollars has more then doubled in the last 7 years and expected to exceed $1000 by 2008.

The country's economic growth is now fueled by consumption and export-based growth strategy, and is based on the core-periphery model, focusing on large cities to generate spill over effects in their surrounding areas. In the beginning an expansionary policy was implemented and construction was boosted to support other industries. Doing business is much easier than previous governments and the economy is one of the, if not the most, liberal in the region. To fuel economic growth, a strategy to reverse brain drain was initiated, and the percentage of GDP spent on education was doubled. Investor confidence was built by officials making world tours and meeting business people around the world. The rate of privitisation was also increased.

Silent progressive revolution in Pakistan is building up as the economy is booming, jobs are being created, trillions of rupees are being spent on huge projects like Gwadar port. Gwadar port is expected to become transit point for middle eastern oil to China, and more importantly, for transportation of goods from western China to the rest of the world, effectively making Gwadar China's western sea port. Gwadar is also expected to become a port city that would serve Central Asian countries for their international trade with outside world, including their export of oil and gas.

Corruption

When Musharraf came to power, he claimed that the rampant corruption in the government bureaucracy would be cleaned up.. However, although Musharraf stated that a crackdown on corruption would be initiated, many neutral analysts have noted that, even years into his administration, his regime is letting the corrupt go free..

Critics of his administration point to the fact that Pakistan, which was placed at 79 in the ranking of corruption-free countries five years back is now ranked at 142, indicating that, according to the Transparency International's list, Pakistan is now one of the most corrupt nations in the world. However a sizeable number of educated individuals are of the view that the high levels of corruption existing previously are gradually subsiding due to rapid economic growth, better renumeration packages for government employees, free press/media and the massive privatization of services sector.

According to a survey by Transparency International, Pakistani public opinion perceives Musharraf's regime as more corrupt than the previous democratic governments led by Benazir Bhutto and Mr. Sharif.

There have also been allegations that corrupt servicemen aren't being prosecuted because of the junta's clout. Pakistani media too have alleged that individual corruption of the previous government was replaced by institutionalised corruption of the Pakistan Army, awarding land deeds and a life of luxury to its officers.. However the government defends it position by terming this as an "incentive" for servicemen to work with dedication, terming land deeds as a no-profit/no-loss investment: members have to pay a compensation for the land throughout their years of service on a monthly basis prior to being alloted land (of equal worth)upon their retirement. The military terms this policy as an ethically correct practice of rewarding it's members for their services.

Suspension of Chief Justice

On March 9, 2007, General Pervez Musharraf suspended the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. In an interview about the matter given to Geo TV, Musharraf stated that Chaudhry himself wished to meet with him and Musharraf then presented him with evidence related to charges made against Chaudhry for abuse of office. Other sources maintain that Chaudhry was summoned by the General at his Army residence in Rawalpindi and asked to explain his position on a list of charges brought against him from several quarters. Chaudhry was demanded to resign, but he refused and was detained. While this was not confirmed by the Affidavit presented by him in Supreme Court, While affidavits by other people in same case has said that it was not true and He(Chief Justice) Has asked to meet the President and was not asked to resign. Meanwhile, another senior judge, Justice Javaid Iqbal, was appointed as the acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Musharraf's moves sparked protests among Pakistani lawyers. On 12 March 2007, lawyers across Pakistan began boycotting all court procedures in protest against the suspension. In the capital Islamabad, and in other cities such as Lahore, Karachi and Quetta, hundreds of lawyers dressed in black suits attended rallies, condemning the suspension as unconstitutional. More than twenty lawyers were injured in clashes with police during the demonstrations in Lahore. On 16 March, demonstrations became more widespread, and included protesters outside the legal community. Slowly the expressions of support for the ousted Chief Justice gathered momentum and by May, protesters and opposition parties took out huge rallies against Musharraf and his tenure as army chief was also challenged in the courts. Rallies held by the MQM and other political parties left more than 40 people dead in firefights in the streets of Karachi, and the offices of AAJ TV were caught in the crossfire and sustained damage. Opposition parties have accused the government and Rangers of not doing enough to stop the violence.

Foreign policy

Relations with India

Main article: Kargil War

Musharraf was Chief of Army Staff at the time of Mujahideen incursions into India from Pakistan-administered Kashmir in the summer of 1999. Although Pakistan claimed that these were Kashmiri freedom fighters, later developments showed that they were Pakistani paramilitary soldiers backing up the separatists on the mountain top. After fierce fighting, Pakistani soldiers were pulled back due to pressure from the international community. Some reports suggest that Musharraf retreated after huge pressure from the former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from the American President Bill Clinton, who feared the conflict could turn into a nuclear catastrophe.

However, in Battle Ready, a book co-authored by ex-CENTCOM Commander in Chief Anthony Zinni and novelist Tom Clancy, the former alleges that Musharraf was the one who pushed Sharif to withdraw the Pakistani troops after being caught in a losing scenario. According to an ex-official of the Musharraf government, Hassan Abbas, it was Musharraf who planned the whole operative and sold the idea to Nawaz Sharif. The view that Musharraf wanted to attempt the Kargil infiltrations much earlier was also revealed by Former Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto in an interview to a leading daily newspaper, where he had supposedly boasted that "he would hoist the flag of Pakistan atop the Srinagar Assembly" if his plan was executed PML(N), a leading Pakistan party added that Musharraf had planned the Kargil intrusions but panicked when the conflict broke out with India and decided to brief then Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif. As the Kargil incident came just after the Lahore Peace Summit earlier that year, Musharraf, who perceived by some Indians as the architect of the Kargil Conflict, is often regarded with skepticism in India.

On December 13, 2001, a group of militants attacked India's Parliament with bombs and guns. India, who blamed Pakistan for the attack, mobilized for a potential war. Musharraf denied any Pakistani involvement with the attacks. Nonetheless, the United States began to apply diplomatic pressure following the incident. On January 17, the Washington Post (Jim Hoagland, January 17) reported that "the United States extracted promises from Gen. Musharraf that Pakistan's intelligence service and army will cease giving food, weapons and other logistical help to infiltrators who carry out raids into India and Indian-controlled Kashmir. The army will no longer provide mortar fire to cover the militants, who have been cut adrift by Musharraf".

In the middle of 2004, Musharraf began a series of talks with India to solve the Kashmir dispute. As well as discussing the Kashmir dispute, both leaders discussed the following issues: Wullar Barrage and Kishangaga power project, Baglihar Dam on the Chenab River being built by India in Jammu and Kashmir, Disputed Sir Creek estuary at the mouth of the Rann of Kutch, Siachin glacier, Issues of Gurdaspur and Ferozepur's status, Hindu-Muslim Relations, Autonomy for the Sikhs in Indian Punjab, Minority rights, Indian contentions that Pakistan is sponsoring "cross-border" terrorism.

Support for the War on Terror

The two discussed a number of issues, including earthquake recovery and continued intelligence cooperation. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, Musharraf sided with the United States against the Taliban government in Afghanistan after an ultimatum by the United States. Musharraf agreed to give the United States the use of three airbases for Operation Enduring Freedom. Secretary of State Colin Powell and other administration officials met with Musharraf. Musharraf's reversal of policy and help to the U.S. military was necessary in the U.S. bombing that rapidly overcame the Taliban regime. On September 19, 2001, Musharraf addressed the people of Pakistan and stated while he supported the Taliban, unless Pakistan reversed its support, Pakistan risked being endangered by an alliance of India and the USA. In 2006, Musharraf testified that this stance was pressured by threats from the U.S, and revealed in his memoirs that he had "war-gamed" the United States as an adversary and decided that it would end in Pakistan losing such a conflict, especially since arch rivals India would also join in such an attack.

Richard Armitage comments controversy

File:C 074329582X.jpg

Cover of the UK edition of In the Line of Fire: A Memoir

During a September 24, 2006 interview with CBS News's 60 Minutes program (interviewed by Steve Kroft), Musharraf described how then-U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage had called Musharraf's intelligence director shortly following the September 11, 2001 attacks and threatened military action if Pakistan did not support the U.S.-led War on Terror. According to Musharraf, Armitage warned: "Be prepared to be bombed. Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age" Furthermore, during an interview with Jon Stewart of The Daily Show on September 26, 2006, Musharraf stated that then-Secretary of State Colin Powell also contacted him with a similar message: "You are with us or against us." Musharraf refused to elaborate further, citing the then-upcoming release of his book, In the Line of Fire: A Memoir (ISBN 0-7432-8344-9). Armitage has denied that the U.S. used such harsh words to threaten Pakistan whereas President Bush has refrained from publicly acknowledging the possibility of the exact wordings being used. However, according to the press statement he said that "I was taken aback".

Nuclear proliferation

One of the most widely-reported controversies during Musharraf's administration arose as a consequence of the disclosure of nuclear proliferation by Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the metallurgist known as the father of Pakistan's bomb. Musharraf has denied knowledge of or participation by Pakistan's government or army in this proliferation and has faced bitter domestic criticism for singularly vilifying Khan, a former national hero. Musharraf continues to enjoy the strong support of the White House and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. AQ Khan has been pardoned in exchange for cooperation in the investigation of his nuclear-proliferation network. However, he is still under house arrest, and is likely to remain so till the end of his days. The fate of those who were found to have conspired with Khan is yet to be decided.

Denouncing extremism

On January 12, 2002, Musharraf gave a landmark speech against Islamic extremism. He unequivocally condemned all acts of terrorism, including those carried out in the name of freeing Kashmir's Muslim majority from Indian rule. He also pledged to combat Islamic extremism and lawlessness within Pakistan itself.

He has also used it to ban funding of madrasas and mosques from outside the country. At the same time as banning foreign funding of Islamic educational institutions, he made it compulsory for them to teach a whole host of additional subjects such as computing. This meant that many had to close due to the halt of funds from Pakistanis working abroad resulting in not being able to teach the additional subjects that he had made compulsory. Musharraf also instituted prohibitions on foreign students' access to studying Islam within Pakistan, an effort which began as an outright ban but was later reduced to restrictions on obtaining visas.

Various think tanks in the United States are of the opinion that Musharraf supports the Taliban and is using the United States just to get funding. He has fully backed the Islamic Parties and just as his predecessor Army Dictators derives his power from the Mullahs.

Islamic Extremism

Views of Musharraf

Pervez Musharraf has been viewed as a moderate leader, with comparatively liberal and progressive ideas. He has made attempts of economic and social reforms to modernize Pakistan. He has also expressed admiration for the secular reformer Kemal Ataturk of Turkey, outraging religious anti-secularists in the country. Musharraf's policy is often seen as a secularist counterpart to militant Islamo-Facism. Subsequently, Musharraf enjoys support from a sizeable (albeit silent) educated and moderate majority of Pakistan. Under his rule the economy has progressed by multiple factors grossing over $140 Billion worth of GDP from the previous meagre $70 Billion whereas the per capita income has more than doubled. Furthermore, his policies regarding the freedom of press and media have resulted in the mushrooming of a large number of independent TV channels and has empowered the media to a scale never before witnessed in the history of Pakistan. Despite being a military ruler, majority of Pakistanis credit him with empowering a fundamental pillar of democracy: Pakistans media is now regarded as one of the most independent in the region. Musharraf is also regarded as being surprisingly pro-democracy by giving unprecedented freedom to the opposition, by allowing open politics to thrive and empowering people with politics at the grassroots level. According to majority of the educated population, this coupled with the free press would play a crucial role towards creating true democracy even after Musharraf has left power. On a personal level, Musharraf is admired widely for his supreme confidence and the ability to show initiative. Conversely, he has expressed admiration for right-wing General Rahimuddin Khan, the authoritarian martial law administrator of Balochistan throughout the 1980s. It has been alleged by some analysts in the United States that Musharraf has secretly supported the Taliban and the Islamists. His remarks on rape have been highly controversial. During a tape-recorded, 50-minute interview with the Washington Post, Musharraf said that claiming rape has become a "moneymaking concern" in Pakistan on September 23, 2005. Musharraf later denied saying this to the Post. Here is a recording of the quote in the 12th paragraph of the Sept. 12 story. The remark was made in regards to the case of Mukhtar Mai, an illiterate woman who spoke publicly about having been gang-raped on the orders of a village council in 2002.[4]

References

• Pervez Musharraf, In the Line of Fire: A Memoir (2006)

See also

• List of national leaders
• Politics of Pakistan
• Line of Succession to President of Pakistan
• Nawaz Sharif
• Musharraf view on Enlightened moderation
• Mirza Tahir Hussain
• Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry The suspended Judge

External links

Official websites

• Official Presidential website
• Official Biographical website
• Official Repository of Presidential Speeches

Biographies and profiles

• Biography on storyofpakistan.com
• Time magazine cover story on Musharraf
• Profile in 2001 by the BBC
• Biography, 25 December 2003 by the BBC
• Profile in September 2004 by the BBC
• Unofficial biography at pervez.musharraf.net

Books on Musharraf

• " The Musharraf Factor, by Abid Ullah Jan

Articles by Musharraf

• "A Plea for Enlightened Moderation", by Pervez Musharraf, Washington Post opinion piece

Interviews

• An hour with Pervez Musharraf, Charlie Rose (video)
• Address by Pervez Musharraf to U.S. Institute of Peace (text, audio & video available) June 2003
• The Telegraph, United Kingdom, 20 June 2004
• Time magazine, United States, 25 September 2005
• Washington Post, United States, 29 January 2006
  • Musharraf: "There is no milk and honey flowing after you get these two people", referring to Osama and Zawahiri and that military might alone cannot defeat terrorism.
• Pakistani President Musharraf speaks to students and diplomats about the future of Pakistan, Fora TV, September 23, 2006 (Video)

Referendum

• Referendum report
• BBC report on referendum
• Speech on national TV, in which Musharraf apologizes for "improper" voting in the referendum
  • "...at lower level due to unnecessary enthusiasm and carelessness, inefficiency and ignorance there might have been some improper case of voting in some areas. If this is true I regret it from the core of my heart. I feel sad and sorry for it," said Musharraf.

Electoral College vote

• "Pakistan Gives Musharraf Confidence Vote as President"; New York Times; January 1, 2004]

Other articles

• President Clinton's statement regarding the 1999 coup
• "US threatened to bomb Pakistan back to 'the Stone Age'"
• Supreme Leader urges stronger Iran-Pakistan relations

Surveys

• Poll Grading Gen. Musharraf
• Survey by The Gallup Organization
• Report by Washington-based Pew Research Center

Template:Incumbent succession box