One of Pakistan's most outspoken opposition leaders emerged from prison to a cheering crowd and vowed to press his campaign against Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who is already struggling with rising dissent and militant violence.
Attacks and clashes on Saturday killed 23 people in the northern tribal regions, where pro-Taliban militants have been waging a campaign against Musharraf's administration, a key US ally in the fight against terrorism.
The combination of militant violence and political demands for the restoration of democracy have embroiled Musharraf in the toughest period of his rule since he ousted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup eight years ago.
Almost certain to add to his troubles was the Saturday release of Javed Hashmi, the acting president of the exiled former prime minister's party.
The Supreme Court granted Hashmi bail on Friday after he served four years of a 23-year sentence on charges of treason and inciting an army mutiny against Musharraf. Hashmi will be free while the court considers whether it should review his case, which rights and opposition groups have criticized as politically motivated.
Hundreds of members of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N gathered outside the prison, some with drums and horns. As Hashmi emerged, they rushed forward, waving the green flags of Sharif's party and chanting: "Brave man, Hashmi, Hashmi!"
"My fight was for the restoration of democracy, and the true freedom for me will come the day when we will get rid of those generals who toppled the elected government," Hashmi said.
"There will be no compromise with the dictators," he said. "I will only consider myself a free man when the entire nation will get freedom from these generals."
One of the jurists who released Hashmi was Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, whom Musharraf tried and failed to unseat in what opponents called an attempt to remove a potentially powerful opponent who could have derailed the president's push for a new five-year term.
Draped in a flower garland, Hashmi climbed onto the front of a four-wheel-drive vehicle to lead a procession to a shrine through the streets of Lahore, Pakistan's second-largest city and its cultural capital.
The Pakistan Muslim League-N is one of the main groups on Pakistan's fractured political scene, and Sharif remains its powerful figurehead. It had been in an anti-Musharraf alliance with party of another exiled former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, until last month, when speculation intensified about a deal between Bhutto and Musharraf.
Sharif appealed to the Supreme Court on Thursday to be allowed to return from exile to contest parliamentary elections later this year. Musharraf has said he would block any such attempt.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese