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Islamabad links group to 'sedition'

Pakistan accused an international thinktank yesterday of "promoting sedition" for issuing a report urging President Pervez Musharraf to resign before parliamentary elections next month.

The reaction against the strongly worded report by the International Crisis Group shows the government's sensitivity to criticism as it fends off accusations that Musharraf's allies may have had a hand in the Dec. 27 assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

The report, released earlier this week by the Brussels-based thinktank, called on the US to use the Pakistani military to persuade the former general to resign, saying Musharraf was "a serious liability, seen as complicit" in Bhutto's death.

In a statement issued yesterday, the government said the report "amounts to promoting sedition" and the group "neither has the credentials, nor the credibility and lacks representational standing specially on Pakistan's national affairs" to comment on Pakistan.

Sedition is a serious offense in Pakistan, but it was not clear whether the government intended to launch a criminal investigation into the IRC. The group -- which lists former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans and other international figures as members of its board -- was not immediately available for comment yesterday.

The IRC report warned that unless Musharraf steps down, "the international community could face the nightmare of a nuclear-armed, Muslim country descending into civil war."

Bhutto's killing thrust already volatile Pakistan into deep political crisis as it battles rising attacks by al-Qaeda and Taliban extremists. It also added to political pressures on Musharraf, a key US ally in its war against terrorism.

A team of officers from Britain's Scotland Yard arrived in Pakistan on Friday to join the investigation into the slaying.

"Here's a situation where maybe we need to go beyond ourselves to prove to the world and our people here, who are emotionally charged, that we don't mind going to any extent, as nobody is involved from the government side or the agencies," Musharraf told reporters after announcing foreign help was on its way.

Bhutto supporters have accused government agencies of involvement in the murder and are demanding a UN investigation into the attack.

Musharraf met on Friday with senior security officials and the heads of the nation's provinces to assess the damage caused by four days of rioting sparked by Bhutto's killing, according to Pakistan state radio.

"Necessary steps have to be taken so that it does not ever occur again," he said.

Officials in Bhutto's Sindh Province, the site of the worst rioting, estimate about 80 billion rupees (US$1.3 billion) in damage.
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