Pakistan's president ordered authorities to free hundreds of opposition party workers detained during former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's abortive attempt to return from exile, state media said.
Provincial authorities have started releasing about 1,000 Sharif supporters rounded up in the days before his attempt to return from exile, Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema said yesterday.
Sharif's party claims about 5,000 were detained.
President General Pervez Musharraf directed officials to release opposition activists in time for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said late on Wednesday.
The president "wished every Pakistani to observe Ramadan with due solemnity and in true spirit of tolerance and forbearance," APP quoted a presidential spokesman as saying. Ramadan begins today in Pakistan.
Sharif's supporters were rounded up to prevent them from giving the former prime minister a rousing welcome at Islamabad airport. He flew in from London on Monday after seven years in exile, hoping to upset Musharraf's re-election plans. But he was quickly deported to Saudi Arabia.
The releases are unlikely to soften opposition calls for Musharraf, who toppled Sharif's government in a 1999 coup and became a key US ally after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, to step down and restore civilian rule.
Sharif's party has already challenged his expulsion before the Supreme Court, which last month ruled that he had an "inalienable" right to return.
Pakistani media commentators say the move bared the authoritarian nature of Musharraf's rule.
However, the president has removed a key political rival who had vowed to upset his plans to ask lawmakers to give him a new five-year term by the middle of next month.
It could also allow Musharraf to focus on driving a hard bargain in talks with Benazir Bhutto, another exiled prime minister itching for a comeback, which could lead to them sharing power.
An agreement could help Musharraf clear legal hurdles to his continued rule and quash the corruption cases that persuaded Bhutto to leave the country in 1999.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, his Cabinet ministers and allied parties have repeatedly voiced their support for Musharraf to seek another term.
"All coalition partners present in the Cabinet said that the re-election of the president is essential for the country's stability, security and growth," according to an official statement issued after Aziz met with ministers on Wednesday.
Musharraf has also been under international pressure to strengthen its efforts against Taliban and al-Qaeda militants operating along the Afghan border.
However, he got a boost on Wednesday when visiting US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte heaped praise on his government's anti-terrorism effort.
"There is no doubt whatsoever of Pakistan's commitment to restoring and establishing security in that part of the country and more than doing its share in the war against terror," Negroponte said.
PHISHING: The con might appear convincing, as the scam e-mails can coincide with genuine messages from Apple saying you have run out of storage For a while you have been getting messages from Apple saying “your iCloud storage is full.” They say you have exceeded your storage plan, so documents are no longer being backed up, and photos you take are not being uploaded. You have been resisting Apple’s efforts to get you to pay a minimum of ￡0.99 (US$1.33) a month for more storage, but it seems that you cannot keep putting off the inevitable: You have received an e-mail which says your iCloud account has been blocked, and your photos and videos would be deleted very soon. To keep them you need
The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations. The Guardian reviewed three videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media, which showed Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery was not readily available to verify these claims. The demolitions came after Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz called for the destruction of
A US YouTuber who caused outrage for filming himself kissing a statue commemorating Korean wartime sex slaves has been sentenced to six months in prison, a court in Seoul said yesterday. Johnny Somali, 25, gained notoriety several years ago for recording himself doing a series of provocative stunts in South Korea and Japan, and streaming them on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. South Korean authorities indicted Somali — whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael — in 2024 on public order violations and obstruction of business, and banned him from leaving the country. “The court has sentenced him to six months in
The death toll from a shooting in western Afghanistan rose to 11 on Saturday, after gunmen targeted civilians at a picnic spot in Herat, the provincial authority said. Bullet marks were visible on a wall of the Sayed Mohammad Agha Shia shrine, while bloodstains marked a blanket abandoned at the scene. “Eleven people have been recorded dead and eight others wounded from Friday’s incident, with the condition of two of the wounded reported as critical,” Herat’s information office said in a statement. The update raises a toll of seven killed provided on Friday by the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs
RSS