Twirp : Terrorist Wahabi Islamic Republic Pakistan

[Naresh]

[center] <!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo--><b><span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>Musharraf 'beyond political rescue' : US intelligence</span></b> <!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo-->[/center]

<b>WASHINGTON: - With President Pervez Musharraf's support declining, U.S. intelligence officials have told agencies in Washington for the first time that the Pakistani leader "may be beyond political rescue or long-term relevance", a major American newspaper reported Thursday.</b>

In a dispatch from Islamabad, The Washington Post cited the statement issued by Ex-Servicemen's Society calling on the president to step down as a sign that he is "increasingly losing support from major constituencies, including his traditional military base, amid growing questions in both Pakistan and the United States about his ability to govern."

At the same time, the newspaper said, "Musharraf has repeatedly defied expectations of his political demise, and few observers believe that the parliamentary balloting Feb. 18 will lead to his immediate ouster.

"But Pakistani analysts and U.S. officials said that the political challenges Musharraf faces are greater than they have been in the past and that his allies at home and abroad are fewer. While he has alienated former military leaders, there are signs that active-duty officers may be distancing themselves from him as well.

<b>"Musharraf's handpicked successor as army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani, is unlikely to come to the rescue of his old boss," the Post added, citing analysts said. It noted that Kiyani last week issued an order that no military officers can meet with the president without his approval and indicated that he would recall the many military officers placed in civilian jobs under Musharraf.

"The army would be very happy to get rid of him," said one political analyst, retired general Talat Masood was quotedf as saying by the Post.</b>

It also quoted a a senior U.S. congressional official who recently visited Pakistan said the military is ready for Musharraf to step down but does not want to have to remove him, preferring instead to wait until he recognizes the need to exit.

"Musharraf, meanwhile, has few resources to draw on these days, the dispatch said.

"It's political suicide for anyone to go with Musharraf -- he's totally isolated," Rasul Bakhsh Rais, a political and social scientist at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, was quoted as saying.

"Frustration is growing among Musharraf's military and political allies partly because he is not listening to their advice," the Post said citing U.S. and Pakistani analysts said. "He's locked in his own bubble that 'l'etat, c'est moi' -- the state is me. He doesn't understand how anti-democratic he is. He's not thinking clearly anymore," said the senior congressional official.
The Bush administration is still backing Musharraf, even as officials speak more frequently of working with "the Pakistani people," instead of "the Pakistani leader.

"You're going to get all kinds of people saying he's done for," a senior Bush administration official was quoted as saying. "No one can make that prediction at this point. . . . He's moved into a new job. He will have to work with a new prime minister and they'll have to work out the responsibilities. And they will have to lead in a country without many leaders."

But the divide is increasingly deep in Washington, it said. "U.S. policy is not being made by anyone who understands Pakistan. . . . Musharraf is a walking corpse," the congressional official said.

The Post dispatch from Islamabad said Pakistani analysts agree that, with his popularity plummeting and electoral prospects dwindling, Musharraf is confronted with nothing but hard choices.

"Looking for a way out, Musharraf and his allies are searching for partners to join an interim national unity government that could take office soon and postpone elections for perhaps a year", it said, citing political analysts and the local news media. "In their view, Musharraf could use the delay to rehabilitate his image among Pakistani voters."

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