PAKISTAN’s military ruler General Pervez Musharraf put himself on a collision course with Britain, the United States, his own country’s Supreme Court and Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister, yesterday after he declared martial law to “save the nation”.

Bhutto, who returned from exile after striking a deal with Musharraf only last month but had been spending the weekend with her family in Dubai, immediately flew back to Karachi.

Last night, when she was finally allowed off the plane after several hours on the tarmac, she condemned the act and called on other political leaders to unite to fight it. “Instead of moving toward democracy we’re moving toward greater dictatorship,” she declared.

The dramatic events began yesterday afternoon with an announcement on state television suspending the constitution and closing down the country’s private television stations.

Bhutto was killed by bomb blast

The team from the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command have backed the claim that Benazir Bhutto was not shot

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• Pictures: death of Benazir Bhutto

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BACKGROUND

• Pakistan in turmoil as ‘martial law’ imposed

• Bhutto escapes as bombers kill 126

• Timeline: Pakistan's period of turmoil

• The man out to oust a President

• Internal crisis gives Pakistan reason for hope

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• Pakistan in turmoil as ‘martial law’ imposed

Troops surrounded the Supreme Court building in Islamabad, as well as the state television and radio stations. Hundreds more were deployed on Constitutional Avenue in front of the presidential palace.

Last night, at 10.15pm Pakistan time, Musharraf appeared on national television to claim that he had imposed martial law “for the good of Pakistan” and “to preserve the unity of Pakistan”. Dressed in black rather than in army uniform, he gave a rambling address in which he said the country faced a “critical and dangerous situation” and argued that “extremists are becoming confident” and “security forces demoralised”. He said: “It would have been suicidal not to act.”

He switched from Urdu to English to ask for patience from his main allies, the European Union and the United States.

“I request you all to bear with us,” he said. “Please don’t demand and expect your level of human rights and democracy you learnt over the centuries. Please give us time.”

In a reference which will anger his American allies, he compared himself to Abraham Lincoln, citing the latter’s suspension of habeas corpus and other fundamental rights during the American civil war to save his nation.

“Abraham Lincoln usurped rights to preserve the union, and Pakistan comes first. Whatever I do is for Pakistan, and whatever anyone else thinks is secondary,” he warned.

However, Bhutto insisted: “He says that he is acting for the good of Pakistan but he is acting for the good of General Musharraf.”

Musharraf's decision was announced just days before the Supreme Court was expected to overturn his recent reelection by parliament as president. One of the country’s leading barristers, Aitzaz Ahsan, who represents both Iftikhar Chaudhry, the chief justice, and Bhutto, was among those who were arrested yesterday.

Speaking by telephone from a police station in Islamabad, he said: “Musharraf is acting like a spoilt child and a bad loser. It’s clear why he did this. The Supreme Court was going to rule on Tuesday or Wednesday to strip him of the presidency. Eleven judges were going to tell him it was the end of the road.

“With all our history of military rule, Pakistan has never seen anything like this,” he added. “It’s a martial law against his own regime.”

Musharraf's act dashed any hope of democracy being restored soon and raised fears of a parlous future for the nuclear-armed state, with a weak government struggling to overcome the mounting threat of Islamic terrorism. It was greeted with alarm in Whitehall and Washing-ton, which have long supported Musharraf as a vital bastion against terrorism and had put the general under intense pressure to hold free elections.

“It’s a very black day in the political history of Pakistan,” said Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted as prime minister by Musharraf in 1999 and is now again in exile in Jeddah where he was sent after attempting to return home in September.

“I don’t know what Musharraf is thinking of – it’s unprecedented and unheard of in Pakistan’s 60 years of existence. It’s worse than martial law.”

The Supreme Court responded by instructing all senior army officers and civil servants to disobey any instructions made under the “provisional constitutional order” by which Musharraf’s regime is now ruling. Musharraf retaliated by sacking Chaudhry, the chief justice who was one of his most vociferous opponents. Chaudhry was told that his services were “no longer required”. He was replaced with Supreme Court judge Abdul Hamid Doger.

Musharraf has been considering introducing emergency rule for some months as his own position has come increasingly under threat from both the courts and militants.

Earlier in the year Condoleeza Rice, the US secretary of state, had telephoned Musharraf after midnight to stop him declaring emergency rule.

Rice responded last night by calling his decision “highly regrettable”. The US State Department said it was deeply disturbed by events and called for elections to go ahead as planned in January.

Observers said it was significant that the announcement of emergency rule was made in the name of the army chief of staff, suggesting that the military will run all aspects of the state.

However, senior figures within the military are believed to be uneasy at Musharraf’s move. “Historically, coups in Pakistan have always been against an unpopular ruler and welcomed by the population and supported by the judiciary,” said Husain Haqqani, a former adviser to Sharif and Bhutto who is now director of international relations at Boston University. “This is a coup almost no one will be able to defend.”

Government officials claimed that the decision was taken in response to a sharp rise in Tali-ban and Al-Qaeda suicide bomb attacks on military bases in Pakistan’s cities, including one on the bus carrying Bhutto through the streets of Karachi after her return home from exile. Up to 145 people died in that attack.

Others pointed out that if this was about fighting terrorism then the first step would have been to surround jihadi organisations, not the Supreme Court.

Musharraf was thought to have deliberately chosen to act while Bhutto was out of the country and had not been expected to allow her back in. But after four hours on the tarmac at Karachi, she was eventually given a police escort to her house. Wit-nesses reported that 100 troops had surrounded it.

Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Bhutto’s spokesman, said that now Musharraf had broken the deal with her Pakistan People’s party (PPP), they would have to take to the streets.

“We will resist this nonconstitutional action,” he said. “Our negotiations with General Musharraf were about a return to democracy and fair elections, not for actions like this. He’s left us no alternative but to take to the streets.”

One senior official said that Musharraf’s decision had been hastened by a sharp escalation in attacks on the country’s military bases. But General Hamid Gul, the former head of Pakistan’s military intelligence and a long-time opponent of Bhutto, said Musharraf's state of emergency would have no impact in the war with Islamic militants.

“The terrorist campaign will become more intense, but the army cannot do any more under martial law. It’s a suicidal action on Musharraf's part,” Gul said.

Military command

Pakistan’s political history has been dominated by the military:

General Ayub Khan staged a coup in 1958

Ayub Khan was ousted by General Yahya Khan in 1969

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the prime minister, was removed from power by General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq in 1977. Bhutto was hanged in 1979

Zia ruled by martial law until 1985 and died in a plane crash in 1988

Benazir Bhutto became prime minister in 1988

Nawaz Sharif elected in 1990, but quit under pressure from the military

Bhutto’s government was forced out in 1997 and Sharif returned

General Pervez Musharraf overthrew Sharif in 1999

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