THE president of Pakistan said last night that he was declaring a state of emergency because terrorists threatened the authority of his government.

Defending his decision in the face of strong condemnation from Britain and America, General Pervez Musharraf said Pakistan had reached a “dangerous juncture”, with its sovereignty at stake.

He spoke as Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister who recently returned from exile, flew back to Karachi after a family break and accused him of imposing martial law. She vowed to fight for the constitution to be reinstated.

The stage seemed set for a confrontation between the general who ordered troops onto the streets yesterday and Bhutto, who had hoped to win back the premiership in elections due in January.

Musharraf’s critics predicted he would cancel the elections and curb his opponents’ freedom. Soldiers surrounded Bhutto’s house, and Imran Khan, the opposition activist and former Pakistan cricket captain, was placed under house arrest.

The general acted after a series of suicide attacks by Al-Qaeda and Taliban extremists against the military. Violence that had previously been confined to tribal areas bordering Afghanistan spread last week into the North West Frontier.

There have also been attacks in major cities, including the bombing of Bhutto’s bus in Karachi last month in which up to 145 people were killed.

But Musharraf’s emergency rule began three days before Pakistan’s Supreme Court was expected to overturn his recent reelection by parliament as president. Critics said that this was the real reason for the timing of the announcement.

Musharraf claimed in a television address that the government had become paralysed by “judicial interference”. The chief justice, a vocal critic of the president, was among those detained last night.

Aitzaz Ahsan, the chief justice’s lawyer, who was also arrested, said from a police station that the Supreme Court had been about to strip Musharraf of the presidency. “He’s left us no alternative now but to take to the streets,” Ahsan said.

After greeting supporters at Karachi airport within hours of emergency rule being declared, Bhutto pledged to offer new leadership. She would discuss with other political leaders “a course of action to reverse the suspension of the constitution”, she said.

David Miliband, the foreign secretary, expressed grave concern at Musharraf’s action. Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, called for elections to go ahead in the new year, but the Pentagon said military aid to Pakistan would not be cut.

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