I wrote two days ago about the dire situation that Pakistan is in as a result of growing Islamic militancy, and it looks like that situation has come to a head.
Gen. Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan on Saturday, suspending the constitution, replacing the chief justice before a crucial Supreme Court ruling on his future as president, and cutting communications in the capital.
His leadership threatened by an increasingly defiant court and an Islamic movement that has spread to Islamabad, Musharraf’s emergency order accused some judges of “working at cross purposes with the executive” and “weakening the government’s resolve” to fight terrorism.
In an address to the nation late Saturday on state-run television, Musharraf said Pakistan was at a “dangerous” juncture, its government threatened by Islamic extremists. He said he hoped democracy would be restored following parliamentary elections.
-Chris Jones
