Political Crisis Grows in Pakistan

By Gary Thomas Washington 18 May 2007

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The dismissal of Pakistan's most senior judge has mushroomed into a domestic political crisis for President Pervez Musharraf. The weakened opposition has found a new vigor to push for an end to President Musharraf's military rule. As VOA correspondent Gary Thomas reports, a showdown appears to be looming.

Gen. Pervez Musharraf addresses 34th session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers in Islamabad, 15 May 2007

President Musharraf has weathered previous challenges to his nearly eight years of military rule, including several assassination attempts. But now he has sailed into what might be called a "perfect political storm" that, analysts say, could sweep him from office.

In a telephone interview, former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, a sharp critic of Mr. Musharraf, says the situation in Pakistan is precarious.

"It's threatening to spiral out of control," she said. "I think the regime still has initiative in its hands, but it needs to take certain political steps and be ready to make political compromises. But if it sticks to its stand and refuses to negotiate with the opposition, and tries to suppress the opposition movement, then I think the matter will just spiral out of hand."

The stage appears set for such a confrontation. President Musharraf told Pakistan's private Aaj news channel that Ms. Bhutto and another exiled former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, would not be allowed to return to compete in the national elections scheduled for later this year.

"About their return, no, nobody is returning before elections," he said.

But Ms. Bhutto says she will defy the president's ban, and may do it sooner than she had originally planned.

"I certainly plan to go back later this year," she said. "I was planning to do that against the background of the elections. But I am now reviewing the situation in Pakistan. The events are turning over so quickly that I might have to revise my own plans in the coming weeks. I may have to go back sooner. I have taken no such decision as yet. And if the regime fails to take the initiative in defusing the situation, then I may have to review my travel plans."

The crisis began sprouting in March, when President Musharraf suspended the chief justice of the Supreme Court for what he claimed was "misconduct." Critics saw the move as a bid by the president to stifle an uncooperative jurist who refused to endorse Mr. Musharraf's continuing dual role as president and army chief. The suspension bloomed into a rallying point for the president's ouster and a return to civilian democratic rule.

Supporters of Pakistani opposition party run after setting on fire a vehicle during a gun battle between two rival groups in Karachi, 12 May 2007

Over the May 12 weekend, clashes between Musharraf supporters and opponents in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, left more than 40 people dead.

Mr. Musharraf had reportedly been exploring avenues of a possible alliance with Mrs. Bhutto. But, indicative of what analysts say is her own perception of her growing political strength, the former prime minister says any political talks right now would be "inappropriate," and that it is up to Mr. Musharraf to make the first move.

"I'm not in a position to say that I'm willing to talk [anymore], Gary," she said. "I'm just not in a position to say that because there's so much public anger. But I do believe that General Musharraf should reach out to all the political parties, call them to a roundtable conference, and say, 'I've heard your voice, I've heard your anger, I understand that there is a lot of frustration, and what's the solution?'"

Christine Fair, a Pakistan affairs analyst at the U.S. Institute for Peace, questions whether General Musharraf will survive politically or, perhaps, even physically, given that there have been several assassination attempts.

"The U.S. government has steadfastly refused to even contemplate other alternatives [to Musharraf], even as the necessities for other alternatives are fast looming," she said. "And I'm also at this point of the belief that we may get an alternative that no one has even thought of. I mean, the fact that this has happened and the way it has happened has kind of opened up new possibilities for new actors."

The Bush administration has been a staunch supporter of General Musharraf because of his anti-terrorism efforts. Robert Grenier, who was CIA station chief in Islamabad on September 11, 2001, says President Musharraf's departure could complicate U.S. anti-terrorism efforts in Pakistan.

"A new civilian government whose political posture would not be nearly as strong as Musharraf's has been through most of his tenure as president would have to be far more mindful of domestic political impacts of actions that they take against the militants, and I think would not be as inclined as Musharraf has been to take forceful action against them," he said. "So, yeah, I think Musharraf's passage from the scene, one way or the other, would greatly complicate our efforts in the war on terror."

There has been criticism from some official quarters in the U.S. that President Musharraf has himself fallen short on his anti-terror efforts because out of fear of alienating the Islamic political parties - some of whom are openly sympathetic to the Taleban and al-Qaida.

Displaced Chadians Wait for Return to Burnt Village

By Phuong Tran Bandala, Chad 18 May 2007

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Over the past year in eastern Chad, dozens of communities have fled fighting between rebel groups and Janjaweed militias based in Sudan. The scorched landscape along the remote far east, along the border with Sudan, is now mostly empty after thousands of Chadians fled the constant border attacks and pillaging. Phuong Tran talked to villagers from Bandala who escaped their burning homes six months ago and are now waiting to return safely.

At a temporary camp in Habile, 85 kilometers from Chad's border with Sudan, sisters Adama and Fatouma talk about returning home, but they say they are afraid they may not be able to recognize it when they get there.

Adama, the younger sister, says she remembers the mango, guava and tamarind trees around their house, but knows they are no longer there.

Her older sister Fatouma, a mother of seven, says when suspected Janjaweed militia attacked and burned their village of about 700 people, the fighters took even the fruits from the earth. The sisters say they lost their mother in the attacks, and that they will not go back for now, because of the Janjaweed.

Sudanese mother and child, Habile, Chad, 14 May 2007

In Darfur, western Sudan, the conflict between rebels and the Janjaweed has killed some 200,000 people and displaced about 2.5 million others since 2003, with many from Darfur seeking refuge in Chad. Janjaweed militia, said to be supported by Sudan's government, have fought against rebels on both sides of the Chad-Sudan border, and are blamed for most attacks on civilians and torched villages. Chad and Sudan have repeatedly accused each other of supporting the other country's rebel movements and there have been many cross border raids.

Djima Barka Kamis has been the village chief of Bandala since 1963. The 60-year-old chief described what he remembers from six months ago.

"The Janjaweed attacked from east to west with their weapons," he said. "How could we have protected our village with only our bare hands? And we are still not safe here. They came after us here four months ago."

At the end of last year, fighting among different armed groups partially burned down Habile, where this camp is located.

Chief Kamis says no one at the camp feels safe.

"Even here, we are still not safe," he said. "Women are not able to leave this area because they can be raped."

Humanitarian agencies have asked the international community to help improve border security, especially after Chad's army cut back its forces along the border early last year.

The army was fighting a Chad rebel movement elsewhere in the east that is seeking to overthrow the current government.

The reduction in troops has left huge patches of the 1,000-kilometer-long border between Chad and Sudan unprotected.

The United Nations is negotiating with the Sudanese and Chadian governments to post international peacekeepers along the border.

The camp in Habile, where the sisters have sought safety, is just kilometers from Bandala, their home village. Bandala is mostly silent now, except for the desert wind. The fruit trees are gone. Only piles of burnt branches, burnt and broken clay pots, and empty wrappers remain.

French President Sarkozy Names 'Government For All People'

By Anita Elash Paris 18 May 2007

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Newly elected French President Nicolas Sarkozy has named his new government. It's a much smaller cabinet than before, and half the jobs went to women. Anita Elash reports for VOA from Paris.

Ever since his election as president nearly two weeks ago, Nicolas Sarkozy, a conservative, has promised to set up a government for all of France.

Friday, he and his new Prime Minister, Francois Fillon, announced a cabinet that seems to fulfill that promise. There are only 15 ministers - half the number in the previous government, and half those jobs went to women.

Bernard Kouchner arrives at Matignon, the prime minister's official residence, in Paris, 17 May 2007

One of the most prominent roles went to a member of the Socialist Party. Bernard Kouchner, who is best-known for starting the humanitarian organization, Doctors Without Borders, or Medecins Sans Frontieres, is the new minister of foreign affairs. Like Mr. Sarkozy, he has taken a pro-American stance and was one of the few French politicians who did not oppose the war in Iraq.

The cabinet also includes the first ethnic minority figure in a senior government post, with Rachida Dati, a lawyer of North African origin, named as justice minister. Mr. Sarkozy is often seen as anti-immigrant. Political journalist Claude Askolovitch said on French public television that the appointment was an important symbol.

The new Justice Minister Rachida Dati answers questions from journalists, 18 May 2007

"This is something no other government would do, but Mr. Sarkozy has done it," he said. "It's a very important job, and it sends a strong signal."

The government was to get right down to work. Its first meeting was scheduled for Friday afternoon.

Israel Launches Air Strikes as Palestinian Factions Battle in Gaza

By Robert Berger Jerusalem 18 May 2007

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Israeli Yair Elbaz reacts after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a house he owns and rents to students in the southern Israeli town of Sderot, 18 May 2007

Israel has launched air strikes on the Gaza Strip for the second straight day, killing at least five Palestinians. And as Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, rival Palestinian factions have also been fighting each other.

Ambulances evacuated the wounded as Israeli aircraft blasted Hamas targets in Gaza. The army said it hit a Hamas headquarters and militants firing rockets. More than 100 Hamas rockets have crashed into Israel this week, terrifying residents of the border town of Sderot, which has mostly been evacuated.

Israeli spokeswoman Miri Eisen says the five-month old Gaza cease-fire is over.

"Hamas has tried to act as if they accepted the truce last November, but for the last few weeks, they have openly been accepting responsibility for terrorist acts," Eisen. said. "Hamas is a terrorist organization."

And she said, terrorist organizations must be fought.

Moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah party serves in a coalition government with Hamas, called Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and asked her to press Israel to halt the air strikes. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat appealed to both sides.

"I urge all to maintain the ceasefire and I urge Israel to maintain the cease-fire," Erekat said.

The air strikes are putting further pressure on Hamas, which has been locked in fierce fighting with the rival Palestinian Fatah faction.

On Friday, clashes erupted for the sixth straight day as Fatah forces attacked the Islamic University in Gaza City, a Hamas stronghold. Frightened residents huddled indoors to escape the line of fire, while masked gunmen roamed the streets. The fighting has raised fears of a Palestinian civil war.

The dangerous mix of Israeli air strikes and Palestinians battling each other is plunging Gaza further into chaos.

VOASE0518_In the News

18 May 2007

How Falwell Helped Give the Religious Right Its Voice in American Politics
Rev. Jerry Falwell, who died at age 73, organized Christian conservatives into a movement in the 1980s, the Moral Majority. He had many fans but also many critics.

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This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Conservative Christians, known in America as the religious right, lost one of their best-known leaders this week. Jerry Falwell died Tuesday shortly after being found unconscious in his Virginia office. He was seventy-three years old and had a history of heart problems.

Reverend Falwell wanted to organize socially conservative Christians to become politically active. So, in nineteen seventy-nine, he helped launch the Moral Majority and became its public face.

Some believe this heavily Republican group helped to elect Ronald Reagan president in the nineteen eighty election. Republicans also won control of the Senate for the first time in many years.

Reverend Falwell described the movement as pro-life, pro-traditional family, pro-Israel and pro-national defense. There was a joke, that the Moral Majority was neither. But, at its height, the group said it had six and a half million members. They opposed abortion, sex-same marriage and any other threats they saw to family values.

Jerry Falwell began as a Southern Baptist minister at a small church in Lynchburg, Virginia, in nineteen fifty-six. Later he became known to millions through a television program, "The Old-Time Gospel Hour." And that small church he started grew into one of the largest in the country today.

Jerry Falwell had many supporters but also many critics, including other Christian clergy. He was widely denounced for comments he made after the September eleventh, two thousand one, attacks on the United States.

He blamed pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays and lesbians, and others who, he said, were trying to make America non-religious. "You helped this happen," he said. He was speaking as a guest on the show of another well-known evangelist, Pat Robertson, who agreed with him.

Both men later apologized. Yet some people say their comments about the terrorist attacks may have done more since then to hurt the religious right than to help it.

Some will also remember Jerry Falwell for what he said about Tinky Winky, from the BBC children's program "Teletubbies." In nineteen ninety-nine he accused the character of being homosexual and morally damaging to children.

Jerry Falwell closed the Moral Majority in nineteen eighty-nine. But he launched a new group to continue the "evangelical revolution" in politics, the Moral Majority Coalition. That was in November of two thousand four, right after religious conservatives helped re-elect President Bush.

In his later years, Jerry Falwell spent much of his time at Liberty University in Lynchburg. He served as president. He opened the college in nineteen seventy-one. In recent years, he also worked to bring attention to what he said was a misrepresented threat of global warming.

Jerry Falwell did not have as much influence anymore. But he will be remembered for his part in giving a voice to conservative Christians in modern American politics.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I’m Steve Ember.