Allies urge Gen to shift course

After a series of political blunders in the past two months, Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf, is being advised by his political supporters...

After a series of political blunders in the past two months, Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf, is being advised by his political supporters to make a dramatic change of course or risk losing power amid more chaos and bloodshed.

Members of the ruling party, the Pakistani Muslim League, who provide Musharraf8217;s base of support in Parliament, say nationwide protests since the suspension chief justice Iftikar M Chaudhry in March, and violent clashes that left 42 people dead in Karachi on May 12, have cast a pall over his leadership.

They are encouraging the general to strike a compromise with Chaudhry, whose removal has been protested as a threat to the judiciary.

Some party members have also recommended that General Musharraf open the elections for the presidency, which are supposed to take place this year, to his exiled political opponents and that he make sure that the polling is free and fair.

The alternative to compromise, party members warn, is a hard-line military solution that will lead only to greater confrontation.

For the moment, the president seems to be sticking to his planned course to maintain power rather than seek conciliation with either suspended CJ Chaudhry, or his political rivals, supporters and opponents say.

Last week, Musharraf repeated his insistence that there would be no deal to bring home either of the Opposition leaders, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, who left the country under a cloud of corruption allegations.

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8220;No, there is nobody returning before elections,8221; he told the private, Karachi-based Aaj Television in an interview on Friday.

In that interview, he also voiced support for coalition partner, Muttahida Quami Movement, a Karachi-based party that has a 8220;thuggish reputation,8221; as the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a recent paper. The remark was taken as a sign that Musharraf intends to continue with the status quo, however unpalatable, but also that he will stir up ethnic hostilities if necessary.

But a number of party members

say they intend to push their case.

Opposition members and some from the ruling party warn that not only

is Musharraf8217;s future at stake, but

also the stability of the countr.

8220;There are two ways he can go:

retreat to the bunker or stop, pause, review, reflect and reverse course,8221; said one ruling party member who did not want to be identified.

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8220;He has to show leadership, magnanimity, and be loyal to the broader objective. The important thing is Pakistan8217;s future.8221;

Not least, the ruling party members, who also face elections this year, have become concerned for their own fortunes. They acknowledged that both the president and the party have suffered from the public reaction to Chaudhry8217;s removal, which many concede Musharraf did not anticipate.

The president8217;s opponents and supporters alike now agree that the events of the past few months present the greatest domestic challenge to Musharraf since he seized power in October, 1999.

Govt rules out talks with Lal Masjid clerics

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government has ruled out talks with the radical clerics of Lal Masjid holding two policemen hostage. But Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said the use of force would be the last option.

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One of the government negotiators holding talks with the clerics, meanwhile, blamed different ministries for thwarting his efforts to work out a compromise.

The clerics, and thousands of girls and boys studying in madrasas affiliated to it, are holding two policemen hostage. On Monday, they had abducted three more officers, but released them later in the day. PTI