General gets a headache, Oppn gets together

The agreement was announced by GDA chairperson Nawabzada Nasarullah Khan and Muslim League leaders in Lahore on Sunday. Pakistan’s leading daily, Dawn, added that the PML would present its report to Nawaz Sharif, who would then issue instructions for a meeting of the central working committee to decide on the issue. The GDA would, in turn, discuss the PML’s proposals at a meeting of the heads of the 18 political parties which comprise the alliance on November 15.

And in a setback to the military regime’s efforts to see Sharif hang, a three-judge panel of the Sindh High Court rejected an appeal demanding his execution as well as overturned one of his two life sentences. Sharif was charged with refusing to allow the commercial airliner carrying Musharraf to land in southern Karachi. The aircraft, with more than 200 people on board, eventually landed after the Army took power. Musharraf then ousted Sharif and his 32-month-old government in a bloodless coup.

The court unanimously dismissed state appeals for a death sentence for Sharif and the convictions of his six co-accused, including his brother Shahbaz, who had been acquitted in April. The prosecution also lost its appeal to overturn their acquittal.

And, in a split decision on Sharif’s appeal against his two life sentences, it upheld the punishment for hijacking but threw out the prison term for terrorism. One of the three judges argued that Sharif was guilty only of abduction, and thus deserved nothing more than three years in prison.

Sharif’s wife, Kulsoom Nawaz, however alleged the court had handed down a “politically motivated decision”. “What can one expect from judges who have taken oaths under the provisional constitution (introduced after the coup)?” a visibly upset Kulsoom said outside the court.