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/ 17 September 2007
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf plans to quit as army chief to become a civilian leader, removing a key objection to his proposed re-election in October. Musharraf has been holding the post of army chief since he seized power in a military coup in 1999 despite calls from the opposition to quit the dual office.
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/ 14 September 2007
Former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto will return from self-imposed exile on October 18, her party said on Friday, adding to the political turmoil facing President Pervez Musharraf ahead of elections. The government said it will not obstruct Bhutto’s return, but added that she must still face corruption charges.
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/ 14 September 2007
At least 15 Pakistani soldiers were killed on Thursday in a suicide bombing at an army building near the capital Islamabad, the military said, the second major attack on the army this month. The blast occurred in the canteen of the building used by the army’s elite Special Services Group in the town of Tarbela Ghazi.
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/ 14 September 2007
The White House phone rings. President George Bush, tucked up in bed under a Mickey Mouse duvet, answers, pretending to be an answering machine. ”Don’t try to fool me Bush, I know it’s you,” snaps President Pervez Musharraf from Pakistan, snuggled under a khaki blanket. ”I’m running out of credit. Let’s make this quick.”
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/ 12 September 2007
Pakistani helicopter gunships and artillery pounded pro-Taliban militant hide-outs in a tribal region near the Afghan border, killing up to 40 insurgents, the army said on Wednesday. Hours earlier, dozens of Islamist fighters attacked a check post and kidnapped 12 troops a few kilometres away in the country’s north-west.
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/ 10 September 2007
Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif was arrested and deported to Saudi Arabia on Monday within hours of arriving home from exile, vowing to end the rule of President Pervez Musharraf. While with the deportation Musharraf has fended off the immediate challenge from a rival, the president is likely to face a backlash from many Pakistanis.
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/ 10 September 2007
Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif launched another phase of his political career on Monday, returning home to challenge the army chief who ousted him eight years ago. Despite the possibility of arrest on graft charges as he steps off his aircraft in Islamabad, Sharif says he is determined to end his exile.
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/ 9 September 2007
Pakistani authorities tightened security at Islamabad’s airport after detaining more than 2 000 supporters of exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his party said on Sunday, the eve of his planned return. Sharif, ousted by army chief General Pervez Musharraf in 1999, says he is determined to fly home from London on Monday.
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/ 5 September 2007
Pakistan’s Supreme Court began hearing legal challenges to President Pervez Musharraf’s rule on Wednesday, adding to the woes the embattled United States ally faces as he prepares to secure another term. Musharraf hopes to get re-elected by the national and provincial assemblies between September 15 and October 15.
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/ 4 September 2007
Two bombs exploded in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi during the morning rush hour on Tuesday, killing 24 people and wounding 66, and at least one of the blasts was caused by a suicide attacker, officials said. The blasts come at a time of deepening political uncertainty in Pakistan, with the army chief and President, General Pervez Musharraf, preparing to try to secure a new term.
Exiled opposition leader Nawaz Sharif upped the stakes in Pakistan’s turbulent power struggle on Thursday by vowing to return home in two weeks to challenge the President, Pervez Musharraf, despite threats of arrest. ”This man Musharraf is on his way out … We will be launching a movement against Mr Musharraf and his government,” Sharif told reporters in London.