Musharraf's Emergency Rule May Spur, Not Deter, Al-Qaeda Threat
By Naween A. Mangi and Jay Shankar
Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's imposition of emergency rule to fight terrorism without legal constraints may lead to worsening violence in the world's second-largest Muslim state, analysts say.
Musharraf, 64, ordered the arrest of as many as 500 people since he suspended the constitution, clamped down on the media and fired the nation's top judge Nov. 3, saying extremism had ``peaked throughout the country.'' Pakistan witnessed the worst terrorist attack in its 60-year history last month when suicide bombers targeted opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on her return to contest nationwide elections that now may be delayed.
``Imposition of emergency does not help the military fight its battle against terrorism,'' said Lisa Curtis, senior research fellow at the Washington-based Heritage Foundation. ``The security services will also be distracted now with efforts to control civil society rather than focusing attention on preventing terrorist attacks.''
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday said the U.S. will review its foreign aid to Pakistan. The U.S. has pumped billions of dollars into Pakistan since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to strengthen the military in a failed bid to catch al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and halt extremist attacks.
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