Monday 18 August 2008


MUSHARRAF TO RESIGN AS PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN

Candace Rondeaux

The Washington Post, August 18, 2008

ISLAMABAD, Aug. 18 -- Bowing to pressure from Pakistan's newly-elected civilian government, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, once a top U.S. ally, said Monday that he will resign from office immediately, effectively ending nearly nine years of military rule in the country under his leadership.

Musharraf announced his decision to step down in a nationally televised public address 10 days after leaders of Pakistan's two ruling coalition parties called for his impeachment. Demand for his resignation became increasingly vocal last week after Pakistan's four provincial assemblies voted overwhelmingly for his ouster.

In the nearly hour-long address, Musharraf struck a defiant and emotional tone, saying that his political opponents had opted for the politics of confrontation over reconciliation. But he said that he is stepping down in the interest of maintaining stability in the country.

"I am leaving with the satisfaction that whatever I could do for this country I did it with integrity," Musharraf said. "I am a human too. I could have made mistakes but I believe that the people will forgive me."

Musharraf's resignation Monday signaled the end of a long and important relationship with the U.S. Musharraf was one of the first Muslim leaders to declare allegiance to the U.S. after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. With his support the U.S. was allowed to use several military bases in Pakistan while Pakistani army troops were deployed to pursue Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents sheltering in the country's rugged tribal areas near the border of Afghanistan. It was a tremendously risky stance for the leader of one of the world's most populous and politically divided Muslim nations -- one that provoked ire from al-Qaeda leaders in particular. But the alliance earned Pakistan important political dividends and more than $10 billion in U.S. aid, transforming the impoverished country from a political pariah to a regional economic powerhouse.

(...) [artículo aquí]

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