Monday, August 25, 2008

Events In Pakistan - Moderate Coalition Will Likely Prevail - If Taliban Doesn't Kill Them

It looks like there's good news and bad news from Pakistan.

First, the good news. Nawaz Sharif, the man who was replaced as Prime Minister in the Musharraf coup (and, of course, Musharraf became our ally in the War on Terror) has left his own coalition. The resulting split means that the more moderate Pakistani coalition has a better chance to take power.

From the New York Times:



ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif pulled
his party out of the ruling coalition on Monday over disputes with his main
partner over the judiciary and who should be the next president.

The departure of Sharif's party is not expected to force a general
election as the party of assassinated former prime minister Benazir
Bhutto
, which leads the coalition, should be able to gather enough support
to govern, analysts say.



The bad news is that the Taliban continues to try to assume power through violence, and to some extent they are actually succeeding, launching a rocket attack on the home of a From CNN:



(CNN) -- Militants attacked the home of a lawmaker in Pakistan's
violence-plagued northwest Monday, killing 10 people in the latest unrest to hit
the country since the resignation of President Pervez Musharraf, authorities
said. The politician survived the attack but his brother died, said military
spokesman Col. Baseer Haider.

The Islamic movement, the Taliban, claimed responsibility.

Militants used rockets and grenades to launch their attack at the home in
the village of Shah Dheri in the Swat valley, a tourist area where security has
continued to deteriorate despite a three-month-old peace pact....

Violence has surged in Paksitan following Musharraf's resignation last week
to avoid possible impeachment. His exit has left a power vacuum in the country,
reviving factional disputes in the multi-party government ahead of September 6
elections.

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