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[sangkancil] The Guardian (UK): Musharraf Dismisses Two Islamist Generals
Musharraf dismisses two Islamist generals
Pakistan President's ruthless sacking of pro-Taliban hardliners
strengthens hand against army fundamentalists
Luke Harding in Islamabad
Tuesday October 9, 2001
The Guardian
Pakistan's military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, yesterday
consolidated his grip on power by swiftly sacking two of his most
senior generals, in an attempt to head off a growing revolt
within the army against his pro-American policies.
The president demoted the head of Pakistan's powerful ISI
military intelligence agency, Lt General Mehmood Ahmed, and also
pushed out his deputy chief of army staff, General Muzaffar
Hussain Usmani. Both officers were regarded as hardline
Islamists.
Lt Gen Mehmood was previously a close ally of Gen Musharraf's.
Last month he headed two delegations to Kandahar, where he tried
to persuade the Taliban's leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, to hand
over Osama bin Laden. Both missions ended in failure. Sources
suggest Mehmood disagreed with Gen Musharraf's decision to dump
the Taliban as an ally. "He still felt the Taliban needed to be
supported," one said.
Two three-star generals were yesterday appointed to crucial
positions within the army. Gen Muhammad Yousaf - described by one
former officer as a "decent man but no genius" was unveiled as
the vice-chief of army staff, in effect Gen Musharraf's deputy.
The "pious" Gen Muhammad Aziz Khan was appointed as the head of a
key military committee. Both are Musharraf loyalists.
Yesterday's ruthless reshuffle makes it harder for rightwing
fundamentalist officers, who form a significant faction within
Pakistan's powerful army, to topple Gen Musharraf in a
counter-coup. The army has stayed loyal to him so far. But as
Muslim casualties in Afghanistan mount, dissent from inside the
ranks is likely to grow.
"Gen Musharraf can't afford to have any group within the army
which has a different viewpoint," Lt Gen Talat Masood, a close
friend of the general's and a former minister, said. "He now has
a team which is totally aligned to him both intellectually and
conceptually."
The changes would prevent internal bickering, he added. "Gen
Musharraf is very committed to his policy (of backing the United
States). He wants the whole country to be committed as well," he
added.
The shake-up came only a day after Gen Musharraf announced that
he was extending his term as president indefinitely. The move -
only hours after Tony Blair's visit to Pakistan - was "in the
larger interests of the country", his military spokesman, Major
General Rashid Qureshi, said. Gen Musharraf was due to retire
over the weekend after serving three years as a four-star general
and chief of army staff.
Sitting beneath a portrait of a youthful Mohammed Ali Jinnah,
Pakistan's westernised founder, Gen Musharraf yesterday said his
reshuffle had "no relation whatsoever" with events unfolding
inside Afghanistan. He said he had been contemplating a change in
the army hierarchy for several months. "I was wearing too many
hats," he said.
The threat to Gen Musharraf comes from a significant rightwing
group in the middle-upper echelons of the army, made up of
admirers of Pakistan's late hardline dictator, General Zia
ul-Haq.
The soldiers were junior officers during the Zia era in the 1980s
but have now risen to the level of corps commanders. "At least
half of the 10-12 corps commanders in Pakistan are Islamist or
influenced by them," one source said last night.
Gen Musharraf yesterday acted against the army's two most
fundamentalist generals but has so far left the rest of his
senior hierarchy unchanged. The rank and file soldiers in
Pakistan's army pose less of a threat. Some sympathise with
Pakistan's religious parties but others hold liberal views, and
drink alcohol.
Most observers believe that Gen Musharraf - who deposed
Pakistan's corrupt civilian government in a coup two years ago -
has played a difficult hand extremely well. He has so far managed
to prevent an Islamist backlash inside Pakistan. At the same time
he has renewed his relationship with the United States,
Pakistan's cold war ally, by offering the US crucial intelligence
on Osama bin Laden and the use of airspace.
The change in his political fortunes is extraordinary. After
deposing Pakistan's elected prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan
was suspended by the Commonwealth and hit with fresh sanctions.
Britain in particular was vocal in its protests. The sanctions
have now been lifted. Both Britain and the US have offered the
military regime debt relief and the generous rescheduling of
loans. Mr Blair has even promised to renew defence links with
Pakistan.
In an interview with the Guardian in May, Gen Musharraf expressed
his frustration that the new US Republican administration had not
sought to pursue closer ties with his regime.
"Every Pakistani wanted Bush to win. Every Pakistani would have
voted Republican," he said. Now, partly through an accident of
geography, but also through his own adroitness, Gen Musharraf has
made Pakistan America's most important ally on the subcontinent.
There was little criticism in June when Gen Musharraf appointed
himself president. Despite the prospect of general elections next
October, he will continue to run the country. He has few rivals
for the job of leader. Pakistan's two former prime ministers,
Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, are both in exile, accused of
corruption. Only two other Pakistani army chiefs have extended
their tenure: Field Marshal Ayub Khan in the 1960s and Gen Zia-ul
Haq in the 1980s. Zia went on to govern for 11 years.
