Musharraf Dismisses Two Islamist Generals

Pakistan President's ruthless sacking of pro-Taliban hardliners strengthens hand against army fundamentalists

by Luke Harding
The Guardian
October 9, 2001

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.

In another surprise move, the Pakistan president yesterday called India's prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, to ask him to resume stalled peace talks over the disputed Kashmir region. India has claimed that Muslim guerrillas waging a secessionist war in its part of Kashmir operate from bases in Pakistan and have links with Islamic militants who operate in Afghanistan. But Gen Musharraf said Kashmir has no link with Afghanistan.

One of the generals sacked yesterday, 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. 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 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. 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. Af ter 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.

Copyright 2001 Guardian Newspapers Limited

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