By DPA
Islamabad : The prospect of emergency rule loomed in Pakistan Thursday after President Pervez Musharraf cancelled a scheduled trip to Afghanistan and summoned top officials for talks on the deteriorating situation in the country.
After pulling out of the three-day tribal assembly in Kabul aimed at curbing the Taliban insurgency, Musharraf Wednesday consulted for several hours with top legal aides, while State Information Minister Tariq Azeem told media the option of emergency rule was on the table.
Pakistani news channels reported that declaration of a state of emergency was “imminent” because of the deteriorating security situation in the country.
Azeem said unrest near the border with Afghanistan, US threats to launch strikes against Al Qaeda and Taliban militants in the tribal areas and kidnapping and killing of Chinese nationals were reasons for discussion of a possible state of emergency.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice later telephoned Musharraf for 17 minutes.
Musharraf was expected to hold further top-level consultations in the garrison city of Rawalpindi Thursday.
Opposition parties have said they would challenge any imposition of emergency rule in the Supreme Court.
A state of emergency would limit the role of the courts, restrict civil liberties and curb freedom of expression.
Musharraf earlier pulled out of the joint peace jirga involving hundreds of tribal leaders that was due to open Thursday in Kabul, citing commitments in Islamabad. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was to attend in his place.
“President Musharraf certainly wouldn’t stay back in Islamabad if he didn’t believe he had good and compelling reasons to stay back,” State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack told a regular briefing. “Certainly we would understand that.”
According to reports, the government’s failed efforts to reconcile with the reinstated Chief Justice Ifthikar Chaudhry was also a factor in the discussions.
Chaudhry, who was suspended by Musharraf in March for misuse of office but reinstated in July after mass public protests, is perceived as a likely source of obstruction to the general’s plan to secure his re-election in the autumn while remaining army chief.
Karachi’s KSE-100 Index lost 500 points at the start of trading Thursday’s in response to the reports.