Paki Nutz

by Arnaud De Borchgrave
Washington (UPI) Feb 20, 2007
Free elections in Pakistan Feb. 18 were to be the first step in bringing a dysfunctional nuclear power back to democratic stability. The preliminary first step was a deal with the pro-al-Qaida Taliban chief in the tribal areas. The new Pakistani army chief of staff, Gen.

Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani, and the "amir" of Tehrik-e-Taliban-Pakistan, Baitullah Mehsud, agreed to a cease-fire, as well as the withdrawal of the Pakistani army from South Waziristan, one of the seven tribal agencies along the Afghan border (known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas).

As a result, to mark election day there was "only" one political assassination in Lahore, 24 terrorist incidents in the rest of the country, including two deadly attacks on election rallies in the Northwest Frontier province, the ambush of a Pakistani army convoy withdrawing from North Waziristan in which a major was killed -- all done by extremist groups that are not part of Mehsud's Taliban organization.

The election results, as expected, produced enough votes for the two largest parties -- the late Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (PMLN) -- to form a coalition.

Only one small problem: Neither one was willing to work with President Pervez Musharraf, who got himself re-elected by the outgoing National Assembly, which had been rigged originally in his favor. Musharraf said he planned to serve out his term until 2012.

Democratic stability took a turn for the worse as Asif Zardari, Bhutto's widower, and Sharif conferred on how they could bring about the impeachment of Musharraf without a parliamentary majority. Sharif, who had been deposed by Musharraf in 1999 and exiled to Saudi Arabia for 10 years, now let it be known he favored A.Q. Khan, the notorious nuclear black marketer, as Musharraf's successor.

As the father of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, Khan is arguably Pakistan's most popular idol since the foundation of the republic 61 years ago.

After U.S. intelligence produced the proof of how Khan had sold nuclear know-how to America's enemies -- notably North Korea and Iran -- Musharraf administered Khan a slight tap on the wrist: a public confession in English on television and confined to house arrest, but allowed to keep the loot. He is now confined to Pakistan and not allowed to travel abroad.
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