Pakistan State Of Emergency Roundup

With the National State Of Emergency declared in Pakistan, I thought it would be interesting to see how the various news websites have reported this.

It'sinteresting to note that the signs were there before this happened. NDTV interviewed former premier and Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on November 1st 2007, and she said that she saw no movement towards fair elections in Pakistan. Then the next day, Al Jazeera reported that there were rumours that Martial Law had been imposed in Pakistan, and that the military leaders were denying this.

But on Saturday, a National State Of Emergency was declared, as Al Jazeera reported, and the constitution was suspended. Zee News reports that the US and UK were unhappy with developments, and were looking for assurances from Musharraf.

Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, who had flown home from Dubai back to Karachi, condemned the move too, but was unexpectedly allowed to return to her home. Perhaps that will be so she can be put under house arrest, as there have been reports that former Pakistan Cricket captain and politician Imran Khan has been put under house arrest.

Meantime, President Musharraf went on television to defend his actions, saying that terrorism was threatening the country's sovereignty.

Obviously, we'll follow developments closely.