Maj Gen (R) Naseerullah Khan Babar "Exposed" General (R) Mirza Aslam Beg.

PESHAWAR - Veteran leader of Pakistan People’s Party and former Interior Minister Maj Gen (r) Naseerullah Khan Babar passed away due to protracted illness in Combined Military Hospital here on Monday. Maj Gen (r) Naseerullah Babar was a retired two star rank Major General in the Pakistan Army, and the former Interior Minister of Pakistan. His family is from the Babar tribe of Pakhtuns and hails from the village of Pirpai in district Nowshehra. Babar was a former Pakistan Army general, a former Inspector General Frontier Corps and a senior central leader of Pakistan People’s Party. He was born in 1928, in Ismail Khel near Akora Khattak, Nowshehra, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa. He also remained Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 1975-1977 under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto government and was Interior Minister in the second term of PPP government from 1993-1996. He was Special Assistant in Benazir Bhutto’s first government from 1988-1990. His early education was from Presentation Convent School during 1935 to 1939. From 1939 to 1941 he attended Burn Hall then located at Baramula and Sarinagar. The school was subsequently shifted to Abbottabad after partition. He also attended Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College in Dheradun and joined the Pakistan Army in 1948. He was from the first PMA long course which graduated in 1950. REFERENCE: Naseerullah Babar dies By: Nader Buneri | Published: January 11, 2011 http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/11-Jan-2011/Naseerullah-Babar-dies

Mere Mutabiq with Shahid Masood 13 April 2008 - (1)

LONDON, July 19: The Karachi situation was discussed "threadbare" at a meeting in London on Tuesday night between the leader of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement, Altaf Hussain, and his team and Gen Hameed Gul, former chief of the 1st. The five-point formula which Gen Gul had discussed with Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, before coming to London for his meeting with Mr Hussain, had already been conveyed to the MQM leadership and considered by them. Mr Hussain is said to have assured the general, who said he had taken the initiative to break the present stalemate on his own, that the MQM had gone into the talks with the government with the attitude that it would lilce these to reach a positive conclusion. Mr Hussain, also complained among other things, about the propaganda campaign being carried out by the government and the official media suspecting disloyalty o Pakistan. It was suggested to him by Gen Gul that a "strong statement' from Mr Hussain in support of the Kashmir cause would go a long way in removing the wrong impression. Gen Gul told Dawn that Mr Hussain seemed to be of the opinion that he would go to "the last limit" to see the talks between Government and the MQM succeed. The MQM team feels that the 21-point charter of demands put forward by the government is nothing more than "a charge sheet". The MQM did not, during the three-hour long parleys, once raise the demand for a separate province for the Mohajirs. The formula brought by Gen Gul, which has been described by an observer, as "balanced", sets the rules of etiquette. The formula suggested holding of a dialogue to contain the rapidly deteriorating situation in Karachi which has "all the potential to degenerate into a wider and more menacing ethnic conflict". His suggestions included the initiation of dialogue in accordance with the laid down principles, between the concerned parties through mediators. The second proposal is for an end to agitation/resistance and the cleanup operation. Thirdly, the setting up of a neutral and authoritative administration for Karachi for interim period. Fourthly, the organisation of ad hoc (impartial) local councils to provide civic relief till local bodies elections are held. And lastly, holding of local bodies elections. Among the confidence-building measures suggested is cutting off the media campaign and hostile statements. It also calls for official efforts to recover the missing Ms Rais Fatima and government's word of syrnpathy and monetary relief for Ms Farzana Sultan. Relief for detained MQM senators is also suggested. Gen Gul's formula urged de escalation rather than escalation of demands as well as repression. It asked the parties to vow to help each other in exposing miscreants and violators after the settlement. The post-settlement actions suggested include general amnesty for emotionally charged crimes, trials for foreign agents and professional criminals and the establishment of a peace corps comprising well behaved youth to reduce overbearing presence of the police. The reaction from the MQM side to the talks is still awaited. REFERENCE: MQM in broad accord with Gul DAWN WIRE SERVICE Week Ending:20 July, 1995 Issue:01/28 http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/1995/20Jly95.html#mqmi 

General Hamid Gul supported Pervez Musharraf on 12 Oct 1999

URL: http://youtu.be/NhchrmX8SBU

Hamid Gul, a retired general, accuses Mr Sharif of having presided over an administration which had failed to deliver the goods. "Sharif turned out to be a great destroyer of national institutions," he told the BBC. "Look at what he did to the judiciary. "He stripped them of power, put a set of judges against the chief justice, did the same to the press. "He gagged the parliament and finally he wanted to do the same to the army." REFERENCE: World: South Asia Pakistan's coup: Why the army acted Wednesday, October 13, 1999 Published at 23:20 GMT 00:20 UK http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/473297.stm 

ISLAMABAD: Former chief of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt-Gen (retd) Hameed Gul on Saturday disclosed that the PPP could have got landslide victory in 1988 elections, if the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) had not been formed. Talking to a private TV channel, he said: ìYes, we had such reports and apprehension of massive PPP victory.î Gul said they feared that the PPP was returning to power after the execution of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. I take the responsibility of forming the IJI, though it was not my idea,î Hameed Gul said. He said that even during Benazir Bhutto’s first visit to the ISI headquarters he told her about his role in forming the IJI. “We wanted the PPP opponents who had affiliation with the GHQ to unite them on one platform,” Gul said. He said ‘emergency’ was one of the options in 1988 after General Zia ul Haq’s plane crashed, but it was decided to go ahead with November 16 election despite request from opponents of the PPP to postpone it. He disclosed that even former Soviet Union sent a message to Pakistan that the 1988 elections could be sabotaged. Gul said: “This is for the first time I am disclosing that former Russian president Mikhail Gorbachev sent his envoy with a message regarding apprehensions of sabotaging the 1988 election through foreign intervention.” He said he was not aware of the conditions to hand over power to former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, but said he was asked to brief her before she was handed over the power. “Benazir wanted a briefing from the Establishment so I was sent for this purpose and the meeting took place at her friend’s house in Karachi, which lasted over two hours, and I told her that the Afghan Jihad had not ended yet. There were two or three other things, which I briefed her and she said she understood the situation,” he said. He denied “Midnight Jackal” as intelligence plot and said it was Imtiaz’s personal plan. “No agency was involved but Imtiaz himself,” Gul said. The ex-ISI chief denied he ever sent a message to MQM chief Altaf Hussain to join IJI and rejected the allegation of former Intelligence Bureau director, Brig (retd) Imtiaz. “I never sent Imtiaz to Altaf with a message to join IJI but to express concern over allegations of collection of ìBhattaî by some elements,” he said. He predicted the victory of Afghans in Afghanistan and the US exit, but expressed concern over post-US Afghanistan situation and said a weak government was going to be set up there. “We failed to give up political system in Afghanistan after Soviet Union left and now I don’t see much will happen after the US exit, but Afghans will win,” he added. REFERENCE: Hameed Gul admits he formed IJI Sunday, August 30, 2009 http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=24196

Mere Mutabiq with Shahid Masood 13 April 2008 - (2)

In September of 1994 Kamran Khan of The News and The Washington Post came calling. He told me how earlier that year he had asked for an appointment with the then leader of the opposition, Nawaz Sharif, to interview him on his relationship with the army and the security services whilst he was prime minister. He was asked to go to Lahore and meet the Mian. When on May 16 Kamran arrived at Nawaz's Model Town house, there was an army of men equipped with bulldozers demolishing the security fences and structures Nawaz had built on adjoining land, not his to build upon (akin to those built around Karachi's Bilawal House). The breakers had been on the job since dawn. Kamran found Nawaz angry but composed. He was amply plied and refreshed with 'badaam-doodh' and Nawaz, his information wizard Mushahid Hussain and he settled down to talk and continued to do so until late afternoon when Kamran left to fly back to Karachi. REFERENCE: We never learn from history By Ardeshir Cowasjee dated 21 July 2002 Sunday 10 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1423 http://www.dawn.com/weekly/cowas/20020721.htm 

Nawaz opened up by congratulating Kamran on his Mehrangate exposures which had recently appeared in the press, asking how the inquiry was progressing, and giving his own views. They exchanged information, each believing the other was being informed. They talked about how COAS Aslam Beg (sporter of shades in the shade) managed to get Rs 14 crore (140 million) from Yunis Habib, then of Habib Bank. This was deposited in the 'Survey Section 202' account of Military Intelligence (then headed by Major-General Javed Ashraf Kazi). From there Rs 6 crore was paid to President Ghulam Ishaq Khan's election cellmates (General Rafaqat, Roedad Khan, Ijlal Hyder Zaidi, etc.), and Rs 8 crore transferred to the ISI account. After lunch, Nawaz brought up the subject of how Aslam Beg early in 1991 had sought a meeting with him (then prime minister) to which he brought Major-General Asad Durrani, chief of the ISI. They told him that funds for vital on-going covert operations (not identified by Nawaz) were drying up, how they had a foolproof plan to generate money by dealing in drugs. They asked for his permission to associate themselves with the drug trade, assuring him of full secrecy and no chance of any trail leading back to them. REFERENCE: We never learn from history By Ardeshir Cowasjee dated 21 July 2002 Sunday 10 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1423 http://www.dawn.com/weekly/cowas/20020721.htm 

Nawaz remarked that on hearing this he felt the roof had caved in on him. He told them he could have nothing to do with such a plan and refused to give his approval. The Washington Post had just broken Kamran's story and when I asked why it had not broken earlier, he told me how they check and recheck, and that in the meantime, he had been busy with the Mehrangate affair on which, between May and August, he had filed seven stories. We must again ask: was Nawaz capable of saying what he did? Yes. Did Kamran invent the whole thing? Not likely. Is The Washington Post a responsible paper with credibility? Yes. Everybody who is anyone in Washington reads it over breakfast. Has it ever made mistakes? Yes. What is so earth-shattering about using drugs to make money? Drugs have been trafficked and used for covert operations for ages, by warlords, statesmen, chieftans and generals, used to gain territory, to buy or to harm the enemy. Remember how the staid Victorians of the British empire used opium to China's detriment. Remember the Americans and how they traded drugs in Vietnam, and the Iran-Contra affair. Can we believe Aslam Beg? Judging by his behaviour and record, no. Are we expected to believe Asad Durrani, a clever professional spook? Of course not. REFERENCE: We never learn from history By Ardeshir Cowasjee dated 21 July 2002 Sunday 10 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1423 http://www.dawn.com/weekly/cowas/20020721.htm 

Kamran Khan's Dirty Role after Mir Murtaza Bhutto's Death in 1996.

"QUOTE"

PPP(SB) FILES LIST OF 22 WITNESSES KARACHI, Dec. 8, 1996:

Mr Sharif, arrested by the police in the same murder case, will be asked to produce the record of reports submitted by the bureau at Karachi, on the basis of which it sought permission for action against Mir Murtaza and his men. Another witness, secretary general of the PPP (SB), Rao Abdul Rashid, is also likely to establish the motive for and conspiracy to murder. Others cited in the same category of witnesses are: Ishaque Khakwani, and Dr Altaf Khwaja, deputy secretary general of the party; Kamran Khan, correspondent of The News; Ahsan-ul-Haq Bhatti and Abdullah Baloch, members of the central committee of the party' Dr.Zahid Hussain Jatoi, brother of the late Ashique Hussain Jatoi; Khalid Khan Dalmian, ex-MPA Rahim Bux Jamali; and Behram Khan Ujjan. REFERENCE: Murtaza Bhutto; Events after his murder by Sani Hussain Panhwar http://www.scribd.com/doc/8724391/Murtaza-Bhutto-Events-after-his-murder

On Saturday Dr Zahid Hussain Jatoi, elder brother of Ashiq Hussain Jatoi, Ehsanul Haq Bhatti, Rahim Bux Jamali and Abdullah Baloch would be summoned. On Sunday Behram Khan Ujjan and Dr Altaf Khawaja would be summoned, including Kamran Khan, a senior reporter of The News. Ishaq Khakwani and Rao Rashid would be summoned on Monday. About the appearance of Ghinwa Bhutto, the counsel emphatically said she would be appearing within the next few days and the date would be communicated to the tribunal shortly. REFERENCE: Murtaza Bhutto; Events after his murder by Sani Hussain Panhwar http://www.scribd.com/doc/8724391/Murtaza-Bhutto-Events-after-his-murder

Ms Bhutto said she was not aware where Nagib Zafar was on that fateful night and there was confusion as to who received the calls and from whom and where. The phone bills of 70-Clifton be also examined to "see the moving hand and moving shadow," she suggested and also expressed surprise at how could the press people receive the news at 9pm and who were those anonymous callers who were informing everybody about it. Benazir Bhutto also wanted to know who were those anonymous persons behind the shooting who also informed Rao Rashid, Ishaq Khakhwani, Kamran Khan (a journalist), and Masood Sharif, the then the DG of the Intelligence Bureau. They (anonymous callers), she maintained, had disseminated lies to distract the attention of the judges and the people through the cock-and-bull stories about Mr Zardari's moustaches and other of their's "Tota Kahanis" (parrot stories). "It was a hidden hand to kill a Bhutto to get a Bhutto and finish off the PPP, to incite hatred against me, the torch-bearer of the PPP and torch- bearer of the Bhutto legacy and finally to overthrow my government. The object was also to present us as shameless creatures," she said. REFERENCE: Murtaza Bhutto; Events after his murder by Sani Hussain Panhwar http://www.scribd.com/doc/8724391/Murtaza-Bhutto-Events-after-his-murder

They were asked to emulate the honest men. Kamran Khan, a correspondent of The News, appeared with a written request that he should be heard as a witness to reply to the statement made by the former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, to clear his name, to which the tribunal said it was not holding a defamation trial. The tribunal said it was not concerned with who had said what and that the former prime minister had named 50 people in her statement and there was no time to allow all those who had been named in her statement the opportunity to hear them. "We have limited time and by March 17 the report has to be submitted to the government and we will not allow you to examine Ms Benazir Bhutto and if we allow that there will be no end to it," the chairman observed. The chairman asked him to submit a written statement before March 17. He also observed that he (Kamran Khan) should have come forward earlier, when the messages were being sent to him. He was reminded by the tribunal that one of the reporters of The News, Maqbool Ahmed, was given the message to convey to him for his appearance when his name was mentioned in the list submitted by the PPP (SB) party counsel, Manzoor Bhutta. "You kept quiet when you knew about it through the newspapers. You did not wake up until she came and named you by saying 'if he could be used by me others can also use him.' "Kamran Khan said he did not know who Maqbool Ahmed was. He said Ms Bhutto had used the tribunal's platform to say things against him and, therefore, he wanted to reply to her from the same platform, to which the chairman said she had a locus standii, because her brother had been killed and her husband had been arrested in the case. REFERENCE: Murtaza Bhutto; Events after his murder by Sani Hussain Panhwar http://www.scribd.com/doc/8724391/Murtaza-Bhutto-Events-after-his-murder

"UNQUOTE"

”Quote”

As per Ghazali Book The Fourth Republic Chapter IX While the people speculated about the motives behind the killing of Mir Murtaza Bhutto, Dr. Mubashir Hasan, a former Finance Minister and a founder member of the PPP, was very blunt in his remarks: “For those who have removed Murtaza from our midst, the real problem has been and is Prime Minister Benazir. As long as Murtaza was alive, removing Benazir carried unacceptable risks. Murtaza could take over the mantle of the elder Bhutto’s legend. Else Murtaza and Benazir would be striving for a common cause, separately or jointly. That would have presented formidable political problems. Murtaza gone, the way is clear. Benazir stands perilously weakened. She is the next to go. Such are the brutal pathways of realpolitik.” [Dawn 25.9.1996.]” [For Further Reading UNHCR REPORT ON PAKISTAN OF 1996]

"UNQUOTE"

Kamran Khan [The Correspondent of The News International/Washington Post] was the one who met with Murtaza in Damascus (Syria) [at the behest of Brigadier (r) Imtiaz] several times and insist him to come back to Pakistan, Kamran used to fly to Syria every month at that time.

“QUOTE”

Former interior minister Naseerullah Babar paid glowing tributes to Shoaib Suddle for restoring peace in Karachi when in 1994 the Army was withdrawn from the metropolitan city. He said the ISI was involved in the murder of Murtaza Bhutto. He said he had formed a commission to probe against the ISI but pressure was mounted on him and afterwards the inquiry was givenup. He criticized the MQM decision to join forces with the opposition. He said the MQM should join the government for the sake of peace in Karachi. REFERENCE: ‘Bill to cut president down to size this week’ News Desk Monday, April 14, 2008 News Desk http://thenews.jang.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=14093

“UNQUOTE”

Mere Mutabiq with Shahid Masood 13 April 2008 - (3)

LAHORE, Aug 7: Politicians must start developing a consensus for providing a safe exit to Gen Pervez Musharraf when he will transfer power next year. This was stated by Gen Mirza Aslam Beg (retired), chief of Awami Qiadat Party, while addressing a press conference here on Tuesday. He said the parliament had approved 69 amendments to the Constitution, including Article 58-2(b), and ratified all acts of the martial law regime before President Ziaul Haq transferred power to the government headed by Muhammad Khan Junejo. Gen Musharraf would not be an exception, Mr Beg said. "He needs indemnity laws. An insurance policy before transferring power to civilians. It is up to the politicians to provide him with an escape route if they want a smooth transition," he said. Mr Beg predicted that the next set-up would suffer from inherent problem of pulls and pushes from different sides because not a single party was going to win next elections. This situation puts an added responsibility on politicians to develop some kind of agreement for running the country in the future, Mr Beg said, adding that the absence of such a consensus would make things difficult for the nation. About allegations of armymen meddling with polls to ensure election of "right candidates" and its possible resulting in the division of the army, he said: "The establishment's interference in the elections has always backfired. The same will happen this time. Look at Azhar Saeed Butt's case. He was virtually living with the 114 Brigade but lost elections. I don't think that a wishful thinking of getting "desirable candidate" elected works. Let the army play its hand and see the results for itself." REFERENCE: Provide safe exit to Musharraf: Beg Staff Reporter DAWN WIRE SERVICE Week Ending: 11 August, 2001 Issue : 07/32 http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/2001/aug1101.html#prov

Gen (R) Naseerullah Babar on Mehran Bank Scandal, Musharraf & Nawaz Sharif

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng3FxFn_JAY

As per 1973 Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan


PART I

6. (1) Any person who abrogates or attempts or conspires to abrogate, subverts or attempts or conspires to subvert the Constitution by use of force or show of force or by other unconstitutional means shall be guilty of high treason.

(2) Any person aiding or abetting the acts mentioned in clause (1) shall likewise be guilty of high treason.

(3) [Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament)] shall by law provide for the punishment of persons found guilty of high treason.

An accomplice is a person who actively participates in the commission of a crime, even though they take no part in the actual criminal offense.

LAHORE: Former army chief Mirza Aslam Beg said on Friday the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was established as a political measure to counter the Sindhi nationalist movement following the hanging of PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Talking to a private TV channel, Beg said the MQM did not exist before 1978 and was established on the directions of General Ziaul Haq, then military ruler, only to counter Sindhi nationalists who had lost Bhutto after Zia’s military coup. He said the caretaker government under Ghulam Ishaq Khan had decided to support the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) to counter the PPP in order to balance the political atmosphere. “I think the formation of the IJI was a right decision at the time,” he said. Beg said the IJI were the only means that could create a strong opposition at the time. He said former president Pervez Musharraf had created and supported the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and the PML-Q to prolong his term in office, but no one had pointed that out. Beg said he believed the Bahawalpur plane crash that killed Gen Ziaul Haq was “sabotage”. REFERENCE: MQM was established to counter Sindhi nationalists: Beg Daily Times Monitor Saturday, September 05, 2009 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\09\05\story_5-9-2009_pg7_4 

General (R) Mirza Aslam Beg, MQM, MMA & Secret Cell of Jang Group! http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2010/12/general-r-mirza-aslam-baig-mqm-mma.html

Shafqat Mahmood

How Aslam Beg damaged a nation By Shafqat Mahmood Friday, September 04, 2009

The history of this much abused country is being churned to let the scum rise to the top. And what nuggets of filth are floating up -- military-made political parties, midnight jackals, cash for elections, Karachi operations, agency this and agency that. Is this the Pakistani version of a truth and reconciliation commission? The 'truth' being dished out has more slants than a right-angle triangle and it is certainly not leading to any reconciliation. The million-dollar question is where all these worms crawled out of? Have they rolled down the presidency, as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) alleges or have they emerged from the irritable bowel of an over-active nine zero?

Whoever has unleashed them has no care for the ascetic discipline of the holy month because they make for a juicy and spicy fare. It is easy to choke on Brigadier Billa because he is truly unsavoury. But let us admit to a secret vice; he has stories to tell. And stories are interesting even if they come from the mouth of someone you would ideally like to see begging for mercy, hanging upside down a pole The question of the month though is -- and it has been asked often enough -- let he who is without sin cast the first stone. I don't see a mad rush for the quarries and the reason is simple. The elite of this country has much to seek forgiveness for. We are all sinners literally and metaphorically.

The politicians top the list because they flaunt their sins publicly or maybe we scrutinise them more fearlessly. They are vulnerable because their passion for fame and fortune makes them impatient. It is not a pleasure they want to defer and end up becoming easy targets for manipulators. The Hameed Guls and the Billas of this world thrive in this milieu. They have guns and cash. While the politicians are more visible, their sins in the larger scheme of things are relatively innocent. They make money and are unprincipled but their impact on the nation is more through happenstance than design. The sins of some people in the military have been more sinister, more egregious and more damaging to the nation. It is they who need to be exposed.

In my reading of post-Zia history, there is no greater sinner than Aslam Beg. By his actions after Zia's death and indeed throughout his tenure of office, he caused great harm to this nation. He did not let democracy settle, manipulated parties and politicians and corrupted them, brought governments down, indeed did everything he possibly could to create circumstances for his ascent to power. He failed but in the process, he hurt us badly. It is easy to blame Ghulam Ishaq Khan (GIK) because he had his share of sins but without Aslam Beg goading him on, much of what GIK did would not have happened. It was Beg who asked Hameed Gul to form the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) and stop Benazir and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) from coming to power. When he could not stop it, it was he who led the media and dirty-tricks campaign to undermine it and bring it down. Let us keep our biases aside for a minute, ladies and gentlemen. Whether we like Benazir Bhutto is not the issue here and more importantly, let us suspend our knowledge of what she did later. However, in 1988 she was not only the most popular leader in Pakistan but an international celebrity. She was an Aung San Suu Kyi like figure whose father had been murdered and who had suffered much hardship. There was not a hint of the taints that later followed her. If Beg and his cohorts had been patriots, they would not have formed the IJI to stop her. Afterwards when she still made it to power, they would have seen her as an asset to Pakistan. 

They should have gone to her and said "Madam, you are inexperienced but we will help you run the government. Your international image is a great plus for the country and we want you to repair the damage to our global reputation after Zia's draconian dictatorship." They did nothing of the sort. They started to sully her image and taint her reputation from day one. She indeed had her faults and made their task easier but she should have been guided. Instead, they launched operation midnight jackal, engineered a no-confidence move against her, got the MQM to take on the PPP in the streets of Karachi, thwarted the Pucca Qilla operation, which was leading to the capture of a huge cache arms stored by terrorists in Hyderabad, and then prevailed upon GIK to dismiss her government. This not only hurt Pakistan but derailed democracy. Had a single civilian government completed its tenure and transfer of power taken place through constitutionally scheduled elections, we would have been on our way. But Beg would not allow this. It was not without purpose. His plan was to first destroy the reputation of Benazir, bring her government down, and then do the same to Nawaz Sharif. Once all politicians had been damaged, he thought, his ascent to power would become easy. Consider this. After the Benazir government had been dismissed in 1990, he distributed money and did everything to make an IJI government come into power. Yet no sooner had Nawaz Sharif taken over, he was conspiring against him. I know this personally because I saw it happen before my eyes. Nawaz Sharif had taken over in perhaps October or November and by December, officers of military intelligence were making contact with the PPP to instigate it against the government. 

Not only that, Beg deliberately started to undermine Nawaz by taking a position different from that of the government during the First Gulf War. His agents, largely serving military officers but also some of his friends, principally one Lahore-based businessman, started to goad the PPP to take on the Nawaz Sharif government through street power. The purpose was to create enough trouble to make it possible for Beg to take over. Fortunately, for us, his time ran out and Ghulam Ishaq Khan trumped him by appointing a new army chief, two months before his term of office was to end. This was unprecedented and the only reason it was done was to make him a lame duck and thwart his ambition for power. 

Beg left with much regret but a legacy of bitterness was created that tainted the entire decade of the 90s. Democracy could not settle after that. Benazir and the PPP eventually managed to bring Nawaz Sharif down through Ghulam Ishaq Khan and PML N paid the compliment back by launching various movements during Benazir's second term in office. It then supported Farooq Leghari in the sacking of the second PPP government. This merry-go-round continued until Musharraf threw the whole lot out in 1999. End of democracy phase one. A new phase has started. What will this bring? Email: shafqatmd@gmail.com Source: The News International URL: http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=196480