Nawaz Sharif says no to presidency

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PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has ruled himself out as a candidate for the post of president and said his party could become part of Pakistan’s new government only if President Pervez Musharraf steps down.

Reacting to reports that he could be made president as part of efforts by the PML-N and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to form the new government after the February 18 polls, Nawaz said he was not a candidate for the post.

Musharraf faces the threat of being impeached if the two major parties–PPP and PML-N — get the support of independents, a top US intelligence official has said.

The PML-N had assured the PPP of its complete support in forming the government at the centre, the former premier said, however.

“We have assured PPP co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari of our full cooperation, whether the PML-N becomes part of the government or not,” Nawaz told ARY Oneworld news channel.

“We will only become part of government when Musharraf quits the office of president,” he said.

Another report says Musharraf faces the threat of being impeached if the two major parties–PPP and PML-N–which have joined hands to form the next government get the support of independents, a top US intelligence official has said.

The official said even though the two parties do not have the numbers Musharraf cane be arraigned since PML-N leader and former premier Nawaz Sharif had “an agenda to impeach President Musharraf”.

The Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnel told the Bush administration that the PPP and PML(N) “do not have the votes to do that(impeach), but if they had independents join them, they could possibly have the votes”.

The ruling coalition needs a two-third majority in a House of 272 to successfully carry out any impeachment. The PPP (88) and PML-N (66) together have 154 seats. The Awami National Party (ANP) which has 10 members and an unspecified number of independents have also extended support.

“We are watching very closely now to see how the coalition is formed, who the members will be and who the prime minister might be,” McConnel said

On being asked by the Chairman of Senate Armed Services Committee Carl Levin about the fairness of the polls, he said “all the reporting I saw was they were reasonably — by Pakistani standards, they were reasonable and fair. The numbers of people voting were a little higher than anticipated and a little higher than average for Pakistan. It was over 40 per cent”.

Responding to a question that if the polls were a repudiation of Islamic extremism, he said “What I would highlight is those Islamic extremists that had been serving in the assembly were defeated in this election. So at that level, the parties that won are more secular. So there is some level of repudiating extremism”.

Meanwhile a suspected US missile strike destroyed an al-Qaeda and Taliban hideout in a Pakistani tribal area Thursday, killing 13 alleged militants including several Arabs, security officials said.

Residents of Azam Warsak village in South Waziristan told AFP that a house was blown up by a missile fired from a pilotless drone and the loud blast was heard miles (kilometres) away in the rugged valley.

US drones have launched several strikes on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border targeting members of Osama bin Laden’s network, although Islamabad never confirms such attacks due to issues of national sovereignty.

The attack comes a month after bin Laden’s operational number three, Abu Laith al-Libi, was killed in a missile strike in the neighbouring Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan.

“A house used as a den by al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban militants was hit by a missile. Thirteen people were killed and around 10 were wounded,” a senior Pakistani security official told AFP.

“There was no immediate information about the presence of any high-value target,” the official said.

A security source based in the northwestern city of Peshawar, which adjoins the lawless tribal belt, said the missile was fired by a US drone at about 2:00 am Thursday (2100 GMT Wednesday).

Another security official said most of the dead were Arabs.

The militants were using the house as an “operational base” for attacks on Nato-led and US troops in Afghanistan, as well as a meeting place for Taliban and al-Qaeda militants, the official said.

Armed militants cordoned off the site after the missile strike, residents said. They said four unidentified “guests” had arrived late Wednesday at the destroyed house, although their identities were not known.

South Waziristan is also the base of Baitullah Mehsud, an al-Qaeda-linked warlord accused by Pakistan of masterminding the slaying of former premier Benazir Bhutto, but officials said the strike was not in the area he commands.

(PTI, AFP)

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