Pakistani troops stage coup against government

In a televised address, Army Chief General Pervaiz Musharraf accused the democratically elected government of "systematically destroying" state institutions and driving the economy toward collapse.

"You are all well aware of the kind of turmoil and uncertainty that our country has gone through in recent times," Musharraf said. "Not only have all the institutions been played around with and systematically destroyed, the economy too is in a state of collapse."

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was under apparent house arrest in Islamabad hours after he tried to fire Musharraf as army chief and replace him with his ally, General Zia Uddin, former head of Pakistan's secret service.

As troops moved through the main cities, many Pakistanis danced in the streets and waved flags, celebrating the ouster of a prime minister who has become increasingly unpopular.

Sharif has been accused of trying to consolidate his power by wakening institutions like the judiciary, provincial governments and the opposition, and of using heavy-handed tactics to quell opposition protests in recent weeks.

Word of the coup led the army of nuclear rival India to go on high alert along the border between the two countries, a senior officer in India's northern command in Kashmir said.

In New Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee held a crisis meeting with his top security and foreign policy advisers. The reports from Pakistan "are causing grave concern," said Vajpayee's spokesperson, Ashok Tandon.

In an apparent warning to India, Musharraf said "no outside forces" should try to take advantage of the "prevailing situation in Pakistan.... We shall preserve the integrity and sovereignty of our country to the last drop of blood."

Tuesday's developments followed reports in recent weeks of a yawning rift between the military and the civilian government in this impoverished and overwhelmingly Muslim country of 140 million people.

The army has ruled Pakistan for 25 of its 52-year history, and army takeovers have happened repeatedly. But democratically elected governments have been in place since 1985.

Sharif fired Musharraf while the military leader was on a visit to Sri Lanka. Musharraf flew back to Pakistan and was met by a large contingent of soldiers at the airport in the southern city of Karachi.

The conflict between the two men developed this summer after the prime minister ordered militants to withdraw from Indian territory in the Kashmir region, ending two months of bitter fighting with India.

Musharraf reportedly orchestrated the incursion into Kashmir, and the withdrawal of the militants was considered humiliating to Pakistan's military.

President Clinton had negotiated the withdrawal with Sharif amid fears the border dispute would escalate into an all-out war between the world's two newest nuclear powers.

Pakistan carried out its first nuclear tests in May last year, and has insisted it will maintain a nuclear arsenal to defend itself against India, which also conducted its first nuclear tests last year. Pakistan has fought and lost three wars with India.

Asked if the situation in Islamabad had raised concerns about control of nuclear weapons technologies in Pakistan, White House spokesperson Joe Lockhart said: "No concern like that has been raised to me."

Before the televised announcement of a military takeover, U.S. State Department spokesperson James Rubin said: "If there has been a coup we would obviously seek the earliest possible restoration of democracy in Pakistan."

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, speaking with BBC World TV in London, said she doesn't support coups but was sympathetic to the army's desire to get rid of Sharif.

"My message to the army is that if you were provoked into this action the world will understand, if you give a firm date for fair elections and go back to the barracks."

Musharraf's address, which he delivered in English, was brief. He accused Sharif of imposing "self-serving policies ... that rocked the very foundation of the federation of Pakistan," and said the army takeover was a response to public demand.

The military takeover came after Sharif announced Musharraf's removal and appeared on national television shaking the hand of his named replacement, Gen. Zia Uddin, head of the secret service.

Within hours, the army was fanning out in the capital and other cities. Soldiers jumped the fence around the central TV building in Islamabad and seized it, witnesses said.

Troops surrounded and closed Islamabad International Airport, while others were seen taking over the houses of several top ministers - including Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz and Information Minister Mushahid Hussein.

International phone lines out of the capital were cut, while television began broadcasting nationalistic songs and footage of Pakistani troops and heavy armor in parades. A bank holiday was declared for today, apparently to prevent a run on the currency.

In Lahore, soldiers in jeeps and trucks took up positions on the main road and at government buildings as people celebrated and waved colored flags. There also were reports that army trucks were moving toward the airport in Lahore, the Punjab provincial capital.

Outside the seized television building Islamabad, more than 400 people danced, waved flags and shouted, "Long live the army."

"Nawaz Sharif tried to divide the army. This was very dangerous. We hope the rot ends here," said one Islamabad resident, 60-year-old Ghulam Nabi Abbasi.

10-13-99