Pakistan on Brink of Chaos ; President is Slammed

Nov 05, 01:44 AM

Current Headlines: By Stephen White

TROOPS were on the streets of Pakistan last night and hundreds of people have been arrested after president Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency.

Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan is on the run after escaping from house arrest.

Elections due in January have been postponed for a year.

Private radio and TV stations have also been pulled off the air after the shock move.

Opponents of Musharraf - who seized power in a bloodless coup eight years ago - accused him of dictatorship.

Musharraf said he acted to combat rising Islamic militancy in the nuclear-armed state.

In a midnight televised address to the nation, he said: "I cannot allow this country to commit suicide."

But most Pakistanis and foreign diplomats believe he wants to stop judges ruling that his re-election by parliament in October - while he was still army chief - is illegal.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said yesterday: "All friends of Pakistan will be concerned by the turn of events."

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice said America would review its aid to Pakistan.

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