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Bin Laden Urges Pakistanis to Expel President
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VIDEO | Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden calls on Pakistanis to rebel against President Pervez Musharraf in a new recording released on Thursday, saying his military's siege of a militant mosque stronghold makes him an infidel.
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Political opponents are pushing for a return to civilian rule eight years after a military-led coup brought Musharraf to power. They have protested his decision to seek another term from the current assemblies, which came to office in tainted elections in 2002, and have threatened to quit parliament.
"Instead of finding a legitimate, constitutional way out of a mess of his own making, Musharraf has once again opted for an illegal path to the presidency," the advocacy group Human Rights Watch said Thursday.
It has been a disastrous year all around for Musharraf, with his popularity sinking to record lows.
His problems began in March when he tried to fire the chief justice, a decision that spawned a mass movement by pro-democracy moderates. In July, his decision to raid the hard-line Red Mosque in Islamabad mobilized a different segment of Pakistani society -- extremists who align themselves with al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Bin Laden focused in the tape on the Red Mosque raid, saying it "demonstrated Musharraf's insistence on continuing his loyalty, submissiveness and aid to America against the Muslims." The tape -- in which bin Laden's voice could be heard over previously released footage of himself and other terrorist leaders -- was translated by the SITE Institute, a Washington-based nonprofit group that studies terrorist organizations.
The tape was welcomed in Pakistan on Thursday by one leader of a far-right religious party. "Certainly, the Osama appeal will have a positive impact and may hasten the process of overthrowing the Musharraf regime," said Siraj-ul-Haq. "It will not fall on deaf ears."
But Iqbal Tajik, a political science professor at Peshawar University, said Pakistanis have ignored similar statements from al-Qaeda in the past.
"The Pakistani people have been facing many problems, like price hiking, unemployment, lack of health and education facilities and, more importantly, the lack of a genuine democracy," Tajik said. "These are the issues which could determine the fate of President Musharraf, not an appeal by an Arab billionaire."
Staff writer Joby Warrick in Washington and special correspondent Imtiaz Ali in Peshawar contributed to this report.
