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Vote Leaves Musharraf Few Options
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A spokesman for Musharraf told the Associated Press that the president has no intention of resigning and would fight the impeachment charges. The spokesman called international news media reports of Musharraf's potential resignation "baseless."
Despite the denial, a senior Pakistani official said that talks between representatives of Musharraf and the government were underway but currently stalled over Musharraf's demand for complete indemnity from future civil or criminal prosecution.
The official said the government had rejected Musharraf's insistence on a written agreement, drafted by his own lawyer, signed by Sharif and Zardari and guaranteed by at least two unnamed other governments determined to be "friends" of Pakistan. The government, the official said, has said that it will draft the agreement, that no foreigners can be involved and that indemnity will cover only constitutional issues, including Article 6, which says that anyone who abrogates or subverts the constitution shall be "guilty of high treason," punishable by the death penalty. The article was written to apply to a takeover by the military.
Naseem Zehra, a leading Pakistani political and defense analyst, said that Musharraf will probably fight hard to remain in Pakistan, but that if he stays, "he will remain the center of a lot of political attention, a lot of anger, a lot of resentment and possibly even some revenge."
"Obviously, his staying here would be risky," she added. "If he stays, it won't be the life of a normal citizen."
The Bush administration became a vocal backer of Musharraf's government when he declared allegiance to Washington after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and gave the United States unprecedented access to Pakistani territory. Hundreds of al-Qaeda operatives have been captured since then.
But more recently, the U.S. military has worked to broaden its ties with the Pakistani army and its new leaders. President Bush's senior national security advisers have agreed that the White House should exert no further effort on Musharraf's behalf, although the president himself has remained silent on the issue.
Staff writer Karen DeYoung in Washington contributed to this report.
