Judges, militants bring out authoritarian in Musharraf
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Until this year the greatest threat President Pervez Musharraf faced was from al Qaeda assassins who have tried at least three times to kill him.
Not only did the general, who took power in a 1999 coup, have the army behind him, but his support for the United States since 2001 in the fight against al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban meant he could also count on backing from Washington.
His political opposition was largely toothless, and having taken over a near-bankrupt nuclear-armed state, Musharraf had made businessmen happy by turning the economy around.
But an attempt in March to fire Pakistan's top judge, raising the ire of a previously docile judiciary and prompting sharp media criticism, has caused his popularity to plunge as the end of his first term as president looms in November.
Cries of "Go Musharraf, Go" resounded around Pakistan after lawyers formed a movement to assert judicial independence and have Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry reinstated, which the Supreme Court did in July.
The controversy galvanized opposition parties led by two former prime ministers living in exile, Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, while the United States began talking more strongly about the need for free and fair elections and a return to civilian rule -- while still pressuring Musharraf to boost counter-terrorism efforts and help NATO in Afghanistan.
RETURN OF EXILES
Having overthrown Sharif and co-opted the rump of his party, there was no way Musharraf was going to allow his return, and when Sharif tried to make a comeback in September he was sent back to Saudi Arabia, where he is still is.
Bhutto, however, had engaged Musharraf in negotiations, and as the general's stock fell, her own leverage increased, to the point where he granted her protection from prosecution in old corruption cases to allow her to come back last month.
The suicide attack that greeted Bhutto in Karachi, killing 139 supporters and members of her security team, shocked the country and the world. But members of Musharraf's own intelligence agencies have for months privately voiced fears the country is in danger of becoming like Iraq.
Internal security has deteriorated markedly since July, when commandos stormed Islamabad's Red Mosque to crush a Taliban-style movement that sought to impose Islamic Sharia law.
The same month, a much-criticized ceasefire with militants in Waziristan, a tribal region regarded as a hotbed of al Qaeda and Taliban support, broke down, unleashing a storm of violence.
More than 800 people have been killed in militant-related violence in the last four months, half of them by suicide attackers that have largely targeted security forces.
A proclamation on Saturday cited both the militant threat and troublesome judges to justify invoking emergency powers and suspending the constitution.
Musharraf's move towards authoritarianism has virtually dashed hopes for national elections in January that were supposed to mark a transition to civilian-led democracy and could have led to power-sharing with Bhutto.
Many suspect his motive was to pre-empt a Supreme Court ruling that his October 6 re-election by parliament was invalid because he was still army chief, even though he had promised to quit the army and be sworn in as a civilian leader if elected.
Musharraf has always justified remaining as head of the army by saying he needed to command the fight against terrorism and deliver lasting peace between Pakistan and India, which almost went to war for a fourth time in 2002.
WITHOUT BLINKING
One of Musharraf's favorite films is the Hollywood blockbuster "Gladiator" -- the tale of an honorable Roman general's triumph over the wicked emperor who betrayed him.
Many critics say he suffers from a "savior complex", thinking he is indispensable.
Born in New Delhi in August 1943, Musharraf was four years old when his parents joined the mass exodus by Muslims to the new state of Pakistan when the subcontinent was partitioned after Britain granted independence.
His father served in the foreign ministry, while his mother was a teacher. The family subscribed to the same moderate, tolerant brand of Islam practiced by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan's revered founder and first leader.
Like Jinnah, Musharraf privately enjoyed a drink and kept pet dogs, regardless of stricter Muslims' disapproval.
Musharraf earned his first medal during the 1965 war with India, leaping onto a burning artillery gun to remove shells that would have killed wounded comrades had they burst.
As a commando, he had taught himself to overcome fear by lying close to a railway track to stare at an onrushing train without blinking.
He earned U.S. admiration after narrowly surviving two assassination attempts by al Qaeda in December, 2003.
