Judges, militants bring out authoritarian in Musharraf

By Simon Cameron-Moore

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.