Musharraf suffers another setback
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistan's Supreme Court on Friday ordered the release on bail of a senior opposition leader who was sentenced to 23 years in prison for trying to incite an army mutiny, a defense lawyer and officials said.
The decision to free Javed Hashmi, a close ally of exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, will bolster political opposition to President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who plans to seek a new presidential term from lawmakers this fall.
The military leader has been weakened by his failed attempt to oust the country's chief justice and also faces a tide of Islamic militant violence and U.S. demands for tougher action against al-Qaida.
The violence in remote northwestern Pakistan continued Friday, with least four Islamic militants were killed in a shootout after ambushing a military convoy. The fighting in the village of Asad Khel, 30 miles south of Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan, erupted after a roadside bomb went off as the convoy approached, a security official said.
Pakistan is a key ally of the United States and it has deployed about 90,000 soldiers in its tribal regions since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to flush out remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaida.
Hashmi was sentenced in 2004 to 23 years in prison for circulating a letter from some soldiers criticizing Musharraf, but rights and opposition groups alleged the accusations were politically motivated.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, who was suspended by Musharraf in March but cleared of charges of misconduct last month, headed the three-judge panel that ordered Hashmi's release on bail.
Hashmi's lawyers sought a review of the case from the Supreme Court, where Chaudhry and two other judges agreed Friday to release him pending the review on bail.
Raja Zafarul Haq, the chairman of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N party, welcomed the court ruling, which could further encourage Sharif -- the elected leader ousted by Musharraf in the 1999 coup -- to attempt a return to Pakistan from exile in Saudi Arabia.
More than two dozen jubilant members of Sharif's party gathered outside the Supreme Court building on Friday, shouting support for the exiled leader and demanding, "Go Musharraf, Go!" More supporters went to Kotlakhpat prison, hoping to greet Hashmi on his release, but due to paperwork it appeared he would not be freed before Saturday.
Sharif and his brother, Shahbaz Sharif, appealed Thursday to the Supreme Court to be allowed to return to contest parliamentary elections due later this year.
Sharif, who went into exile under a reported deal with Musharraf to stay out of Pakistan for 10 years, made Hashmi the acting leader of his party. Sharif has denied making any deal.
Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed welcomed the order for Hashmi's release, but said it did not mean Sharif could come back.
"I am happy to hear of his release and it's good to see that Pakistani politics is now headed in the right direction," Ahmed told ARY TV.
He said Sharif's return "is a different issue. His cases are different and he cannot return for another three years at least."
Friday's ruling comes at a time of political ferment in Pakistan, with speculation growing of a power-sharing deal between a weakened Musharraf and another exiled former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.