ISLAMABAD -Pakistan's ruling coalition said yesterday the army would not intervene to support embattled president Pervez Musharraf, whom the government says it will impeach for years of alleged misrule.
Musharraf has been at the centre of a political crisis since early last year. The threat to his presidency has raised fears among the US and its allies for the stability of the nuclear-armed Muslim country, which is also a hiding place for al-Qaeda leaders.
Speculation has been rife that former army chief Musharraf, a firm US ally, would quit, though his spokesman has said the ex-commando will not stand down.
The prospect of a showdown between the government and the president is unnerving investors, with the rupee setting a new low for the second consecutive day.
A key question is how the army, which has ruled for more than half the 61 years since the country's creation, will react. But coalition leaders said the army and its main security agency would not intervene to back up their old boss.
"I am sure the ISI is not involved in politics nor will it ," said Asif Ali Zardari, widower of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, referring to the military's Inter-Services Intelligence agency.
Zardari, whose party leads the coalition, told Geo Television in an interview: "The army is my army . . . I think the army is not involved ." Zardari's coalition government said last week it would impeach Musharraf for plunging Pakistan into a political and economic mess during his nearly nine-year rule.
The army is led by Gen Ashfaq Kayani, chosen by Musharraf to take over when he gave up command last year. Kayani has not commented but a newspaper reported him as telling Musharraf he did not want to get dragged in to the controversy.
Prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani told reporters: "I assure you that Gen Kayani is highly professional and he is pro-democracy."
Meanwhile, 13 people were killed and 10 wounded yesterday in a bomb attack, claimed by the Taliban, on an air force bus in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, police said.
Pakistani Taliban said the blast, the latest in a series of attacks on security forces over the past year, was in response to military operations against al-Qaeda and Taliban militants. The attack followed days of fighting, including air strikes, between militants and security forces in the Bajaur region, a militant hot spot north of Peshawar. About 150 militants, including a senior al-Qaeda member, have been killed.
"We warned that if they didn't stop killing our people . . . we would strike back and we did," Taliban spokesman Maulvi Omar said by telephone from an undisclosed location. "We will continue such attacks until they stop military operations against our people."
The blast took place on the outskirts of Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier Province, when the bus drove over a bridge. A Reuters reporter said the bus had burnt through and a hole had been blasted in the bridge.
Provincial police chief Malik Naveed Khan said the dead included five air force personnel and eight civilians.
Since July last year, Pakistan has suffered a wave of militant violence in which hundreds of people have been killed, including many members of the security forces.
Violence subsided after a coalition government led by the party of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was formed following February elections and opened negotiations with militants through intermediaries.
But the lull ended and militants stepped up attacks after their top leader, Baitullah Mehsud, suspended talks in June. -(Reuters)