Embassy Row

Alarm in Pakistan

The United States must stop placing all of its hopes on President Pervez Musharraf to restore order in Pakistan and demand that he reinstate an independent judiciary and ensure free elections next month, according to a popular opposition leader.

The political chaos in Pakistan threatens to increase instability and encourage terrorism, Imran Khan, leader of the Movement for Justice Party told the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

“It’s very important that the people in the U.S. realize that the strategy of backing one man rather than the democratic process is deeply flawed because what is happening now is that General Musharraf’s popularity has plummeted,” Mr. Khan said.

He noted that 75 percent of Pakistanis want Mr. Musharraf to step down. His decline in popular support dropped sharply in March when he fired Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, chief justice of the Supreme Court.

Though Justice Chaudhry was eventually reinstated, he was fired again in November when Mr. Musharraf, then the army chief, imposed emergency rule and fired most of a Supreme Court that was preparing to oust him from power.

Mr. Khan, a former internationally renowned cricket star, compared the Bush administration’s support for Mr. Musharraf to U.S. support for the shah of Iran before the shah was overthrown in the Iranian revolution that brought the current theocracy to power.

The Dec. 27 assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto deepened the crisis, with parliamentary elections now scheduled for Feb. 18.

Mr. Khan expressed worries that the political turmoil, coupled with an increase in terrorism, will undermine U.S. interests in Pakistan, which the White House sees as a crucial ally in the war against Islamic extremists.

“This is a critical juncture … and it’s going to affect both Pakistan and the U.S.,” he said, adding that Pakistan now shares the U.S. concerns over terrorism.

“The way terrorism is spreading today, we Pakistanis for the first time are feeling that it could actually threaten our very existence.”

He noted recent terrorism has included a suicide bombing inside a commando base in Haripur, which was “like a fortress.”

“So there is a great sense of insecurity in the country, and there is a great sense of uncertainty,” he said. “There is a feeling that, for the first time, no one knows where we are headed.”

Diplomatic death

U.S. Embassy officials in Pakistan yesterday found the body of a young American diplomat, who apparently committed suicide in his home in the capital, Islamabad.

Officials identified the victim as Keith Ryan, a 37-year-old attache representing the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“He was found at his home. A bullet in his head,” a political official told the Agence France-Presse in Pakistan. “Apparently, he committed suicide, but we are investigating from all possible angles.”

The embassy, in a statement, said, “Our esteemed colleague, Mr. Keith Ryan, passed away this morning in Islamabad. There will be a full investigation.”

The embassy did not mention a cause of death. Embassy officials and a medical team arrived on the scene before alerting police, an investigator told the AFP.

Mr. Ryan, who had served in Pakistan since November 2002, is survived by his wife and three children. He joined the federal government after graduating from the Boston College Law School in 1996. Earlier, he served as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard and as a Border Patrol agent.

• Call Embassy Row at 202/636-3297, fax 202/832-7278 or e-mail jmorrison@ washingtontimes.com.