Rifts emerge between Musharraf and allies as rumors of emergency swirl
Opposition leaders say such a move would only deepen the country's political crisis.
Pakistan has been at the center of democratic presidential debates, with Sen. Barack Obama (D) of Illinois creating a stir by saying that, as president, he'd consider unilateral military action inside the country to go after Al Qaeda.
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The country appears to have lost what little control it had over provinces bordering parts of Afghanistan, and now, President Pervez Musharraf is considering a state of emergency that allies say is designed to control terrorism, but critics allege is an attempt to hold on to power.
A close ally of President Musharraf denied rumors that the president, who came to power in a 1999 coup, is planning to impose a state of emergency in the country to deal with a rising spate of attacks by the Taliban and Al Qaeda, Reuters reports.
"There is no possibility of an emergency," Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the president of Pakistan Muslim League [Musharraf's party], told reporters at parliament.
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Private television channels and newspapers had reported that Musharraf was poised to take a step that would probably delay elections due by the turn of the year and could result in restrictions on rights of assembly and place curbs on the media.
Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim Khan said the measure could be warranted by the deteriorating security situation in tribal areas and North West Frontier Province and suggestions by U.S. politicians that America should be prepared to strike inside Pakistani territory if it possessed actionable intelligence on al Qaeda or Taliban targets.
The Guardian newspaper of Britain says the talk over the state of emergency appears to be an effort by the president to head off elections and stay in power.
As speculation swirled about a state of emergency, critics said the security concerns were secondary to Gen. Musharraf's principal concern: maintaining his grip on power against an independent-minded and newly emboldened supreme court.
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But opposition leaders warned that the move would only deepen the country's political crisis. Benazir Bhutto, the exiled opposition leader with whom he recently held power-sharing talks, issued a muted denunciation.
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One western diplomat said Musharraf may try to have emergency rule mandated by a vote of parliament, which was elected in a rigged vote in 2002 and is dominated by his supporters.
The Associated Press reports that there appear to be rifts among the president's allies over the matter, saying that Mr. Azim refused to rule out imposing an emergency. He said that talk among some US presidential hopefuls such as Senator Obama that America should consider unilateral strikes inside Pakistan to go after alleged Al Qaeda members has left the country on edge.
