WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Pakistan president’s no show at an Afghan Jirga is seen by an expert as arising both from problems at home and being upset with his Afghan counterpart.
Pervez Musharraf, facing growing violence at home and mounting pressure from outside to deal more aggressively with a resurgent Taliban and al-Qaida, decided not to attend the tribal meeting, sending instead his prime minister.
Husain Haqqani, former Pakistani diplomat and now at Boston University, told the Voice of America: “(Musharraf) is in a very weak position at the moment. And at this moment, he's also upset with the United States and with President Karzai of Afghanistan on statements that basically question his commitment to the war against terrorism. So it's probably a combination of these factors.”
The jirga of tribal leaders from Afghanistan and Pakistan in Kabul has been called to deal with extremist violence along Pakistan-Afghan borders and was to have been opened by Karzai and Musharraf, VOA said.
Separately, there are reports Musharraf may consider imposing emergency rule in Pakistan to tackle current crisis.
