SoS Clinton Calls President, Opposition Leader as Pakistan Simmers

[tekisui]

Source: AP

ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is urging calm as Pakistan sits on the edge of political crisis.

Officials say Clinton spoke with opposition leader Nawaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari. A Sharif spokesman says she "urged a settlement through negotiations."

Lawyers and supporters of Sharif are planning to converge on Islamabad for a mass sit-in in front of Parliament. Pakistan's government has put the army on alert, arguing the protest will paralyze the administration and present a target for terrorists.

Protesters are vowing to defy the crackdown.

Pakistan's lawyers are mobilizing against Zardari's refusal to reinstate a group of judges fired by former military leader Pervez Musharraf. Sharif threw his weight behind the protest when the Supreme Court banned him and his brother from elected office.

http://www.wtte28.com/template/inews_wire/wires.international/36b3df57-www.wtte28.com.shtml

[joeybee12]

1. Ah yes, another country where Bush essentially ignored what was going on...

...and now the grown-ups have to clean up the mess again