Pervez Musharraf

ISLAMABAD -- Mired deep in domestic and regional troubles, Pakistan confronted agonizing and difficult choices between siding with the United States in its war against international terrorism and the Taliban regime next door that it had supported for years. Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, did not hesitate in telling President George W. Bush he stood with America. The decision opened up some opportunities for Musharraf and his the country, but it has also invited lots of risks and dangers to the stability of the country and his regime.

The search for Osama bin Laden lasted more than 10 years, through three U.S. presidencies. Under President Bill Clinton in the mid-1990s, our intelligence agencies began their relentless pursuit of bin Laden. The death of almost 3,000 innocent men, women and children on Sept. 11, 2001, intensified that search. And building upon that effort, last week a team of superbly trained and equipped U.S. Navy SEALs executed a jaw-dropping raid into Pakistan that resulted in bin Laden's death.

The attack: Former Pakistani prime minister and current opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was struck down 12 days before parliamentary elections as an unknown gunman opened fire and then blew himself up, killing 20 other people. The aftermath: Enraged crowds rioted across Pakistan. President Pervez Musharraf (left) reportedly weighed canceling the election as another opposition leader announced a boycott of the poll. PG 6A

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- President Pervez Musharraf expressed determination yesterday to restore law and order after the country was racked by a third day of riots and looting that have killed nearly 50 people since the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Officials said at least 44 people have been killed in unrest that broke out Thursday night after the former prime minister was killed as she left a campaign rally. Much of the unrest has been concentrated in and around Karachi, the southern port city that was Bhutto's home base.

April 4, 1979: Benazir Bhutto's father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, is executed for the murder of a political opponent, two years after his ouster as prime minister in a military coup. April 10, 1986: Benazir Bhutto returns from exile in London to lead the Pakistan People's Party, founded by her father. Dec. 1, 1988: Bhutto, age 35, wins parliamentary elections to become the first female prime minister of a Muslim nation. Aug. 6, 1990: President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismisses Bhutto's government, citing corruption and a failure to control ethnic violence.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- President Pervez Musharraf expressed determination yesterday to restore law and order after the country was racked by a third day of riots and looting that have killed nearly 50 people since the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Officials said at least 44 people have been killed in unrest that broke out Thursday night after the former prime minister was killed as she left a campaign rally. Much of the unrest has been concentrated in and around Karachi, the southern port city that was Bhutto's home base.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The authorities in Pakistan have detained two former members of the country's intelligence service in the hope that they can provide information about the kidnapping of American journalist Daniel Pearl, Pakistani officials said yesterday. The action represents an unusual assault on the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, the powerful and semiautonomous military institution whose ties to Islamic militants have been a problem and an embarrassment for the current and previous governments of Pakistan.

Eight years after Pervez Musharraf came to power in a coup, Pakistan is undergoing a widening spurt of violence, dramatically underscored by the bomb attack Thursday on the convoy of Benazir Bhutto hours after the former prime minister returned from exile. Mr. Musharraf's control of the country is slipping, with al-Qaida and its allies demanding an Islamist state while millions of urban dwellers have been agitating for a return to secular democracy. Under pressure at home and abroad, Mr. Musharraf has been tentatively opening the door to the former civilian leadership.

When President Bush invited Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, to Camp David on Tuesday and gave him the promise of $3 billion in military and economic aid over the next five years, many Pakistanis were pleased. But not all. The aid was widely seen as a reward to Musharraf for putting his country in the U.S. camp, which he accomplished by withdrawing Pakistan's support for the Taliban in Afghanistan and joining America's campaign against al-Qaida and its Taliban allies. Some Islamic parties in Pakistan are deeply angry with Musharraf for striking such an alliance with the United States.

IF PAKISTAN were playing Monopoly, it would seem to have its very own stack of "Get out of jail free" cards - all handed out by Washington. Given to forestall the rise of radical Islam in Pakistan, the free passes directly conflict with the Bush administration's fight against nuclear proliferation and the president's rhetoric on fostering democracy around the globe. They're a very risky outcome of U.S. realpolitik. Fifteen years ago, the United States blocked the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Islamabad because it had developed nuclear weapons.

April 4, 1979: Benazir Bhutto's father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, is executed for the murder of a political opponent, two years after his ouster as prime minister in a military coup. April 10, 1986: Benazir Bhutto returns from exile in London to lead the Pakistan People's Party, founded by her father. Dec. 1, 1988: Bhutto, age 35, wins parliamentary elections to become the first female prime minister of a Muslim nation. Aug. 6, 1990: President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismisses Bhutto's government, citing corruption and a failure to control ethnic violence.

The attack: Former Pakistani prime minister and current opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was struck down 12 days before parliamentary elections as an unknown gunman opened fire and then blew himself up, killing 20 other people. The aftermath: Enraged crowds rioted across Pakistan. President Pervez Musharraf (left) reportedly weighed canceling the election as another opposition leader announced a boycott of the poll. PG 6A

LAHORE, Pakistan -- Leaders of this country's fractured political opposition began taking the first steps yesterday toward uniting against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who is facing widespread dissent after more than a week of emergency rule. But the difficulties of overcoming internal divisions and the rigors of de facto martial law were quickly made clear during the arrest of one of Pakistan's most famous public figures, cricketer-turned-opposition politician Imran Khan, at an anti-Musharraf student rally here that broke into factional fighting.

Eight years after Pervez Musharraf came to power in a coup, Pakistan is undergoing a widening spurt of violence, dramatically underscored by the bomb attack Thursday on the convoy of Benazir Bhutto hours after the former prime minister returned from exile. Mr. Musharraf's control of the country is slipping, with al-Qaida and its allies demanding an Islamist state while millions of urban dwellers have been agitating for a return to secular democracy. Under pressure at home and abroad, Mr. Musharraf has been tentatively opening the door to the former civilian leadership.

MARYLAND The rise of Frankenfish There's scarcely a ripple on the tiny pond tucked behind the strip mall on Route 3 in Crofton. People do their banking, mail their letters and buy their coffee just steps from where, five years ago today, the saga of Maryland's nastiest fish - the northern snakehead - surfaced on the end of a fishing line. pg 1B Going after the hoons Australia is cracking down on hoons. No, not hons. They come from Baltimore, and they're very sweet. We're talking about hoons.

IF PAKISTAN were playing Monopoly, it would seem to have its very own stack of "Get out of jail free" cards - all handed out by Washington. Given to forestall the rise of radical Islam in Pakistan, the free passes directly conflict with the Bush administration's fight against nuclear proliferation and the president's rhetoric on fostering democracy around the globe. They're a very risky outcome of U.S. realpolitik. Fifteen years ago, the United States blocked the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Islamabad because it had developed nuclear weapons.

WASHINGTON -- Opting for cautious dialogue with Pakistan instead of a public snub, President Clinton will stop briefly in Islamabad this month during a trip through South Asia, administration officials said yesterday. The decision comes after months of debate within the administration over whether to reward Pakistan's military-led government with a presidential visit. The current leader, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, overthrew the country's elected regime last fall and so far has refused to set a timetable for returning to democracy.

INDIA AND PAKISTAN last met to discuss their dispute over Kashmir in July of last year -- talks that ended badly with claims that Indian hard-liners had scuttled any formal agreement. Now both nations must be brought back into sustained negotiations, and this can only happen with more pressure on both sides from the United States. The stakes cannot be overstated -- for the United States, which has short-term interests in rooting out Islamic terrorists in Pakistan, and even more critically for all nations interested in lowering the very real potential for the world's first nuclear war. Despite U.S. efforts since Sept.

WASHINGTON - In his second term, which begins this noon, George W. Bush is aiming high. His inaugural address will call for reshaping the country's retirement system and simplifying the tax code. He stands to put his conservative imprint on the nation's highest court, perhaps several times. And he's determined to build a durable Republican majority, one that could dominate American politics for decades and might lead to a third Bush White House. But this ambitious agenda is unlikely to define his presidency.

President Bush doesn't get much praise in this space. He hardly gets any at all, actually. But last week, the president indulged in a single, simple gesture that made me proud, for it symbolized what real democracy is about. The president picked up the telephone and called Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts to congratulate him on his effective victory as the Democratic Party's nominee for president - that is, for the right to run against Bush in this year's election. American freedom and liberty are much bally-hooed in support of many causes, from war to religion and many other enterprises, some decent, some not. Often the rallying call is misused, abused even.