Musharraf Maintains Pakistan is on Course for March Poll

Pervez Musharraf today pledged to hold free and fair elections in Pakistan next month as part of his plan to restore stability after a year of political turmoil.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the Pakistani president said his government also planned to sustain strong economic growth and "carry on the fight against terrorism and extremism".

But the human rights group Amnesty International warned that Pakistan was on the brink of a "political catastrophe" because of the worsening human rights situation.

"In recent months thousands of people have been detained without trial - lawyers, journalists and human rights activists among them," said Kate Allen, Amnesty's UK director. "Torture and ill-treatment remains commonplace.

"The judiciary system has been seriously undermined. Against this backdrop, how can Pakistan have free and fair elections?"

The Pakistani leader has been touring Europe to allay fears that the nuclear-armed country was sliding into political disorder. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, he dismissed the recent upheaval as minor irritations.

"Please differentiate Pakistan from banana republics, where a lowly colonel can take over the estate. These things don't happen in Pakistan," he told the Journal.

Even as Musharraf is trying to dispel western fears about Pakistan, he is coming under increasing pressure at home. An influential group of retired officers this week called on Musharraf to step down immediately to promote democracy, combat religious militancy and restore the reputation of Pakistan's military.

The Pakistan Ex-Servicemen's Society made its demands late on Tuesday, two days after Musharraf left for his eight-day European tour.

"This is in the supreme national interest and it makes it incumbent on him to step down," said a statement released after a meeting in Rawalpindi of the 100 retired officers, including two dozen army generals, three air marshals and eight admirals.

Pakistan has been in the grip of unrest since Musharraf suspended the country's top supreme court judge in March, and the military faces a growing insurgency in its mountainous border with Afghanistan.

Fears for Pakistan's instability intensified when the opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated last month in Rawalpindi, Pakistan's military garrison town, ahead of parliamentary elections that had been scheduled for early this month.

Many blamed the government for contributing to her death by failing to provide her with adequate security. The elections have been rescheduled for February 18. Musharraf has pledged to work with whoever wins the next month's elections, including Nawaz Sharif, who was overthrown by Musharraf eight years ago.

Sharif, a former prime minister who returned from exile in November, today accused Musharraf of failing to bring peace in the tribal regions.

"The problem in the tribal regions will not be solved through the use of bullets, guns and gunship helicopters, but we need to win the hearts and minds of people there," Sharif told reporters in Peshawar, the capital of neighboring North West Frontier province.

"Musharraf is not able to solve these problems. Musharraf himself is the root of the problems," he said.

In the latest violence in the border region, Pakistani troops backed by helicopters and artillery attacked suspected militant hideouts, killing 40 rebels and arresting 30, the army said.

At least eight soldiers also died. The fighting took place in South Waziristan, a militant stronghold where the rebel leader, Baitullah Mehsud, accused by the CIA and Pakistan's government of masterminding last month's assassination of Bhutto, is believed to be hiding.