CAIRO: President Pervez Musharraf announced his resignation after Pakistan's new coalition government accused him of impeding economic development and democracy. In a live televised hour long speech, he vowed to leave office while assuring that the accusations will not hold as steps were taken to impeach him. News of Musharraf's resignation resulted in a 4 percent hike in Pakistani stocks, which comes as a respite after Musharraf's economic policies suffered from global increases in energy and food costs. Reports on the Washington Post spoke of celebrations by jubilant coalition government supporters in Islamabad, as Musharraf was promised a safe passage out of Pakistan and immunity from prosecution. US officials exhibited no interest in offering Musharraf asylum even as they were involved with Saudi Arabian and British official's efforts to break the political deadlock in Pakistan, according to a BBC report. The move brings to an end an era marked by close ties between the US's Bush and the Musharraf administrations since Musharraf have taken over following a 1999 coup. Ironically Nawaz Sharif, the leader removed by Musharraf's coup was the one spearheading his removal from office as his political party (Pakistan Muslim League) formed a coalition with other opposition parties after the loss of Musharraf's allies in recent elections. Despite being plagued with a fight against Islamist militants and a constant state of political instability, the democratic process has endured even with this nuclear power's history of military coups and regional conflicts. Diaa Rashwan, an expert on Islamist Movements at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told Daily News Egypt that when Musharraf was in power, his pro-American agenda limited his ability to negotiate directly with extremists. This was coupled by a passive support in giving the militants the relative freedom of movement across the border to Afghanistan, as well as keeping safe havens in tribal areas near the border as a way to appease them. Rashwan also pointed out that the new government has negotiated directly with the militants, resulting in a ceasefire with the Pakistani Taliban while resuming air strikes against Al Qaeda operatives and succeeding in eliminating some high raking members in the last couple of months. He added that the new Pakistani government will eventually try to reach a compromise with the more popular, deeply-rooted Taliban but all the while showing the world that it is hard on terrorism by targeting the foreign commanders of Al-Qaeda.
