Musharraf amends constitution

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN —  President Pervez Musharraf made last-minute changes to Pakistan’s constitution Friday, shoring up his legal defenses before lifting a 6-week-old state of emergency, Atty. Gen. Malik Mohammed Qayyum said.

The U.S.-backed leader cast Pakistan into turmoil and raised serious doubts over the credibility of next month’s parliamentary elections by imposing a state of emergency Nov. 3. He is expected to lift it and restore the constitution today. But he still faces a barrage of criticism at home and abroad that the Jan. 8 balloting will be flawed.

Musharraf has said he acted because of the threat of Islamic militants and to halt a “conspiracy” by top judges to end his eight-year rule as well as to ward off political chaos.

He has also insisted that the Supreme Court, which had been poised to rule on the legality of his October reelection, was acting beyond the constitution.

But Friday’s move appeared to confirm the opinion of many legal experts that the president’s case had been weak.

Musharraf removed a condition from the charter stating that civil servants had to wait two years after retirement before running for elected office, Qayyum said. Musharraf stepped down from his powerful post of army chief only last month, after being voted to another term as president by lawmakers.

He said other changes sealed the retirement of purged Supreme Court judges, including former Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry. Their replacements ruled Musharraf’s reelection legal.

Musharraf may also lift a ban on anyone serving more than twice as prime minister, Qayyum said. That could ease his relations with opposition leaders and archrivals Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, both two-time former prime ministers.

Bhutto and Sharif have warned of demonstrations if they think the vote has been rigged.

Musharraf and his Western backers say they want the election to produce a stable, moderate government strong enough to stand up to Islamic militancy.

In northwestern Pakistan, a suicide bomber killed at least two soldiers and three civilians today at a checkpoint near the gate of an army school, the army spokesman said. Six people were also wounded in the attack in the town of Nowshehra, about 75 miles northwest of Islamabad, the capital, Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said.

On Monday, a suicide car bomber wounded five children on an air force bus carrying them to school near Kamra, about 30 miles northwest of Islamabad.

Two suicide attackers also hit a military checkpoint in southwestern Pakistan on Thursday, killing 10 people, officials said.