Dr Abdul Wahid Soomro (MNA Pakistan Peoples Party)

ISLAMABAD: Eleven years after the fateful night that put an end to his military career, General (retd) Ziauddin Butt disclosed that General (retd) Pervez Musharraf had plans to topple the elected government since his inception as Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) in 1998. 

“I do know personally that he had some such plans since October 1998 when he assumed the office of the COAS,” said General (retired) Ziauddin in an exclusive but informal chat with Dawn at his residence in Lahore. 

General Ziauddin was “appointed” army chief by then prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif on October 12, 1999, which triggered the series of events that led to the military coup later that night. The night proved to be no less tumultuous for Ziauddin; stripped of his military rank, he was kept in solitary confinement for two years at the headquarters of the 111 Brigade. 

In perhaps what is his first extensive interaction with the media, the military officer claimed that Musharraf was a “friend of mine”. 

At the same time, when pressed to talk further about the “plans” to carry out a coup, which dated back to 1998, the general refused to reveal anything else. He did, however, claim that the plan to topple the elected government was not a secret in the days leading up to October 12. “We were aware that General Musharraf and his cronies would take over.” 

LAHORE: The Punjab law minister has accused the federal law minister of hatching a conspiracy to divide the bench and the bar and said that evidence to this effect has been put before the judiciary as well as the lawyers’ leadership.“We’ve got evidence that Babar Awan and some black sheep among the legal community are intriguing to worsen the issue of Lahore district and sessions judge’s transfer and the same has been shared with the leadership of the judiciary and the bar,” Rana Sanaullah Khan told the members of the Punjab Assembly’s Press Gallery Committee here on Monday.
He told a questioner that action against Awan would be taken in accordance with the consensus between the leadership of the bench and the bar on the issue.
He said the provincial government acted against the lawyers as the courtroom of high court’s chief justice had never been besieged and attacked by the legal community in the 60-year history of the country. He alleged that those who laid a siege to the LHC chief justice’s courtroom had the backing of Awan.
He appealed to former attorney-general Latif Khan Khosa and officials of the Punjab Bar Council and Lahore Bar Association to come forward and play their role in resolving the issue .