MGPK01: SITREP 20, AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD: BHUTTO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 004837 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/14/2017 TAGS: PGOV PK AEMR AMGT CASC KFLO PREL PINR SUBJECT: MGPK01: SITREP 20, AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD: BHUTTO REACHES OUT TO OPPOSITION LEADERS REF: ISLAMABAD 4824 Classified By: Anne W. Patterson, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) Summary: The Pakistan People's Party "long march" continued November 14, but with much reduced numbers, resulting from hundreds of arrests. Bhutto remains under house arrest in Lahore but is busy contacting opposition party colleagues. Additional religious and nationalist party leaders have been arrested and transferred to prisons. Post's request for access to lawyers' movement leader Aitzaz Ahsan was verbally denied November 13, but Ahsan's daughter reports that he is physically fine. The GOP has moved to control the sale of satellite dishes; it also took Sky News and Fox back off the air. Mission operations continued normally. End summary. ¶2. (C) The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) "long march" continued November 14 from Lahore en route to Islamabad. According to Post contacts, yesterday's crowd out of Lahore was estimated only at 350 people; today's crowd has further shrunk to 200. ¶3. (U) PPP leader Benazir Bhutto remained in Lahore under house arrest; CG Lahore reports several thousand police occupy the neighborhood. She denied any hope of reconciliation with President Musharraf until the state of emergency is lifted. She reportedly spoke by phone late November 13 with the other former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Bhutto has also spoken to Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) leader Qazi Hussain Ahmad and Awami National Party (ANP) president Asfandyar Wali Khan. These parties have reportedly agreed to cooperate against the state of emergency, but they have not decided on specific events or dates. ¶4. (U) Despite Bhutto's presence, Lahore remains calm. Student action against the state of emergency at Lahore University of Management Sciences and at Punjab University has occurred without incident. However, the GOP continued late November 13 to arrest hundreds from the PPP leadership, particularly in Lahore and throughout Punjab province. ¶5. (U) PPP continues to stage small rallies throughout Karachi in protest of Bhutto's house arrest. Police baton charged a November 13 rally at the Karachi Press Club by the PPP Women's Wing. Police also baton charged PPP protesters in Larkhana, the Bhutto ancestral home, which resulted in arrests. ¶6. (U) JI number two Liaqat Baloch was arrested late November 13; previously, he had only been detained under house arrest. Baloch was transported to Adiala Prison in Rawalpindi. The detention order is for 30 days. ¶7. (U) The November 13 ANP protest in Peshawar was baton charged and tear gassed by police. Frontier Province ANP leader Afrasiab Khattack was arrested along with a dozen other ANP workers. An indefinite curfew has been issued for Swat and Malakand. Another ANP rally in Karachi ended in arrests, including ANP Sindh Secretary General Amin Khatak. ¶8. (U) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Imran Khan is reportedly back under arrest. ¶9. (C) Post sent November 13 a diplomatic note to MFA requesting access to Aitzaz Ahsan and Munir Malik, the current and former Supreme Court Bar Association presidents, respectively. The Interior Ministry unofficially informed Post late November 13 that no such access would be granted because relatives had been allowed to visit them. Bushra Aitzaz, Ahsan's wife, confirmed that their daughter had been able to visit once in the last couple of days in order to deliver medicines. He appeared to be physically fine. Bushra Aitzaz plans to be back in the capital o/a November 16 to try to see her husband for the first time since his November 3 arrest. ¶10. (C) Pakistan's reconstituted Supreme Court grew to 11 justices November 13. However, the Court has not yet set a new date to rehear the petitions against Musharraf's October ISLAMABAD 00004837 002 OF 002 6 re-election. ¶11. (U) CNN, BBC, and now Sky News and Fox, as well as the largest local cable news channels remain off the air. The Commerce Ministry issued November 12 a ban on the import of all equipment used for reception, broadcast and distribution of satellite signals. Importers will now need to obtain permission from the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to bring in dishes and related equipment. This measure is in response to increased sales of dishes -- an attempt by Pakistanis to access local, independent news channels, which the GOP has ordered cable operators to block since November 3. PATTERSON