Musharraf mulls state of emergency in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan's embattled President Pervez Musharraf is considering imposing a state of emergency in the country due to "external and internal threats", a government spokesman said early Thursday.

Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azeem told AFP the possibility of the imposition of emergency rule had been discussed but he added: "I cannot confirm whether a decision has been taken or not."

He said Pakistan was facing "external and internal threats" and the possibility of a state of emergency could not be ruled out.

Azeem was speaking just hours after Musharraf -- who is battling an upsurge in militant violence -- pulled out of a major tribal council in Afghanistan aimed at ending Taliban and Al-Qaeda-sponsored terrorism.

Musharraf told Afghan President Hamid Karzai he could not attend due to "engagements in the capital," opting to send Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in his place.

"People are seriously worried about external threats to Pakistan," Azeem said, adding that lawmakers had termed the situation "a very serious matter" during a debate in parliament.

He cited violent unrest in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan and recent threats by some US officials of possible unilateral strikes on supposed Al-Qaeda safe havens on Pakistani soil.

Musharraf has been under intensifying pressure to tackle militancy in the tribal regions, and has been angered by accusations from Washington that Pakistan has become a safe haven for Al-Qaeda and a regrouped Taliban.

Azeem said the security situation was deteriorating in North West Frontier Province -- ruled by an alliance of Islamic parties -- and that military operations in the border areas were resulting in "loss of precious lives".

"Keeping in mind the prevailing situation, one cannot rule out the possibility that the provision of the constitution relating to imposition of emergency be issued," the minister said.

A declaration of state of emergency would mean the suspension of fundamental rights stipulated in the constitution, legal sources said.

The rumblings about a state of emergency come as the country's top judge Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is due to hear a petition from exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, an arch-rival of Musharraf, for his return to Pakistan.

Last month, the Supreme Court overturned Musharraf's suspension of Chaudhry, in a major political blow to the military ruler.