September 26, 2006	Tuesday	Ramazan 2, 1427

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WASHINGTON, Sept 25: President Pervez Musharraf’s account of the Oct 12, 1999 coup that removed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif shows that two junior officers played a key role in ensuring its success.

In his book In The Line Of Fire, Gen Musharraf identifies these officers as lieutenant colonels Shahid Ali and Javed Sultan who secured two key installations for the army, the Prime Minister House and the President House.

The book confirms a lot of details given in another book ‘Ghaddar Kaun,’ that gives Mr Sharif’s version of the coup. Interestingly, both Mr Sharif and the president show a lack of trust in Lt Gen Ali Kuli Khan.

The president complains that the then army chief Gen Jehangir Karamat promoted Gen Khan over him although he was not a better officer.

In Mr Sharif’s book, his military secretary Brig Javed Malik says that the former prime minister did not trust Gen Khan because he had advised the army to topple him for forcing Gen Karamat to resign.

The president also talks about a corps commanders meeting where Gen Khan suggested a coup against Mr Sharif but Gen Karamat rejected the proposal.

“I had a small run-in with Ali then, because this was not fair play; it was self-promotion,” the president writes.

He recalls that Gen Karamat’s resignation caused ‘great resentment in the army, as soldiers and officers alike felt humiliated.”

Defending the army’s reaction, the president says: “I know that in western democracies, military personnel on active duty, especially the chiefs, are not supposed to make political statements. But then, in western democracies neither do the heads of government and state perennially drag army chiefs into politics.

“Where such a practice is rampant, an army chief cannot be blamed for getting involved, if he acts sensibly.”

The two books also give similar details about how the former prime minister planned Gen Musharraf’s removal from the army, holding meetings in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Multan and Shujabad.

Both books also say that Mr Sharif made an unscheduled visit to Dubai to finalise the details of the move against Gen Musharraf. Both books also say that the former prime minister had kept his son involved in the planning. In ‘Ghaddar Kaun,’ Hussain Nawaz acknowledges that his father had asked him to write the speech he was to deliver after appointing a new army chief.

Both books also say that the former prime minister consulted his father on matters of state although he was neither a government official nor an elected representative.

The two books also confirm that the Triple One Brigade, which is based near Islamabad, played a key role in this coup as in several previous coups.

Both books show that the troops sent to seize the Prime Minister House scuffled with soldiers already deployed there but the situation was quickly brought under control.

The former prime minister’s military secretary Brig Javed Malik complains that military commandos who supported Gen Musharraf hit him in the stomach with a rifle.

“Ziauddin’s last question was to ask Shahid Ali how many troops were involved in the operation. Shahid Ali bluffed: a battalion-size force had surrounded the Prime Minister House and three more battalions were deployed outside, he said.

“On hearing this, Ziauddin, Akram, and the military secretary looked very nervous and moved into the building immediately.”