June 12, 2007	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 26, 1428

ISLAMABAD, June 11: The Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) on Monday sent a letter to foreign diplomats based in Islamabad, drawing their attention to the government’s plan of getting Gen Pervez Musharraf re-elected in uniform for another five-year term and asking them to put pressure on him to quit his army post.

The letter has been written by ARD’s deputy information secretary Munir Ahmed Khan, and has been sent to ambassadors, high commissioners and other diplomats of the US, UK, Spain, France, Italy, Japan, Germany, Denmark, Commonwealth states and other countries.

The ARD has been sending such letters to diplomats for the past four years and the last letter was sent on May 25, drawing their attention to the May 12 killings in Karachi.

The latest letter said that President Gen Pervez Musharraf, who was expected to shed his uniform to ensure fair and free elections, had recently expressed desire for re-election once again in uniform.

“This act of Gen Musharraf has put the whole exercise of the election into doubt and all the claims of holding fair and free elections have once again become false,” he wrote.

The letter said: “The international community, which has been supporting the present regime as an ally to fight terrorism must wake up to the situation to stop the regime from perpetuating dictatorship in the country.

“The political parties of Pakistan strongly feel that democracy in Pakistan has last hope in the next elections and if this opportunity is lost, the country will be away from democracy and stability for many years.”

The letter requested the international community to put more moral and other pressures on the Pakistan government for the restoration of the chief justice, freedom of media, release of political workers, return of former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif and stopping Gen Musharraf from medalling in political affairs. It also drew the attention of the diplomats to arrests of hundreds of political workers which, it said, were tantamount to pre-poll rigging.