RIYADH, Aug 11: A Saudi analyst said in a newspaper column on Saturday that Pakistan needed President Pervez Musharraf now more than at any other time. “Pakistan needs Musharraf,” wrote Amir Taheri in an opinion piece for the Arab News.

Mr Taheri, an Iran-born journalist, is a former executive editor-in-chief of Kayhan International who now lives in Europe. In several of his writings in the past, Mr Taheri has been critical of Pakistan and its establishment.

In the Arab News column, Mr Tahiri wrote: “A closer look at Pakistan’s complex situation might reveal... not only Musharraf is not on his way out, but looks as if Pakistan might need him more than any other time.’

“And there are several reasons for this,” he argued.

“First, faced with the growing challenge of radical Islamists, the last thing Pakistan needs is a military coup or any other dramatic regime change. Any institutional crisis at the summit of the state would only undermine its legitimacy and thus encourage elements that wish to replace the republic with a Taliban-style ‘Islamic emirate’.

“Second, there is no charismatic figure at the moment to bring the nation’s disparate forces together in a moment of dangerous transition.”

“Finally,” Mr Taheri observed, “Pakistan could ill-afford another military coup. The undoubted successes that Musharraf has achieved in restoring the national economy could be quickly undone as tanks roll in the streets of Islamabad.”