Musharraf's Second Term In Doubt

The embattled Musharraf regime in Pakistan seems to be "buckling" under the weight of the growing unrest in the country after the suspension of the top Supreme Court judge, putting in question the General's "ability to win the next presidential election," a US-based think tank has said.

There are "significant doubts" now about President Pervez Musharraf's ability to secure a second term in the presidential election due in the second half of September, said the online news intelligence portal Stratfor.

Referring to the president's dressing down his team for not standing up for him in the ongoing domestic crisis, the Texas-based think tank said, "These comments.....show that the Musharraf regime is buckling under the weight of the crisis, which has created serious fissures within the civilian side of the hybrid Musharrafian political system."

"Infighting among his allies upon whom he depends to secure a second presidential term and the rapidly intensifying unrest in the country raise serious doubts about Musharraf's ability to win the next presidential election," the 'Daily Times' of Pakistan reported Stratfor as saying in its commentary.

"If the president cannot win re-election, he could try to impose an emergency rule of sorts, but that would only exacerbate matters," the online news intelligence portal said.

Sketching a post-Musharraf scenario, Stratfor says, "The military is unlikely to continue to directly run the country." "Moreover, because of the assertiveness of the judiciary and the media, and an increasingly vibrant civil society, the military will have to give the civilian setup more freedom than it did in 1988, when military rule came to an end after military-chief-cum-president Zia-ul-Haq died in a mysterious plane crash," it said.

From: Times Now

Police confirm Woolmer not murdered

Jamaica police have confirmed that Bob Woolmer died of natural causes and was not murdered.

As expected, police commissioner Lucius Thomas read out a statement confirming that three independent reviews of the post mortem and pathology reports had all rejected the original findings of Dr Ere Seshaiah, which had led to the launch of a murder investigation.

"The JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force) accepts these findings," he said, "and has now closed its investigation into the death of Mr Bob Woolmer."

Foreign pathologists "concur with the view that Mr Woolmer died of natural causes", he said, while in further toxicology tests, "no substance was found to indicate that Bob Woolmer was poisoned."

Mark Shields, the deputy police commissioner who led the case, said: "We have conducted a thorough, professional examination. We had to conduct an investigation. There is no alternative. Our job is to keep an open mind. We said from the very beginning that we would keep an open mind. Ultimately, of course, it will be a decision for the coroner."

The JCF will now submit a report to the coroner to gain an official ruling that his death was of heart failure and not "manual strangulation" as the original autopsy suggested.

Commenting on allegations of match-fixing, Thomas added that "neither the ICC nor the JCF have found any evidence of any impropriety by players, match officials nor management during the investigation of Mr Bob Woolmer's death."

Thomas thanked the Pakistan players for their assistance. "The whole team were treated with respect throughout the investigation and it is to their credit that we were able to fulfil all of our investigations. I would like to thank the other teams for the support they gave."

And he offered his condolences to the family. "My hope is that despite the trauma of the last two and half months, Mrs Woolmer and her sons will be confident that the JCF has done all it can to establish the truth surrounding the death of her husband ... and she may be able to find some closure."

Gill Woolmer released this statement: "My sons and I are relieved to be officially informed that Bob died of natural causes. We realise that this investigation has been problematical given the circumstances and the media spotlight. We hope this matter will now be closed and that our family will be left to grieve in peace."

The fallout from the embarrassing about-turn by police, however, will rumble on. Already, Shields and Reneto Adams, the senior superintendent, have crossed swords.

Adams called for Shields to resign on national TV last week, but Shields fired back demanding that Adams step down for his part in other cases. The pair are old adversaries, stemming from Shields's investigation into a bungled police raid spearheaded by Adams.

From: CricInfo