Pakistan moves tens of thousands of troops to Waziristan tribal lands for major counter-terror offensive

US deputy secretary of state John Negroponte is due in Islamabad later this week as the row over President Pervez Musharraf’s state of emergency escalates.
Musharraf told interviewers Wednesday he had considered resigning but decided he was the man to lead Pakistan to democracy. He insisted that the state of emergency was necessary for a smooth election process early next year. Opposition leaders Benazir Bhutto and Imran Khan threatened to boycott the elections unless emergency rule is lifted. Khan was arrested Wednesday when he came out of hiding and addressed students in Lahore. Bhutto, still held in the Punjabi town under a seven-day detention order, has broken off communication with Musharraf and entered into talks with fellow opposition leaders including heads of the radical Islamist coalition.