Bugti's Murder: Has Musharraf lost control of his Army?
Dated 31/8/2006
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Sources report that the location of Nawab Bugti was known to the Pakistani regime for over three months, and that General Musharraf had issued specific orders to not ambush Nawab Bugti.
Intelligence dispatches to General Musharraf kept him informed of all developments, including Bugti's serious illness two months ago. It appears that General Musharraf had ordered the military to isolate the Nawab and he had directed that he didn't want Bugti to be turned into a martyr.
Therefore the ambush and assassination of Nawab Bugti not only comes as a surprise to the Army top brass, but also is said to be a direct violation of Musharraf's orders.
Musharraf's control over the Pakistan Army has considerably weakened after 2001, especially due to the perceived closeness to the United States, u-turn on support to Taliban and the reducing of Jihad in Kashmir.
The Bugti murder looks like the shot in the arm the Pakistani opposition needed to get united and with the Army openly defiant of Musharraf's orders, Musharraf's only source of support in the United States - which itself is growing impatient with Musharraf's inability to neutralize the Taliban operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Recently American think-tank 'Stratfor' (Strategic Forecast) had mulled the possibility of Musharraf's Assassination and Future American Policy in Pakistan. Another publication 'Armed Forces Journal', which is said to be close to the Pentagon, had come out with a futuristic prediction of the Greater Middle East, in which Pakistan was reduced to Punjab and Sindh, while NWFP was absorbed by Afghanistan and Balochistan was to become a free country.