ISLAMABAD // Most Pakistanis were too busy contemplating the destruction wrought by recent floods to care that Pervez Musharraf, the former military ruler, has announced his intention to contest the next general election.
Apathy is the least potent of the emotions evoked by Mr Musharraf, who was a Jekyll-and-Hyde authoritarian leader for eight years until resigning in August 2008 to avoid impeachment.
In two of Pakistan's four provinces, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, he would be at severe risk of assassination without the presidential security he enjoyed.
Sparsely populated Balochistan has become an almost no-go zone because of the 2006 killing of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, the province's elder statesman, allegedly on the orders of Mr Musharraf.
Mr Bugti, a former chief minister, had rebelled against military interference in the province's complex tribal political and administrative systems, which date back to British colonial rule.
Mr Musharraf now denies giving the order. However, some say he issued a statement that night, from a hill resort near Islamabad, in which he congratulated the military units that carried out the execution order.
The wave of public disgust provoked by the statement necessitated a hasty retraction the morning after. The reaction in Balochistan has been so severe that military officials privately concede that the government has lost its writ there, and that secession from Pakistan is a realistic, long-term threat.
In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the adjacent federally administered tribal areas, Mr Musharraf is reviled for policies that led to a protracted slaughter of ethnic Pashtuns.
Initially, he provoked dismay by withdrawing Pakistan's support for the Taliban regime in Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks. That is now a fading memory, overwhelmed by his decision to order army commandoes to storm a militant seminary in Islamabad in July 2007. His government said 154 people died, but intelligence sources have said the figure is above 600.
Former ministers from the Musharraf government have since questioned the decision to raid the seminary, saying the militant clerics had hours earlier agreed to surrender.
Pakistanis remember with fury the indiscriminate killing of seminary students, many of them orphans and girls from Swat valley.
Widely perceived as an attempt to prop up his failing administration, the operation sparked the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Swat-based insurgency that by 2009 threatened the survival of the Pakistani state.
While the TTP threat to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has receded, the tribal areas remain virtually ungovernable. Battles between the military and militants, and vengeful terrorist reprisals, continue to claim hundreds of lives every month.
Mr Musharraf is equally disliked across most of central Punjab, Pakistan's economic and political heartland, and the recruiting ground for 90 per cent of military officers.
Mr Musharraf's popularity declined significantly there after he tried in March 2007 to sack the chief justice of the supreme court. A poll published by the International Republican Institute in July 2008, a month before Mr Musharraf resigned, found that 85 per cent of Pakistanis wanted him to step down. He was found to be the country's least popular man.
If Mr Musharraf were to attempt a return to active politics, he would find few allies. The military has spent much of the past two years distancing itself from his rule. The judiciary, led by the chief justice he tried to sack, has declared him an absconding criminal suspect.
A July 2009 ruling by the supreme court declared the coup staged by Mr Musharraf in October 1999 an act of treason. Under backdoor pressure from Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, the army chief, the court stopped short of ordering the government to draw up treason charges.
Many opposition politicians have made clear their intention to file petitions with the supreme court seeking his prosecution for treason should he return. Such charges would carry the possibility of the death penalty.
The Pakistani media, which played a major role in his decline, would swarm like piranhas if he were to return. The politicians Mr Musharraf worked with, and whose support he would seek to enlist to provide an electoral platform, would run for cover, but eagerly watch the spectacle.
thussain@thenational.ae
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
IPL 2018 FINAL
Sunrisers Hyderabad 178-6 (20 ovs)
Chennai Super Kings 181-2 (18.3 ovs)
Chennai win by eight wickets
RACE CARD
6.30pm: Madjani Stakes Group 2 (PA) Dh97,500 (Dirt) 1,900m
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,400m
7.40pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 2,200m
8.50pm: Dubai Creek Mile Listed (TB) Dh132,500 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Conditions (TB) Dh120,000 (D) 1,900m
10pm: Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (D) 1,400m
Diriyah%20project%20at%20a%20glance
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MATCH INFO
Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Son 1', Kane 8' & 16') West Ham United 3 (Balbuena 82', Sanchez og 85', Lanzini 90' 4)
Man of the match Harry Kane
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Cofe
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 80-100
Amount raised: $13m
Investors: KISP ventures, Cedar Mundi, Towell Holding International, Takamul Capital, Dividend Gate Capital, Nizar AlNusif Sons Holding, Arab Investment Company and Al Imtiaz Investment Group
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Watch live
The National will broadcast live from the IMF on Friday October 13 at 7pm UAE time (3pm GMT) as our Editor-in-Chief Mina Al-Oraibi moderates a panel on how technology can help growth in MENA.
You can find out more here
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
If you go
Flight connections to Ulaanbaatar are available through a variety of hubs, including Seoul and Beijing, with airlines including Mongolian Airlines and Korean Air. While some nationalities, such as Americans, don’t need a tourist visa for Mongolia, others, including UAE citizens, can obtain a visa on arrival, while others including UK citizens, need to obtain a visa in advance. Contact the Mongolian Embassy in the UAE for more information.
Nomadic Road offers expedition-style trips to Mongolia in January and August, and other destinations during most other months. Its nine-day August 2020 Mongolia trip will cost from $5,250 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, two nights’ hotel accommodation in Ulaanbaatar, vehicle rental, fuel, third party vehicle liability insurance, the services of a guide and support team, accommodation, food and entrance fees; nomadicroad.com
A fully guided three-day, two-night itinerary at Three Camel Lodge costs from $2,420 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, accommodation, meals and excursions including the Yol Valley and Flaming Cliffs. A return internal flight from Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad costs $300 per person and the flight takes 90 minutes each way; threecamellodge.com
Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.