Pakistan's President Musharraf is about to step down, This move was expected since Musharraf has said many times he would rather resign than face his impeachment, which is about to get underway in Pakistan's parliament.
Musharraf finally gives up "saving" Pakistan
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Faced with the humiliation of impeachment, former army chief Pervez Musharraf quit as Pakistan president on Monday, having lost political, popular and increasingly even U.S. support.
Below ther fold is an excerpt from my diary writen last weekend:
Off the Radar, Impeachment now looks likely
Things are quickly falling into place for the impeachment of Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf. On Thursday the leaders of the ruling coalition in Pakistan's parliament agreed to move forward with President Musharraf's impeachment. On Friday a two day meeting of the top brass of Pakistan's army concluded with a statement that didn't even mention Musharraf's troubles. Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani former head of Pakistan's ISI intelligence service is in a position to call the shots, but he has started to move the army away from politics. Today a top Musharraf political ally Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain confirmed that Musharraf won't dissolve the parliment (Musharraf is in Beijing). Musharraf would have to have the support of Pakistan's army to dissolve the parliament. The Army would be more likely to intervene in the political process if the impeachment of Musharraf turns into a prolonged constitutional crisis that creates more instability inside the country. Increased instability is also something that worries the U.S. which has strong ties with the Pakistani military.
Obviously a change in leadership in Pakistan is a really big deal to the United States.
It is too bad the United States Congress lacks the backbone that Pakistan's Parliament has shown by standing up to President Musharraf.