Welcoming a tyrant Pakistan's President Musharraf is running a state terrorist regime, with the backing of both Britain and the US January 24, 2008 10:00 PM he Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf is in Britain to drum up support for his tyrannical regime. His visit is a desperate PR ploy, designed to repair the damage caused by his repressive policies. These include the imposition of emergency rule late last year, which led to media censorship, violent suppression of popular protests, mass arrests of opposition party leaders and activists, and the crushing of the independent judiciary, with the detention of over 60 supreme court judges and lawyers. Musharraf misleadingly justified emergency rule in the name of a crackdown on terrorism. In truth, instead of arresting terrorists, he seized thousands of peaceful opposition party officials and members. Since Benazir Bhutto's assassination, tens of thousands more have been detained. Gordon Brown refuses to meet the Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe, but on Monday he will embrace Musharraf of Pakistan at 10 Downing Street. No surprise there. After all, Britain and the US are long-time allies and supporters of Musharraf's dictatorship. Despite occasional mild admonishments, our government, in our name, supports him politically, diplomatically, economically and militarily; selling Musharraf the weapons he uses to suppress his own people. Since 2001, the US has bankrolled Musharraf to the tune of $10bn. US fighter planes are used to bomb and strafe pro-nationalist towns and villages in annexed and colonised Baluchistan. Without western aid to support this state terrorism, Musharraf's regime would fall. Musharraf will, as usual, claim that he is saving Pakistan from Islamic fundamentalism and holding the fort against the terror threat of al-Qaida and the Taliban. He will portray the "tribal regions" of Pakistan, like Waziristan and North West Frontier, as hotbeds of extremism and terrorism that only he can control; wilfully suppressing all knowledge of the gross human rights abuses perpetrated by his subjugating army in the these regions and the legitimate liberation struggles of the people there. Our prime minister will fall for this hogwash and spin. He will parrot Islamabad's line that we need Musharraf as an ally in the so-called "war on terror" and that without him the country would be taken over by Islamist extremists. Nonsense. The extremists are already in the Pakistani government, army, police and intelligence services. These state agencies are heavily infiltrated by fundamentalists and Musharraf has failed to remove them. Moreover, if there were free and fair elections, the opposition parties would win and could start addressing some of the underlying injustices in Pakistani society that have allowed fundamentalist ideas to gain a foothold. Democracy is the best safeguard against dictatorship, whether of the Musharraf or Islamist variety. The elephant in the room during Monday's Downing Street meeting with Gordon Brown will be Musharraf's complicity in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the subsequent attempted cover-up. The Pakistani leader has form with regard to political assassinations. In 2006, his forces murdered the frail 79-year-old Baluchistan nationalist leader, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, a former provincial governor and chief minister of Baluchistan. Previously an independent nation, Baluchistan was invaded and occupied by Pakistan in 1948. Another Baluch leader, Balach Marri, was killed by Pakistani forces last November. So far as Bhutto's murder is concerned, Musharraf was the main beneficiary. He has gained the most from her death. She was his main political rival and a likely election winner. With Bhutto dead, Musharraf's chances of election in next month's poll are much improved. Musharraf is a guilty man. Three scenarios of guilt are possible. Either he personally ordered Bhutto's assassination or he failed to control the rogue elements in the military and intelligence services that killed her. Even if Islamist radicals murdered her, he neglected to provide Bhutto with adequate personal security and he refused her requests for greater protection. Either way, to varying degrees, Musharraf was complicit in Benazir's assassination. The buck stops with him. Musharraf has, however, preferred to pin the blame on the rebel leader Baitullah Mehsud - a claim endorsed by the US Central Intelligence Agency, although the CIA has not revealed its evidence or sources. But a spokesman for Baitullah Mehsud has specifically denied responsibility, accusing in turn "the secret agencies" of the state. While there is good reason to be sceptical of such denials, in the past Mehsud has never been shy of claiming responsibility for his military operations. Moreover, he stood to gain from Bhutto's election. She had, after all, promised greater autonomy for the provinces and an end to Musharraf's brutal suppression of minority tribes and nationalities. Although Mehsud may have ordered the assassination, it seems doubtful. Gordon Brown's willingness to fete a despot like Musharraf is an insult to the millions of Pakistani people who oppose tyranny and yearn for democracy and human rights. New Labour is yet again colluding with oppression. It is siding with a dictator against his victims. When the prime minister embraces Musharraf on Monday, I will be joining the Pakistani protests outside Downing Street at 11am. We will be there in solidarity with the people of Pakistan who want an end to Musharraf's dictatorship. I hope some of you will join us. Note from Cif Editor: this piece was temporarily unpublished this morning, January 25, for technical reasons; we apologise for the inconvenience.           26.01.08