An influential policy outfit, the International Crisis Group, has called on President Musharraf to step down.Citing "A Way Forward in Pakistan," the ICG, which is made up of scholars and former diplomats, believes that the Pakistani president is an obstacle to stability:If Pakistan is to be stable in the wake of Benazir Bhutto’s murder, President Pervez Musharraf must resign and a quick transition follow to a democratically elected civilian government. After Bhutto’s Murder: A Way Forward for Pakistan*, the latest briefing from the International Crisis Group, concludes that Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, is no longer, if he ever was, a factor for stability. Particularly the U.S. must recognise he is a serious liability, seen as complicit in the death of the popular politician. Unless he steps down, tensions will worsen and the international community could face the nightmare of a nuclear-armed, Muslim country descending into civil war from which...(Read Full Post)