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DATE=10/12/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=PAK / MILITARY TAKEOVER (L-UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-254933
BYLINE=SCOTT ANGER
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO:  Pakistan's state television has announced that 
the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been 
dismissed, and that the army chief will address the 
nation.  The announcement (late Tuesday night) came 
just hours after troops moved into Islamabad to take 
control of all government buildings.  V-O-A's Scott 
Anger reports from the Pakistani capital.
TEXT:  The army has staged a coup against Pakistan's 
democratically-elected government.  The move has led 
to the dismissal of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Regular transmission resumed on Pakistan's state 
television late Tuesday night, with the announcement 
[of Mr. Sharif's dismissal].
The army action follows hours of confusion across the 
country as to who was in control of the government.
Army troops surrounded Prime Minister Sharif's 
residence in Islamabad shortly after he dismissed 
Pakistan's powerful army chief of staff, General 
Pervez Musharraf.
Less than an hour after the general's dismissal order 
was announced, army troops moved into Islamabad to 
take control of government buildings.
Tension has been growing between Prime Minister Sharif 
and General Musharraf since the withdrawal of 
Pakistani forces from Indian Kashmir, under U-S 
pressure, earlier this year.
Pakistan's military was widely seen in the West as 
being behind the fighting in Kashmir, which triggered 
the worst confrontation between Pakistan and India in 
30 years.
The army took the prime Minister's decision to 
withdraw from Kashmir as a betrayal.
Agfter dismissing General Musharraf, the prime 
minister named Lieutenant-General Ziauddin, head of 
Pakistan's Inner Services Intelligence agency, to 
replace Mr. Musharraf.  The I-S-I is Pakistan's 
equivalent of the U-S Central Intelligence Agency.
General Musharraf was promoted to chief of staff of 
the army last October, after Mr. Sharif forced his 
predecessor to step down, for criticizing Mr. Sharif's 
government.
Pakistan's powerful military has a history of coups 
against civilian governments.  The military has ruled 
the country for about half the time since Pakistan 
gained independence in 1947.   (Signed)
NEB/SA/WTW
12-Oct-1999 15:16 PM EDT (12-Oct-1999 1916 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.