Musharraf leaves for Europe as tensions soar

President Pervez Musharraf on Sunday left on a four-nation tour aimed at bolstering European support, as police were on high alert for the Muslim festival of Ashura.

As officials uncovered bomb and poison plots aimed at causing massive loss of life, and questioned a teenager allegedly linked to the martyrdom of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, Musharraf flew out to clear up “misperceptions” about the country.

“We want to clear certain misperceptions of all the happenings in Pakistan and the region,” the official Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) quoted Musharraf as telling reporters at Chaklala military base.

Pakistan has been in the throes of serious upheaval for months, capped by Benazir’s martyrdom in a gun and suicide bomb attack last month.

European countries have expressed concern over upcoming elections in Pakistan and a key ally in Washington’s “war on terror” which shares a long border with Afghanistan.

President Musharraf’s eight-day visit to Belgium, France, Switzerland and Britain comes as Pakistan commemorates this year’s Ashura amid widespread militancy and unrest.

Security was tight as ceremonies for Ashura, which marks the martyrdom of the Prophet Mohammed’s grandson in the seventh century and is often hit by sectarian violence, took place across the country.

“Security is quite tight and we hope that, God willing, this day passes peacefully,” Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz told AFP.

On Saturday, officials said they had arrested extremists who planned to set off suicide bombs and poison water supplies with cyanide to kill Shias celebrating the festival.

A would-be suicide bomber was among five heavily armed militants, all belonging to extremist groups, seized in Karachi who also planned to use cyanide powder to poison water during the ceremonies.

They were planning to launch an attack on Sunday on the Ashura festival in the southern port city, provincial police chief Azhar Farooqi said.

“The aim was to cause widespread human losses,” Farooqi said of the plot, in which three others were detained in the nearby city of Hyderabad.