Date:25/09/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/25/stories/2006092506431400.htm

International

Pakistan's rumour Sunday

Nirupama Subramanian

Rumours of a coup spread swiftly after a major power breakdown

ISLAMABAD : It was a day of rumours in Pakistan on Sunday after a countrywide power outage and reports that President Pervez Musharraf underwent a "routine medical check-up" in the U.S., where he is on the last leg of an 18-day official three-nation tour.

Rumours of a coup spread swiftly after a major power breakdown that affected almost all parts of the country. But they subsided after a statement by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and other officials ruling out sabotage.

Mr. Aziz said the blackout occurred when a main distribution line short-circuited.

Power was restored to the capital after a two-hour breakdown that began at 1.40 p.m. According to reports, Government engineers were making frantic efforts to restore supply to other major cities of the country but many places continued to suffer a blackout late into the evening.

Geo TV reported that hospitals and airports were badly hit by the outage, reported to the worst in recent memory.

Rumours of another kind came from foreign shores, apparently after some "foreign channels" reported that General Musharraf had undergone open-heart surgery.

It is not clear which channels put out the reports.

Routine check-up

Denying the reports as "incorrect and unfounded," a Government spokesman said the President had undergone "a routine medical check-up."

Information and Broadcasting Minister Muhammed Ali Durrani said the President was "absolutely well" and would keep all his forthcoming engagements in the U.S., including the launch of his book at the Council of Foreign Relations in New York on Monday.