Pakistan army to hold crisis talks

Pakistan’s army chief has summoned his commanders amid spiking tensions between the armed forces and the civilian government.

Military spokesman Major Muhammad Ali Diyal declined to say what the talks at army headquarters were about.

Yesterday, the prime minister fired the defence secretary and the powerful military warned of “grievous consequences”, widening a destabilising rift between the country’s institutions.

Relations between President Asif Ali Zardari and the generals have never been good, but have soured dramatically in recent months.

Pakistan’s army has ruled Pakistan for much of its six-decade existence, and no civilian government has ever completed its term in office.

Mr Zardari has left Pakistan for Dubai where he will attend a wedding, according to government officials.

They said the president would be back in Pakistan on Friday morning and that the trip was not connected to the current crisis.

Last month, Mr Zardari went to Dubai for medical treatment, and it triggered speculation the leader was perhaps fleeing the country.