Confused, as usual

Rico says he was watching television the other night and caught just the tail end of one of those scrolling news flashes, which seemed to say that an airplane with Pakistani President Musharraf had been hijacked. He was surprised that there was nothing about it in the news the next day (forgetting that Musharraf has been out of office since August), and only some creative searching of the internet has turned up the reality, in one of those 'yes, but no' situations, behind the flash:

Paramilitary troops were called out to keep order in Pakistan yesterday after thousands of people took to the streets to protest at the imposition of direct central control over the key province of Punjab. Protesters clashed with police in Islamabad, setting fire to several vehicles and burning pictures of President Zardari, while antigovernment demonstrations spread to large parts of the state. It was the first big protest against the Government, which swept to power in national elections last year, ending nine years of military rule.
The street protests followed a ruling by Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday that barred Nawaz Sharif, the main opposition leader, from elected office by citing a previous criminal conviction.
The court also barred Mr. Sharif's brother, Shahbaz Sharif, from office, in effect unseating him as chief minister of Punjab, the country's largest and most powerful province. After the ruling President Zardari dismissed the Punjab provincial government and imposed executive rule there, sparking the violent protests. A presidential spokesman said federal control would remain in force for two months.
The Supreme Court decision will prevent Mr. Sharif from challenging Mr. Zardari in general elections in 2013. Mr. Sharif, widely considered the country's most popular politician, refused to accept the ruling and accused the President of influencing the decision. “It is a political decision given on the orders of Mr. Zardari,” he told a rally yesterday in Lahore, the capital of Punjab and his political power base. He claimed that the ruling was meant to keep him out of politics and called for nationwide protests.
Thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets outside the provincial assembly in Lahore, burning tires and chanting anti-government slogans. Earlier, police sealed off the assembly building to stop Sharif party members holding a debate there. Police detained thirty state legislators as they tried to break the security cordon. Protesters also gathered in Rawalpindi, outside Islamabad, setting up barricades of burning tires. They smashed store fronts and banks on a main shopping street. A mob set fire to several vehicles on the highway linking Islamabad to the Punjab.
A showdown between Mr. Zardari (the widower of Benazir Bhutto, the assassinated former Prime Minister) and Mr. Sharif, who has twice been Prime Minister, has been brewing since they forced Pervez Musharraf to quit as President last August. Wednesday's court ruling brought the simmmering conflict to a head.
The prospect of Mr. Sharif and his supporters leading a campaign against President Zardari's Government would be of grave concern to Washington, which wants the country to concentrate on confronting the threat posed by al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Mr. Sharif's government was ousted in a military coup in 1999 and he was sentenced to life imprisonment by an anti-terrorism court for ordering the hijacking of a passenger aircraft that also carried General Musharraf, then Chief of Army Staff. Mr Sharif was later exiled to Saudi Arabia.
Mr. Sharif returned to the country in 2007 and led his party to election victory in the Punjab, his home province. The party emerged as the second-largest bloc in the National Assembly. His party briefly joined a coalition Government led by Mr. Zardari, but then went into opposition.
Analysts said the political conflict would have far-reaching consequences for the country's fragile democratic process and for the war on terrorism. Political instability will affect directly the Government's ability to fight insurgents in the tribal areas and the North West Frontier.