What does the takeover of rule in Pakistan by Musharraf mean?

From the Sunday London Times we get an early story of Musharaff's take over in Pakistand.

PAKISTAN’s military ruler General Pervez Musharraf put himself on a collision course with Britain, the United States, his own country’s Supreme Court and Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister, yesterday after he declared martial law to “save the nation”.

Bhutto, who returned from exile after striking a deal with Musharraf only last month but had been spending the weekend with her family in Dubai, immediately flew back to Karachi.

Last night, when she was finally allowed off the plane after several hours on the tarmac, she condemned the act and called on other political leaders to unite to fight it. “Instead of moving toward democracy we’re moving toward greater dictatorship,” she declared.

The dramatic events began yesterday afternoon with an announcement on state television suspending the constitution and closing down the country’s private television stations.

Troops surrounded the Supreme Court building in Islamabad, as well as the state television and radio stations. Hundreds more were deployed on Constitutional Avenue in front of the presidential palace.

Last night, at 10.15pm Pakistan time, Musharraf appeared on national television to claim that he had imposed martial law “for the good of Pakistan” and “to preserve the unity of Pakistan”. Dressed in black rather than in army uniform, he gave a rambling address in which he said the country faced a “critical and dangerous situation” and argued that “extremists are becoming confident” and “security forces demoralised”. He said: “It would have been suicidal not to act.”

He switched from Urdu to English to ask for patience from his main allies, the European Union and the United States.

“I request you all to bear with us,” he said. “Please don’t demand and expect your level of human rights and democracy you learnt over the centuries. Please give us time.”

In a reference which will anger his American allies, he compared himself to Abraham Lincoln, citing the latter’s suspension of habeas corpus and other fundamental rights during the American civil war to save his nation.

“Abraham Lincoln usurped rights to preserve the union, and Pakistan comes first. Whatever I do is for Pakistan, and whatever anyone else thinks is secondary,” he warned.

However, Bhutto insisted: “He says that he is acting for the good of Pakistan but he is acting for the good of General Musharraf.”

Musharraf's decision was announced just days before the Supreme Court was expected to overturn his recent reelection by parliament as president. One of the country’s leading barristers, Aitzaz Ahsan, who represents both Iftikhar Chaudhry, the chief justice, and Bhutto, was among those who were arrested yesterday.

This is bad news.

Musharaff has been battling the Islamic fundamentalists. Now he is also battling the Pakistani democrats. If his enemies don't join together to remove him, he may stand a chance of survival. Without any understanding of Pakistani politics, I have no real clue regarding how this will work out.

My big question is whether the CIA has anyone who understands the language(s) and what is going on. This is the Bush administration. They have demonstrated consistently that they are incompetents and liars. I rather doubt they have a clue regarding what is happening.

In this case, no one else seems to know what to do. We may have to ("shudder") trust the Pakistani democracy to pull out the best result.