[1]
Time to party

"The root cause of all problems has gone."

"Pakistanis jubilant over Musharraf's resignation," by Asim Tanveer for [2] Reuters, August 18:

MULTAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistanis danced in the streets on Monday after beleaguered President Pervez Musharraf announced his resignation, with many ordinary people hoping his departure would bring improvement to their lives.

After ruling Pakistan single-handedly for nearly nine years, the former army chief and close ally of the United States announced his resignation in a televised address in the face of an impending impeachment by the ruling coalition government.

Lawyers, who have spearheaded an anti-Musharraf campaign since he tried to sack the chief justice last year, stormed out of courts in the southeastern city of Multan on hearing of Musharraf's resignation, shouting "Down with the American stooge."

"It's just like I'm celebrating my wedding," said lawyer Malik Naveed, dancing among a crowd of about 400 colleagues. [...]

Jaffar Shah, a retired soldier in the northwestern city of Peshawar, said: "The root cause of all problems has gone."

"I wish I could fire shots to show my joy but unfortunately I can't do that."

People in Karachi, the country's commercial capital, handed out sweets and danced in celebration.

"Thank God he's resigned. The country will do much better now. It's a victory for the people," said Mohammad Ilyas, 30....