ISLAMABAD PAKISTAN: A caretaker prime minister took office in Pakistan-held Kashmir on Saturday after his rebellious predecessor was jailed for threatening violence in the disputed territory.

Sardar Mohammed Ashraf, Chief justice of the Azad (Free) Kashmir Supreme Court, was sworn in at a private ceremony in Islamabad by Abdul Qayyum, president of the semi-autonomous province in the Himalayas.

Ashraf replaced Mumtaz Hussein Rathore, who was ousted from office and then arrested Friday after refusing to accept defeat at June 29 legislative elections,

Rathore accused rival Islamic conservatives of rigging the vote, But his left-leaning Pakistan People’s Party, headed by former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, offered no support in his weeklong Struggle to remain in power.

Bhutto left on a three-week tour of Britain and Europe on Thursday, the eve of Rathore’s dismissal from office and subsequent arrest.

According to state-run Associated Press of Pakistan, Bhutto issued & statement in London saying the government made “a historic error” in arresting Rathore.

Rathore was flown by helicopter from Muzafarrabad, the capital of Azad Kashmir, to Rawalpindi, a city neighboring the fed charged, Rathore was detained under a Clause in the Azad Kashmir to Rawalpindi a city neighboring the federal capital Islamabad and the headquarters of Pakistan’s powerful military.

Mehtab Khan the federal government’s minister for Kashmir affairs told a news conference that Rathore would be held for at least a month at a picturesque country club style guest house north of Rawalpindi.

Although he has not been formally charged Rathore was detained under a clause in the Azad Kashmir constitution for threatening to incite violence Khan said.

Rathore had led a fragile coalition government since May 1990. When his People’s Party won only two of 40 seats in the Azad Kashmir legislature in last month’s election he ordered a new vote on Sept 27, and threatened to start a civil war if his opponents tried to remove him.

Article extracted from this publication >> July 12, 1991