Quickhits - Fires across the Muslim world

Pakistan: (Reuters) The Pakistani Supreme Court will rush its decision over whether Musharraf can win the election out of fear he will impose "emergency rule." (There's a democracy for ya...)

(Reuters) On the upcoming parliamentary elections, " Western diplomats say elections won't be free and fair, just fairer than in the past..."

(Same Article) Bhutto is scheduled to return Nov. 9 which is now after the Supreme Court's decision. (She left suddenly "to visit family" after the "emergency rule" threat was issued.)

(BBC) Taleban fighters in Swat have taken journalists to see their 48 Pakistani army prisoners. It sounds like a really bad operation that led to their capture.

"The soldiers said they surrendered when their positions on a hilltop were surrounded by armed militants..... The troops captured in Swat this week were air-dropped by helicopters last Saturday."

From the AP version: "We had no ammunition. We had no other option."

And, let's remember, (BBC) "Nearly 300 soldiers are still being held prisoner further south in the Waziristan tribal region."

Turkey: (AP) Condi Rice "says the United States, Turkey and Iraq will counter any attacks on Turkey by Kurdish rebels..... She didn't specify just what that meant..."

(NYTimes) "Mr. Erdogan, for his part, has given the United States a de-facto deadline of Nov. 5, the day of his visit to Washington for talks with President Bush on the Kurdish issue."

(AlJazeera) Nationalism soars in Turkey.

Iran: (Reuters) "Six world powers meet on Friday to discuss imposing a third round of sanctions on Iran because of its refusal to stop enriching uranium." It is fully expected that Russia and China will block any sanctions.

Iraq: (Reuters) U.S. sees decline in Iran-linked bombs found in Iraq

(BBC) Ryan Crocker tells State Dept. personnel to shut up and take their marching orders. "It's not for us to decide if we like the policy or if the policy is rightly implemented," he said. "It's for us to go and serve, not to debate the policy, not to agree with it."

And, maybe the "wonderful news" of a reduction in Iraqi civilian violence isn't quite so true,

Casualty numbers themselves are inconsistent. The U.S. military said about 800 civilians were killed in October, but an unofficial tally by the Health Ministry showed that 1,448 civilians had died violently, including those whose bodies were dumped without identification. An official provided the data, which showed an increase in deaths compared with September, on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to release it publicly.

.