The cat stays at home

When Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf announced that he would not be attending a much-hyped meeteing of elders ("jirga") in Afghanistan, it first looked like a major snub to Hamid Karzai and, indirectly, George Bush. But was it in fact an application of the time-honoured principle of strongmen rulers that you never take unnecessary trips abroad when your opponents might be cooking something up back home? It's beginning to look like the latter. Political chaos in Pakistan while the world is on holidays? Could be a fun August.