Benazir's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, charged that elements within the government of Gen. Pervez Musharraf, fearful that Benazir will displace them in the January elections, were behind the blast. Benazir herself blamed it on Muslim fundamentalists opposed to a woman coming to power.

Juan Cole

In an emergency session, the Supreme Court ruled the move unconstitutional. But Musharraf reportedly suspended the entire panel when the justices refused to sign new oaths. He was expected address the nation later and cite continuing fighting in the turbulent Swat Valley as his reason.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry and the other judges remained in the courthouse Saturday evening as police blocked the road to the building. Chaudhry had been removed from the court by Muharraf earlier this year, but the court reinstated him in August.

Although Pakistan has been unlucky in oil, it could make stronger claims as a target for American and Israeli ire. It is the only Muslim country with nuclear weapons, a nuclear proliferator, the Taliban's chief patron, and a sponsor of jihadis in Kashmir.

[snip]

Yet, there has been little talk in Washington or Tel Aviv about adding Pakistan to the 'axis of evil.' This is the Pakistani paradox.

This paradox has a simple explanation. In Pakistan, the US had effected regime change without a change of regime. Almost overnight, following the attacks of 9-11, the US had drafted the Pakistani military to wage war against Muslim extremists. The US had gained an army: and Pakistan's military dictators had gained longevity.

couple of Pakistani blogs covering this:

Pakistan Politics

We now have a legal State of Emergency in Pakistan. Actually, it is officially being called "Emergency Plus" - more than "Emergency" but less than "Martial Law". Just right.

[snip]

The move is hardly surprising considering the chaos engulfing Pakistan at the moment - from political (Supreme Court deliberations on the fate of the "election") to military (the tribal/militant conflict has spread to Swat and Peshawar) to ideological (Baluchistan) to international (Rice has decided she wants democracy).

[snip]

For now, we have a new Chief Justice of Pakistan Supreme Court. But in an unprecedented move, only 4 judges have signed on to re-take the oath under PCO. This is big, big news. See this backgrounder for the significance.

Musharraf is to speak on "Meray Azeez Hum Watano" at 11:00 PST.

I also recommend following Democracy and Freedom Blog for video clips.

Musharraf's last gamble

The decision by Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf to declare emergency is the desperate attempt of an autocrat to cling to power. In the process he has irreparably damaged the foundations of constitutionalism in Pakistan, which were never strong to begin with. His actions will not only erode Pakistani state's authority but may sound the death knell for the Islamic Republic.

As it is the state's authority had ceased to exist in the periphery, whether it was Balochistan, FATA, Swat and even `Northern Areas'. Musharraf's actions have robbed the government of whatever little legitimacy it had after the Supreme Court declared the Emergency proclamation as illegal. The proclamation of emergency without any cabinet or parliamentary recommendation has no constitutional sanction. Similarly the manner in which Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was removed and a new Chief Justice sworn in under a provisional constitutional order (PCO) superseding the two other senior judges, belies any pretence of constitutionalism and the term emergency is being used to disguise defacto `Martial Law'.
...
Judicial activism responsible for emergency: Musharraf

Chaudhry and eight other judges of the Supreme Court had refused to endorse the PCO. Reports emanating from Pakistan indicate that the deposed Chief Justice has been physically removed from the Supreme Court by force. The President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, who had been arguing the case against Musharraf's reelection in the Supreme Court has been arrested. All telephone lines and internet connections were snapped, all private news channels were taken off the air. There are reports of firing from Islamabad and Karachi and troops have been deployed in the cities, military pickets have been established across major roads in Peshawar.
...
General Musharraf, who annexed power in a military coup in 1999, had initially promised to shed his uniform by December 31, 2004 but reneged on his promise. Prior to his re-election on October 6, 2007, he had again promised to step down as the Army Chief by November 15, if reelected as the President. He had accordingly appointed Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani as the Vice Chief of Army Staff to eventually take over as the Army Chief. However, his re-election was challenged in the Supreme Court and despite initial indications to the contrary, it appeared as if the judiciary was deliberately delaying the judgment so as to deliver it as close to November 15 as possible. The judiciary probably wanted to avoid giving him adequate response time under the belief that Musharraf's position within the Army would weaken as he had already appointed a successor.

Musharraf probably got an inkling that the judgment would go against him and felt that the support for his actions was slowly eroding within the Army. As it is his chosen successor General Kiyani had served as Benazir's staff officer and was believed to be close to her.