Steven Tyler messes up National Anthem at Ravens Patriots game 1/22/2012 As shown only on CBS…he messes up around 0:53 “As bomb bursting in air” I love Steven Tyler by the way! I thought he ROCKED! (CBS SPORTS)

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Pakistan’s prime minister has told lawmakers they must choose between democracy or a dictatorship, amid growing tensions between the country’s civilian government and the military. Yousuf Raza Gilani addressed the National Assembly Friday, telling lawmakers democracy must survive, regardless of the outcome of an investigation concerning a controversial unsigned memo that allegedly sought U.S. help in curbing the army’s power.   One of President Asif Ali Zardari’s allies introduced a resolution in parliament pledging “full confidence and trust” in Pakistan’s political leadership. The measure will be debated Monday. Prime Minister Gilani said the resolution is not against any institution, including the judiciary or the army. Instead, he said the measure supports the democratic process and the continuity of the parliamentary system in Pakistan.   The crisis between the government and military stems from an unsigned memo that allegedly sought U.S. help to prevent a military coup in Pakistan. A Supreme Court-appointed panel is investigating the origins of the unsigned memo, in which Pakistan’s civilian government asked for U.S. help in reining in the Pakistani military, following the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden last May. Prime Minister Gilani’s office on Friday denied a report that he telephoned the Britain’s high commissioner to Islamabad, Adam Thompson, seeking British help to preempt a military coup in Pakistan. The British government also denied the report. On Friday, President Zardari returned to Islamabad after a one-day trip to Dubai.   The president’s trip came as army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani met with top commanders on Thursday.  Officials said the senior military officers discussed the “prevailing situation,” referring to the memo scandal. Authorities said Mr. Zardari’s trip to the United Arab Emirates was not linked to the current crisis in Pakistan. They said he attended a wedding in Dubai. Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz last October accused the then-Pakistani Ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, of writing the memo outlining fears of a military takeover.  Haqqani denies he wrote the document and has since resigned. The army has ruled Pakistan for most of its existence since independence from Britain in 1947. There have been three military coups in Pakistan, and no civilian government has ever completed its term in office. Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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The Iraqi political bloc led by anti-American Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has issued a call to dissolve Iraq’s parliament and hold early elections, in a move that could escalate the country’s growing sectarian crisis. The Sadrists said Monday that new elections are the only way to resolve Iraq’s deepening political problems because the current government “cannot find solutions” for the issues that “threaten to divide” the country. Tensions are rising after Iraq’s Shi’ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered the arrest of Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi on suspicion of running a death squad. Hashemi denies the charge and fled to northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region to avoid detention. Maliki also asked parliament to fire Sunni Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq. The political crisis comes amid a wave of attacks on the capital, Baghdad, by suspected al-Qaida-linked Sunni extremists. Al-Qaida’s front group in the country, the Islamic State of Iraq, claimed responsibility Monday for a series of bombings that killed about 70 people Thursday – the deadliest day in Iraq for months. The violence continued Monday as a suicide bomber set off a car bomb outside the Interior ministry. The blast killed seven people and wounded more than 30. Officials said five policemen were among the dead. The recent violence has raised concerns about the Iraqi government’s ability to secure the country as it tries to resolve a political crisis that erupted as the U.S. military completed a troop pullout earlier this month. Maliki has threatened to form a government without Hashemi’s mainly Sunni-backed political party, Iraqiya, which is boycotting parliament and considering whether to pull out of the national unity government. The leaders of Iraq’s Sunni minority have complained the Iraqi prime minister is monopolizing power in the hands of majority Shi’ites and excluding Sunnis from decision-making. Related video from Iraq Support from the Sadrist bloc helped Maliki to a second term following nine months of political infighting after an inconclusive election in March 2010. The latest turmoil threatens to wreck Iraq’s fragile power-sharing deal that divides positions among the Shi’ite National Alliance, Iraqiya and the Kurdish bloc. On Sunday, Iraq moved closer to defusing a standoff between the government and 3,400 Iranian dissidents living in a camp northeast of Baghdad. The United Nations and the Iraqi government signed a deal to relocate the residents of Camp Ashraf to a temporary location while their refugee status is determined. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the residents will be moved to Camp Liberty, the former U.S. military base near the Baghdad International Airport. She welcomed the arrangement, saying it represents “significant progress on this issue.” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also welcomed the deal, which he said is the beginning of a peaceful and durable solution that respects both Iraq and its human rights obligations. The exiles are members of a paramilitary group that has tried to topple Iran’s government and is listed as a terrorist group by the U.S. Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP. Join the conversation on our social journalism site – Middle East Voices . Follow our Middle East reports on Twitter and discuss them on our Facebook page.

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