Jesse Russell,Ronald Cohn
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (Punjabi, Urdu: Ù…Ø­Ù…Ø¯ Ø¶ÙŠØ§Ø¡ Ø§Ù„Ø­Ù‚; August 12, 1924 - August 17, 1988), was the 4th Chief Martial Law Administrator and the sixth President of Pakistan from July 1977 to his death in August 1988. Distinguished by his role in the Black September in Jordan military operation in 1970, he was appointed Chief of Army Staff in 1976 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto after Bhutto forcefully retired seven senior lieutenant-generals who where tainted with their role in the East-Pakistan war in order to bring and promote Zia to four star rank. After widespread civil disorder, he planned and overthrew ruling Prime Minister Bhutto in a bloodless coup d'ï¿½tat on July 5, 1977, code name Fair Play, and became the state's third military ruler to impose martial law. Zia's idea of religious conservatism in Pakistan became the primary line of his military government. Throughout the 1980s, Zia managed to consolidate more and more power in his hands, gradually putting down all opposition groups in Pakistan.
Muhammad Zia-Ul-Haq