US Envoy Carries Warning to Pakistan
Stephen Graham, The Associated Press
Pakistani students hold anti-government rally in Lahore, Pakistan on Friday, Nov. 16, 2007. A senior U.S. envoy touched down in Pakistan on Friday to urge President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to lift the state of emergency and end a wave of repression that has cast his country into political crisis.
2007-11-16 18:08:46.0
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -A senior U.S. envoy carried a stern warning Friday to President Gen. Pervez Musharraf from the Bush administration to end emergency rule and phoned one of the military leader's chief critics to underscore Washington's support for free elections.
Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, in Islamabad, spoke with Benazir Bhutto in what is believed to be the highest-level U.S. contact with the Pakistani opposition leader since the state of emergency was imposed Nov. 3, a senior State Department official said.
The call came hours after Bhutto and other opposition leaders were freed from house arrest and the government permitted two independent news channels back on air - moves seen as an attempt to blunt criticism from Musharraf's key foreign backer.
The State Department official would not give details of the call but said Negroponte had generally underscored Washington's opposition to Musharraf's extra-constitutional actions and its desire to see Bhutto and other opposition figures free to peacefully participate in Paakistan's political sphere.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal a private diplomatic contact.
Negroponte, the second-highest ranking U.S. diplomat, arrived in Islamabad on Friday to press Musharraf and his government to quickly end the state of emergency, set a date for free and fair legislative elections in January and release opposition leaders.
The United States also wants Musharraf to give up his position as army chief.
Musharraf pressed on with disputed plans for January elections, swearing in an interim government led by a loyalist charged with preparing Pakistan for the vote and defending his record during the eight years since he seized power in a coup.
"I take pride in the fact that, being a man in uniform, I have actually introduced the essence of democracy in Pakistan, whether anyone believes it or not," a solemn-looking Musharraf said after the low-key ceremony at the presidential palace.
Opposition parties as well as the U.S. and Britain say the ballot cannot be fair unless the restrictions are ended. Demonstrations continued Friday in defiance of a ban on political gatherings.
Negroponte arrived from a stop in Africa, where he said that the democratic process in Pakistan had been "derailed."
"Our message is that we want to work with the government and people of Pakistan and the political actors in Pakistan to put the political process back on track as soon as possible," Negroponte said.
Under domestic pressure for relying too heavily on Musharraf, Washington appears increasingly exasperated with a man that President Bush has long defended as an ally against international terrorism.
The White House has called for him to lift the emergency immediately or destroy the credibility of parliamentary elections supposed to make the general look more democratic. But Musharraf has suggested that the constitution could remain suspended during the campaign and the voting.
The crisis has estranged Musharraf from Bhutto, a secular, pro-Western leader who had been widely expected to join forces with Musharraf if she fared well in the election.
Bhutto was one of thousands of opposition activists detained since Musharraf declared the emergency on Nov. 3.
Bhutto, who leads Pakistan's largest opposition party, immediately reiterated her call for Musharraf to quit power, and said his sidelining of moderate opponents had allowed the rise of Islamic extremism.
She is calling for opposition parties to unite and maybe boycott the elections.
"Do we want to deny this nation its true legitimate leadership and make way ... for extremist forces?" she asked reporters at the house in the eastern city of Lahore where she had been confined. "The West's interests lie in a democratic Pakistan."
Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, insists he is still moving toward a restoration of democracy and civilian rule that Western governments believe could help stabilize the nuclear-armed country.
On Friday, he swore in an interim government headed by loyalist former Senate chairman Mohammedmian Soomro. Parliament was dissolved Thursday after completing its five-year term. The caretakers will mange the country until elections due by Jan. 9.
"I hope and pray that the new Cabinet and new prime minister, in these difficult times, functions with only one thing in mind: Pakistan comes first," Musharraf said.
Opposition parties dismiss the interim administration as irrelevant because of Musharraf's seizure of extraordinary powers.
The general insists he declared the emergency to prevent judicial interference and the rising threat from militants linked to the Taliban and al-Qaida from derailing the vote.
On Friday, the army said it used helicopters to pound militant positions in Swat, a mountain valley in the north seized by followers of a pro-Taliban cleric in the summer. The army says scores of militants have been killed there this week.
Analysts say Musharraf's ability to ride out the crisis depend on his ability to keep the powerful army and the United States on his side. He also needs to keep Pakistan's' feuding opposition parties divided.
Islamist parties opposed to Pakistan's pro-U.S. course are likely to resist Bhutto's attempt to put herself at the lead of any joint campaign and have been noncommittal on the idea of boycotting the polls.
Musharraf told AP on Wednesday that he expects to relinquish his role as army chief by the end of November but stay on as a civilian president.
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Associated Press writers Matthew Lee, Paul Haven, and Sadaqat Jan in Washington and Islamabad contributed to this report.
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