US distances itself from Musharraf

US Diplomat Signals That US Is Distancing Itself From Pakistan’s Musharraf After Elections

The United States’ second-ranking diplomat signaled Thursday that the Bush administration is distancing itself from Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf after opposition victories in last week’s elections.

Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte told senators that the United States is supporting Pakistan’s people as they choose their leaders after the parliamentary elections. But he made scant mention of Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, during his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Senior Bush administration officials, including Negroponte, have previously underlined their view that Musharraf has been essential to the U.S.-led fight against extremists along Pakistan’s rugged border with Afghanistan.

Negroponte testified that “Pakistan has been indispensable” to that fight and said the U.S. looks “forward to working with the leaders who emerge” from the formation of a new government.

When pressed by a lawmaker about whether the U.S. would continue to back Musharraf, Negroponte said, “Musharraf is still the president of his country, and we look forward to continuing to work with him.”

U.S. lawmakers and Pakistani opposition leaders have criticized the Bush administration for its steadfast support of the former army general despite his crackdown on the opposition, judiciary and media. The Bush administration promoted Musharraf as a moderate leader able to hold together the nuclear-armed country.

Musharraf has faced intense criticism since he declared a state of emergency in November and purged the Supreme Court before it could rule on the disputed legality of his re-election as president a month earlier.

Republican Sen. Dick Lugar of Indiana said the United States should make it clear to Pakistan’s people that U.S. interests “lay not in supporting a particular leader or party, but in democracy, pluralism, stability and the fight against violence.”

The parties of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, finished first and second in the Feb. 18 parliamentary elections. The Pakistan Muslim League-Q, a party loyal to Musharraf, lost heavily.

Negroponte said Pakistan’s recent elections were a “big step” toward civilian democracy and reflected the will of the voters, despite the deaths of more than 70 people on election day.

“The violence could have been worse,” Negroponte said. “The Pakistani people refused to be intimidated by a wave of murderous terrorist attacks prior to election day.”

Democratic Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware also urged the administration to move from “a policy focused on a personality, Musharraf, to one based on an entire country.”

Biden proposed that the United States triple nonmilitary aid for schools, roads and clinics and demand accountability for the military aid the U.S. gives Pakistan. Biden was part of a U.S. congressional delegation that traveled to Pakistan to observe the elections.

The United States has pumped nearly $10 billion (euro6.6 billion) in aid into Pakistan since Musharraf sided with the U.S. in the drive to topple the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan and hunt down al-Qaida after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

After the Senate hearing, a rights group, Human Rights First, expressed disappointment that the Bush administration has not pushed Musharraf to reinstate judges.

Aaron Zisser, a member of the group, said Pakistan should immediately reinstate the judges, and “U.S. foreign policy, including its aid relationship with Pakistan, should support these measures.”

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AP | FOSTER KLUG | Thursday, February 28, 2008