ISLAMABAD,
Pakistan (AP) -- President Gen. Pervez Musharraf faces a stern warning
from a top American diplomat on Saturday: end emergency rule or
wreck landmark elections and risk undermining vital U.S. support.
Musharraf made concessions ahead of Deputy Secretary of State John
Negroponte's arrival Friday, allowing independent TV news back on
the air and freeing opposition leaders and a respected U.N. rights
expert.
But he also pushed ahead with plans for parliamentary elections
in January, swearing in a caretaker government and defending his
record since seizing power in a 1999 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
a low-key ceremony at the presidential palace.
Negroponte touched down hours later and spoke by phone with opposition
leader Benazir Bhutto, the highest-level U.S. contact with the former
prime minister since Musharraf imposed a state of emergency Nov.
3.
''He wanted to hear from her how she viewed the political situation
in Pakistan,'' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
He said Negroponte's call to Bhutto ''sends a very clear message
that we intend to talk to and continue our contacts with members
of Pakistan's political leadership and political civil society.''
U.S. contacts with Bhutto have been handled by U.S. Ambassador Anne
Patterson and the consul-general in the eastern city of Lahore,
where Bhutto had been confined to her home. She was freed Friday
from three days of house arrest imposed to stop her from leading
protests.
McCormack said he did not expect Negroponte to meet Bhutto in person,
saying ''it's just a little bit easier to have a phone call, you
don't have a media circus outside and you can actually have probably
more relaxed conversation.''
Negroponte, who is expected to speak to Musharraf on Saturday, 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 a stalwart ally against international terrorism.
The White House has called for him to lift the emergency immediately
or destroy the credibility of parliamentary elections.
The crisis has also estranged Musharraf from Bhutto, a secular,
pro-Western leader who had been expected to join forces with Musharraf
if she fared well in the election.
Along with Bhutto, police freed two leaders of hard-line Islamic
parties, along with Asma Jehangir, head of Pakistan's main human
rights organization and a U.N. rights expert.
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 in
Lahore. ''The West's interests lie in a democratic Pakistan.''
Patrick Cronin, an analyst at the International Institute of Strategic
Studies in London, said Washington still hoped to persuade Musharraf
to end the emergency and allow free elections ''so they don't have
to face the prospect of watching him go sooner rather than later.''
He said U.S. officials were keen to avoid the embarrassment of dropping
a man whose authoritarian rule they have long defended because of
his help in Afghanistan and against al-Qaida, but also had to be
seen to stand up for democracy.
The military is increasingly unhappy with Musharraf's alienation
of Western backers and Pakistan's political parties and could yet
force him out, Cronin said.
Musharraf ''got a free ride because of 9/11 and that free ride is
over,'' he said. However, Western governments ''don't see an easy
alternative in terms of how to make the transition because ultimately
it's the Pakistan army and elite that are going to make this call.''
Musharraf told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he expects
to relinquish his role as army chief this month but stay on as a
civilian president.
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
manage 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.
In the northwestern city of Peshawar on Friday, police used tear
gas and batons to break up a rally by 500 supporters of a coalition
of religious parties and detained several of their leaders. The
groups staged smaller rallies in Islamabad and the southern city
of Karachi.
------
Associated Press writers Munir Ahmad in Islamabad, Zarar Khan in
Lahore, Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Ashraf Khan in Karachi and Matthew
Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
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