U.S. Backs Musharraf Again

US diplomat backs crisis-hit Musharraf

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_dipl..._09122007.html

Published: Wednesday September 12, 2007

US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte offered broad support Wednesday for Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf as Washington's key ally faces mounting opposition and Al-Qaeda-linked violence.

Negroponte refused to condemn military ruler Musharraf's deportation of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif hours after his return from seven years in exile, saying it was an "internal" matter for Pakistan.

He also played down indications that the United States could launch unilateral strikes against militants in Pakistan's tribal areas, saying that US forces would always respect Islamabad's sovereignty.

The fresh show of support comes at a valuable time Musharraf, who according to a poll released on the same day is less popular among Pakistanis than Al-Qaeda supremo Osama bin Laden.

"We welcome Pakistan's leadership as a voice of moderation and reason in the Islamic world. Your nation remains a valuable ally in the war on terror," Negroponte, who arrived on Wednesday from Kabul, told a news conference.

Negroponte, making his second visit to Pakistan in three months, said he did not discuss the expulsion of Sharif, the man Musharraf ousted in a 1999 coup, with Pakistani officials.

"We view this as an internal Pakistani political and legal matter and it is for the government, people and authorities of Pakistan to decide," he said.

He said the United States "looks forward to democratic elections here quite shortly" but stopped short of specifically urging Musharraf to ensure that they are free and fair.

Negroponte said they had discussed comments by US officials that did not rule out unilateral strikes on Pakistan -- words branded "irresponsible and dangerous" by Pakistan -- but said that Islamabad would be consulted.

"If we intend to carry out whatever activities we do in the tribal areas there will be complete respect for the sovereignty of Pakistan," Negroponte said.

But as Negroponte spoke, Pakistan's political turmoil continued, with cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan banned from entering the southern city of Karachi to lead a protest against Musharraf's allies.

Khan later held a small protest in Islamabad.

"My protest was against the visit of Negroponte. The US should stop interference in Pakistani politics," he told AFP.

In a sign of Musharraf's growing unpopularity, the poll for Terror Free Tomorrow, a US-based organisation, showed that bin Laden has an approval rate of 46 percent among Pakistanis, compared with 38 percent for the president.

Nearly three-quarters of Pakistanis also oppose unilateral US military action in the tribal areas, said the survey.

The results "may help explain why Osama bin Laden remains at large in Pakistan and why both Al-Qaeda and the Taliban have regrouped there," the group said in a statement.

Musharraf has been embroiled in crisis since his failed attempt to sack the chief justice of the Supreme Court earlier this year, a step that sparked mass protests in this nation of 160 million people.