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Pakistan Leaves U.S. Few Options

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By PAUL HAVEN, The Associated Press

Published: November 19, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's government dismissed a last-ditch U.S. call to end emergency rule, leaving the Bush administration with limited options Sunday in steering its nuclear-armed ally back toward democracy.

Pakistan said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte brought no new proposals on a make-or-break visit, and received no assurances after urging Musharraf to restore the constitution and free thousands of political opponents.

"This is nothing new," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq told The Associated Press. "The U.S. has been saying this for many days. He Negroponte has said that same thing. He has reiterated it."

Locked in a battle with increasingly powerful Islamist militants, Pakistan is seen as a key front in the war on terrorism. U.S. officials are clearly fearful that the emergency rule imposed more than two weeks ago could lead to a potentially destabilizing round of political turmoil.

In an early morning news conference before departing Pakistan, Negroponte said he hoped that the president listened to his appeal to end a crackdown on opponents before legislative elections scheduled for January.

But Musharraf has appeared intent on setting his own pace despite warnings from Washington, which has been hesitant to match criticism with actions such as cutting military aid.

Musharraf has insisted he would only lift the emergency if the national security situation improved, and strongly hinted that such a move was unlikely before parliamentary elections scheduled to be held by Jan. 9. The opposition has called that position preposterous, saying a free and fair vote could never be held while thousands of opponents were behind bars and political parties were denied the right to assemble.

Despite Musharraf's apparent intransigence, Negroponte would not characterize his trip as a failure.

"In diplomacy, as you know, we don't get instant replies when we have these kinds of dialogue," he said.

Musharraf has said he would step down as army chief by the end of the month, but has insisted that he will serve out a five-year term as civilian president.

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