The Hindu : U.S. daily attacks Powell for praising Musharraf

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 22, 2004

International

International

U.S. daily attacks Powell for praising Musharraf

NEW YORK, MARCH 21. An American daily has sharply criticised the United States Secretary of State, Colin Powell, for lavishing ``undeserved praise'' upon Pakistani ``military dictator,'' Pervez Musharraf, for democratic progress instead of urging him to ``stop manoeuvring against unfettered elections and the country's main secular parties.''

``Such declarations diminish American credibility as a consistent force for democracy,'' The New York Times said in an editorial. Gen. Powell, it said, struck a ``somewhat surreal'' note in Islamabad when he announced that Washington was preparing to designate Pakistan a ``major non-NATO ally,'' easing access to military sales, it added. ``Pakistan's efforts to capture Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri are welcome, but it is excessive to offer even a symbolic promotion to one of America's `least reliable' allies, the paper said. Behind a ``constitutional facade,'' it said, Gen. Musharraf rules as a military dictator, accountable to no civilian authority and basing his power on Pakistan's armed forces. ``It is the army high command that General Musharraf must negotiate with if he truly wants to move against the Taliban, Kashmiri terrorist groups or the nuclear weapons establishment,'' it stressed.

PTI

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