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Bush hails Musharraf for promise to lift emergency

Washington: After pushing Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf to announce elections, U.S. President George W. Bush hailed the General, saying he has taken “positive steps” by promising to lift the state of emergency, step down as army chief and hold elections.

At the same time, Mr. Bush hoped that the Pakistani leadership would stick to its commitment to fight the Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

Mr. Bush on Sunday continued his administration’s approach to the crisis by refusing to criticise General Pervez Musharraf. He dodged a question about whether Musharraf’s moves, seen by many as an attempt to cling to power, are distracting from the battle against Al-Qaeda in Pakistan.

“I vowed to the American people to keep the pressure on them (Al-Qaeda). I fully understand we need cooperation to do so,” he said at Crawford (Texas) after two days of meetings at his ranch with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel. “One country we need cooperation from is Pakistan.”

Maintaining that he still trusts General Musharraf, Mr. Bush said the Pakistani leader aligned himself with Washington after the September 11 2001, attacks and has not given Mr. Bush reason for doubt since.

In fact, Mr. Bush said, several Al-Qaeda leaders have been brought to justice “and that wouldn’t have happened without President Musharraf honouring his word.”

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Pakistan’s military ruler on Sunday to lift the state of emergency as soon as possible, expressing concern that General Pervez Musharraf had not set a time limit for restoring citizens’ rights.

At the same time, Ms. Rice said it was a positive sign that General Musharraf now had pledged to hold parliamentary elections by mid-January.

There had been concerns voting could be delayed by as much as a year in the wake of his declaration last weekend that he was suspending the constitution. — Agencies

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