U.S. Sharpens Message to Musharraf

ISLAMABAD — Washington's no. 2 diplomat delivered a blunt message to Pakistan's military ruler, telling him that emergency rule must be lifted and his opponents freed ahead of elections.

Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte's visit was seen as a last best chance to avoid political turmoil in Pakistan. He met for more than two hours yesterday with President Musharraf and Pakistan's deputy army commander, General Ashfaq Kayani.

"I urged the government to stop such actions, lift the state of emergency, and release all political detainees," Mr. Negroponte told a news conference at the American embassy today at the end of his trip. "Emergency rule is not compatible with free, fair, and credible elections."

But there was no immediate sign that General Musharraf would heed that advice. An official in the president's office, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk with the media, said General Musharraf told Mr. Negroponte the emergency was needed to hold a successful vote.

Opposition leaders dismissed that claim and say that any vote held while thousands of opponents are in jail cannot be considered credible.

They say most of those targeted in the emergency are pro-Western moderates, not the Islamic extremists General Musharraf said he needed to combat. Thousands of opponents have been jailed, Supreme Court judges purged, and independent TV stations muffled since the state of emergency came into effect November 3.

Despite General Musharraf's apparent intransigence, Mr. 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. "I'm sure the president is seriously considering the exchange we had."

Mr. Negroponte also praised General Musharraf's efforts in the war on terror, and said he was heartened by the announcement of an election date for January 9.

Just ahead of Mr. Negroponte's visit, General Musharraf freed opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and a leading human rights activist, and loosened his restrictions on several independent television news outlets.

Mr. Negroponte was measured in his comments, but expressed some impatience with General Musharraf, saying he hoped to see more steps toward democracy soon. "There remain some other issues that are yet to be considered, or yet to be undertaken," he said, without going into detail.

Going into yesterday's meeting, senior Bush administration officials were clear on what they wanted: an end to the emergency, a date set for legislative elections in January, the release of opposition leaders, and that General Musharraf step down as army chief.

General Kayani is widely expected to take over the powerful role of military chief when General Musharraf sheds his uniform and starts his second term as president in the coming weeks.

Shortly after arriving in Pakistan, Mr. Negroponte phoned Ms. Bhutto, the highest-level American contact with the Pakistani opposition leader since the emergency rule began. In their discussion, Mr. Negroponte underscored Washington's opposition to the emergency and its desire to see her and other opposition figures free to peacefully take part in Pakistani politics, a State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, said.

The conversation came just hours after Ms. Bhutto was released from house arrest, one of a number of face-saving measures the government took ahead of the senior American diplomat's arrival. A prominent human rights activist was also released, and several opposition television news stations were allowed back on the air.

But there were also some ominous signs, with the broadcasts of two major independent television news stations — Geo and ARY, both of which transmit from nearby Dubai — being cut. Both stations said Dubai took action in response to pressure from General Musharraf.

GEO broadcast a continuous video of a thunderstorm at sea, with its logo floating on the choppy waves. "The pressure was so intense from General Musharraf," prompting the state-owned Dubai Media City to order the signal cut at midnight Friday, the executive director of Geo Group, Shahid Massood, said from Dubai.

Neither Emirati nor Pakistani officials commented on the allegations.

Ms. Bhutto and General Musharraf had been negotiating a power-sharing arrangement, but talks apparently collapsed as the general moved against the opposition following his decision to suspend the constitution.

She has in recent days made increasingly strident demands for General Musharraf to resign, and has proposed the opposition form a unity front to serve as a transition government ahead of elections due by January 9.

General Musharraf, who until recently had been considered a vital American ally and a bulwark in the war on terror, has steadfastly refused. Instead, he's expressed exasperation with the mounting Western pressure and has pressed ahead with disputed plans for January elections, swearing in an interim government Friday charged with preparing for the vote.

General Musharraf has also come under fire for his military's recent losses in fighting with pro-Taliban militants in Swat, where violence has raged since July and insurgents have captured several villages, police stations and government buildings.

A top general announced yesterday that the army has massed 15,000 troops for a major assault on Islamic militants in the northern valley, and the army said it had killed 40 militants there.

A militant spokesman said the government's figures were greatly exaggerated, but acknowledged suffering some casualties.