‘US patience not never-ending’

By Anwar Iqbal

WASHINGTON, Nov 7: The White House toughened its stance against Pakistan on Wednesday, warning President Pervez Musharraf that the US patience was not “never-ending”.

Also on Wednesday, President Musharraf reached out to two key congressional leaders asking them to understand his position while US lawmakers called for freezing all ‘non-reimbursable’ aid to Pakistan.

His telephone calls to Congressman Tom Lantos and Senator Joseph R. Biden — who chair two key congressional committees that supervise America’s relations with other nations —came hours before an important hearing on Pakistan on Capitol Hill.

At the White House, US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said that the United States expected President Musharraf to return to the path of democracy ‘now’. “This is not a never-ending process,” he said.

“They need to release the people that they’ve arrested, they need to stop beating people in the streets, they need to restore press freedom and they need to get back on the path to democracy soon -- now.”

Washington expects Gen Musharraf to make clear “in the next several days” that “he is lifting a state of emergency and returning to constitutional order,” Mr Johndroe said.

“As we’ve said, we’re waiting to hear from the Pakistanis, we’re waiting to hear from President Musharraf. We’re expecting some clarifications about the way ahead. I don’t want to put a specific timeframe on it, but soon,” he said.

At the same time, Mr Johndroe brushed aside calls for US President George W. Bush to speak directly to Gen Musharraf, saying “President Musharraf knows exactly where President Bush stands, no doubt about that.”

President Bush has relied on US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the US ambassador in Islamabad, Anne Patterson, to do the talking -- but the White House denies that this is because he fear the Pakistani leader may rebuff him.

Mr Johndroe also confirmed that US officials have also been in touch with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto “and other leaders”, telling them “that the US is committed to helping Pakistan get back on the right path.”

On Tuesday, White House spokesperson Dana Perino said the administration believed President Musharraf had “made a mistake”, but indicated there were bigger issues at stake.

“We have to be mindful to make sure that we do not undermine any of our counter-terrorism efforts... Pakistan is a country where extremists ... are trying to take hold and have a safe haven, and we had to deny them that,” Ms Perino said.

On Capitol Hill, Congressman Lantos and Senator Biden reached unlikely phone calls on Tuesday evening from President Musharraf, amid calls from US lawmakers to suspend aid to Pakistan.

Diplomatic observers in Washington estimate that Pakistan received about $11 billion from the United States since joining the US-led war against terror and any restriction on US assistance may lead to similar actions by other donor nations.

In a statement issued by his office, Senator Biden, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Gen Musharraf and he had a “very frank and detailed” discussion.

“I told President Musharraf how critical it is for relations between our two countries that elections go forward as planned in January, that he follow through on his commitment to take off his uniform and that he restore the rule of law to Pakistan.

“It is clear to me from our conversation that President Musharraf understands the consequkences for his country and for relations with the United States if he does not return Pakistan to the path of democracy.”

After speaking with President Musharraf, Sen Biden then spoke with Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte to brief him on the conversation.

Tom Lantos, chairman of the House foreign affairs committee, has not commented on his conversation with Gen Musharraf but his office said Mr Lantos has received calls from other lawmakers, urging him to suspend US aid to Pakistan if Gen Musharraf does not reverse his actions.

“President Musharraf must be told to revoke martial law, release the thousands of Pakistanis imprisoned in recent days, restore freedom of the press, relinquish his military position and proceed with democratic reforms,” said Representative Jane Harman, a California Democrat.

Senator John Kerry, a Massachusetts independent and a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, planned to offer a resolution condemning Gen Musharraf’s actions Congressman John Tierney, another Democrat, said Congress should consider freezing any non-reimbursable aid to Pakistan, such as weapons provided to its military.“I think it would get his attention,” said Mr Tierney, who chairs a foreign affairs panel on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. “I don’t know that it would force him to do anything, but it certainly would have an impact. ... Its money they perceive as important.”

Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said he is reviewing the 2008 defence authorization bill, under negotiation with the House of Representatives, and existing law to ensure there is adequate balance.

The goal is to support counterterrorism efforts “in a way which we don’t in any way undermine the democratic forces in Pakistan. We’ve got to calibrate it,” said Mr Levin.

Dawn 8/Nov/07