October 23, 2002	Wednesday	Sha’aban 16,1423

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KARACHI, Oct 22: Pakistan’s relations with the United States would be top on their agenda when senior US officials visit Islamabad later this month, sources told Dawn.

These will be the first such visit since the Oct 10 parliamentary elections that allowed an anti-American religious alliance to emerge as a major force in the Pakistani politics.

“One of these will be a cabinet-level visit or one step less than that,” said a US Embassy spokesman Terry White. “We cannot give you more information at this stage.”

Although, Gen Tommy Franks, Commander-in-Chief the US Central Command, visited Islamabad last week, US and Pakistan officials said his visit was planned before the elections. Political issues, they said, were not discussed during his visit.

But western diplomatic sources said talks with the future visitors would focus on the repercussions of the parliamentary elections.

The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), an alliance of six religious parties, that emerged a surprise third in strength from the elections, has said it wants “friendly but dignified relations with the United States.”

The MMA’s prime ministerial candidate Maulana Fazlur Rahman has also assured Washington that if the alliance came to power, it will fulfil the commitments Pakistan has made to the international community.

But such assurances have not allayed Washington’s concerns. During the election campaign, the MMA pledged to evict US forces from the region. Since then, it has also pledged to introduce the Islamic system in the areas where it forms a government.

And earlier this week, MMA Vice President Qazi Hussain Ahmad said the group would end co-education in the country, segregating women from men.

Such statements, played up by the media, have had a negative impact in the western capitals. The MMA reacted to this criticism by sounding a warning to the western media: stop defaming Islam.

The MMA won 45 seats in Oct 10 elections, excluding independents allied with the group. With 77 seats now in parliament, the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) is the largest party and the one that supports the country’s military government and its pro-US policies. It is followed by the People’s Party Parliamentarians of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, which won 63 seats.

The Pakistan Muslim League (N) of another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, won only 14 seats although it had a two-third majority in the previous parliament.

During the election campaign, the MMA also demanded that the Americans stop interfering in the internal affairs of Muslim countries and openly expressed sympathy for the former Taliban rulers of Afghanistan, who were defeated by the US-led forces late last year. Some parties in the MMA had close relations with the Taliban and provided religious training to its leaders and workers, including the militia’s chief, Mulla Omar.

Will MMA’s previous ties and its political slogans translate into policies if it forms a government? It is a question that is being seriously examined in power circles both in Islamabad and Washington.