WASHINGTON, Feb 10: President Pervez Musharraf is not just a US ally in the war against terror, he also wants to create a more open, moderate and tolerant Pakistan, says US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

In an interview to a Washington-based weekly magazine, National Journal, Ms Rice strongly defended the United States decision to back a military ruler in Pakistan despite its declared agenda of promoting democracy in the Muslim world.

“Musharraf is not just an ally in the war on terrorism. He’s also an ally who has started to think about a more open, moderate, and tolerant Pakistan,” said Ms Rice.

“Musharraf has also made a commitment to holding elections in 2007, and when I was in Pakistan I said that we expect those elections to take place,” she said.

Ms Rice said that even for a power like the US it was not possible to ‘change the playing field overnight’. “But if you look at the trajectory of Pakistan, it’s a much better trajectory even from the perspective of our democracy agenda than it was a few years ago.”

When the reporter suggested that the Bush administration had exposed itself to charges of hypocrisy by backing a military ruler in Pakistan for short-term goals, Ms Rice said that while the need for ‘a democratic foundation’ to US policies was “really very, very powerful in all cases, you have to take nations as they are”.

She said that while discussing the current situation in Pakistan, it was also important to look at where it was prior to September 2001.

Asked if the US democracy agenda went beyond Afghanistan and Iraq, Ms Rice said this was a much broader agenda and in some cases it “entails encouraging democracy in nations that have been our friends but where we expect better, like Saudi Arabia and Egypt.”

In other places, she said, the US had worked with others to remove a hindrance to democracy, like Syria’s occupation of Lebanon, where the US worked closely with France to achieve this objective.

“So there are lots of means to promote democracy. Our use of military force was never designed to deliver democracy at bayonet point,” said Condoleezza Rice.

“On the other hand, when there is a real threat and you do have to use military force, then it is your obligation to try and leave the foundations for democracy.”