June 23, 2007	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Sani 07, 1428

WASHINGTON, June 22: Former US presidential candidate John F. Kerry has told the US Senate that the dispute over President Pervez Musharraf’s uniform will resolve itself.

Senator Kerry, who was chairing a recent Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, also said that President Musharraf’s refusal to allow former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif to return home would also be resolved.

He said that recent political developments in Pakistan were troublesome and worried the US which wanted all the issues to be resolved peacefully.

“President Musharraf’s refusal so far -- though I suspect this will resolve itself -- but the question of his living up to his promise to relinquish his role as the chief of the military, his unwillingness yet -- though I think this may also resolve itself -- to allow former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif to return to the country for the upcoming elections, and the arrest of hundreds of political activists from opposition parties, have raised fundamental questions about both the relationship and the future of democracy,” the senator observed.

Senator Kerry noted that the president's dismissal of the Chief Justice resulted in widespread protests and had raised concerns about the rule of law.

“The temporary crackdown on the media could have a chilling effect on free press in the future,” he warned.

“So we need to reinforce our commitment for both democracy, human rights, respect for the rule of law, and find a way somehow -- and this is your task -- to balance all of that with the complicated mutuality that is needed in other endeavours,” said Senator Kerry.

He said he knew that in their talks with Pakistani leaders in Islamabad last week, Deputy Secretary John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary Richard Boucher also raised these concerns.