WASHINGTON, Nov 2: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has refused to speculate if President Gen Pervez Musharraf may decree a state of emergency in the country, but said that the United States would like to see Pakistan evolve as a democracy.
But international media reports, based on a briefing she gave to journalists en route to Turkey on Thursday, quoted her as saying that she had urged Gen Musharraf to abstain from decreeing an emergency rule in the country.
On Friday, the US State Department released a transcript of the briefing, showing that she did not use the words “emergency” or “martial law” while talking about the current situation in Pakistan, as the media reported. “Secretary Rice, did you talk to or try to talk to President Musharraf today, and how close do you think he’s coming to declaring a state of emergency?” Ms Rice was asked. “I’m not going to speculate about events in Pakistan,” the secretary responded but did not say if she had spoken to President Musharraf about the concerns expressed in the Pakistani and international media, that he is about to decree a state of emergency in his country.
“We’re in constant contact with the leadership and the political leaders in Pakistan,” she said, without explaining who she spoke to and when.
Ms Rice had telephoned Gen Musharraf on Aug 6 following similar speculations and reportedly succeeded in persuading him not to declare a state of emergency.
In her latest statement, Ms Rice, perhaps for the first time, also publicly acknowledged supporting former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s return to Pakistan.
Outlining key points of the US policy towards a country Washington regards as an essential ally in the war against terror, Ms Rice said: “We’ve been very clear that the important steps that have to be taken in Pakistan is that, first of all, Pakistan needs to prepare for and hold free and fair elections at the end of the year, beginning of next year.
“The political space needs to be prepared by moderate forces beginning to work together, which is why we’ve been supportive of moderate forces like Mrs Bhutto’s return.
“The moderate forces have a common enemy in the extremists who are so much in evidence when you know there’s a car bomb at Rawalpindi or when there’s the Red Mosque incident.
“And so those are the principles on which we’re standing.”
