WASHINGTON, Feb 5: Moderates, and not extremists, will come to power if there’s a change of government in Pakistan, says a Washington Post column published on Monday.

Columnist Jackson Diehl rejects the US administration’s argument that religious extremists will take over Pakistan if the current government goes, noting that Washington uses the same argument to “defend the continued US pandering” to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

In Pakistan’s case, he says, such an argument is “particularly perverse”. That's because “the second most popular leader in Pakistan behind Gen Musharraf, according to polling by the International Republican Institute, is not an Islamist but former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, the leader of the moderate and pro-Western Pakistan People's Party”.

He argues that Ms Bhutto and her party have made it clear that they would be willing to accept President Musharraf in exchange for fair parliamentary elections and an end to criminal charges that keep Ms Bhutto in exile.

Mr Diehl notes that the PPP and the Muslim League-N have formed the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy and “they are the obvious partners for a government that genuinely aims to modernise the country and marginalize … extremism”.

If such a partnership has not materialised, it’s not because the parties are unwilling to accept Gen Musharraf. “Only Mr Musharraf refuses to deal with them”, he writes.

The writer claims that in private, the Bush administration has been urging Gen Musharraf for sometime to come to terms with Pakistan's moderate democrats. “And they've been asking him for years to stop allowing sanctuary for the Taliban. He's not responding. So what's wrong with congressional conditions? They might just produce what's been missing from Mr Musharraf the past five years: results”, says Mr Diehl while referring to a bill passed recently by the US House of Representatives urging some restrictions on the US assistance to Pakistan.

The columnist criticises Deputy Assistant Secretary of State John Gastright for assuring the Musharraf government that the US administration opposed suggested congressional measures against Pakistan.

The writer notes that Mr Gastright told a briefing in Islamabad that President Bush can certify that Pakistan is doing its best to fight the Taliban insurgency as required in the House bill. Mr Gastright also said that because of Pakistan’s cooperation in the war against terror, there should be no need for such a certification.

The US official, Mr Diehl writes, also praised the steps taken by the Musharraf government to promote press and political freedom ahead of the elections and then he said the administration was pleased with President Musharraf's handling of the Khan network of nuclear proliferators.