WASHINGTON, April 12: One of America’s leading newspapers on Friday criticized Gen Pervez Musharraf’s decision to hold a referendum, and said Washington should tell the General that he was wrong if he believed he had Washington’s indulgence for his move.

In a first leader, The Washington Post said the administration could do a service for both itself and Gen Musharraf by urging him to negotiate any changes in Pakistan’s political system with political parties rather than dictating reforms.

“If he is really required for Pakistan,” the paper added in a reference to the view held here that the General is needed during the US-led campaign against terrorism, “Mr Musharraf should be able to work within a legitimate democratic system. If he is unwilling to do that, continued US support for his rule would be a mistake.”

The paper noted that the US State Department had so far dodged the issue and said there was obvious reason for the administration’s ambivalence: “it has lionized Mr Musharraf as an invaluable ally in the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and it even pointed to him as a model for other Muslim leaders.”

It was unlikely that the General would have attempted a referendum, “which was opposed overwhelmingly by Pakistan’s educated elite,” unless he believed he had earned the indulgence of a grateful Washington. “That’s why the Bush administration should tell Mr Musharraf he is wrong,” the paper asserted.