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Tuesday, October 19, 1999

U.S. officials request timetable from Musharraf
Pakistani leader will be watched, prompted to restore democracy
By Sonya Ross
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - President Clinton on Monday praised Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf's "conciliatory tone" toward India but expressed disappointment that the military leader gave no timetable for restoring democratic rule to Pakistan.
   Clinton said he was pleased by most of the points Musharraf made in his address Sunday, his first public appearance since announcing last week that he had ousted Pakistan's civilian government. He urged Musharraf to restore democracy quickly.
   "A lot of what he said on the substance, including the conciliatory tone he took toward India, I thought was quite good," the president said. "But I was disappointed there was no commitment to a timetable to move toward democracy, and I hope that will be forthcoming."
   U.S. officials said they will watch closely to see how Musharraf handles civil liberties and relations with neighboring India.
   "Because we do not believe military takeovers are the appropriate method for resolving the problems that face democracies, we welcome . . . his promise that the armed forces would not stay in charge any longer than necessary," State Department spokesman James Rubin said. "At the same time, we are disappointed that he did not offer a clear timetable for the early restoration of constitutional, civilian and democratic government. We call upon him to do so now."
   In recent days, U.S. military leaders have made clear they were not alarmed by the military takeover, that they consider Musharraf pro-Western and they feel he is capable of controlling Pakistan's nuclear weapons program.
   Nonetheless, the military coup prompted the White House to announce it will impose new sanctions against Pakistan. State Department officials said a $1.7 million health program, operated by private organizations, would be suspended. But a $2.5 million program to counter narcotics would not be interrupted.
   U.S. military leaders have not had close contact with the Pakistani military in recent years because of extensive sanctions imposed in 1990 by the Bush administration and additional restrictions that followed Pakistan's nuclear tests in 1998.
   Musharraf said he wanted good relations with the United States but that Pakistan's foreign policy would be more oriented toward relations with the Muslim world.
   Rubin, the State Department spokesman, said U.S. officials were encouraging Musharraf to take "confidence-building measures that could lead to a lessening of tensions with India," and hope he'll also thin out troops along the line of control in Kashmir.

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