US to send special envoy to Pakistan - report |
|
|
|
Published
:
Tue, 13 Nov 2007 09:31
|
WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - President George Bush is to send a special envoy to Pakistan to personally tell military ruler Pervez Musharraf that Washington wants emergency rule lifted ahead of January parliamentary elections, The New York Times reported Tuesday.The newspaper, citing unnamed administration officials, did not identify the envoy or indicate when the envoy would travel.'The president thinks that we need to lift the emergency rule in order to have free and fair elections,' White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters Monday.President Pervez Musharraf must also shed his army uniform 'since the president (Bush) thinks you can't be both president and the chief of the army,' Perino said.Publicly the Bush administration continues to support Musharraf, seen as the best deterrent against Al-Qaeda in Pakistan. 'Nobody is ready to cut him off at the knees yet,' an unnamed US official told the Times.But many administration members worry that Musharaff's mistakes are eroding his support so badly that he could be forced to surrender power, the official told the Times.Musharraf on Sunday said parliamentary elections would be held by January 9, but indicated that his state of emergency would likely persist until then 'to ensure absolutely fair and transparent elections.'afp/zrzrCOPYRIGHTCopyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
|
|
|
|
Print this Story
US says Myanmar junta must meet soon with Aung San Suu Kyi 