Bush urges Musharraf to stick to election plans, quit as army chief
By Channel NewsAsia's US correspondent Priscilla Huff | Posted: 08 November 2007 2125 hrs

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WASHINGTON DC : Police in Pakistan continued to round up supporters of former premier Benazir Bhutto.

Over 400 people had been detained after she called for mass protests against a state of emergency.

The crackdown came as the US President telephones his Pakistani counterpart for the first time since Saturday's declaration of emergency rule.

President George W. Bush urged Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf to stick to election plans and quit as army chief.

Mr Bush described his telephone conversation with Mr Musharraf as very frank.

"I spoke to President Musharraf right before I came over here to visit with President Sarkozy and my message was that we believe strongly in elections and that you ought to have elections soon and you need to take off your uniform. You can't be the president and the head of the military at the same time, so I had a very frank discussion with him," said President Bush.

On Capitol Hill, American lawmakers are questioning nearly every aspect of US policy on Pakistan.

The Deputy Secretary of State said Washington needs to stand by Islamabad.

"We strongly disagree with their government right now about their recent decisions and about the right way to build a democratic state. But that disagreement should not translate in disengagement," said US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte.

The Bush administration said it wants to support a return to democracy, and encourages dialogue in general and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in specific.

In an opinion piece published in The New York Times, Bhutto challenged the West to support democracy in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the Pakistanis said the schedule for elections remains on track, but Pakistan watchers are doubtful.

"The issue has always been the question of democracy on one hand and the war on terror on the other. And when there's a conflict of those two in this administration, the predominance of opinions at least at the top levels, has always been the war on terrorism. That has always trumped democracy," commented Walter Andersen, Johns Hopkins University.

For now, the key option for the Bush administration is to reassure its key ally in the war on terror.

But not all Asian crises are the same for the White House, and the US president made a specific point, saying that the crisis in Myanmar is different from the crisis in Pakistan. - CNA /ls