Groaning under US pressure, Musharraf warns of quitting war against terror

ISLAMABAD: Groaning under mounting American pressure to do more in the ongoing war against terror, take off uniform, ensure fair and free holding of the 2007 polls and not to subjugate the judiciary, President General Musharraf seems to have lost patience with the US, as reflected in his recent warning that Pakistan could disassociate itself from its alliance with the US.

Calling for an end to the blame game directed against Pakistan, Musharraf told the participants of a symposium in Islamabad on April 12 that the commitment and sincerity of Islamabad must never be doubted.

“If Pakistan is bluffing, if I am bluffing and the ISI is bluffing, I think we should be out of the coalition”, he is reported to have said. Political analysts attribute Musharraf’s increasingly anti-US posture to some recent developments that took place in March. Firstly, during his March 4 visit to Islamabad, US Vice-President Dick Cheney delivered a tough message to Musharraf, saying that he should act decisively to destroy Al-Qaeda hideouts in the tribal zone or let the Americans do the job.

Then on March 21, a spokesman of US State Department said the US expects General Musharraf to give up the army chief’s post by 2007 end. On March 25, four leading American senators asked Musharraf to ensure that the 2007 elections are open, unlike the ones held in 2002. On March 30, a State Department spokesman said the US wants to see an independent judiciary in Pakistan and the trial of the suspended chief justice should be conducted in a transparent manner.

All these development have prompted Musharraf to express his anger against the US, thereby prompting analysts to call this period of lukewarm ties between Islamabad and Washington the beginning of the end.