Oh dear. So the eralier news was yet another false hope for people wanting Musharaf out. 
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008/02/28/story_28-2-2008_pg7_4
US senators deny calling for Musharraf to quit
** Say they are encouraged by political leaders’ commitment to move forward constructively*
WASHINGTON: Two key US senators, who witnessed the February 18 polls, have clarified their reported remarks regarding President Pervez Musharraf’s political position, saying they never called for Musharraf to step down.
Democratic Senator Joseph Biden and Republican Chuck Hagel, who travelled to Pakistan as part of a three-member Congressional election observer delegation, opposed any notion of presidential impeachment by the new parliament and also particularly highlighted the Pakistani leader’s avowed role in the transition period.
Senator Joseph Biden, who heads the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said, “What we all three have been saying is that if, in fact, he’s treated with some respect by the parties that are forming the government, I believe that he will, in fact, step back from the exercise of the kind of power he’s tried to exercise.”
The legislator from Delaware also addressed the question on Tuesday at a press conference on Capitol Hill, saying he did not call for the Pakistani leader to relinquish his position.
“I’ve been reported to have said that I called for him to step down. That’s not what I said,” he clarified.
He said that Musharraf if treated with respect would “gracefully draw back, meaning not attempt to exercise the role of the prime minister, but exercise the role of the president. And so that’s what I mean when I say the transition is under way”.
In the Public Broadcasting Service programme, Biden said the Pakistani leader “made it pretty clear to us that he understood his role as president”.
“And the point I’ve been making — and all of us, actually, have been making — is that this is a transitional moment. The parties should look forward, not backward.”."
Biden added that President Musharraf “made it clear to us he thought the parliament should make the decisions now that it was elected”.
Hagel, who was part of the delegation that also included Democratic Senator John Kerry, said he “didn’t ever call for [Musharraf] to resign”.
“My goodness, what I said yesterday — go back and checck the record on CNN — is that, first, the leaders who will form a new government, a coalition government, will need to work this through. Certainly, it’s up to them, the Pakistani people, represented by their leaders,” he told the same programme..
He said Musharraf had accepted the elections and felt confident and comfortable when the delegation met him on the morning after the polls and he had accepted those results.
Hagel also acknowledged Musharraf’s vital role as an ally in the fight against terrorism, both in the interests of his country and of the world.
He added, “So I in no way want the record to show anything but what I’ve said about how important Musharraf has been, and he deserves that kind of respect, because he — let’s not forget hereeafter September 11, 2001, Musharraf became a very important ally to us at his political risk, his own risk here.”
Constructive way: Separately, Senator John Kerry, who also observed the February 18 polls, told a press conference, “I think Senator Biden, Senator Hagel and I were all enormously encouraged by the conversations we had with the leaders of each of the parties and by their commitment to try to move forward in a constructive way.
I used to think he was a man of his word in all instances…
i’m hurt
