Re: US officalls: Mushrraf’s days are numbered.
I think Mushrraf might be flying back with Negroponte to the US. I think the US knows something that most of us don’t b/c these stories don’t just show up in press for no reason.
Knives out for Musharraf as US loosens ties
James Rupert in Islamabad
November 16, 2007
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**THE White House is trying to distance itself from President Pervez Musharraf and build connections to other Pakistanis, fearing he could soon fall from power.
The US embassy had stepped up meetings with opposition and pro-democracy leaders, military officers and other influential figures, diplomats said.
Increasingly, “the general view is that we’re in the endgame”, said Marvin Weinbaum, who monitors US policy towards Pakistan at the Middle East Institute in Washington.**
The shift in US tactics comes amid suggestions that opposition figures are moving towards forging an alliance against General Musharraf. Raja Zafar-ul Haq, a top official in former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s party, said yesterday that Mr Sharif and his long-time rival Benazir Bhutto spoke by telephone on Wednesday and were ready to bury their differences for a “joint struggle” to oust General Musharraf.
Bhutto, also a former prime minister, is under house arrest in the eastern city of Lahore, while Mr Sharif leads his party from exile in Saudi Arabia. Bhutto’s party confirmed that the pair spoke but said she would give details of their conversation later.
Such an alliance would bring together two of the largest opposition parties in Pakistan. Bhutto has also been in touch with other groups - including some of her former bitter enemies - about forging a united front.
Any US move to back away from General Musharraf requires delicate diplomacy that will fall to the Deputy Secretary of State, John Negroponte, who is to arrive here today. He will reiterate US insistence that General Musharraf must end his state of emergency before elections that are to be held by January 9.
Diplomats said Mr Negroponte’s message might be tempered by a division within the Bush Administration, where some policymakers say General Musharraf could still survive and so must not be alienated. They added that Mr Negroponte also must avoid appearing to interfere in Pakistani affairs.
But several US officials said that more of their colleagues were coming around to the belief that General Musharraf’s days in power were numbered and that the US should consider contingency plans, including reaching out to Pakistan’s generals.
The country’s king-makers have long been a cadre of elite generals, called the corps commanders. At the top of that cadre is General Ashfaq Pervez Kiani, General Musharraf’s designated successor as army chief.
General Kiani is a moderate, pro-American infantry commander who is widely seen as commanding respect within the army and, within Western circles, as a potential alternative to General Musharraf.
While Pakistan remains a haven for al-Qaeda and other Islamic militants, senior officials at the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon now say they recognise that the army remains a powerful force for stability in Pakistan, and that there is little prospect of an Islamic takeover if General Musharraf falls.
They say that if General Musharraf is forced from power it would probably be in a gentle push by fellow officers, who would try to install a civilian president and move for parliamentary elections to produce the next prime minister - perhaps even Bhutto, despite past strains between her and the military.
Newsday, The New York Times, Agence France-Presse
