ISLAMABAD, 7 April 2006 — US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher told opposition leaders in Pakistan yesterday that the United States would like to see the supremacy of civilian rule in Pakistan.

“We want democracy and civilian command in Pakistan,” said Boucher at a breakfast meeting with leaders of the Alliance for Democracy (ARD), a coalition of opposition political parties.

The meeting with Boucher included Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim and the leader of the Nawaz Sharif faction of the Pakistan Muslim League, PML(N), Raja Zafarul Haq.

“We have sounded to (Boucher) that as a prelude to a free, fair and transparent election, an interim government be set up in Pakistan so that there is no possibility of any rigging,” Amin Fahim told Arab News after the meeting. Zafarul Haq, a close associate of deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, expressed similar views.

“Pakistan, being a close ally of the United States, has to be a stable country. Only genuine democracy can ensure democracy and not a government headed by a general,” he said.

Boucher remained the consummate diplomat when asked about Musharraf’s status as a uniformed president, calling it an “internal issue.” Boucher also held informal meetings with other parliamentarians from opposition parties at a dinner hosted by US Ambassador to Pakistan Rayan C. Crocker in Islamabad. Boucher told journalists that the White House continues to seek good relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan for the sake of combating terrorists who threaten regional stability.

Regarding the Indian-Pakistani peace process, he said there had been numerous “important developments” on establishing confidence-building measures between the two nuclear powers over the disputed region of Kashmir.

On the US-India deal for civilian use of nuclear energy, Boucher said it would not trigger off a nuclear-arms race in the region. The official also said the US had concerns about any gas pipeline agreement between Pakistan, Iran and India, but added that Washington would support a Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan gas pipeline.

Boucher arrived here Tuesday as a follow-up to US President George W. Bush’s recent visit to Pakistan.

White House national security advisor Stephen Hadley said late Wednesday that the US administration would work with Musharraf to ensure 2007 elections in his country are “free and fair.”

Hadley also said Washington “will encourage greater democratic reform and political freedom” in Pakistan in a speech to a forum of The National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) in Washington, according to a White House transcript.

“Our strategy with Pakistan is to encourage President Musharraf to take steps that will integrate Pakistan into the international community and to offer greater economic and political freedom to his people,” the top foreign policy adviser of President Bush said. “We will work with President Musharraf to ensure that the 2007 elections are free and fair,” Hadley said.

Some political observers expect Musharraf — who seized power in a 1999 military coup — to seek election for a second term after general elections in 2007 although it is not clear if the vote will actually occur next year. Musharraf won another five years of office in 2002 in a criticized referendum, and subsequently granted himself new powers including the right to dismiss an elected Parliament.

— Additional input from agencies