ISLAMABAD, 18 August 2007 — The United States was accused yesterday of meddling in Pakistani affairs amid reports Washington is trying to broker a power-sharing deal between President Pervez Musharraf and his arch-rival Benazir Bhutto.
Sources in both government and opposition denounced reports that Washington is pressuring military ruler Musharraf to come to an arrangement with two-time former Prime Minister Benazir ahead of national elections. A government spokesman said the choice of national leader lay with the people of Pakistan and should depend on the vote. “Pre-judging the mandate of the people of Pakistan is an insult to the electorate,” deputy information minister Tariq Azeem told AFP.
In a report Thursday, the New York Times said the United States was discussing reforms with key political players in Pakistan amid reported plans to get Musharraf to share power with Benazir.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed the power-sharing arrangement in a telephone call to military ruler Musharraf last week, the newspaper said, quoting American and Pakistani officials.
Benazir met Musharraf in the United Arab Emirates last month and according to the Times has also met in recent weeks with senior officials of the Bush administration, including the US envoy to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad.
US officials believe an alliance with Benazir would be Musharraf’s best chance of remaining president, the report said, noting declining domestic support for the military general. Neither Musharraf nor Benazir have confirmed their meeting.
The leader of a powerful hard-line Islamic alliance said Musharraf was seeking to stay in power “at any cost” and had allowed US influence in Pakistani political and military affairs to escalate to unprecedented levels.
“Musharraf’s only goal is to stay in power and the Americans want to make full use of his weakness by dictating how our politics should be governed,” said Liaquat Baloch. He said Washington wanted secular parties to join with Musharraf to block the rise of Islamic parties that would pursue an independent foreign policy free of US influence.
