Author:
Publication: The Times of India
Date: June 21, 2001
The United States condemned the
decision by Pakistani military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf to declare himself
president on Wednesday and officials said it would complicate the Bush
administration's decision-making on the future of US sanctions on Islamabad.
Musharraf's move seriously undercuts
the mission of Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar who held talks with
top US officials in Washington this week in a strong bid to persuade them
to lift at least some of the myriad sanctions that have been levied on
his country.
Responding to Musharraf's surprise
decision, the State Department said sanctions imposed after Pakistan's
October 1999 military coup would remain until the country moved toward
democracy.
But spokesman Richard Boucher did
not rule out lifting other sanctions, namely those activated against India
and Pakistan after they tested nuclear weapons in May 1998.
The administration is expected to
lift those so-called "post-nuclear" sanctions on India, possibly within
weeks, officials have told Reuters.
But officials are just beginning
a review of policy toward Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan that could
result in some new approaches toward those countries as well.
"We are very concerned and very
disappointed that Pakistan takes another turn away from democracy rather
than, as we had hoped, a step toward democracy," Boucher told reporters.
He said the action by the general,
who also dissolved the elected legislatures that he suspended after taking
power in a coup in 1999, "severely undermines Pakistan's constitutional
order and casts Pakistan as a country ruled by decree rather than by democratic
process."
Boucher added, "Pakistan, we believe,
should understand that US sanctions imposed because of the military coup
cannot be lifted until the (US) president determines that a democratically
elected government has taken office."
He said Sattar had not given notice
of Musharraf's move in talks with Secretary of State Colin Powell on Tuesday,
the highest level contact between the five-month-old Bush administration
and Pakistan.
In fact, the foreign minister led
off the meeting by assuring the Americans that Pakistan would hold elections
next year, officials said.
The Musharraf decision "was not
a welcome piece of news here. Powell was blindsided," one U.S. official
said.
"It will complicate what was already
a complicated task" -- deciding what to do about the sanctions imposed
on Pakistan after the 1998 nuclear tests, he said.
Unlike when Indian Foreign and Defence
Minister Jaswant Singh visited Washington recently, President George W
Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney did not "drop in" on Sattar's meeting
with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice at the White House.
Given Musharraf's move, US officials
who cautioned against according Sattar that extra bit of recognition have
been proven right, the official said.
At a news conference Sattar said
he was informed of Musharraf's decision last night -- after his separate
talks with Powell and Rice.
Sattar dismissed U.S. criticism
of Musharraf's action, saying similar complaints were heard after the general
led a bloodless coup in October 1999 against a democratically-elected government
that was accused of corruption.
"But gradually they came to appreciate
that this government was providing better governance ... I think the United
States will see that we are moving in that direction (toward democracy)
and we are quite prepared to be judged on our performance," he added.
The nuclear test-related sanctions
imposed on India and Pakistan as a result of their May 1998 nuclear tests
included bans on foreign assistance, munitions sales and licenses; government
credits and financial assistance; and US support for multilateral financial
assistance.
After Congress gave him authority,
President Bill Clinton in 1999 waived sanctions on India pertaining to
a broad range of US government programs and commercial transactions.
Sanctions on Pakistan were also
waived, but they were limited to purchasing food or other agricultural
commodities.
Both countries want all sanctions
permanently removed. (Reuters)
