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Bush meets with Musharraf amid protests
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-04 13:51
Welcomed with military pomp and ceremony, President Bush began a mission
Saturday to show solidarity with this Islamic nation and support Pakistani
President Gen. Perez Musharraf's war-on-terror alliance with the United States.
U.S. President
George W. Bush, right, is greeted by Pakistani President Gen. Pervez
Musharraf during an arrival ceremony at the Aiwan-e-Sadr presidential
residence in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, March 4, 2006. Bush arrived in
Pakistan late Friday, following an unannounced visit to Afghanistan and
three days in India. [AP] |
On a hazy morning, Bush and Musharraf sat under a green canopy in a
courtyard of the presidential palace as a military band played the national
anthems of both countries. Soldiers on horseback bearing lances stood to the
side and three rows of blue-coated troops were at attention.
Continuing the heavy security that greeted him on arrival Friday night,
Bush's motorcade was protected by three helicopters that circled overhead as he
rode from the heavily fortified U.S. Embassy compound, where he spent the night,
to see Musharraf.
After the welcoming ceremony, the two leaders held talks, exchanging
handshakes and smiles for the cameras.
On Friday, Air Force One flew through the night without lights to conceal the
plane's profile as it delivered Bush and his wife, Laura, from India. Two
helicopters and a motorcade waited for the president at the airport, but it was
impossible to tell which ferried him away.
Anti-American sentiment runs deep here, and protests by thousands flared in
cities across the country in anticipation of Bush's visit. More were planned for
Saturday.
A six-party opposition religious alliance called for black flags to be flown
over homes and was staging demonstrations in Lahore, Karachi and Quetta.
Pakistani police also detained Imran Khan, best known for leading Pakistan's
cricket team to a 1992 World Cup victory, ahead of a protest planned by his
small opposition party, according to Khan's spokesman.
Khan has often sided with hardline Islamic parties in voicing fierce
criticism of the U.S.-led war on terror and Musharraf's rule.
The danger from terrorist attacks remained. A day before Bush's arrival, an
American diplomat was killed in a suicide car-bombing at a U.S. consulate in the
southern city of Karachi, a hotbed of Islamic militancy.
After conferring with Musharraf, Bush was meeting with business leaders and
attending a state dinner. A huge ballroom at the presidential palace was already
decked out in the morning for the evening's formality 錕斤拷 under 11 brightly lit
chandeliers, tables were adorned with orchids draped from candelabra and
elaborate crystal stemware.
By attending a cricket match 錕斤拷 a passion of Pakistanis 錕斤拷 and showcasing
American contributions to Pakistan after a devastating earthquake in October,
Bush also hoped to boost the U.S. image among Muslims.
Bush said he would talk with Musharraf about Pakistan's "vital cooperation in
the war on terror and our efforts to foster economic and political development
so we can reduce the appeal of radical Islam."
In a farewell speech in New Delhi, Bush ran into trouble when he praised
Pakistan as "a force for freedom and moderation in the Arab world." The White
House hastened to correct Bush's reference to Pakistan as an Arab nation, and
said he meant to say Muslim.
Bush's trip brought renewed attention on the frustrating manhunt for Osama
bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on
America. Bin Laden and his followers are believed to be in hiding in the porous
border area of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Earlier this week, Bush said it was simply a matter of when 錕斤拷 not if 錕斤拷 bin
Laden was brought to justice.
While many people here view the United States with mistrust, Pakistan has
been an important U.S. ally in the Muslim world.
The Pakistani government says it has arrested about 700 al-Qaida suspects in
the past four years, including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the
Sept. 11 attacks. Even so, key terror leaders are still thought to be at large
within its borders.
Musharraf seized power seven years ago in a bloodless coup and has reneged on
a promise to relinquish his military post. But Musharraf endeared himself to
Bush after the 9/11 attacks when he switched Pakistan's allegiance from the
Taliban regime in Afghanistan and supported Washington in the U.S.-led war
against its rulers.
Bush has promised to talk with Musharraf about the need for more democratic
reforms.
Pakistan has been roiled by anti-Western protests against Prophet Muhammad
cartoons, which have left at least five people dead. Bush has called on
governments to stop violent demonstrations, and at the same time has urged the
media to use restraint with material that might be considered offensive.
Pakistanis also were enraged by a U.S. missile strike in January targeting
al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, who was believed to be attending a
dinner party at a village in a northwestern region near the Afghan border.
Al-Zawahri apparently wasn't there, and the missile killed 13 residents,
including women and children.
Bush was expected to face demands here for equal treatment with India, which
signed a landmark nuclear deal with the United States this week providing
nuclear reactors, technology and other material to New Delhi in exchange for its
acceptance of international safeguards. U.S. officials said Pakistan will not
get the same reward, considering that just two years ago Pakistan's leading
nuclear scientist, A.Q. Khan, was exposed as the chief of a lucrative black
market in weapons technology that had supplied Iran, Libya and North Korea. The
government denied any knowledge of his proliferation activities.
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