BUSH SENDS HIS DIPLOMAT TO PRESS GENERAL MUSHARAFF FOR A FREE AND FAIR ELECTION AND DISSOLVE EMERGENCY
The Bush administration will be sending the number 2 American diplomat to Pakistan to impress on President Pervez Musharraf in person to dissolve the emergency rule and allow free and fair elections in the country. The Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, now on a four-nation West Africa tour, is expected in Pakistan on Friday to underscore U.S. concerns about the situation as Musharraf resists pressure to return to constitutional rule or to free opposition leader Benazir Bhutto who has been placed under house arrest for a second time. "We want like to see all moderate political forces be able to work together, we continue to want to see elections move forward in a free, fair and transparent manner (and) we want to see the emergency decree lifted." "I would expect that he will provide the same message in private to Pakistani officials that we have been saying in public," said deputy State Department spokesman Tom Casey.
