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Musharraf to confront Pakistan's image issues in U.S

Posted on: Sunday, 11 September 2005, 06:02 CDT

By Simon Cameron-Moore

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - President Pervez Musharraf left for New York on Sunday with a mission to counter criticism of Pakistan's record on women's rights, to improve Muslim-Jewish relations and to boost a flagging peace process with India.

Like many other leaders congregating there for the U.N. General Assembly days after the fourth anniversary of al Qaeda's September 11 attacks on the United States, Musharraf can also be expected to deliver a strong message on the war on terrorism.

The Pakistani leader, who has survived several al Qaeda-inspired assassination attempts since becoming one of Washington's principle allies in the Islamic world, has still to win over U.S. media, which often says his actions don't match his words.

When not questioning how known militant groups have survived repeated crackdowns, Western media raise doubts about Musharraf's commitment to developing democracy, or focus on rape cases to depict violence against women in Pakistan.

"I believe demonstrations have been planned by human rights groups who are far more annoyed at the human rights situation in Pakistan than General Musharraf," said Samina Ahmed of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.

"We will see how far he addresses these concerns."

Before setting off, Musharraf itemized these issues, telling reporters; "I would like to achieve many things, basically covering whatever negatives there are on Pakistan, and to project Pakistan in a strong way."

His schedule in the United States shows his intentions.

On September 17 he is due to address the American Jewish Congress and an audience of Pakistani American women at Columbia University.

BOLD MOVE

Some observers believe the U.S. media might go easy on Musharraf because of his decision to open diplomatic channels with Israel following a widely publicized meeting of the two countries' foreign ministers in Istanbul on September 1.

Musharraf is expected to cite that bold move, along with earlier ones to seek peace with India and abandon support for the Taliban in Afghanistan, to win favor internationally.

"He will in a way be saying; I am the man in Pakistan. Don't do anything to destabilize me. Don't be misguided by liberals," Najam Sethi, editor of the Daily Times, told Reuters.

Musharraf, who came to power in a bloodless military coup in 1999, could cite recent council elections as his own initiative to develop grassroots democracy.

He can also point to a fresh crackdown in July on religious extremism, and his decision to expel foreign students from madrasas, Islamic schools, as recent attempts to banish notions of Pakistan as a breeding ground for terrorism.

According to a schedule published in Pakistani media, Musharraf will meet U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday, and President George W. Bush later in the week.

He is also expected to see the leaders of Britain, China and Iran, but the most focus will on Musharraf's meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on September 14.

South Asia's nuclear rivals have still to make substantive progress on settling the core dispute over Kashmir despite embarking on a peace process in January, 2004, and India remains critical of Pakistan's efforts to curb cross-border militancy.

Singh also stole a march on Pakistan when he came away from a visit to Washington in July with a treaty on civil nuclear cooperation and defense.

The United States also wants to see Pakistan do more to stop Taliban insurgents harassing U.S. forces in Afghanistan in the run up to parliamentary elections there later this month.

Last week, Pakistan announced it was deploying nearly 10,000 more troops on the Afghan border, taking the total over 80,000.

Source: REUTERS

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