CRAWFORD, Texas: US President George W. Bush has praised Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf as a strong ally against terrorism and said he had no reason to doubt his pledges to return to democratic rule.
Bush’s remarks, coming after talks at his Texas ranch with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, amounted to his strongest-yet show of support for Musharraf since the embattled Pakistani leader declared a state of emergency.
“President Musharraf said that he would take off his uniform; he said there will be elections after the New Year. And our hope is that he would suspend this emergency decree, to allow this society, which is on the path to democracy, to get back on the path to democracy,” said Bush.
Asked whether he believed Musharraf’s pledges to hold elections by February 2008 and quit as army chief if confirmed as president, Bush replied: “I take a person for his word” until they prove unreliable.
“I think that’s what you have to do. When somebody says this is what they’re going to do, then you give them a chance to do it,” the president said days after bluntly pushing Musharraf by telephone to return to constitutional rule.
Source: GEO News
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