U.S. Prods Musharraf To End Emergency Rule

This article was reported by David Rohde, Jane Perlez, Helene Cooper and Steven Lee Myers, and written by Mr. Rohde.

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 7 — Amid a deepening crisis in Pakistan, Bush administration officials have begun pushing Gen. Pervez Musharraf on several fronts to reverse his state of emergency, quietly making contact with other senior army generals and backing Pakistans opposition leader as she carries out back-channel negotiations with him.

Military attachés from the United States and several other Western nations are discreetly contacting senior Pakistani generals and asking them to press General Musharraf, the president, to back down from the emergency decree he issued Saturday night, according to a Western diplomat.

On Wednesday, President Bush telephoned General Musharraf for the first time since the crisis began and bluntly told him that he had to return Pakistan to civilian rule, hold elections and step down as chief of the military, as he had promised. Mr. Bush called him from the Oval Office at 11:30 a.m. Washington time, and spoke for about 20 minutes, according to the White House.

My message was that we believe strongly in elections, and that you ought to have elections soon, and you need to take off your uniform, Mr. Bush said later, appearing at George Washingtons mansion in Mount Vernon, Va., with President Nicolas Sarkozy of France. You cant be the president and the head of the military at the same time.

General Musharraf sought to assure Mr. Bush that his power grab was temporary and that he still planned to call for elections, Pakistani and American officials said. At the same time, two aides to General Musharraf acknowledged that aides to the general and the opposition leader Benazir Bhutto were engaged in negotiations, even as her supporters clashed with police officers outside Parliament and she threatened larger protests on Friday.

Talks back channel are going on with her, said Tariq Azim Khan, the governments minister of state for information.

Ms. Bhuttos approach dovetailed with the American effort to defuse the situation in Pakistan and avoid major unrest in the country. And it left open the possibility that she and General Musharraf could yet return to the power-sharing arrangement envisioned when she returned to Pakistan last month after eight years in self-imposed exile.

For now, Bush administration officials are unanimous in saying that American financial support for Pakistan will continue regardless of whether General Musharraf reverses course.

A senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of diplomatic sensitivities, said Mr. Bush still held out hope that American pressure could persuade General Musharraf to reconsider his moves. That approach, the official said, was Option No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3.

Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte told a House committee on Wednesday that the bottom line is, theres no question that we Americans have a stake in Pakistan.

But American support for General Musharraf himself is not limitless, several administration officials said privately. We want to believe he will come around, and are giving him every opportunity to change his actions, but our verbal support is not going to last for very long, a senior administration official said.

Among Western diplomats, there is rising concern that General Musharrafs declaration is also damaging the standing of the Pakistani Army as an institution, which has long been seen as the force holding the country together.

Rumblings of discontent with General Musharraf exist in the armed forces, but they are far from reaching the point where the armys senior generals would turn against him, according to Western officials and Pakistani analysts. But they say sustained popular unrest against General Musharraf could cause the army to turn on him.

Its the concern about how the military retains its position as an institution of national respect, said a Western diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity. These kinds of things can be damaging to the institution, the respect for the institution and also the morale.

Western officials have also begun praising Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, General Musharrafs designated successor as army chief. General Kayani, a moderate, pro-American infantry commander, is widely seen as commanding respect within the army and, within Western circles, as a potential alternative to General Musharraf.

Hes somebody we know well, and hes tough on Al Qaeda, said one Bush administration official who works on Pakistan issues. Hes somebody we can work with.

Known as a soldiers soldier, General Kayani rarely mixes with politicians and is not thought to have used previous senior postings — including heading the countrys powerful military intelligence service — to expand his own wealth and contacts.

David Rohde and Jane Perlez reported from Islamabad, and Helene Cooper and Steven Lee Myers from Washington. Salman Masood contributed reporting from Islamabad, and Mark Mazzetti from Washington.

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