Clinton will ask Pak not to execute Sharif if convicted

KARACHI, MARCH 17: President Bill Clinton during his brief stopover in Pakistan, will ask the military regime there not to execute deposed...

KARACHI, MARCH 17: President Bill Clinton during his brief stopover in Pakistan, will ask the military regime there not to execute deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif if he is found guilty of the crimes charged against him, Assistant Secretary of State Karl F Inderfurth has said.

“The President will raise the case of Sharif and will urge that, should he be convicted, he not be executed,” he told reporters here last night.

Sharif, his brother and five other officials have been charged with hijacking, abduction, attempted murder and terrorism in a case based on the night of the country’s military coup in October.

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Inderfurth said Washington has made it very clear in its exchanges with the “new government in Pakistan” US concerns about Sharif and others who are detained.

Stating that through the US ambassador in Pakistan, the Clinton adminsitration has urged that Sharif have due process and the trial be fair and transparent, he said, “We watch them closely. We have our own personnel there following the trial in Karachi.”

Inderfurth said Pakistan’s chief executive Gen Pervez Musharraf has publicly expressed that that he is not a vindictive man but he has also said that he will not interfere in the legal process, which will run its course.

“We understand that. We are concerned that we do not see a repeat of the past, which will serve no purpose. So we do hope there will be humane treatment if a sentence is found of guilt in those charges. I am sure the President will raise this,” he said.

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Inderfurth said the US assessment is that those who watch the trial think it has run basically with due process. “However, obviously there have been some very troubling developments, including the tragic murder of the lead lawyer in the Sharif team. So we are watching it closely.”

National Security Advisor Sandy Berger said the administration performed diplomatic gynmastics over Clinton’s Pakistan visit, adding: “Technically, he is visiting the President of Pakistan, a holdover from the previous administration, and only after meeting the president will he (Clinton) have talks with Musharraf.”

The Pakistan Army’s 10 Corps has been given the charge for the security arrangements of the visit of US president Bill Clinton, which will take place two days after Pakistan Day, on March 25.

Pakistan celebrates March 23 as Pakistan Day and there is a traditional military parade in Islamabad. This year, for the first time since 1988, a military general will take the podium and salute as the tanks go by in the parade.

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This is the time usually set out for military grand-standing and issuing threats to India but this time observers say no such statements will be in the speech of Pakistan strongman General Musharraf due to the proximity of the Clinton visit.

The Pakistan Army has also said that Clinton’s visit will be handled fully by the military and there will be minimum civilian interference with the arrangemens. Clinton is expected to arrive at the Chaklala Military Air Base in Rawalpindi from where he will be flown in a copter to Islamabad’s Presidential Palace, the home of President Rafiq Tarrar.

Later in the day, Clinton will meet up with General Musharraf and is alsoexpected to address a press conference before taking a small tour ofIslamabad and then flying out of Pakistan. The Musharraf-Clinton visit isexpected to last an hour.

Strict measures have already started to check any incident of terrorism inthe country. To prevent right-wing groups from protesting against Clinton,the military government has banned political rallies, meetings and processions in the country indefinitely.

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The verdict in the trial of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has also beendelayed and is expected to be announced after President Clinton leavesPakistan. Sharif’s wife, however, has said that she will try and protest against the military government during the Clinton visit.

Pak fundraisers

Despite denials by the White House, suspicions persist that the US President’s decision to visit Pakistan was influenced by Pakistani American donations to first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Senatorial campaign, media reports here said.

Pakistani Americans raised $24,000 in Washington and $50,000 in New York for the First Lady’s Senatorial campaign. At the New York fund-raiser, Hillary said she “deeply hopes” Clinton would visit Pakistan.

“Both fund-raisers were legal and there is no evidence to suggest that Hillary influenced her husband’s last-minute decision to stop in Pakistan. But the fund-raisers have raised political questions of whether campaign donations to the First Lady are a factor influencing Clinton administration policies,” said The Washington Times