US relieved Sharif spared death; wants transparency in appeals process

WASHINGTON, APRIL 6: Once a patron of many despots since fallen, Uncle Sam reacted cautiously to the Nawaz Sharif verdict, saying it would...

WASHINGTON, APRIL 6: Once a patron of many despots since fallen, Uncle Sam reacted cautiously to the Nawaz Sharif verdict, saying it would be “inappropriate” to comment on it because the decision was still open to appeal before the higher courts, but expressing relief that the former prime minister was not sentenced to death. “It’s not for us to evaluate the verdict or its fairness… Butcertainly we are pleased that the death penalty has apparently beentaken off the table,” White House National Security Council spokesmanP J Crowley said in the hours following the verdict.

“As in the first stage, we will monitor the process of appeal and wehope there will be due process and transparency there too,” otheradministration sources told The Indian Express, indicating Washingtonwas not going to turn its back to the man who it believes opted forpeace against generals itching for war.

Senior administration officials were in close contact with top Pakistani leaders in the hours before the verdict was handed down. The Pakistani Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider called on the US Attorney General Janet Reno and FBI Director Louis Freeh (who has since left for South Asia, visiting Lahore and New Delhi), while the ISI chief Gen Mahmood, was also in Washington earlier this week meeting with State Department Undersecretary Tom Pickering, Assistant Secretary Rick Inderfurth, and counterterrorism chief Micheal Sheehan.

The flurry of meetings appear to be a direct outcome of President Clinton’s stopover in Islamabad during which he warned Pakistan that it would be even more isolated from the world community if it continued down the path of confrontation with India. Although the talks here centered mainly around the need for Islamabad to take steps to cool down the jehadi hotheads, the Clinton administration also made it clear that an unfair Sharif trail would have serious consequences for law and order and future of democracy in Pakistan. The President himself told General Musharraf during his visit to Pakistan that the US expected a fair trail for the deposed Prime Minister, a man Clinton hosted in the White House last July. Although Washington has been low-key in its pronouncements on the trial, the sense here is that the whole judicial process in Pakistan is hopelessly flawed.