DATE=3/25/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CLINTON - PAKISTAN (L)
NUMBER=2-260590
BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: President Clinton is in Islamabad to meet
Pakistani military leader General Pervez Musharraf to
try and reach a lowering of tensions with India over
Kashmir and a de-escalation of their nuclear weapons
competition. The brief stop in Pakistan is the last
in a week long South Asian trip that has taken the
president to India and Bangladesh. VOA's David
Gollust has more from Islamabad.
TEXT: Security for the brief Clinton visit is
extremely tight and as part of the elaborate
protective measures, the president arrived here on a
small unmarked executive aircraft rather than the much
larger and more conspicuous 747 jetliner that usually
serves as Air Force One.
Mr. Clinton's decision to visit Pakistan came little
more than a week before he began the South Asian trip
and it is expected to last less than six hours, a
reflection of U-S displeasure over the ouster of
Pakistan's elected government by the military last
October.
Administration officials said the president would
press General Musharraf for an early return to
democratic rule and say that the local elections he
has announced for next year, while positive, are only
a step in that direction.
They said the president would make the same appeal to
the Pakistani leader that he delivered in India
earlier this week for restrained dialogue and respect
for the Line of Control in Kashmir and for steps to
de-escalate their nuclear arms competition.
The issue of terrorism also figures in the talks. In
an interview in India, Mr. Clinton said he believes
there are elements in the Pakistani government who
have supported Muslim extremists involved in terror
attacks in India and Kashmir, a charge General
Musharraf angrily denied.
Mr. Clinton can be expected to repeat many of the same
points in an unusual message to the Pakistani people
he makes on state television just before his
departure. His national security advisor , Sandy
Berger, says he will stress the longtime friendship
between the two countries and concern about Pakistan's
future in the absence of a return to democracy. Mr.
Berger says he fears the cost of the Kashmir standoff
and arms race with India could bankrupt Pakistan and
the United States does not want to see the country
fail.
Mr. Clinton's visit is the first by a U-S president to
Pakistan since the late Richard Nixon went there in
1969.
On the way home, Mr. Clinton will make a refueling
stop in Oman and meet the ruler of the Gulf state,
Sultan Qaboos (kah' boos). He then goes on to Geneva
to meet Syrian President Hafez al-Assad Sunday in an
effort to restart the Syrian-Israeli peace talks.
(Signed)
NEB/DG/PLM
25-Mar-2000 05:01 AM EDT (25-Mar-2000 1001 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
