Pakistan President 'Busharraf' working to get Bush reelected

'Busharraf' working to get Bush re-elected: US analysts
Anarama on-line
Aug 16, 2004 17:19 hrs. IST

Washington: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who is cynically referred to within his country's senior political circles as 'Busharraf' because of his loyalty to US President George W. Bush, is actively working to secure a victory for the Bush-Cheney ticket in the November presidential election.

Reports of Musharraf's efforts to get Pakistani-Americans vote for Bush is only exacerbating the problems for Musharraf, who is increasingly being seen in his country as a US lackey, according to US analysts.

At a time when cooperation between Islamabad and Washington against al Qaeda is at its peak, Musharraf's popularity is rapidly on the wane, and that has prompted the Bush administration to allow Pakistani officials to voice some criticism of the US to bail out the General, the analysts said.

They point to Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan's recent criticism of the US sting operation which used the country's UN envoy Munir Khan to arrest two mosque leaders in New York.

Masood Khan had said it was ''mind-boggling why they could not use the name of an American functionary'' instead.

''Islamabad's take on FBI techniques notwithstanding, Pakistan's words will not disrupt the ongoing coordination between the Bush administration and the government of Musharraf in the war against al Qaeda,'' analysts at Strategic Forecasting (Stratfor) said.

On the contrary, they said, it was likely that Washington all too aware of the importance that Musharraf's political stability plays in its own efforts to neutralise Qaeda, permitted Islamabad's criticism, in ''ironic efforts to help the Pakistani leader demonstrate at home that he is not toeing the US line.''

The 'Busharraf' moniker, an indicator of the leader's growing unpopularity among mainstream Pakistanis has Musharraf and his allies worried, Stratfor said. ''This could be why Islamabad pounced upon this opportunity in a bid to undo any damage brought about by his regime's close relationship with the Bush administration.'' ''The problem, however, is that Musharraf's domestic political situation is a complex one. It will take a lot more than occasional criticisms of Washington to restore its domestic credibility, especially at a time when the Musharrafian political system is fast approaching an impasse.''