Rice says US will review aid to Pakistan

Ramallah, West Bank/Beijing: President George W. Bush's top national security aides say US financial backing for Pakistan's counter-terrorism efforts likely will go uninterrupted despite the administration's unhappiness with President Pervez Musharraf's declaration of a state of emergency.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, discussing the crisis while in the West Bank town of Ramallah, yesterday called anew on the general to sever his affiliation with the army and restore civilian rule.

"I want to be very clear. We believe that the best path for Pakistan is to quickly return to a constitutional path and then to hold elections," Rice said.

She also made it amply clear that the US wanted Musharraf to follow through on past promises to "take off his uniform".

The Pentagon, meanwhile, said that it was postponing a meeting scheduled for this week in Islamabad between senior US and Pakistani defence officials.

Eric Edelman, defence undersecretary for policy issues, was planning to travel to Pakistan for the meeting, but "it was thought wise to postpone this meeting until such time that all the parties can focus on the very important issues at hand," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.

Pact against terror stays

Defence Secretary Robert Gates, visiting China, said yesterday that the US may take other steps but both he and Rice suggested the administration doesn't want to disrupt its partnership with Pakistan in fighting Al Qaida and other militants - a relationship that dates back to the September 11 attacks.

"We are reviewing all our assistance programmes (to Pakistan), although we are mindful not to do anything that would undermine counter-terrorism efforts," Gates said after a meeting with Chinese Defence Minister Cao Gangchuan.

A day earlier, Rice had noted that a significant portion of US aid "is directly related to the counter-terrorism mission" and said that while the aid programme to Islamabad must be reviewed in the wake of Musharraf's move, "I would be very surprised if anyone wants the president to ignore or set aside our concerns about terrorism."

"The more quickly and the more urgently that the Pakistani leadership and President Musharraf act on their stated desire to get back to a constitutional path, it will be for the better of everyone," she added.

Bush has not spoken publicly about events in Pakistan, and he waved off questions shouted to him by reporters as he returned to the White House on Sunday.

Over the weekend, Musharraf announced he had suspended his country's constitution, ousted the country's top judge and deployed troops to fight what he called rising Islamist extremism.

In Pakistan, legions of baton-wielding police clashed with lawyers yesterday while international pressure mounted against the imposition of emergency powers that have led to more than 1,500 arrests.

The US has provided about $11 billion (Dh40.3 billion) to Pakistan since 2001, when Musharraf allied his presidency with Washington after the September 11 terror attacks.

Rice on Sunday staunchly denied the US has invested so heavily in Musharraf that its options are now limited. Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Joseph Biden asserted just that, saying the administration "has a Musharraf policy, not a Pakistani policy".

While Rice's announcement put in question some of the billions in US assistance to a close terrorism-fighting ally, a Republican lawmaker urged Bush to speak out "in more specific terms" and suggested that Pakistan's shift from democratic, civilian rule could jeopardise US military support.