Voicing concern at the deteriorating security situation in Pakistan's restive tribal areas, the US on Tuesday asked the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz to narrow its differences with the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party over the operation launched against militants in the country's northwest.
This message was conveyed to former premier and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif by US assistant secretary of State Richard Boucher during a two-hour-long meeting in his residence in Lahore, sources said.
The meeting came a day after the PML-N said it was not taken into confidence about the crackdown launched on militants in the northwestern Khyber Agency since Saturday.
Boucher, who is visiting Pakistan for the second time since April, has already conveyed the concerns of the US administration over the deteriorating security situation in the tribal belt to the country's top political and military leadership during meetings in Islamabad on Monday.
Boucher also said the government is not concentrating on the problem of militancy because of the impasse over the restoration of deposed judges and a "cold war among coalition partners", the Dawn newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Boucher reiterated the concerns of the US over the deteriorating law and order situation in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the strains within the coalition during his meeting with Sharif and his brother, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, sources said.
The US official asked Sharif to narrow his differences with the ruling Pakistan People's Party as this could affect the overall security situation, the sources said.
PML-N leaders told reporters that Sharif told Boucher that the PML-N was not taken into confidence about the operation against militants.
Sharif also said the use of force should be the last resort for the government and that such issues should be settled through negotiations.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, senior PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan indicated that there were differences between his party and the US administration over the future of President Pervez Musharraf.
"We have a clear view that General Musharraf is the biggest obstacle in the path to a bright future for Pakistan. He is a major hindrance to efforts to usher in true democracy and the biggest obstacle to the restoration of an independent judiciary," Khan said.
"We believe that as long as this impediment is not removed, Pakistan's democratic, political and judicial issues cannot move forward. The US stance on this is not close to our stand," Khan added.
"But at the same time, they (the US) said they want friendship with the people of Pakistan and not with any one individual and that they want to work with new democratic government and parliament. They want to usher in a new era in the relations,"Khan said.
Khan reiterated that the PML-N was not taken into confidence about the peace deals signed by the government and militants or the launching of operations against the rebels last week.
The PML-N also made it clear to Boucher that "Pakistan's internal issues should be decided by Pakistan and its political establishment", Khan said. "In such matters, theres should not be any interference by our foreign friends and external powers that cannot facilitate things," he said.
Boucher on Monday conveyed the concerns of the US administration to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Prime Minister's Adviser on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik. Boucher said the coalition partners should be on the "same wavelength on critical matters like that of the deposed judges".
Boucher was of the view that the coalition partners should bury their differences and resolve all matters, including the judges' issue, so that the government could concentrate on controlling the situation in the tribal areas.
Gilani assured Boucher that the Pakistan government will "never negotiate" with militants or allow foreigners to use its soil against another country while following a policy of political dialogue and economic development to counter terrorism.
The government has initiated a political dialogue only with elements that have laid down arms and joined mainstream political activity, Gilani said.
