Bush: Pakistan is "important ally"

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

ACCRA, Ghana - President Bush said Wednesday that he hoped the sweeping defeat of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's party in parliamentary elections won't end the Islamic nation's cooperation in fighting radical extremists.

Musharraf was not on the ballot, but the election was widely seen as a referendum on his eight-year rule — including his alliance with the United States in the war against terrorist groups that many Pakistanis oppose. The pro-Musharraf party lost badly, and conceded defeat before the final tally.

"It's now time for the newly elected folks to show up and form their government," Bush said during a news conference in Ghana, the fourth of five nations he's visiting in Africa. "The question then is `Will they be friends of the United States?' I certainly hope so."

But with the ballot count nearly complete, the parties of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif — the leader Musharraf ousted — had won enough seats to form a new government. They were expected, though, to fall short of the two-thirds needed to impeach Musharraf.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080220/ap_on_re_af/us_pakistan

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Musharraf refuses to step down
By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer
2 minutes ago


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's president will not step down as head of state and intends to serve out his five-year term, his spokesman said, despite a sweeping victory by his opponents in an election that President Bush on Wednesday judged to be fair.

Final results from this week's parliamentary poll were expected later Wednesday, but with the count nearly complete, two opposition parties have won enough seats to form a new government, though they will likely fall short of the two-thirds needed to impeach the president.

The vote was widely seen as repudiation of President Pervez Musharraf, whose popularity has plummeted over the past year. Secular political parties swept to victory while Islamic hard-liners fared badly.

Bush, the Pakistani leader's chief foreign backer, declared Wednesday that the elections were a "victory in the war on terror."

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080220/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_election;_ylt=AvnxxsUP3C3hKVBaZzgbkYIBxg8F

[cliss]

1. Hard to believe.

Musharraf is not going to step down.