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Clinton denies endorsing coup with Pakistan visit

WASHINGTON: President Bill Clinton denied on Thursday that his visit to Pakistan constituted an endorsement of its military government, saying the brief stop may help to restore democracy and cool South Asian tensions.

The president's comments amounted to a reply to Pakistani military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who on Wednesday told Reuters that he saw Clinton's brief stopover after his visit to India and Bangladesh as legitimising his government.

"It is certainly not an endorsement of the military coup," Clinton said when asked about Musharraf's statement that the trip "vindicates the legitimacy of my government's stand and gives credence to our aim to put things right in our country."

After months of internal debate, the White House this week announced that Clinton would make a brief stop in Islamabad at the end of a five-day visit to India and Bangladesh that will start on March 19.

U.S. officials had feared that a presidential visit might send the wrong signal by appearing to condone the October 1999 coup that ousted Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, but concluded that to boycott Islamabad would diminish the United States' ability to influence Pakistan to restore democracy, rein in regional "terrorism" and restrain its nuclear programme.

"Our ability to have a positive influence on the future direction of Pakistan in terms of the restoration of democracy, in terms of the ultimate resolution of issues on the Indian subcontinent and in terms of avoiding further dangerous conflicts will be greater if we maintain our cooperation," Clinton told reporters at the White House.

"I think it would be a mistake not to go, but it would be a grave mistake for people to think that my going represents some sort of endorsement of a nondemocratic process which occurred there," Clinton added. "That's not true."

Other U.S. officials were even sharper in tone.

"Anyone who states that our visit there is somehow a validation of the military government there is flat wrong," said White House spokesman Joe Lockhart.

"The visit of the president of the United States is not a reward for Pakistan," added State Department spokesman James Rubin. "They ... may call it that, but it's not."

"It will be clear when the visit is over that the president will have reflected very strongly our profound concern about the lack of democratic rule in Pakistan and the concerns we have on terrorism and other matters," he added.

India and Pakistan have a long history of conflict dating to their independence from Britain in 1947 and have fought two of their three wars over the over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

Nuclear testing by India in 1998, which was quickly matched by Pakistan, has raised concerns that their long-running strife could mushroom into a nuclear arms race and has sharpened the U.S. desire to calm tensions in the region.

Last year Clinton and Sharif held hastily-arranged meetings on July 4 that led to the withdrawal Pakistani-backed militants from Indian-controlled in Kashmir, ending what was seen as their most dangerous conflict in decades.

Clinton has said that he would be willing to mediate the Kashmir dispute if both sides sought this. India has repeatedly rejected any outside mediation of the dispute.-Reuters