Pakistan's return to US graces

Mr. Sheikh, chief suspect in the kidnapping case, was arrested yesterday in Lahore, the largest city in Pakistan's most populous province. Sheikh's arrest followed several leads this weekend, as police arrested other militants who admitted helping Sheikh scan photographs of Pearl and send them to news organizations. At press time, Pearl's whereabouts were unknown, but local media quote Karachi police saying he is alive.

While some militant groups have warned that the Pearl kidnapping is just the beginning of a violent resistance to Musharraf's crackdown on terrorism, the Pakistani public at large seems to give Musharraf broad support. In a recent poll conducted by a prominent Pakistani magazine, Herald, more than 70 percent of the respondents approved of Musharraf's anti-extremist measures. Some 63 percent said Musharraf had done the most of any Pakistani leader to limit extremism.

For Musharraf, the goal of this US visit is to shift attention away from the Pearl case and toward deepening the US-Pakistani relationship. The US has already dropped economic sanctions, and promised as much as $600 million in loans and aid. When he meets Bush and members of Congress today, Musharraf is expected to ask the US to forgive $3 billion in debt, seek funds for education and opening up the US market to Pakistani textiles.

Musharraf is likely to argue that it's the poverty and lack of state-funded education that sends so many rural boys to religious seminaries that are the seedbeds for future militants.

Musharraf wants "help to rehabilitate civil society - jobs, education - and get the liberal-minded ethos of the country reconstructed," says Dr. Hussein, the political scientist in Islamabad. "The American people have every reason to strengthen his presidency."

For some US observers, Pakistan's return to the American fold is not so much a reflection of change in Pakistan as it is a lesson for the US in the consequences of turning its back on long-time friends.

Robert Oakley, a former US ambassador to Pakistan (1988 -91), says many of the problems the US is facing, such as rising Islamic extremism, were ultimately a byproduct of the US shutting off cooperation with Pakistan a decade ago. For example, many Pakistani military officials were once trained in the US, he says. When that was cut, fundamentalists gained influence in the Pakistani military.

"What Musharraf is interested in, and what Pakistan needs, is a long-term commitment" from the US, Mr. Oakley says.

Many in Washington expect Musharraf will also seek modern weaponry, including fighter aircraft, which the US cut off in 1990. Oakley says the continuing tension with India over Kashmir makes this unlikely now. But he expects an accord reestablishing joint military exercises and perhaps US training for the Pakistani military.

For the US, the stability and effectiveness of the Musharraf government are crucial components in the war on terrorism. If Musharraf leaves office for any reason, the US would lose a key ally.

"The question of whether Musharraf is sincere, this is pretty self-evident from his actions," says one US diplomat in New Delhi. "The question now is: How far can he go, and how fast can he go? He has to move Pakistan away from the path of radical Islamism. The problem is that we have had decades where Pakistani leaders have said Kashmir is in the blood of every Pakistani. It's hard for him to turn his back on that."

• Staff writer Howard LaFranchi in Washington contributed to this report.

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