CODEL LIEBERMAN'S MEETING WITH THE PML-N

C O N F I D E N T I A L ISLAMABAD 000144

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/05/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PK
SUBJECT: CODEL LIEBERMAN'S MEETING WITH THE PML-N

Classified By: Anne W. Patterson, for reasons 1.4 (b)(d)


1. (C) Summary. In a January 9 meeting with Codel
Lieberman, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Chair Raja Zafrul Haq
detailed alleged fraud and electoral irregularities,
questioned U.S. ties with the person of President Musharraf
instead of support for the people of Pakistan, and urged
closer USG outreach to his party. End Summary.


2. (C) Senator Lieberman and DCM met January 9 with Raja
Zafrul Haq, Chair of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)
party at PML-N party headquarters in Islamabad.


3. (C) Lieberman delivered two primary messages: (1) the
February 18 general elections should be free and fair for
Pakistan's government to maintain international credibility;
and (2) the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and
Pakistan (and Pakistani people) is historically important,
even more so now as we are allies in the fight against
terrorism.


4. ( C) Haq urged that U.S. officials extend their contacts
with PML-N leadership. He said that Nawaz Sharif had been
concerned when he read a press report that cited President
Bush as saying he did not know Nawaz Sharif personally but
considered the PML-N linked to the religious parties. Haq
then recounted how his party had stood with the U.S. through
the Cold War, including the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
and, more recently, the attack on Afghanistan after 9/11.


5. (C) Asked to rate the GOP's efforts against terrorism,
Haq said that President Musharraf's strategy had led to
polarization: "Musharraf has tried to solve everything
through the use of force." He cited the Red Mosque stand-off
as an unnecessary confrontation which could have been averted
at any time during the four-year period of illegal activity
at the site. Musharraf, he alleged, "uses terrorism for
political advantage." Haq questioned why U.S. officials
continued to make pro-Musharraf statements. U.S. officials
should show support "for the country not the person," he
urged.


6. (C) Haq said that Nawaz and the Pakistan People's Party
(PPP) leader Benazir Bhutto met shortly before her December
27 assassination, and both believed that the upcoming
elections would be "massively rigged" in favor of the ruling
Pakistan Muslim League (PML). He provided examples of fraud,
intimidation and irregularities. These irregularities were
undetectable by international observers, Haq claimed.


7. (C) Responding to questions on how the PML-N would fare
in the elections, Haq predicted that neither the PPP nor the
PML-N would win enough votes to rule alone, but he suggested
that together they might have the votes to form a coalition
government. He added that there was "too much bitterness for
both of us" with the PML. He said that with the loss of
Bhutto, Nawaz was now the only opposition leader. He claimed
an increasing number of supporters "flocked to him" now.


8. (C) Haq noted that under previous Nawaz Sharif
premierships, Pakistan's relationship with India had started
to improve, and the nuclear assets had been secured. He
claimed that religious conservatives had supported the
secular PML-N, but that Musharraf rigged the 2002
parliamentary elections in favor of the religious parties,
pushing the PML-N out of this "political space" on the
political spectrum.


9. (U) Codel Lieberman did not clear on this message.




PATTERSON