Bush meets with Musharraf amid protests
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-04 13:51

Welcomed with military pomp and ceremony, President Bush began a mission Saturday to show solidarity with this Islamic nation and support Pakistani President Gen. Perez Musharraf's war-on-terror alliance with the United States.

U.S. President George W. Bush, right, is greeted by Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf during an arrival ceremony at the Aiwan-e-Sadr presidential residence in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, March 4, 2006. Bush arrived in Pakistan late Friday, following an unannounced visit to Afghanistan and three days in India. [AP]

On a hazy morning, Bush and Musharraf sat under a green canopy in a courtyard of the presidential palace as a military band played the national anthems of both countries. Soldiers on horseback bearing lances stood to the side and three rows of blue-coated troops were at attention.

Continuing the heavy security that greeted him on arrival Friday night, Bush's motorcade was protected by three helicopters that circled overhead as he rode from the heavily fortified U.S. Embassy compound, where he spent the night, to see Musharraf.

After the welcoming ceremony, the two leaders held talks, exchanging handshakes and smiles for the cameras.

On Friday, Air Force One flew through the night without lights to conceal the plane's profile as it delivered Bush and his wife, Laura, from India. Two helicopters and a motorcade waited for the president at the airport, but it was impossible to tell which ferried him away.

Anti-American sentiment runs deep here, and protests by thousands flared in cities across the country in anticipation of Bush's visit. More were planned for Saturday.

A six-party opposition religious alliance called for black flags to be flown over homes and was staging demonstrations in Lahore, Karachi and Quetta. Pakistani police also detained Imran Khan, best known for leading Pakistan's cricket team to a 1992 World Cup victory, ahead of a protest planned by his small opposition party, according to Khan's spokesman.

Khan has often sided with hardline Islamic parties in voicing fierce criticism of the U.S.-led war on terror and Musharraf's rule.

The danger from terrorist attacks remained. A day before Bush's arrival, an American diplomat was killed in a suicide car-bombing at a U.S. consulate in the southern city of Karachi, a hotbed of Islamic militancy.

After conferring with Musharraf, Bush was meeting with business leaders and attending a state dinner. A huge ballroom at the presidential palace was already decked out in the morning for the evening's formality 锟斤拷 under 11 brightly lit chandeliers, tables were adorned with orchids draped from candelabra and elaborate crystal stemware.

By attending a cricket match 锟斤拷 a passion of Pakistanis 锟斤拷 and showcasing American contributions to Pakistan after a devastating earthquake in October, Bush also hoped to boost the U.S. image among Muslims.

Bush said he would talk with Musharraf about Pakistan's "vital cooperation in the war on terror and our efforts to foster economic and political development so we can reduce the appeal of radical Islam."

In a farewell speech in New Delhi, Bush ran into trouble when he praised Pakistan as "a force for freedom and moderation in the Arab world." The White House hastened to correct Bush's reference to Pakistan as an Arab nation, and said he meant to say Muslim.

Bush's trip brought renewed attention on the frustrating manhunt for Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America. Bin Laden and his followers are believed to be in hiding in the porous border area of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Earlier this week, Bush said it was simply a matter of when 锟斤拷 not if 锟斤拷 bin Laden was brought to justice.

While many people here view the United States with mistrust, Pakistan has been an important U.S. ally in the Muslim world.

The Pakistani government says it has arrested about 700 al-Qaida suspects in the past four years, including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. Even so, key terror leaders are still thought to be at large within its borders.

Musharraf seized power seven years ago in a bloodless coup and has reneged on a promise to relinquish his military post. But Musharraf endeared himself to Bush after the 9/11 attacks when he switched Pakistan's allegiance from the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and supported Washington in the U.S.-led war against its rulers.

Bush has promised to talk with Musharraf about the need for more democratic reforms.

Pakistan has been roiled by anti-Western protests against Prophet Muhammad cartoons, which have left at least five people dead. Bush has called on governments to stop violent demonstrations, and at the same time has urged the media to use restraint with material that might be considered offensive.

Pakistanis also were enraged by a U.S. missile strike in January targeting al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, who was believed to be attending a dinner party at a village in a northwestern region near the Afghan border. Al-Zawahri apparently wasn't there, and the missile killed 13 residents, including women and children.

Bush was expected to face demands here for equal treatment with India, which signed a landmark nuclear deal with the United States this week providing nuclear reactors, technology and other material to New Delhi in exchange for its acceptance of international safeguards. U.S. officials said Pakistan will not get the same reward, considering that just two years ago Pakistan's leading nuclear scientist, A.Q. Khan, was exposed as the chief of a lucrative black market in weapons technology that had supplied Iran, Libya and North Korea. The government denied any knowledge of his proliferation activities.