The Dallas Morning News

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – President Bush landed under extraordinary security and under cover of darkness Friday night, prepared to engage one of his most strategic partners in the war against terrorism.

A suicide car bomber killed an American diplomat and three others Thursday outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, and U.S. and Pakistani officials appeared to be leaving little to chance in their elaborate plan to protect the president.

Air Force One, ferrying the president up from New Delhi, landed at Chakala Air Base outside Islamabad with its interior shades drawn and its outside running lights off.

But once on the ground, the president was greeted by a phalanx of local television cameras and a banner proclaiming, “George W. Bush – A Friend of Pakistan.” With it were huge pictures of Bush and his host, President Pervez Musharraf.

A long presidential motorcade was waiting, as well as a pair of Black Hawk helicopters. But the small pool of correspondents on Air Force One said it was impossible to see from their vantage point whether the president and first lady Laura Bush slipped into an armored limousine at the head of the motorcade or took one of the helicopters.

Today, Bush has a full day of meetings with Musharraf and others, a joint news conference with the Pakistani president, and an official state dinner before he heads back to Washington. In between, he’ll also take in a cricket match at the embassy.

Bush signaled earlier on his four-day swing through South Asia that his meetings with the army general, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999, would be critical in fostering further cooperation in the war against terrorism.

Not only is there still a dangerous al-Qaida network active in Pakistan, but the terrorist leader, Osama bin Laden, is believed to be still hiding along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

The issues between Bush and Musharraf – particularly, terrorism, nuclear proliferation and democracy building – are daunting and ever-pressing, said Michael Green, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and until recently director of Asian affairs at the National Security Council.

“Pakistan’s hard, a lot of tough balancing acts,” he said. “But the main signal on what the Pakistani side is going to take away from this, hopefully, is that the U.S. is committed for the long haul for helping Pakistan move forward.”

Additionally, Bush said he intends to engage in some third-party diplomacy to help ease the tensions between the neighboring nuclear rivals, India and Pakistan, particularly over the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir.

“There was a time when America’s good relations with Pakistan would have been the source of concern here in India,” Bush said in an outdoor evening address in New Delhi, just before heading to Pakistan.

“That day had passed,” Bush said. “India is better off because America has a close relationship with Pakistan. And Pakistan is better off because America has a close relationship with India.

“I believe that a prosperous, democratic Pakistan will be a steadfast partner for America,” Bush declared, “a peaceful neighbor for India, and a force for freedom and moderation in the Arab world.”

Later, White House press secretary Scott McClellan came back to the press cabin of Air Force One to tell reporters that the president had meant to say “Muslim world” instead of “Arab world.” Pakistan is a Muslim but not an Arab country.

Also at issue in Saturday’s talks with Musharraf are economic development and other relief after last fall’s devastating earthquake that killed more than 75,000 people in the region.

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“We are right now wounded by the earthquake. Literally, we are licking our wounds,” said Dr. Riaz Haider, a Dallas-area Pakistani physician who has helped in the relief effort.

“We were kind of hoping that Pakistan was progressing economically and politically and was more stable,” he explained. “But with this earthquake, we have fallen at least 15 or 20 years backward.”

Haider, who is president of the Pakistan Society of North Texas, said the pictures of U.S. prisoner abuse out of Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison, among other issues, had severely hurt the U.S. image in Pakistan and other Muslim areas of the world. He said the president should try to polish the tarnished image during his visit, perhaps by emphasizing the early relief role of the U.S. military and its many helicopters.

“He should go there like he is proud to be there, that he believes Pakistanis are good people, great friends,” Haider said. “That gives confidence and a better feeling.

“We all like to be respected,” he said.

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(c) 2006, The Dallas Morning News.

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AP-NY-03-03-06 1924EST

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