Pakistan outlines conditions for assisting U.S.

By Christiane Amanpour
CNN

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- As the United States began moving warplanes into Central Asia, Pakistani officials told CNN Saturday those planes can be based in Pakistan only as a last resort.

Senior government officials also said they have told the United States that no Pakistani forces or equipment will be used in any attack the United States might launch against Afghanistan.

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Pakistan has agreed that the United States can use Pakistani airspace and has agreed to share intelligence information. But the officials said they would allow the United States to place troops and equipment at bases inside Pakistan only as a last resort.

They said they expected the United States to keep a low profile and to be aware of the pressure on the government from hard-line Muslims who support the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has announced Pakistan will help the United States in its campaign against global terrorism, but the decision has remained controversial.

Demonstrations continued Saturday against Musharraf's decision. In Peshawar, protests were said to be peaceful. But on Friday, they turned violent in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, and three people were killed.

Several thousand people turned out Friday at demonstrations in Peshawar, Islamabad, Quetta and Lahore following services at mosques on the Muslim day of prayer. Some of the demonstrations were smaller than expected, and most started peacefully in cities whose markets remained closed and streets empty of traffic.

Musharraf met Saturday with his provincial governors and police chiefs to review security measures in the wake of Friday's protests.

Pakistan is the only country with full diplomatic relations with the Taliban government. The United Arab Emirates withdrew its recognition Saturday over the refusal of the Taliban to turn over suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden.

Saudi Arabia recognizes the Taliban but has scaled back its contact with the fundamentalist Islamic regime.

A Taliban ambassador remains in Islamabad and is still a potential channel for diplomacy between the two countries, although there are no known diplomatic initiatives under way.