Pakistan stokes U.S. ties with promises

Christina Rocca is the first senior official from the Bush administration to visit Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan's top leaders have met a senior U.S. official and reassured her the country will return to democracy.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, Christina Rocca, the first top official to visit from President George W. Bush's administration, met with President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday.

The key to Rocca's talks with Musharraf and others in Pakistan's power hierarchy was the issue of U.S. sanctions against Pakistan, said CNN's Talat Hussein.

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Pakistan is restricted by U.S. sanctions dating back to 1990 and relating to its nuclear weapons program, nuclear tests of 1998 and the 1999 military coup that brought Musharraf to power.

Steps to democracy

A foreign ministry statement said the president talked to Rocca about the government's reform agenda and the steps being taken to restore democracy, including the holding of local elections.

Both sides remained tight-lipped, but it is widely thought a return to democracy would be seen favorably by the United States and could influence the lifting of sanctions.

Musharraf took power in a bloodless military coup in 1999 then appointed himself as president in July.

The general has rejected international demands for a return to civilian rule before October 2002 and his government is now putting in place elected but non-political local councils in what it calls devolution of power to the grass-roots.

But, no date has been set for when elections would take place.

Arch-rivals

Rocca leads the U.S. mission in Islamabad.

Musharraf and Rocca also talked about the latest developments in Pakistan and India ties following the summit between the rival nuclear neighbors that collapsed in mid-July without agreement, the statement said.

India and Pakistan failed to sign a joint declaration because of disagreement over the Kashmir dispute.

The rivals have fought two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 over the disputed Himalayan territory.

But both leaders have pledged to meet again.

Sanctions

Earlier Rocca held talks with Pakistani Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar and other officials on issues that the foreign ministry said included sanctions, nuclear non-proliferation, the conflict in Afghanistan and the regional situation.

The ministry gave no details of the talks, which followed Rocca's talks with Indian leaders last week.

In New Delhi Rocca reassured India that efforts were under way to scrap U.S. economic sanctions imposed on it and Pakistan in 1998 after the two countries conducted tit-for-tat nuclear tests.

A Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman said last week Washington should treat New Delhi and Islamabad equally over the sanctions issue.

Pakistan, a Cold War-era U.S. ally, has felt unease at the warming of relations in recent years between Washington and New Delhi, a close friend of the former Soviet Union.

On Afghanistan, Washington has often expressed its anger over Pakistani support for the hard-line Islamic Taliban rulers in Kabul who have given refuge to Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden.

Pakistan is one of the only three countries that have recognized the Taliban government, along with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. But it denies giving military help to Kabul.

Rocca meets Wednesday in Islamabad with officials of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban.

Reuters contributed to this report.