US lawmakers raise alarm over Pakistan politics

WASHINGTON, June 5 (Reuters) Pakistan's use of violent intimidation to quell political protests threatens US and Pakistani interests, and President Pervez Musharraf must be encouraged to restore democratic processes, several US congressmen say.

The unusually blunt comments to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice by Sen Joseph Biden and Rep Tom Lantos, both Democrats, and Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen reflect growing US unease with Musharraf's handling of a widening confrontation with political foes and prospects for Pakistan's stability.

Musharraf, a general who took power in a 1999 coup, is an important US ally in the war on terror but faces protests at home and criticism abroad over his government's attempts to remove Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

''Over the past two months, we have witnessed the spiral of civil unrest and harshly suppressed protest in Pakistan with increasing concern,'' the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Rice obtained by Reuters on Tuesday.

''The national interests of the United States and Pakistan are both served by a speedy restoration of full democracy to Pakistan and the end to state-sponsored intimidation -- often violent -- of Pakistani citizens protesting government actions in a legal and peaceful manner.'' They said Rice should make a public appeal to this end.

At a news briefing, spokesman Sean McCormack said the State Department was watching events in Pakistan closely but that Washington did not want to tell its ally what to do.

''The Pakistani people are going to have to resolve this issue for themselves,'' McCormack said.

''They are going to have to decide for themselves whether or not rule of law has been followed and whether or not proper procedures have been followed. It is not something that we can dictate nor want to dictate to the Pakistani people.'' Biden is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a Democratic candidate for president. Lantos is chairman of the House of Representatives International Relations Committee and Ros-Lehtinen is the panel's senior Republican.

The unrest in Pakistan has snowballed into a broad pro-democracy campaign. It poses the most serious challenge yet to the authority of Musharraf and comes in the run-up to Pakistani presidential and parliamentary elections.

The US lawmakers warned that a ''flawed election would marginalize moderate parties and voices, empowering extremist groups to exert far greater influence over Pakistani society.'' They complained that the government's response to the protests has been to ''arrest, detain and beat citizens, many of them lawyers demonstrating peacefully.'' They said a violent confrontation in Karachi on May 9 that left at least 39 people dead and 150 wounded showed ''disturbing signs of collusion between MQM and government forces.'' MQM, or Muttahida Quami Movement, is a coalition partner of Musharraf's party in the government.

''The paramilitary Rangers and police, whether by inaction or acting on specific orders, clearly failed to protect the lives of citizens under attack by armed gangs,'' the lawmakers wrote.

They said the driving force behind the protests was civil society groups committed to democracy and the rule of law who were concerned the elections would be rigged, citing increasing reports of ''official and unofficial intimidation'' against the groups.

Rice should ''publicly call for an immediate end to the violence and urge ... Pakistan to commit to holding free and fair elections by year's end,'' they said, but made no mention of tying billions of dollars in US aid to such an outcome.

REUTERS JK BST0219