U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte met here today with Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. This meeting came after Negroponte spoke on phone overnight with Benazir Bhutto, according to foreign news agencies reports. Joining Musharraf and Negroponte in the meeting, which went on for more than two hours, was Pakistan's deputy army commander, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, said an official in the president's office, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk with the media. The official said Musharraf told Negroponte that the emergency was needed to hold peaceful elections. Negroponte phoned opposition leader Benazir Bhutto overnight, the U.S. State Department said, in the highest-level U.S. contact with the Pakistani opposition leader since the emergency began. Negroponte «wanted to hear from her how she viewed the political situation in Pakistan,» U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said of the call to Bhutto. After meeting with Musharraf, Negroponte was scheduled to hold talks with top officials from Pakistan's foreign ministry. He was also expected to meet with several other political and military leaders here, underscoring Washington's desire to reach out to a wide array of Pakistani decision-makers.
