Durrani urges US to understand difficult times

WASHINGTON—Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States Mahmud Ali Durrani reaffirmed the government’s resolve to move towards full democracy and describing imposition of emergency as a “short move” to curb terrorism was confident Washington understands the difficult times the country is going through.
“There are some major problems in Pakistan —-we’ve had a lot of suicide bombings, we’ve had other problems by terrorists, Swat is in a difficult position, we had even terrorists in Islamabad, so it is an unusual situation,” he told CNN in an interview. The envoy stressed extra-constitutional measures were required to arrest this trend.
“But I can assure you, he (President Musharraf) will go back and move on the path of democracy that is promised, his third phase in his program, and you will see that happening very soon.”
Asked if the development will have any impact on relationship with the United States, ambassador Durrani replied “Well, I hope not, because the United States is a partner of Pakistan and this war on terror. And I am sure they understand the difficult times that Pakistan is going through right now.”
Questioned what lies ahead, the envoy explained transition to total democracy and recalled there was a phase in which President Musharraf was the ruler when he was the Chief Executive. Then he oversaw the democratic dispensation.—Agencies