Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Wapo: Pakistan will do what it takes to eliminate extremists operating in the country for its own sake, not because of rising pressure from the United States, according to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

Aziz said in an interview this week that efforts to force Pakistan to do more are unnecessary and that the government was “disappointed” by U.S. legislation that ties aid for Pakistan to its performance fighting terrorism. The legislation, which officials expect President Bush to sign, is part of a major bill passed last week aimed at implementing many recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission.

The possible new restrictions on aid come as there are growing doubts in Washington that Pakistan’s government is willing to take painful steps to eliminate alleged havens for al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the country’s northwestern tribal areas.

American officials have said recently that the United States reserves the right to carry out unilateral military strikes in Pakistan, which has received more than $10 billion in U.S. aid since 2001. That contention has inflamed relations between the two countries. Officials in Islamabad have criticized it as counterproductive because it reinforces a sense among Pakistanis that their government acts at U.S. behest.

Following a wave of extremist attacks in recent weeks that have killed nearly 200 people in Pakistan, Aziz said the government has its own reasons for tackling rising militancy.

“This is a country where both the president and prime minister have been victims of terrorist attacks,” Aziz said. “We don’t need to be told every day that we should do this. We are committed ourselves.”

Aziz survived a suicide bomber’s assassination attempt in the summer of 2004. The attack killed Aziz’s driver and eight others. President Pervez Musharraf has survived several assassination attempts since he came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999.

Aziz, a former top-ranking Citibank executive with no track record in politics, became prime minister three years ago after first serving as Musharraf’s finance minister. Since then, he has run the government’s day-to-day affairs, though Musharraf, a general who also heads the military, remains the ultimate authority in Pakistan.

Aziz is widely credited with turning around the nation’s economy, which had been moribund but now produces strong annual growth.

He could soon be out of a job, however.

Musharraf on Friday traveled to the United Arab Emirates to meet with his strongest rival, exiled former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, about the possibility of a power-sharing arrangement. Musharraf’s standing has been battered this year by an increasingly violent insurgency, as well as a burgeoning pro-democracy movement. He needs allies before upcoming elections, and Bhutto could provide crucial support to allow him to continue in office.

Bhutto, meanwhile, needs a guarantee that she can return to the country without facing criminal charges relating to alleged corruption. She has said she wants to serve a third term as prime minister.

Aziz said it would be “unfair” for anyone to determine who will lead Pakistan before a vote.

“The office of the president and the prime minister are a result of elections,” Aziz said. “It is for the people of Pakistan to decide who their leadership ought to be.”

Pakistan, a nuclear power of 160 million people, is scheduled to hold elections in coming months. Musharraf has been criticized by democracy advocates over his plan to win election for another five years as president from the current parliament, which is at the end of its term.

Aziz said that he is “absolutely” sure Musharraf will win a new term and that it is unlikely parliamentary elections will be held before that happens.