Islamabad, May 12: Noted Pakistani human rights activist Asma Jahangir has criticised US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage for issuing clean chits to President Pervez Musharraf and ISI during his recent visit to the subcontinent. Questioning the credibility of Armitage's praise for Musharraf as "a man of his word," she asked "who will believe this assertion? the general is known for going back on his word time and again."

"From his (Musharraf's) initial promises of restoring 'true democracy' to bringing the corrupt to accountability, his words turned out to be empty assurances," she said in an article in 'Daily Times'. "Except the US administration, nobody is keeping up the pretence of believing him."

The US, Jahangir said, has a legacy of making "strange bedfellows.... But at least in the past it refrained from applauding them in public."

"Pakistanis are witness to a series of events where the general acted contrary to his word. In name of accountability former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, was banished from the country. The promised 'purified' Parliament of graduates and saints has darker sides to it. Alleged rapists have been appointed ministers with the blessing of the military junta. "Those accused of corruption and murders are being wooed and rewarded," she said and also questioned us officials' assertions describing Pakistan's ISI and other law-enforcement agencies in superlative terms. Both Armitage and US National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice had praised the ISI.

Bureau Report