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CNN Live Saturday

Musharraf Reassures U.S. He Can Crack Down on Terrorists

Aired March 23, 2002 - 17:09   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KATE SNOW, CNN ANCHOR: Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf is trying to reassure an increasingly nervous and skeptical U.S. government that he is successfully cracking down on terrorists in his country. Meanwhile, the United States says non-essential government personnel must leave the country of Pakistan. And as CNN Islamabad bureau chief Ash-Har Quraishi reports, American diplomatic staffers are among those clearing out.

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ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amid growing security concerns, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf addressed the nation on Pakistan Day. One of the issues tackled once again, terrorism. No direct reference to a gruesome grenade attack on a church in Islamabad last week that left five dead and dozens injured, nor the kidnapping and murder of "Wall Street Journal" reporter Daniel Pearl. Still, President Musharraf was critical of the manner in which Pakistani intelligence agencies operate.

PRES. PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PAKISTAN (through translator): Secret agencies need to be more successful. Their role is not to inform after an instance has happened, but to inform before something has happened, so something can be done about it.

QURAISHI: Two Americans were among those killed in the church attack. Their bodies were flown back to the United States earlier this week. While the U.S. embassy had earlier maintained that it would not pull out any of its diplomatic personnel from Pakistan, just days later the tone changed. The U.S. State Department issued a new warning.

PHILIP REEKER, DEPUTY STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: After a careful review of our security posture in Pakistan, the department has decided to move to an ordered departure of all dependents and non- emergency personnel at our embassy in Islamabad and our consulates in Pakistan.

QURAISHI: Some analysts say the U.S. pullout signals a lack of confidence in President Musharraf's ability to crack down on terrorist elements in Pakistan, a lack of confidence that some say was first seen when the U.S. issued a second request to extradite the suspected mastermind in the Daniel Pearl kidnapping and murder case.

Still, the Pakistani government has decided not to hand over Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh just yet. His trial is scheduled to begin here next week, as American diplomatic personnel prepare to leave the country, a reminder that the partnership forged to fight terrorism might be wavering ever so slightly.

Ash-Har Quraishi, CNN, Islamabad, Pakistan.

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