THE two top Bush administration officials with responsibility for Pakistan began a crucial round of talks in Islamabad last night amid persistent reports that President Pervez Musharraf was preparing to quit.
Former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry waves to his supporters from a balcony at his house in Islamabad. Picture: Reuters
After a day of tumult that saw Mr Musharraf's arch-foe, deposed chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, walk free after more than four months under house arrest, and parliament reverberate to chants of "Go, Musharraf, go," officials within the presidency said "he may resign if he is left alone".
The reports appeared as Mr Musharraf, who seemed remarkably isolated and withdrawn at a national-day military parade at the weekend, formally swore in the country's new, democratically elected Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Mr Gilani served five years of a 10-year prison sentence imposed on him by Mr Musharraf's National Accountability Bureau over trumped up corruption charges and there is no love lost between the two men.
Both Benazir Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) to which Mr Gilani belongs, and Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) - who was deposed by the then General Musharraf - said they would boycott the swearing-in ceremony because of Mr Musharraf's presence.
The political threat to Mr Musharraf, along with questions about the new Government's commitment to the war on terror, was behind the unannounced arrival in Islamabad of the Bush administration's two top policy chiefs on Pakistan, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher.
Mr Negroponte's past history of dealing with Latin American dictators who had passed their use-by date - tapping them on the shoulder and telling them their time was up - fuelled intense speculation that he was flying in to tell Mr Musharraf the time had come to go.
But as he and Mr Boucher held meetings with the President as well as powerful army chief General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani, there was no sign of any withdrawal of US support from its close ally in the war against al-Qa'ida.
But Mr Negroponte and Mr Boucher scheduled early calls on Mr Sharif and Mr Zardari, both of whom have indicated that the new democratic coalition intends following a very different policy from Mr Musharraf on the war against terror and dealing with jihadi militants.
Both said this week they believed the Washington-backed military assault against the jihadis had failed and that they were keen to try negotiations in an effort to end the wave of suicide bomb attacks.
US officials expressed "alarm" at this prospect, which they saw as signalling a "softer" approach to the militancy.
Washington is deeply suspicious of Mr Sharif, who has close links to hardline Islamic political movements and believes the time has come to wean the country away from Mr Musharraf's support of US policies.
The new Government has promised Mr Chaudhry and the 60-odd other superior court judges sacked by Mr Musharraf when he declared his state of emergency last November would be restored to their posts within the next month.
It is believed that after a few days Mr Chaudhry will begin a series of visits to provincial capitals likely to bring millions on to the streets to support him and provide new pressure on Mr Musharraf to go.
Previously, a car journey by the chief justice from Islamabad to Lahore, which normally takes only four hours, took more than 60 hours because of the throngs of people that turned out to cheer.