The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Washington

Embattled Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has been a "good ally," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday, but she refused to say whether he would receive U.S. asylum if he stepped down.

"This is an issue that is not on the table," Rice said in an interview with "Fox News Sunday." A spokesman for Musharraf, who has ruled since a 1999 coup, has insisted he would not resign.

Pakistan's ruling coalition, led by the party of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, has prepared impeachment charges against Musharraf for violating the constitution and misconduct, a coalition official said over the weekend.

Musharraf's Nov. 3 imposition of emergency rule was a main charge on the impeachment list, the official said.

"President Musharraf has been a good ally," said Rice.

"Everyone knows that we disagreed with his decision in terms of the state of emergency that he declared, but he was-he kept to his word. He took off the uniform. There's now a democratic government in Pakistan."

Musharraf imposed emergency rule in November, leading to the detention of thousands of opposition politicians shortly before he was sworn in as a civilian leader. The emergency rule was lifted in December, days before Bhutto's assassination.

The long-running crisis surrounding Musharraf's future has heightened concern in the United States and other allies about the stability of the nuclear-armed Muslim state.