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Davos: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said yesterday the world should judge his country on economic prog-ress and its fight against militancy, not Western ideas of human rights.
Repeating a promise to hold free and fair elections next month, Musharraf set out priorities for Pakistan which put greater emphasis on the economy and the fight against Al Qaida than the February 18 vote, which is meant to complete a transition to civilian rule in Pakistan.
"Judge economic performance, the welfare of people and political stability," Musharraf told business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
"Please don't judge [us] on maybe unrealistic Western perceptions of democracy and human rights."
On Wednesday, Musharraf met US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who urged him to ensure next month's vote is free.
The Bush administration has been under strong pressure from the US Congress to cut aid to Pakistan, or at least impose restrictions linking democratic reform to funding levels.
"The elections must be free, fair and transparent. And I've added another word - peaceful," Mush-arraf said. "We will make sure that they are peaceful."
Pakistan, still shaken from the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in a gun and suicide bomb attack last month, has seen a spate of attacks and suicide bombings.
The government blames militancy cascading out of the tribal lands on the border with Afghanistan, where the Taliban and Al Qaida have taken refuge.
Musharraf declined to say whether he would be prepared to reinstate ousted Supreme Court judges to rule on any possible complaint of electoral fraud.
"Look at Pakistan from Pakistani eyes and not from foreign eyes," he said. "You should see our performance on ... whether the welfare of the people, the economic progress of the country is being addressed and whether we are moving forward."
Musharraf, sharing a platform with the head of Bangladesh's army-backed interim government Fakhruddin Ahmad, said both countries sought political stability and econ-omic growth.
Bangladesh unrest
Fakhruddin said free and fair elections in Bangla-desh by the end of the year were "the number one priority", but he also stressed the need to increase the wealth of Bangladesh's poor.
The interim administration took charge in Bangla-desh on January 11, 2007, following months of political violence, imposed a state of emergency and cancelled an election planned for January 22, 2007.
It launched a massive crackdown on corruption and has detained more than 170 politicians.
Fakhruddin said the government was building up institutions including local government, and promised more measures to ease controls on political activities.
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