Musharraf dismisses 'graceful exit' suggested by US senators

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's spokesman on Monday dismissed a suggestion from three US senators that he make a "graceful exit" from power after the victory of his opponents in Pakistan's elections. Musharraf was elected to a new five-year presidential term last year by Pakistani lawmakers, "not by any senator from the United States," his spokesman Rashid Qureshi told Dawn News television. "So I don't think he needs to respond to anything that is said by these people," he said. The three US senators met Musharraf shortly after last week's parliamentary vote in which his political allies were routed. Some Pakistani political leaders have called for him to resign. Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Sunday that he would advise Musharraf to seek a dignified way to leave office.