Pervez Musharraf promises ‘free, fair, transparent and peaceful’ elections in Pakistan

'Pakistan is not a banana republic,' said President Pervez Musharraf on the 21 January 2008 to a joint meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Delegation for relations with South Asia in the European Parliament. He assured MEPs that the upcoming elections in the country would be free and fair, that fundamental rights were being respected, and that the recent assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto would be solved by a Pakistani investigation.

• Primary Source

European Parliament: Article, 22.1.08: MEPs quiz Musharraf on Bhutto, elections, Pakistan http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/story_page/030-19291-021-01-04-903-20080121STO19256-2008-21-01-2008/default_en.htm

BBC News, 21.1.08: EU in Pakistan election warning http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7199502.stm

Council of the European Union: Press Release: S018/08: EU HR Javier SOLANA met President Musharraf of Pakistan http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/discours/98245.pdf

The Tocqueville Connection, 21.1.08: Pakistan's Musharraf wins backing from Sarkozy http://www.adetocqueville.com/

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