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The nomination of Husain Haqqani as the new Pakistani ambassador to the United States, by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, is being seen as a resounding slap on the face of President Pervez Musharraf. Haqqani -- a former journalist, diplomat and currently associate professor at Boston University is one of Musharraf's fiercest critics.
In fact, Haqqani has not visited Pakistan for years, fearing possible imprisonment
Senior diplomatic sources told rediff.com that the decision by Gillani to appoint Haqqani was clearly an indication that President Bush's 'good friend and buddy' Musharraf was fast becoming a non-entity. Musharraf, one of the few leaders Bush has hosted at the President's retreat in Camp David, may soon be marginalised to the position of a mere ceremonial head of state.
Pakistan's current ambassador to Washington, Mahmud Ali Durrani, confirmed to rediff.com that Haqqani would be succeeding him when he returns to Islamabad, sometime in May, as the new government's National Security Adviser.
Haqqani, whose nomination has been sent to the State Department for its approval, declined to make any comment about the matter. Diplomatic protocol dictates that until the nomination is formalised by the host country, the nominee, in the traditional norms of diplomacy, does not talk to the media.
One diplomatic observer said that Haqqani's appointment as Islamabad's new envoy to Washington, "is one way of the new democratic leadership in Pakistan asserting itself by sending someone who has been a longtime critic of Bush's administration's friend and ally Musharraf. This is also a signal to Washington that the new Pakistan government want to deal with the United States in a slightly different way."
Haqqani has been exceedingly savvy with the media and is popular with journalists in the US. He has also maintained good relations with US lawmakers, particularly Democrats, who over the years had been pushing for democratic reforms in Pakistan and castigating the Bush administration's policy of putting all of its faith in Musharraf.
The Democrats have repeatedly slammed Bush's decision to provide Pakistan with massive amounts of military and economic aid, as Musharraf was considered America's foremost ally in fighting the war on terror.
Thus, Musharraf's policies, which have also been questioned by some leading Republican members of Congress, hardly had any supporters in the US Congress. His support base has always been at the Pentagon and the State Department, but lately, the latter has only been too eager to ditch him.
Haqqani has frequently been invited to testify before the key foreign policy committees and subcommittees of the US Congress. He is also a regular at seminars on Pakistan and South Asia, hosted by some of the leading Washington think tanks. Haqqani has been scathing in his attacks of the Bush administration's policy toward Pakistan, particularly its decision to put all of its eggs in Musharraf's basket and considering him the 'only game in town.'
For example, during a speech before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South Asian Affairs, Haqqani said, "In addition to lavish praise, generous economic and military assistance and the status of a major non-NATO ally, General Musharraf's regime has been given a virtual carte blanche on human rights violations and his failure to allow the restoration of democracy in Pakistan." He reminded the audience that Musharraf has fired the Supreme Court justice and imposed emergency in the country, curtailing basic rights and the freedom of press.
Haqqani slammed the State Department at the time for calling for 'restraint on all sides', and department spokesman Sean McCormack insisting that Musharraf was acting in the best interests of Pakistan and the Pakistani people.
"The personalisation of relations between the world's sole superpower and a nuclear-armed nation of 150-million people is not the best way forward for either," he told the lawmakers. "It does not fulfill even the short-term purpose of securing Pakistan's cooperation in the global war against terrorism."
Haqqani, the author of the highly acclaimed 'Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military,' said, "Pakistan continues to be a major center for Islamist militancy, the legacy of the country's projection of itself as an Islamic ideological state and a bastion of religion-based opposition to communism during the Cold War."
"That Musharraf will be able to retain power as long as the United States and the Pakistani military continue to support him, is not in doubt," he said at the time, and added, "Barring unforeseen events, such as assassination or incapacitation by natural causes, or an unanticipated massive popular uprising that shifts the military allegiances, Musharraf seems able to preside indefinitely over a weakening Pakistani state."
But Haqqani warned US lawmakers, "There is more to Pakistan than Musharraf and sooner or later US policymakers will have to turn their attention to the state of the Pakistan."
Haqqani, 52, worked as a journalist for nearly a decade. He served as an adviser to several Pakistani Prime Ministers including Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto from 1988 to 1996. Bhutto appointed him as Pakistan's ambassador to Sri Lanka in 1992.
A little over four years ago, he came to the US, and enjoyed a nearly two-year stint as a visiting scholar in the South Asia Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a leading Washington think tank. He then joined Boston University as an associate professor in international relations and director of its Center for International Relations.
Till his nomination as the new envoy, he was a regular commentator and analyst on Pakistan and South Asian affairs on CNN, BBC, NBC and ABC News networks.