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President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf. (AP) Last update - 21:02 26/11/2007 U.S. Jewish leader Rosen visits Pakistan to support Musharraf By Marc Perelman, Jewish Daily Forward With the blessing of Washington, Jack Rosen, chairman of the American Jewish Congress's Council for World Jewry, traveled halfway across the globe for a face-to-face meeting with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who he had hailed two years ago as a courageous leader and driving force in Jewish-Muslim dialogue. In recent weeks Musharraf has been roundly criticized for declaring emergency rule and cracking down on his opposition, in particular the judiciary. The de facto declaration of martial law has been widely viewed as an effort to preempt a ruling from the Supreme Court that would have invalidated Musharraf's reelection as president last month. "The real choice we face is not between Musharraf and a return to an effective democratic system, but between Musharraf and the possible collapse of Pakistan," Rosen wrote in a letter to the editor appearing in this week's edition of the Jewish Daily Forward. Advertisement Rosen made the trip to Islamabad after consulting with the State Department and key members of Congress. In addition to Musharraf, he met with General Ashfaq Kiyani, the deputy chief of staff who is expected to take over for Musharraf as head of the army, as well as ministers and intelligence officials. In his letter to the Forward, he said he also met with opposition leaders. Rosen declined further comment. The Council of World Jewry has made efforts to reach out to Jewish groups in France and Russia, but to date its signature achievement has been Musharraf's appearance at an AJCongress dinner in 2005, the first address made by a Pakistani leader before a Jewish group. At the dinner, Musharraf vowed to improve Muslim-Jewish ties, including relations between Israel and Pakistan, and said he was committed to combating extremist groups. Rosen did stress in his letter to the editor of the Forward that democracy should be the 'ultimate goal' and that Musharraf understands this. But he noted that Pakistan first had to focus on dealing with the multiple threats it is facing. "The most compelling idea that should inform our policy toward Pakistan is the urgent need to keep that country's nuclear arsenal out of the hands of the Islamist extremists," Rosen writes. "That requires some stability, which rests, inter alia, on cooperation between a strong military and a strong executive branch. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Officer convicted A military court convicts an IDF officer who led troops in a West Bank rampage. A different Anne Frank A Dutch Jewish condemns the distribution of a postcard of Anne Frank wearing kaffiyeh.   1.   Why is he Meddling? They already dislike Jews 21:35  |  semsem 26/11/07   2.   Rosen 22:10  |  Garry 26/11/07   3.   Not very smart indeed 22:17  |  Mark B. 26/11/07   4.   Pakistan 22:17  |  Stephen 26/11/07   5.   Must be nice to be a Jewish prince 22:21  |  Paul Freedman 26/11/07   6.   When lobbying goes horribly wrong 22:56  |  Shlom 26/11/07   7.   I disagree; Rosen`s right. 22:59  |  akiva (zionist) 26/11/07   8.   Jack Rosen is giving... 23:02  |  Maureen Ann 26/11/07   9.   Dictators 23:25  |  Cameron 26/11/07   10.   Supporting Another Brutal Dictatorship 23:34  |  Fred Farkle 26/11/07   11.   Bad-press for Musharaff 00:21  |  Ahmad 27/11/07   12.   U.S. jewish leader Rosen visits Pakistan 01:23  |  Vaclav Baloun 27/11/07   13.   Support Musharraf 01:31  |  aliG 27/11/07   14.   #1, Good Expalanation 01:33  |  AYA 27/11/07   15.   rosen supports musharraf 01:46  |  david 27/11/07   16.   Rosen`s Imperial Chutzpah and collossal stupidity 02:00  |  Fortuna Benmayor 27/11/07   17.   All Antisemites are on this page meddling in what is Jews busines 02:12  |  Genuine Tosefta 27/11/07   18.   MORON BUM meddling into Jewish affairs instead of Aboriginistine 02:15  |  Genuine Tosefta 27/11/07   19.   Murine An, where are you mu deer, missed you a lot, come to Baba 02:18  |  Jalal Shahid 27/11/07   20.   A stupidity to go and support a dictator 02:22  |  dovale 27/11/07   21.   Vaclav Baloun, of Prague 02:37  |  akiva (zionist) 27/11/07   22.   Musharraf is everything Rosner respects 03:17  |  Mark Lincoln 27/11/07   23.   Rosen visit o Pakistan. 16:59  |  k.j. kirmani 27/11/07   24.   Brutal Dictator. 17:25  |  K j kirmani 27/11/07   25.   rosen 06:20  |  afaqali 07/12/07   26.   good rosen 06:34  |  farid 07/12/07   27.   not anti jewish 21:45  |  ash 21/12/07   28.   #22 05:13  |  Moshe 28/01/08

Today Online PM promises Abbas not to disrupt flow of aid to Gaza Responses: 189 Anti-Semitic incidents rise in Germany, Australia, U.S. in 2007 Responses: 136 Editorial: Gaza border crisis endangers peace with Egypt Responses: 126 Gideon Levy: IDF troops fell because of Israel's war of folly Responses: 88 Dutch Jewish group slams image of Anne Frank wearing kaffiyeh Responses: 80 Rosner's Domain Two days before the Florida primary, Rudy seeks solace in football The best Jewish date (What To Read) McCain using support for Israel to court Jews - and Christians Poll: How important is Israel in the 2008 election? More Headlines 06:27 Source: J'lem will be last topic on peace agenda 04:20 Officials: Israel won't let Gaza border breach threaten security 02:21 Iran offers to help Egypt deal with chaos at Gaza Strip border 23:48 Report: Barak met secretly with Pakistan's Musharraf last week 01:13 Lodz Ghetto document reveals 'Israel's 1st declaration of independence' 23:51 IAF wounds four Hamas militants in strike on armored car in Gaza 05:40 Egypt shuts stores, cooperates with Hamas to urge Gazans to return home 04:37 AG: Policemen will not be indicted for deaths of 13 in October riots 05:06 EU foreign ministers to meet Monday to revamp Palestinian aid plan 00:38 Arab FMs nix Syrian bid to strengthen Hezbollah as 8 killed in Lebanon 04:12 Panel recommends expansion of Wisconsin welfare-to-work plan 05:54 Court sends employer to jail for underpaying employees in unprecedented ruling 04:54 Fun Munich carnival held on Holocaust remembrance day angers Jews Previous Editions Select Day 27 jan 25 jan 24 jan 23 jan 22 jan 21 jan 20 jan 18 jan 17 jan 16 jan 15 jan 14 jan

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