Negroponte to press Musharraf on Pakistan democracy

Washington’s second most senior diplomat will have a crucial meeting with Pakistan’s military leader President Pervez Musharraf today, hoping that face-to-face diplomacy will convince the general to move back on the path to democracy.

US deputy secretary of state John Negroponte’s trip was seen as a last best chance to avoid political turmoil in Pakistan, which has seen its Supreme Court purged and thousands of protesters detained since General Musharraf declared emergency rule on November 3.