Caretaker Cabinet in Pakistan

Disdained by an angry opposition, a subdued President Pervez Musharraf on Friday swore in a loyalist-led caretaker government meant to remain in place until after parliamentary elections in early January.

The swearing-in of the interim administration came hours before U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte arrived for what were expected to be tense and difficult talks.

U.S. officials said Negroponte was carrying a tough message for Musharraf, who imposed sweeping emergency measures Nov. 3. The general will be told he must lift the emergency decree, step down as head of the military and release thousands of political prisoners or risk a rift with the Bush administration, they said.

In a conciliatory gesture, the government early Friday had lifted former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s detention order, the second in a week. Also freed from house arrest was prominent human-rights activist and lawyer Asma Jahangir.

“The West’s interests lie in a democratic Pakistan,” Bhutto told reporters after being freed. Thousands of Bhutto’s followers have been rounded up and jailed, her party says.

After arriving in Pakistan, Negroponte spoke by telephone with Bhutto to underscore that the U.S. believes “moderate forces” in the country should work together, said Sean McCormack, the chief State Department spokesman.

Negroponte wanted to hear Bhutto’s view of the crisis, but did not meet her in person to avoid the complications of heavy news coverage that would have arisen, McCormack said.

Musharraf has said he would proceed with the January parliamentary vote, even though opponents, who say a free election is impossible under emergency rule, are considering a boycott.

The general, who has promised to step down as army chief by the end of the month, asserted again that he had paved the way for a transition to a civilian government.

“I take pride in the fact that, being a man in uniform, I have actually introduced the essence of democracy in Pakistan,” he said at the inauguration. “Whether anyone believes it or not.”

It was not clear whether Negroponte would meet in person with Bhutto, who has called on the Bush administration to help craft an “exit strategy” for Musharraf. Although the former prime minister spent months in power-sharing talks with the general this year, she ruled out negotiations soon after emergency rule was imposed, saying that Musharraf must step down not only as military chief but as president.

Asked if Negroponte would seek to have Bhutto renew talks with Musharraf, State Department spokesman McCormack did not answer directly, but restated the administration’s desire that such a pact be forged.

“Moderate forces within Pakistani society are going to need to work together -- not only to get back to that point where you have constitutional democratic rule, but for the day after and the day after that,” the spokesman said. The Bush administration regards Musharraf and Bhutto as pro-Western moderates.

The caretaker government is led by former Senate chairman Mohammedmian Soomro, a longtime supporter of Musharraf. The interim administration was set up after parliament dissolved on schedule Thursday at the end of its five-year term.

But opposition leaders, including Bhutto, say no government loyal to Musharraf will act to ensure that January’s vote is free and fair.

Musharraf’s presidential term ended Thursday too and he was to have been inaugurated to another, but he is awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on whether his reelection last month by lawmakers was valid. After declaring emergency rule, he replaced the independent-minded high court with a lineup of government-friendly judges, whose ruling could come next week.

Although critics say his main aim was to muzzle his foes, Musharraf’s stated reason for the emergency decree was the threat posed by a growing Islamist insurgency. The army has begun a major operation against militants in the district of Swat, in northwest Pakistan.

The army moved in with attack helicopters and artillery, striking insurgent positions again Friday after locally recruited paramilitary forces suffered a series of demoralizing defeats. The military says dozens of militants have been killed.

Musharraf’s confrontation with the insurgents has sharpened since July, when government troops stormed a radical mosque in the capital, Islamabad. His relations with Islamist parties that supported him have deteriorated sharply.

Supporters of a coalition of religious parties, many of whose members have been arrested, staged an anti-government rally in the frontier city of Peshawar. Police used clubs and tear gas against the demonstrators.

Street protests have grown smaller and more scattered over the last week, with many activists now in jail.

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laura.king@latimes.com

Times staff writer Paul Richter in Washington contributed to this report.