With Pakistan's ruling coalition gunning for President Pervez Musharraf, the United States has said that he made a "number of mistakes" during his eight-year reign including imposing a state of emergency last year.
"I have said.... to him that he made a number of mistakes. And I thought that the state of emergency was a mistake," US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview.
The Bush administration official said that the issue of Musharraf's resignation was an "internal matter" of the country but insisted that he "has been a good ally" and did a "great thing for his country by giving up uniform and bringing back civilian rule.
"This is clearly a Pakistani matter. He's the President of Pakistan and we'll treat him as the President of Pakistan. But Pakistan is in a period now of bringing its new democratic institutions into being. They will work through these matters," she told
CNN when asked about Musharraf's ouster during an interview whose transcript was released by the State department.
The Pakistan Peoples Party which leads Pakistan's ruling coalition has already declared that Musharraf's days as president were numbered with its Chairman Asif Ali Zardari saying over the weekend that he was planning a strategy with ally Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz for the President's ouster.
PML(N) chief Nawas Sharif has been demanding that Musharraf be impeached and held accountable for all his actions while at the helm.
Rice added "But President Musharraf has been a good ally. He did a lot for Pakistan in bringing it into civilian rule. And he's somebody that we will continue to treat with respect. Musharraf did a great thing for...his country, he took off the uniform,