Interview on CNN

QUESTION: The head of the key front line ally in the US-led war against terrorism, Pakistan's President, General Pervez Musharraf, is on his way from Islamabad to New York to attend the UN General Assembly session. While in New York, Mr. Musharraf will meet with President Bush.

Joining us now for some perspective on this critical relationship is the US Ambassador to Pakistan, Wendy Chamberlin, who is in Washington for talks with Administration officials.

Ms. Chamberlin, good to have you with us.

AMBASSADOR CHAMBERLIN: I'm delighted to be here. Thank you.

QUESTION: You took the job on August 13th, and in less than a month, everything changed and turned on a dime. I'm curious if you -- well, you couldn't have anticipated the challenges that lay ahead. How much access have you had to the Musharraf administration, and do you feel there is a good open line of communication right now?

AMBASSADOR CHAMBERLIN: Well, that is certainly true. We have a very close relationship, not only with the President and myself, but also with his senior departmental heads and cabinet members. We have a very good relationship.

QUESTION: Well, tell me this. Do you feel that his control on power there is such that he can afford to take a trip to the United States right now?

AMBASSADOR CHAMBERLIN: Quite frankly, I think he has -- he is a stronger position with his people and in his country than he was even before September 11th. I think that --

QUESTION: Really? Why would you say that?

AMBASSADOR CHAMBERLIN: Very clearly because the decisions he has made and the changes that he has instituted have been in Pakistan's interests. And his people understand that. His military is professional and loyal. They support him, and they support his current policies. They support the change in his policy vis-à-vis Afghanistan, and they support very much his movement towards joining the coalition against terror.

QUESTION: He has also done a pretty good job eliminating potential opposition in the military, scientists in the nuclear program there that might be -- have some allegiance to the Taliban. Is he operating in such a way that he keeps a firm grip on power, and is it possible he might be going too far?

AMBASSADOR CHAMBERLIN: No, I don't think he is going too far. I think he is getting stronger with each one of these decisions and with each one of these moves. He is confident, and he has every reason to be.

The opposition that you see in the streets represent a very small segment of the Pakistani society. These are the extremist parties. But the four major parties support him, as does the military, the intellectuals, the silent majority. They want to see an end to this pollution of terrorism and violence that has come into Pakistan from Afghanistan. They want to see a stable Afghanistan on their western border. And he is bringing about that.

QUESTION: What about the stability of the nuclear weapons inside Pakistan? Command and control, a big concern here, because not only is the concern about forces loyal to the Taliban getting a hold of nuclear weapons a real issue, an issue the President brought out yesterday, but there is also the concern that the Kashmir conflict might escalate into some sort of nuclear confrontation with India. Do you have the sense, and do you have a very clear sense of where all these Pakistani bombs are, and whether they are under the proper controls?

AMBASSADOR CHAMBERLIN: We are in consultations with Pakistan on this. Both the Kashmir issue and the nuclear command and control issues aren't new. They preceded September 11th. We are confident that President Musharraf has control of his country and of his assets.

But of course the issues with Kashmir have been around ever since the birth of the state of Pakistan, in fact, and we are encouraging dialogue between India and Pakistan.

QUESTION: But more to the point of nuclear weapons, do you feel that there is adequate control in place to ensure that those weapons don't fall into hands that might be tempted to use them against the US, for example?

AMBASSADOR CHAMBERLIN: I don't think that there is any threat that they will fall into the hands of people that would use those against the US.

QUESTION: All right. Ramadan is upon us, and there has been a lot of talk as to whether the US-led campaign, the bombing campaign and limited ground action, should continue during this holy holiday, this Muslim holiday. President Musharraf apparently has gone along with the idea that this should continue. At what risk, though? Does this -- will this potentially inflame forces who are loyal to the Taliban within Pakistan, and could this ultimately topple Mr. Musharraf?

AMBASSADOR CHAMBERLIN: No. It is not likely to be a threat to President Musharraf. Of course, there are some sensitivities, but President Musharraf has looked at these and weighed them thoughtfully, and has made the judgment that it is far more important that we -- that the coalition, the international coalition against terror, accomplish its objective as quickly as possible. And if that means continuing the effort during Ramadan, he is in support of that. He has been very clear on that point.

QUESTION: Wendy Chamberlin is the US Ambassador to Pakistan. Thanks very much for spending some time with us. We appreciate it.

AMBASSADOR CHAMBERLIN: Thank you.