U.S. envoys meet Pakistan's new leaders

By Robert Birsel

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - U.S. envoys sounded out Pakistan's new civilian leaders on Islamist militancy on Tuesday as Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf swore in a new prime minister expected to review his policies on terrorism.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher would ask the new government "how they see the way forward and what their plans are", a State Department spokesman said.

The new government, led by the late Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), is hostile to Musharraf, long seen in Washington as an ally in the battle against al Qaeda and the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan.

Musharraf, who has rejected calls to quit, swore in senior PPP official Yousaf Raza Gilani on Tuesday.

Gilani called for political parties to cooperate to tackle problems, including in the economy. "All forces have to get together and bring the country out of these crises," Gilani, standing beside Musharraf, told reporters.

But former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, whose Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) is part of the new coalition, said he told the U.S. officials that security would no longer be Musharraf's "one-man show".

"Now all issues will be brought before parliament. The representatives of the people will review all aspects of those issues," Sharif told a news conference.

In an apparent snub to Musharraf, Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, and their son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who together lead the PPP, declined to attend the oath-taking ceremony.