Musharraf to face questions in Europe

By Robert Birsel

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf heads off on a four-country trip to Europe this weekend where he is expected to face tough questions over his rule while shoring up international support.

Musharraf, whose popularity at home has slumped over recent months, will be leaving a country racked by militant attacks and on edge over prospects for a fair general election on February 18 that is meant to complete a transition to civilian rule.

Former foreign secretary Tanvir Ahmed Khan expected Musharraf to seek to impress on Europeans that Pakistan's best hope of stability rested with him retaining power.

"He's trying to establish his credentials with the key Western powers with the same old message: that he's indispensable, they don't have a better friend than him, without him the war on terror would unravel and Pakistan's economic progress would collapse," Khan said.

A surge of attacks by al Qaeda-linked militants based on the Afghan border has raised concern about prospects for the country and its efforts to support NATO and U.S. forces struggling to subdue Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.

Fears for nuclear-armed Pakistan's stability were aggravated sharply by the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in a bomb and gun attack on December 27.

Musharraf is due to hold talks with European Union and Belgian leaders in Brussels, meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris and then attend the World Economic Forum in Switzerland before talks in London with Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Khan said European leaders would be mindful of criticism of Musharraf, a former army chief who seized power in a 1999 coup, in the media and among think-tanks.