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WASHINGTON, Sunday (Reuters,AFP)

The United States has made clear to Gen. Pervez Musharraf its objections to the Pakistani leader's moves to bolster his power and stressed that President George W. Bush expects free elections, Bush's national security adviser said.

Condoleezza Rice, speaking ahead of a U.S. visit by the Pakistani leader, dismissed any suggestion that Bush was compromising his democratic principles by keeping close ties with Musharraf, a key ally in the U.S. war against terrorism.

"It's just frankly not true," she said in an interview with Reuters. "The president has raised with Musharraf our expectations for elections in October."

"We made clear to Musharraf that we objected to some of the moves he's made recently," she said. Rice took a tougher line than an earlier mild State Department rebuke or Bush's own public comments after Musharraf unveiled constitutional changes last month.

The changes guaranteed a major role for the military in government and imposed a host of obstacles effectively barring the two most popular politicians from elections on Oct. 10. "There isn't any compromise in terms of democratic principles here," Rice said. "The president feels very strongly that democracy is the ultimate guarantor of stability."

The interview, given in conjunction with White House commemoration of last year's Sept. 11 attacks, was conducted on Thursday on condition that it not be published until Saturday.

The two men are expected to meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session in New York next week..

The Pakistani leader - who seized power in a bloodless 1999 military coup - hopes that the war on terrorism figures more prominently than his controversial plans, which he says are aimed at eventually returning Pakistan to civilian rule. "President Musharraf is still tight with us in the war against terror and that's what I appreciate," Bush said after the constitutional changes were announced.

The amendments allow Musharraf to dissolve parliament at will. Strict eligibility criteria exclude the most serious civilian challengers, including former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, from taking part. "He (Musharraf) understands that we ought to keep al Qaeda on the run," Bush said, referring to the Islamic militant group accused of carrying out the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Bush clearly views Musharraf as firmly on the right side in the U.S.-led campaign against terror and has been reluctant to publicly criticize a key ally.

Rice, too, pointed out that there had been "positive developments" in the south Asian country and praised Musharraf for his desire "to lead Pakistan away from past extremism."

"Those are important trends," she said.

President Musharraf left Pakistan early Saturday for a week-long visit to the United States where he will address the UN General Assembly, meet Secretary General Kofi Annan and hold talks with President George W. Bush.

The trip is General Musharraf's third to the US since becoming one of its most strategic allies in the war on terrorism in the wake of last year's catastrophic terror strikes on New York and Washington.

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