Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf has arrived in Brussels on the first stop of a European tour that also takes him to France, Switzerland and Britain. From Paris, Lisa Bryant reports the Pakistani leader may face tough questions from European politicians.
President Musharraf is expected to meet with European Union officials and Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt Monday before heading off to Paris for a two-day visit that includes talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. His next stop will be Davos, Switzerland, where world political and business leaders meet for the annual World Economic Forum.
He arrives in Britain Saturday for the last stop of his visit, where he is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, business leaders and members of Britain's large Pakistani community.
The Pakistani president leaves a country in a fragile political state, following the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. His international credibility has been badly tarnished by months of political chaos.
European leaders have called for his government to shed full light on the events surrounding Bhutto's assassination. They also criticized the state of emergency he called temporarily late last year.
Analysts say European leaders are likely to question Mr. Musharraf about his government's commitment to democracy and urge for free and fair elections that are scheduled to take place February 18.
Mr. Musharraf's trip has been cast partly as an effort to show show things are not as bad in Pakistan as they are perceived from the outside.
