ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A key figure in Pakistan's new government told two top U.S. envoys Tuesday that his country is no longer a one-man show and that President Pervez Musharraf's strong-arm tactics against Islamic militants will be scrutinized.
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's comments came as Musharraf swore in a loyalist of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto as the head of a new civilian government.
Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Richard Boucher arrived in Islamabad early Tuesday, held talks with Sharif, then visited Musharraf at the presidential palace.
They made no public comment on the talks.
The envoys also met with army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and the chief of the military's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said.
Sharif, speaking later at a news conference, said he told the envoys that it was "no longer a one-man show in Pakistan'' and that the new parliament would decide after exhaustive debate how Pakistan should approach Islamic extremism.
The new coalition formed after February's elections includes Sharif's party. The former prime minister is demanding Musharraf's resignation.
Many Pakistanis resent Musharraf's support of Washington's aggressive campaign against al-Qaida and the Taliban -- which operate in Pakistan's tribal and border regions -- claiming it has stoked a bloody backlash.
The security of Pakistan must not be sacrificed in order to protect other countries, Sharif said.
"It is unacceptable that while giving peace to the world we make our own country a killing field,'' he said at a news conference.
"If America wants to see itself clean of terrorism, we also want that our villages and towns should not be bombed,'' he said, an apparent reference to recent air strikes near the Afghan border.
Many Pakistanis blame them on U.S. and allied forces.
The new civilian rulers have said they would negotiate with some militant groups -- an approach that has drawn U.S. criticism in the past.
Yousaf Raza Gilani, who will front the incoming civilian-led administration, took the oath from Musharraf on Tuesday at a stiff ceremony in Islamabad.
Seated side-by-side on a raised dais and flanked by two honour guards with white and gold-braided uniform, Gilani followed Musharraf's lead in reading the oath of office.
Members of Gilani's party chanted "Long Live Bhutto!'' after the formalities were complete.
Musharraf betrayed no emotion during the ceremony but gave Gilani a firm handshake and chatted amiably with him as they headed for refreshments in the presidential palace.
"I congratulate Yousaf Raza Gilani and my co-operation will always remain with him,'' Musharraf told state-run television afterward.
Gilani, leading a civilian government after eight years of military rule, appealed for national unity to tackle the crises facing Pakistan, particularly economic problems.
"We have to give supremacy to the parliament so that we can jointly take the country out of these crises,'' he said.
Zaffar Abbas, an editor with Dawn newspaper, said the visit of the high-profile U.S. delegation on the same day as the swearing-in was badly timed.
Their presence on the day when the new prime minister was inducted would signal to both Islamic extremists and moderates that "here are the Americans, right here in Islamabad, meeting with senior politicians in the new government, trying to dictate terms,'' Abbas said.
The Bush administration has been a staunch supporter of Musharraf, who has deployed troops along the Afghan border and helped kill or capture a string of al-Qaida leaders.
However, in recent weeks Washington has started to put some discreet distance between itself and a once "indispensable'' ally in the war on terror.
Parliament elected Gilani as premier on Monday, five weeks after the opposition swept parliamentary elections supposed to return Pakistan to democracy after Musharraf's rule.
Bhutto's party, now led by her widower Asif Ali Zardari, earned the most votes.
