Davos switches focus to Pakistan

The volatile situation in Pakistan took centre stage in Davos yesterday, after a first day dominated by talk of a US recession.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf took part in the annual gathering of the world's political and business elite in a discussion on peace and stability, together with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih.
The Pakistani president vowed to crack down on any attempt to disrupt elections in Pakistan next month and insisted the polls would be "free and fair"
Davos was Musharraf's latest stop on a European tour aimed at shoring up his battered image overseas after months of turmoil and the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
Her murder resulted in elections being rescheduled for February 18.
"Obviously, the elections must be fair free and transparent, and I've added a new word 'peaceful'," Musharraf said, adding: "We will make sure they are peaceful".
Musharraf held talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice here on Wednesday -- marking the highest-level US contact with the president since the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in December.
During their meeting, Rice stressed that next month's elections in Pakistan had to be seen to be "free and fair" and carry the "confidence" of the Pakistani people.
Earlier Thursday, climate campaigner and former US vice president Al Gore warned delegates at the World Economic Forum that the global climate crisis was "significantly worse" than previously thought and unfolding more rapidly than even pessimists had predicted.