WASHINGTON, Jan 11: Five out of six Republican presidential candidates told a television debate on Thursday night that if elected they would like to see Pervez Musharraf continue as president although they would also back more democratic reforms in Pakistan.

The tenor and the content of the debate contrasted sharply with a similar discussion among Democratic contenders of the White House last week when only Hillary Clinton backed Mr Musharraf while all others stressed the need for a change in Pakistan.

The difference between the two debates seems to endorse the traditional Pakistani wisdom that a Republican administration in Washington tends to back the Pakistani establishment, particularly the military.

Among the Republicans, Arizona Senator John McCain is President Musharraf’s strongest supporter. Given a choice to negotiate with President Musharraf or Al Qaeda, Senator McCain said: “I am not interested in trading with Al Qaeda; all they want to trade is Burqas. I don’t want to travel with them, they like one-way tickets.”

His remarks earned him a warm applause from the audience.

In an earlier debate, Mr McCain reminded Americans that “Musharraf has done most of the things we wanted him to do.” He claimed that Pakistan “was a failed state before Musharraf came to power.”

Asked if he would trade Osama bin Laden for Mr Musharraf as president, Senator McCain said: “I would never have that situation arise, because Musharraf and I have an, a relationship that goes back a number of years. I would be in constant communication with him, and I'm sure that maybe publicly or privately he would be working very closely.”Could he be trusted, he was asked. “Sure he could be trusted,” said the senator.

The question put to all six candidates was: Whether the United States should continue to support President Musharraf based on recent events in that country?

“Polls are irrelevant in regard to our policies there,” said Fred Thompson, a former Republican senator from Tennessee, while referring to recent opinion surveys showing that a vast majority of Pakistanis dislike President Musharraf.

“Musharraf’s leadership in Pakistan is in our overriding interest. Stability in Pakistan is necessary but we need to encourage him to democratise the country, press Al Qaeda in the mountains, and keep the nuclear weapons secure,” he said.

Mr Thompson said that President Musharraf may not behave exactly as some in the US would like, “but it would be irresponsible to call for his resignation or cut off aid to that nuclear nation.”

The United States, he said, needs to make sure that there’s stability in Pakistan.

Mr Thompson also noted that it was in US national interests to know “in whose hands (Pakistans) nuclear weapons are going to be” and if “that involves supporting Musharraf,” the United States should support him.

“We need to put the pressure on him, keep the pressure on him, but let’s not ever kid ourselves,” said Mr Thompson while explaining why the US needs to support Mr Musharraf.

“Money sent to Pakistan and used by their military is a good thing because that is who will fight the terrorists for us,” he added.

“Ditto,” said former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney when asked how he would deal with Pakistan if elected.

But he argued that even while supporting Mr Musharraf, the US should be looking for other allies too who can help convince the Islamic nation to reject extremism.

He noted that the new army chief, Gen Ashfaq Kayani, is also a friend of the United States. “If Musharraf won’t get Al Qaeda, Kayani will. What we need, is a comprehensive strategy for helping Muslims reject Islamic extremism.”

Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor and a leading presidential candidate for 2008, was critical of President Musharraf’s policies and blamed him for not catching senior Al Qaeda leaders like Osama bin Laden but acknowledged Washington needs the Pakistani leader.

“We cannot push Musharraf out because of the vacuum that would result but he cannot take our money and not hunt down Al Qaeda,” he said.

Ronald Paul, a Republican congressman from Texas, was the only 2008 Republican candidate who did not speak of the need to support President Musharraf. Instead, he criticised the Bush government for continuing to support Musharraf.

“We have Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. They have nuclear weapons, and we're giving them money,” he said.

“Let me see if I get this right. We need to borrow $10 billion from China, and then we give it to Musharraf, who is a military dictator who overthrew an elected government,” he observed.

Congressman Paul noted that Israel was Americas only true friend in the greater Middle East, which includes Pakistan.

Former New York mayor Rudy Guiliani, who is also a leading Republican contender for the White House, was brief but frank. While he also would continue to back the Musharraf government, Mr Guiliani said if elected he would “apply more pressure on him to capture Osama bin Laden.”