Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf

WASHINGTON, June 24 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – As Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf Tuesday, June 24, takes a highly symbolic step higher on President George W. Bush's list of “anti-terror” allies, political differences are set to shadow their meeting within the oaks and maples of the U.S. leader's Camp David retreat.

Musharraf arrived late Monday in Washington from Boston, where he made a personal visit. He was set to make the short trip to Camp David early Tuesday, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"President Bush views President Musharraf as a strong leader who is aggressively fighting terror," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer Monday.

The talks, and an expected U.S. aid package, will underscore the development in U.S.-Pakistan relations since Bush strong-armed Musharraf into his “anti-terror” coalition after the September 11, 2001 attacks, AFP sid.

Later in the week, President Musharraf will also be meeting a wide range of U.S. defense officials - including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and General Tommy Franks, whose U.S. Central Command controls U.S. forces both in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Even though Washington has always been quick to praise Pakistan's role in the war on terror, the U.S. is less pleased by the growing power of “Islamic fundamentalists” in North West Frontier Province, according to the BBC News online.

Washington is also concerned about President Musharraf's ability to fend off the growing religious and secular criticism of his rule, added the BBC.

For his part, Musharraf is understood to be seeking to barter a write-off of Pakistan's 1.8 billion dollar debt to the U.S. and is expected to sign a Trade and Investment Framework (TIFA) - the first step towards free trade with Washington, which Pakistan badly wants.

But the Pentagon has discounted reports that Bush will release 28 F-16 fighters which Pakistan has paid for, but which fell foul of 1990s nuclear sanctions on Islamabad.

"Going to Camp David is a reward for Musharraf's cooperation against al-Qaeda," Dennis Kux, a retired State Department South Asia expert, now affiliated with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, told AFP.

"The U.S.-Pakistan relationship has historically been a very oscillating one, almost like a ride on the roller coaster," Kux added.

"There have been three or four times when we have been close and then we have had a divorce, and my fear is that may well happen again."

While courting Pakistan, the United States has continued to seek closer relations with its bitter rival, geopolitical heavyweight India, a goal that may prove incompatible with close Islamabad-Washington relations.

Senior U.S. officials have also betrayed frustration over Pakistan's alleged support for militants crossing into India's portion of war-torn Kashmir - the spark for recurring Indo-Pakistan hostility.

The administration has also had to reconcile contradictions presented by Musharraf's military rule of Pakistan with the notion of global democratization - which it has made a keynote of its policy elsewhere - especially in the Middle East.

Their common fight against what is called “radical Islam” is currently underscored by U.S. and Pakistani simultaneous operations against “Taliban militants” on the Afghan border - though Islamabad has balked at the suggestion of a "joint" operation.

Bush has established a clear pecking order for visiting foreign leaders. Closest presidential buddies get to tour the president's beloved Crawford, Texas ranch. Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar have signed the guest book in recent months.

One step down, but still preferred by foreign leaders to the standard White House visit, are the relaxed surroundings of Camp David.

Successive presidents have sought refuge there from the political heat in Washington, entertaining statesmen from ex-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to Egypt's late President Anwar Sadat.

Camp David, senior officials say, is an appropriate reward for Musharraf's conduct - though he will not enjoy the added boon of an overnight stay.

Musharraf's anti-terror net has snared a long list of al-Qaeda operatives including, the network's number three Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, picked up in Rawalpindi on March 1.

Musharraf has also won kudos in Washington for banning five “extremist organizations” including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM), AFP said.

However, some observers believe, anti-terror cooperation notwithstanding, that the United States and Pakistan remain on divergent paths.