20 August 2004	Friday	03 Rajab 1425

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WASHINGTON, Aug 19: The United States indicated Thursday that individual changes in the Pakistani government do not necessarily impact the broader relations between the two countries.

The US State Department made this observation while talking to Dawn about the election of Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz to the National Assembly. "It is the election of an individual to the Pakistani parliament and that is not something we are prepared to talk about," said the official when asked for comments.

"But when he becomes a prime minister, we will talk about the new government," he added. Explaining the US position on this new development in Pakistan, the official said: "I think our interest is in the new government that we will be working with, not a particular individual."

Reminded of the opposition's claim that the election was not fair, the official said: "We are not in a position to make a judgment on that." The official said that the United States and Pakistan were "partners against terror" and Washington would "continue working closely" with Pakistan on that front.

US officials have been careful in commenting on Mr Aziz ever since he was tipped to lead the future government almost two months ago. They became even more careful after some members of the MMA charged the US administration of backing him.

When some opposition leaders claimed that Mr Aziz had a US passport, Dawn contacted the State Department to seek information about his status in the United States.

Almost 10 days after the inquiry, and after several reminders, the State Department sent an e-mail saying that "the passport records are confidential, so we are unable to confirm if this official has ever applied for or been granted a US passport." By then Mr Aziz had already rejected the opposition's claim as false, saying that he never even applied for a US passport.