April 23, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 16, 1429

WASHINGTON: The United States has conveyed its concern to Pakistan over the release of TNSM leader Sufi Mohammed, the US State Department said on Tuesday and hoped that the country’s new leaders would not talk to terrorists.

“We are concerned any time that someone involved in terrorist activities is released,” said a State Department official. “We have raised our concerns about this with the Pakistani government and we understand their desire to work out arrangements that end violence.”

The official also assured Pakistan that the United States would continue to work closely with the country’s new rulers “on a multifaceted approach” to end violence and to bring stability to the region.

Earlier, State Department’s deputy spokesman Tom Casey noted that the parties now in the government had also been the victims of extremist violence and that was why he believed they “don’t have any desire to participate in a dialogue with those who have actively sought to kill them”.

Mr Casey noted that the most obvious victim of this violence was the late prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated by extremists hiding in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

The recent history of violence in Pakistan, he said, made him believe that there was a clear “commitment on the part of this government to engage and fight extremism”. He said the United States would continue to cooperate with Pakistan, as it sought to confront extremism not only in the Fata, but also elsewhere in the country.

Struggle for Sharia enforcement to continue, says Sufi: