August 31, 2008	Sunday	Sha'aban 28, 1429

WASHINGTON, Aug 30: While all eyes were focused on a meeting between top American and Pakistani generals aboard a warship earlier this week, the US State Department quietly assured Pakistan that it has no desire to interfere in the country’s internal affairs.

The assurance and the meeting between the generals followed major upheavals in Pakistan that led to the departure of former president Pervez Musharraf after eight years of absolute rule and the last few months of political obscurity.

But the talk of a possible US role in restoring political stability to Pakistan began only after PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari made it known that he wants to be the next president of the country.

In talk shows and newspaper columns, commentators started saying that Washington cannot afford to watch quietly as a nuclear-armed Muslim nation moves towards political instability.

The comments forced Pakistan’s ambassador Husain Haqqani to publicly urge the Americans to stand back and let democracy run its course.

“Even if it is messy, even if it takes time, that’s the only option,” he said.

His comments echoed twice at the State Department briefing this week as journalists asked US officials if Washington also has decided not to interfere in Pakistan’s internal politics and how long the United States can afford to have political instability in a country like Pakistan.

“Well, for one, our policy is to stay out of Pakistan’s internal affairs,” said the department’s deputy spokesman Robert Wood. “We’ve said that over and over again.”

Mr Wood noted that Pakistan is a close ally, which has a new government. “That government is trying to find its way. It’s sorting through a whole host of very difficult issues.”

The United States, he said, wanted to cooperate very closely with Pakistan in the war against extremism and would continue to do so without interfering in the country’s internal politics.

“And you can rest assured that the United States is there to support Pakistan as it tries to, you know, further consolidate its democracy,” he said. “And I would just reject charges that we are trying to interfere in Pakistan’s internal affairs. It’s our policy to stay out of Pakistan’s internal affairs,” he added.

Political observers in Washington noted that the State Department’s assurance would go a long way in calming strained nerves in Islamabad where talk of a possible US role in bringing stability to Pakistan were heard in both opposition and government camps after Tuesday’s meeting between top US and Pakistani generals aboard a warship in the Indian Ocean.

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen gave more fodder to political commentators for such speculations when he indicated at a briefing in Washington on Wednesday that the generals also had discussed the current political situation in Pakistan.