September 23, 2008	Tuesday	Ramazan 22, 1429

NEW YORK, Sept 22: The United States on Monday rejected a suggestion that it needs to reconsider its relationship with Pakistan in view of the weekend’s deadly blast in Islamabad that killed scores of people, including at least two Americans.

At a regular briefing in Washington, the US State Department also reiterated an offer to help investigate the blast despite Pakistan’s refusal to accept such assistance.

The statement, issued hours before President Asif Ali Zardari’s arrival in New York for a crucial meeting with his US counterpart George W. Bush also makes it clear that the United States will not halt its military operations against the militants hiding in Fata and expects Pakistan to do the same.

Saturday’s blast was “a heinous act” committed by terrorists, “and we’re going to step up our efforts and work with the Pakistanis to do what we can” to defeat them, said State Department’s deputy spokesman Robert Wood.

Mr Wood, who has served in Pakistan as well, confirmed that the Pakistani Ministry of Interior had informed the Americans it did not at the moment need any outside assistance for investigating the blast.

“However, we stand ready to assist the Pakistanis with this investigation if they ask us for assistance,” he added.

Pakistan’s refusal made headline news in the US with at least one major newspaper carrying it as the lead story while others pointed out that Pakistan was also opposed to US military strikes against the militants hiding inside its borders.

The news of alleged firing by Pakistani troops to prevent US helicopters from entering their territory was also broadcast all day by major US TV channels.

Such reports contributed to tensions that have vitiated the US-Pakistan relationship since an elected government took charge in Islamabad.

Reports and commentaries in the US media urged the US administration to reconsider its relations with Islamabad which, the reports insisted, could not more be trusted as an ally in the war on terror.

“I’m not going to comment on some of these reports that we’ve seen,” said Mr Wood when asked if the reports indicated an expected shift in the US policy towards Pakistan were correct.

“Look at what happened on Saturday, this is an example of why we, the Pakistanis, the Afghans need to work and redouble our efforts to counter extremism in this region,” said the State Department official.

“It’s a threat to stability. It’s a threat to democracy in the region. And we’ll continue to work with the Pakistanis on trying to deal with the Taliban and Al Qaeda threat, not only in the tribal areas but in, over in Afghanistan.”

The State Department official said that since the bombing, the US Embassy in Islamabad has issued three travel warnings, urging Americans not to visit Pakistan.

Asked if the blast would make the US rethink its assistance to Pakistan, particularly on the military side and question their commitment to fighting terrorism, Mr Wood said: “No. The Pakistanis have told us that they are committed to this fight.” It’s clearly in US national interests to help the Pakistanis pursue Taliban and Al Qaeda extremists, he added.

“And I’m not aware of any plans or any thought being given to the idea of, you know, reducing military assistance.”

The US official descried the fight against terrorism in Fata as “a long-term process or project” and said that the US was committed to rooting out extremism from that part of the world.

“It’s going to take time. But we’re going to be persistent in our efforts,” he said.

“We’ve pledged our cooperation to Pakistan and to the government of Afghanistan to do what we can to help. And so I can assure you that we are going to redouble our efforts to try to counter this extremism that threatens stability in the region.”The State Department official said that there also exists a bipartisan support in the US Congress for helping Pakistan fight terrorism.

“I think you’ll on both sides of the aisle, certainly within the administration, the understanding that we need to step up our efforts to counter extremism in this region,” he said.

The administration, he said, holds conversations all the time with members of Congress and their staffs was convinced that there was a bipartisan support for helping Pakistan.