US denies meddling in Pakistan's politics

Published August 22, 2014
State Department’s deputy spokesperson Marie Harf. — File photo
State Department’s deputy spokesperson Marie Harf. — File photo

The State Department in a daily briefing in Washington on Friday commented said the US was not engaged in any discussions that could be regarded as interference in Pakistan's internal politics.

State Department’s deputy spokesperson Marie Harf said: "We are in no way involved in the process or the discussion between the parties. Any suggestion to the contrary is completely false."

"We do think that there needs to be peaceful dialogue and no attempts to change Pakistan’s government through extra-constitutional attempts," Harf added.

Responding to a question as to whether there were any contacts between Islamabad and Washington on the current situation, Harf said US Ambassador to Pakistan Olson "meets quite frequently with a range of officials, and I believe that’s where the contact has occurred".

A day ago, the US had put its weight behind the “elected government” of Nawaz Sharif, declaring that it did not support any “extra-constitutional changes” in Pakistan or those “attempting to impose” such changes.

Harf had said that the US believed “Nawaz Sharif was elected and is prime minister” and that “there’s a government in place that was elected”.

The statement had caused an angry reaction at Islamabad’s D Chowk, where thousands of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistani Awami Tehreek (PAT) workers have been protesting for a week to force the prime minister to resign.

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