WASHINGTON, May 17: In an interview in which he expressed strong support for President Pervez Musharraf, US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher also urged the general to fulfil his promise to settle the dispute over his uniform by the end of this year.

“This is an issue the president himself has said will be resolved this year. And we take him at his words,” said Mr Boucher, who heads the South and Central Asian Bureau at the State Department.

He said: “President Musharraf has resolved that as he goes forward, as the process of election goes forward in Pakistan, this is one of the things that need to be done this year.”

Asked if Ambassador Ronald Neumann, Washington’s former envoy to Kabul, was sent to Islamabad this week to express support for President Musharraf, Mr Boucher said: “We did not feel like we had to do something special right now. The direction President Musharraf has set for Pakistan is good and our support is clear for this direction.”

The United States, he said, supports a moderate, democratic course for Pakistan that would create economic opportunities for its people and improve their living conditions.