WASHINGTON, Aug 17: The United States has been in touch with all political parties in Pakistan as part of its efforts to form a “moderate political centre” in the country to take on religious extremists, says the US State Department.

“We are in touch with, I would say, probably all the political parties in Pakistan,” said the department’s spokesman Sean McCormack.

“We are encouraging those who are widely considered, forces for moderation, to come together to support a moderate centre in Pakistani politics that is a way to fight against extremist elements in Pakistan,” he added.

“We believe a more free, more democratic Pakistan will ultimately be a more stable Pakistan and one that will continue to be a good ally in fighting the war on terror.”

Mr McCormack, however, warned not to interpret US contacts with Pakistani polit-

ical parties as indicating that it favours in particular candidate in the forthcoming elections.

“So yeah, inasmuch as we express that opinion, it is not intended to indicate that we have any particular favourites, or favourite candidates; or that we’re picking and choosing candidates, or that we’re picking and choosing political parties. It’s not the case.”

The State Department’s comments followed reports in the US media that Washington’s UN Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad met former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in New York this week and discussed with her the role she is likely to play a new power arrangement in Islamabad.

Other media reports have suggested that United States officials had consulted both President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Ms Bhutto before they met in Abu Dhabi last month to discuss the blueprints of a future deal.

“As for the who, what, when and where of meetings between our officials and individuals in the Pakistani political process, it’s not something I’m going to do,” said Mr McCormack when asked to comment on these meetings.

“That’s what we do around the world. And it’s part of our job to monitor what’s going on in a country, get a pulse of the situation.”

Such comments have strengthened speculations in the US media, including such mainstream newspapers as The New York Times and Washington Post, that the United States is quietly working on a deal for sharing of power between President Musharraf and Ms Bhutto.

The reports indicate that this new arrangement, if finalised, will be different from the traditional British parliamentary system because it will have a distribution of power between the president and the prime minister.