WASHINGTON, Oct 5: Reluctant to takes sides on the eve of the presidential election in Pakistan, the United States on Friday reacted cautiously to a Supreme Court decision, which allows Saturday’s presidential vote but withholds the final results.

“We have seen the reports and we would expect that the court is handling the matter in accordance with the Pakistani law and Constitution,” said a State Department official.

“We are and will be watching the situation closely.”

Earlier this week, the State Department said that it took the presidential poll and the forthcoming general elections in Pakistan very seriously. “We have a lot at stake; they have a lot at stake. The future course of Pakistan is at stake in this and future elections,” spokesman Sean McCormack told a briefing in Washington.Asked to explain the US role in arranging the deal between Pervez Musharraf and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, a State Department official told Dawn on Friday: “We speak with a wide range of Pakistani politicians and parties, but we are not endorsing particular parties or candidate.”

Diplomatic observers in Washington say that during a visit to Washington two weeks ago, Ms Bhutto met some senior US officials and sought their help for finalising the deal which then appeared to have stalled.

While the State Department official refused to comment on Ms Bhutto’s meetings in Washington, she said that the US administration had been “in touch with a wide variety of Pakistani politicians, and has been encouraging the moderate elements of the Pakistani society to work together to promote democracy and build a moderate and modern Pakistan”.