WASHINGTON, Oct 18: A senior US official has said that the United States would like President Gen Pervez Musharraf and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto to work together to deal with the challenging issues their country faces.

US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte told the Public Broadcasting Service that this was “a very critical time in Pakistani politics” and the United States was encouraging moderate political forces in that country to work together.

PBS is a non-profit broadcasting television with 354 TV stations in the United States. The United States has been quietly urging both Gen Musharraf and Ms Bhutto to forego their differences and join hands to defeat the threat the extremists pose to their country.

Reports in the US media suggest that the Bush administration played a key role in arranging a crucial meeting between the two Pakistani leaders in Abu Dhabi in July this year and has engaged with them since then. But this is the first time that a senior US official has publicly acknowledged America’s desire to forge an alliance between the two Pakistani leaders.

Mr Negroponte said: “We would like to encourage moderate political forces and we consider, we think that Gen Musharraf is a moderate political element, and so is Ms Bhutto.” He added: “We would like to see them work together to try and deal with the very challenging issues that their country faces.”

The US official noted that President Musharraf’s re-election on Oct 6 and Ms Bhutto’s return on Oct 18 were both very important events for Pakistan. “And what we would like to see there will be elections now for a legislature sometime between now and the end of the year. We would like to see those carried out peacefully and democratically with clean, fair elections”, he said. Pakistan has been an “absolutely critical country in the war on terror and an indispensable partner,” Mr Negroponte said.

Also on Thursday, another US State Department official condemned Al Qaeda’s threats to Ms Bhutto.

“Al Qaeda ideology stands for hatred, intolerance and violence against anyone who does not share its twisted archaic vision,” said Jennifer Viau, a spokesperson for the department’s South and Central Asian bureau.

“Long ago, Al Qaeda had declared war against those who wish for peace, tolerance and a better life for their children. The rhetoric shouldn’t be surprising,” she said. “And we understand that Al Qaeda does not represent what the Pakistani people want for their society.”