WASHINGTON, April 10: All Pakistani leaders, including President Pervez Musharraf, have a role to play in the new set-up in Pakistan, says a senior US official.

Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, in an interview to Dawn, also welcomed the new Pakistani government’s decision to further probe the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

“We will see what the UN does with it,” said Mr Boucher, who looks after South Asian affairs at the State Department, when asked if the United States supports the demand for an UN-led investigation into the murder. “The most important thing is there is going to be investigation.”

Commenting on media reports that Islamabad may soon release Dr A. Q. Khan, he said that the Pakistani scientist’s activities were of “great concern” to the international community.

But he also noted that so far the talk about releasing him has not translated into action.

“I will just leave that to talks in Pakistan,” he said. “I have not seen anybody take any action. It is obvious his activities have been of great concern to the international community.”

Asked if the US believes that President Musharraf still has a role to play in the new set-up, Mr Boucher said: “All the leaders of Pakistan have a role.”

“So you include Mr Musharraf among the leaders who have a role,” he was asked. “Sure,” he said.

Asked to comment on media reports that the US wants a combination of civilian and military leaders, even if retired, in Pakistan to ensure that Islamabad continues to play an effective role in the war on terror, Mr Boucher said: “Look at what we said, not what people said about us. We said we support an elected government … a strong and moderate Pakistan … there’s a democratic opportunity now and we hope it is consistent.”

He said that those who say that the United States was trying to save the deal it arranged between Ms Bhutto and Mr Musharraf two years ago were “trying to make too much” out of it.

Mr Boucher said that the United States wanted a peaceful transition in Pakistan but unfortunately, it did not happen as anticipated and “a terrible event” removed Ms Bhutto from the scene. “In the end, Pakistan politicians ought to be proud of” what they achieved and “we are very happy to work with them.”

Mr Boucher dispelled the impression that Deputy Secretary John Negroponte and he visited Pakistan earlier this month to ensure that President Musharraf continues to have a role in the new set-up.

“We went to talk to the new democratic government,” he said, and spoke with all the leaders of Pakistan, “every body from the mayor of Karachi to the new prime minister.”

Asked why the US delegation arrived in Pakistan on the day the new prime minister was taking oath of his office, Mr Boucher said they had planned the trip to happen “a bit after” the oath-taking but “we had a very good visit and we went there at a time to do exactly what we wanted, express strong support.”

He said those who planned the visit knew that it would lead to all sorts of speculations, noting that “every time we go there is speculation.”

Mr Boucher said there’s was nothing unusual about his meeting with the mayor (nazim) of Karachi or US ambassador’s meeting with MQM’s Altaf Hussain in London.

“We wanted to know what is going on in Karachi, so who could have we talked to? We always said we are going to talk to all major political party leaders.”