ISLAMABAD, Jan 26: The US administration will press Congress to drop a provision in a new bill linking military assistance to Pakistan to its commitment to fighting terrorism, a senior US official said on Friday.

"The new piece of legislation approved by the House of Representative is not the initiative of the Bush government and efforts are under way to make sure that certain Pakistan-specific provisions in the 9/11 legislation are not made part of the law," visiting US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia and Central Asian Affairs John A. Gastright told a news conference.

Called Implementation of 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act, 2007, it is aimed at revamping the US national security and foreign policy apparatus to address post-9/11 challenges.

“The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ms Nancy Pelosi, is arriving in Pakistan tonight or on Sunday to discuss various issues, including the new legislation, with senior Pakistani officials,” Mr Gastright said.

He said the Bush Administration would work with the Congress to get the provision removed from the legislation.

He did not agree that the $3 billion military and economic aid package for Pakistan would be in jeopardy because of the new legislation.

Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam told a private TV channel on Thursday that the bill had been passed by the US House of Representatives without inviting opinion from respective congressional committees.

The US official said that the Bush administration would work with Speaker Nancy Pelosi to ensure that the overall legislation did not include any provision against Pakistan.

He pointed out that the proposed legislation was still to be passed by Senate and that the "final product" was not expected to be "Pakistan-specific" as was generally perceived.

He, however, told a reporter that once the new bill became law, it would bind the US President to certify that Pakistan was taking enough measures against Al Qaeda, Taliban and other terrorists. Various issues concerning democracy, prevention of movement of militants are also part of the bill.

"These are such issues which were raised by the 9/11 US Commission and as such cannot be avoided," Mr Gastright said, adding that the fresh initiative of the Congress was in line with 9/11 Commission's recommendations Act, 2007.

The bill, he pointed out, was part of the "legislation 100 hours programme" which dealt with many other issues facing the United States.

Pakistan and the United States, he said, enjoyed deep relations and the new piece of legislation would not hurt what he termed "excellent partnership" between the two countries on various issues.

The US official stated that the Bush administration was supportive of a “larger package” for Pakistan in the proposed legislation, as "it mirrors and echoes what we are doing".

He said the package about Pakistan would also stress the need for support to Islamabad’s agenda which President Musharraf had laid out.

In reply to a question about the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, Mr Gastright said his country was against the project as the US laws did not allow such projects.

He mentioned US sanctions against Iran and said "we are bound by US laws."

Answering a question about democracy in Pakistan, he said that President Musharraf was doing a "remarkable job" and taking “right steps to strengthen democracy and democratic institutions.”

In this regard, he referred to the establishment of an independent election commission, free press and the political parties, and said "this is an impressive agenda and the US administration is fully supportive of these things".

"President Musharraf has done superb work for establishing a framework for holding free and fair elections. He is our valued partner in the fight against terrorism and we are supporting him," he added.

In reply to another question, he said President Musharraf had given assurances to the United States to hold fair and free general elections.

About Pakistan's energy requirements, he said the US was fully cognizant of Pakistan's energy needs and the US-Pakistan energy dialogue spoke of the US understanding of the issue.

He said it would take four years for energy crisis in Pakistan to become serious, adding that Islamabad was producing good quality of coal which could certainly help generate energy through this source to remove power shortages.

He told a reporter that Pakistan had broken the back of Al Qaeda and the the people of Pakistan had rendered huge sacrifices to win the war against terrorism. "My country acknowledges Pakistan's very important role in the war against terror".

Asked why was the United States reluctant to offer civil nuclear technology to Pakistan like it was offering to India, he said there should be no comparison on this account.

"We have different relations with Pakistan, India and Afghanistan and we deal with them differently," he said.