WASHINGTON, July 20: The Supreme Court’s decision to restore Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry shows that the Pakistani people are able to solve even very difficult ‘political questions’ peacefully, said the US State Department on Friday.

And even more important is the fact that this dispute was settled “through their institutions and in accordance with the rule of law,” said the department’s deputy spokesman Tom Casey.

While acknowledging that Washington has seen the judgment, Mr Casey noted: “Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that the government of Pakistan has accepted this decision “as it had promised.”

He said the United States expected that the Chief Justice would be resuming his duties on the court in the near future.

“And I think it speaks positively to the political situation in Pakistan that these kinds of issues can be resolved through the established institutions, through the rule of law and that they will in fact will be accepted and honored by all the various participants.”

When a reporter asked him if the United States views this as a positive development, the State Department official said: “Anything that strengthens and enhances the rule of law is a positive.”

Mr Casey disagreed with the suggestion that the rejection of the government’s position in the Chief Justice case and the current violence in Pakistan should be a cause of concern for the United States.