WASHINGTON: The US State Department on Tuesday publicly defended one of its senior diplomats for communicating with PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari.

Interestingly, spokesman Robert Wood also did not deny the contents of an e-mail from Assistant Secretary Richard Boucher, criticising US ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, for counselling Mr Zardari.

“Ambassador Khalilzad is well-known throughout the region. He has a lot of contacts,” Mr Wood told a regular briefing in Washington.

“He is very well informed about the region. The president (Bush) and secretary (Condoleezza Rice) really do respect and depend on his counsel.”