WASHINGTON, Nov. 20: The US Sate Department said on Tuesday that Washington was committed to remain engaged with Pakistan throughout its transition to democracy.
The comments, made at a regular briefing soon after the election of the parliamentary speaker in Islamabad, followed media reports that religious extremists were poised to takeover the government in Pakistan.
Referring to the reports, an Indian journalist asked State Department spokesman Phil Reeker if Washington was worried about a “fundamentalist” takeover in Islamabad, adding that the new Pakistan government was going to be pro-Taliban and anti-American.
“In general, your comments about the government — all I’ve seen so far is that Pakistan’s National Assembly elected today, I believe, a speaker, a member of the Pakistan Muslim League, Chaudhry Amir Hussain. The deputy speaker is expected to be chosen soon, and the election of the prime minister is scheduled for Thursday,” said Reeker.
He said negotiations on the formation of a government in Islamabad continue and “I don’t think we can make any of the predictions you suggested at this point.”
He added: “We will work with the new government when it is formed, and continue to watch the process closely, because we are committed to remaining engaged with Pakistan throughout its transition to democracy.”
The Indian journalist, however, claimed that Pakistan was “one by one, releasing terrorists wanted in the US and India” and that the Musharraf government was defending its action by saying that it had no control over the courts who were releasing suspects for lack of evidence.
In a recent statement, Indian foreign minister Yashwant Sinha also had accused the US of “a double standard” on the issue of terrorism, saying that it was not doing enough to stop terrorist infiltrations into India, the journalist said.
“We do understand that the Pakistani court yesterday ordered the release of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the head of Lashkar-i-Taiba, after determining that he was unlawfully detained,” said the State Department spokesman. Like others in the world, he said, Pakistan law enforcement agencies must also ensure that those responsible for terrorist crimes were brought to justice. “Under the rule of law, this has to take place through due process,” he added.
Reminding the journalist of a recent US human rights report, he said the United States focused “on constitutionality, on the promotion of due process and rule of law. And that’s an aspect of this case in Pakistan as well, based on what the Pakistani court ruled.”
He said Pakistan was a key US ally in the war on terror, which continued to take “active measures against extremists and terrorists and we keep in touch with Pakistan on these matters, including that (of Hafiz Saeed).”
When the reporter insinuated that Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was hiding in Pakistan, the spokesman said he did not know where the journalist was getting his information from.
Replying to a question about a recent Washington Post report that Pakistan had transferred nuclear technology to North Korea, Reeker said when such reports first appeared in the American press about two months ago, Secretary of State Colin Powell contacted President Pervez Musharraf and sought his assurance.
“I don’t have anything to add to you than what the secretary has said about his conversations with President Musharraf, about the promises he’s received about that. The statements that President Musharraf made, I think the quote was ‘400 per cent certainty’ that Pakistan is not involved in such transfers now to North Korea and will not be in the future.”
Replying to another question, he said he had read about the ongoing protest in Pakistan against Aimal Kasi’s execution. “We put out a worldwide caution, which would obviously extend to Pakistan, as well, in terms of the execution of Mir Aimal Kasi, the Pakistani national who was convicted of murdering two CIA employees in 1993.”
