'Pak's internal politics to be decided themselves'

WASHINGTON: The Bush administration continues to refuse taking a position on the political developments in Pakistan, saying that its "internal politics" of would be decided by the people of the country.
   
Maintaining that the US had no role to play in developments which could see a power-sharing deal between President Pervez Musharraf and PPP Chief Benazir Bhutto, and the return of exiled former premier Nawaz Sharif, both the White House and the State Department on Thursday said America is only keen on seeing free and fair elections in Pakistan.

"We would expect that the internal politics of Pakistan is going to be something that they themselves are going to decide," State Department's Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey said when asked if Sharif going back to Pakistan was a good development.

"Our expectation is that any outcome in this situation or in some of the other political discussions that have been going on that we've talked about is that the outcome is going to be consistent with the rule of the law and the Pakistan constitution," he added.

Casey did not gave a substantive answer to a query on whether Washington has sought clarification from Pakistani authorities about the negotiations between Bhutto and Musharraf and whether the president is willing to give up his uniform.
    
"President Musharraf said that he'd address this issue of dual leadership of both his civilian -- his combined civilian and military role as army chief and as president in accordance with the constitution. As I said yesterday, he's made commitment in that regard, and we would expect that he'd honour them," Casey said.
   
Casey said the US was "very interested" in the developments and is "observing it carefully".
   
"I'm sure that when there is something definitive, we'll hear it first from them," he said.
   
When asked if the US expected Musharraf to be the "anchor" in any future political equation in Pakistan, Casey said, "Who Pakistan's political leaders will be in the future is a decision that the Pakistanis are going to make. And that's one of the reasons why we do want to see the elections that take place later on this year do so in a way that's free and fair."

Meanwhile at the White House, Spokesman Tony Snow sidestepped a question on whether the Bush administration believes the political "marriage" between Bhutto and Musharraf will work.

"I think there are a lot of stories coming out of Pakistan. We'll let Pakistanis break their own news on this. Secondly, what we've said all along is with Pakistan needs is a transparent election -- have a free and fair election conducted under transparent circumstances," Snow replied.