Washington, Jan 5: US Assistant Secretary of State for Central and
South Asian Affairs Richard Boucher disagreed with the suggestion that
former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had become more acceptable to the US
after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.

"I wouldn’t say anybody is more or less acceptable. I would say that we
will work with whoever is elected in Pakistan through a democratic
process, and our desire is to see a well founded democratically elected
government," the Dawn quoted Boucher, as saying.

"Our hope is that all the moderate parties will join together, and work
together, for a successful transition, and a strongly based platform
from which to fight terrorism," he added.

Commenting on media reports that the US was unwilling to trust Sharif
because of his links to religious parties, Boucher said: "A lot of
things are said about us."

"Our view is that the Pakistani people need a chance to decide on their
government. Whoever they decide on as the leader of Pakistan, we’ll
work with that person and those people. Our goal is to work with a
democratically elected government whoever that would be," he emphasised.

Boucher also rejected media reports that Washington encouraged Benazir
to return home as incorrect. "Nobody had to encourage her to go back to
Pakistan", he said.

"She very much wanted to go back to Pakistan. She had been talking for
a long time about trying to get back, to participate in politics, the
political campaign. She knew what the risks were to going back, but she
was very, very committed," Boucher said.

Benazir knew that it was inherently dangerous to go back and campaign,
but she absolutely wanted to be involved in Pakistani politics and a
democratic process, he added.

Boucher said the US had made it very clear to Pakistan that having a
free media was one of the essential parts of having a good election.

"You’ve got 40 more days now (and) we want to see 40 days of progress"
towards a free media, the Dawn quoted Boucher, as saying.
(ANI)