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Pakistan

US wants strong, democratic Pakistan

Dunya News

The US wants to see a strong and democratic Pakistan.

The United States administration wants to support efforts for a stronger, democratic and terrorism-free Pakistan.The spokesperson of the US State Department made this remark during a briefing Friday when she was asked to comment on the statement of MQM chief, Altaf Hussain that Pakistan had to decide whether it wanted to be Jinnah’s Pakistan or Taliban’s Pakistan. She, however, declined to comment on the direct remarks of Mr Altaf Hussain.Well, I don’t have anything particularly innovative to say on that subject. You know where we have been, that we want to see a strong, democratic Pakistan that works well with us and with the international community in addressing the terror challenges it has; that we are reengaging after some period now in trying to get our working groups and other things back up and running to support our joint efforts to meet the terror challenge, and that is – that’s the trajectory that we’re on, she maintained.When asked about the Malala attack and the lack of clear condemnation of Taliban by the political leadership in Pakistan in the aftermath of the incident, the spokesperson disagreed. My recollection of this, and you’ll need to check, was that President Zardari spoke out the day of or the day after the attack, she pointed out.Ms Nuland also hoped that Malala, undoing treatment in a Birmingham hospital, would recuperate fast. Let me, though, take this opportunity, first to commend the UAE, who transported her, and the UK, who are treating her for those efforts, and to express our continued hopes for her full, speedy recovery, she acknowledged.The spokesperson, however, refused to answer a question regarding reports that the CIA station chief in Libya sent a cable 24 hours after the attack in Benghazi saying that it was carried out by militants. We never talk about intelligence issues from this podium at all. So I’m not in a position to comment on that here today, she said when asked whether the State Department had any intimation about such a cable.- Contributed by Awais Saleem, Dunya News correspondent in Washington, DC
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