US asks Musharraf to honour "commitment" on uniform issue

The US has said it expected Pervez Musharraf to honour his past "commitment" to address the issue of his dual leadership as President and army chief.

"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. He's made commitment in that regard, and we would expect that he'd honour them," State Department's Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey said.

He was asked whether Washington has sought clarification from Islamabad about the negotiations between self-exiled Former Prime Minister Benzair Bhutto and Musharraf on a power-sharing deal and whether the Pakistan President is willing to give up uniform.

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.

Maintaining that the US had no role to play in developments which could lead to a deal between Musharraf and PPP chief Bhutto and the return of exiled former premier Nawaz Sharif, both the White House and the State Department 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," Casey said when asked if Sharif's return to Pakistan was a good development.