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Notwithstanding President Pervez Musharraf announcing a 'road map' for democracy in Pakistan, the United States on Wednesday said the sanctions imposed on the country in the wake of a military coup will not be lifted until a democratically elected government takes office in Islamabad.
"We have said many times that restoration of democratic civilian rule is critical to Pakistan's political and economic development," state department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker said.
He said the United States was 'very pleased' that Musharraf confirmed his commitment to hold provincial and national elections within the Pakistan supreme court's three-year deadline.
"We welcome this step toward genuine democracy and civilian government. But President Musharraf's speech did not provide more details about his proposals to restore democracy, including whether provincial and parliamentary elections would be party-based, which had not been permitted during the recent local elections, and what would be the role of the president and the national security council."
"So we look forward very much to additional information that will clarify some of those issues and we hope that they will soon become available," Reeker said.
Alarmed at Washington moving towards lifting of sanctions against India, Pakistan has been cautioning the US that any discrimination against it on the issue would affect Pak-US ties.
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