Expressing gratification over the lifting of travel curbs imposed on former ambassador Hussain Haqqani by Pakistan’s apex court, Washington has said that it wants to see him “treated fairly”.
“We are gratified that the government of Pakistan has lifted the travel ban on ambassador Haqqani, specifically the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and that he’s free to travel as he chooses,” State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters at her daily news conference.
“We continue to expect that Pakistan will resolve this situation and other internal issues in a transparent manner and uphold Pakistani laws and constitution,” she said when asked about the lifting of travel restrictions on Haqqani. Nuland said she was not sure of any US visa application by Haqqani, but if there were any that would be a matter of visa confidentiality. “I don’t think that we necessarily needed a backchannel,” she said when asked if the US indulged in any backchannel talks on this issue. “I’ve been pretty clear here, as has the secretary, that we want to see him treated fairly and that we were watching the situation,” she said.
Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that his country’s relationship with Pakistan was, and continues to be “complicated”.
“The relationship has been and continues to be complicated but is very important to our national security interest, to our fight against Al Qaeda, and to the stability of the region,” Carney said, adding that Afghanistan and Pakistan continued to remain a priority area for the Obama administration.
“It’s obviously a high priority, a national security priority for the president. We’re very transparent about the implementation process of the president’s strategy and we’ll continue to be,” he said. “We are now in a phase of drawing down the surge forces as we begin the transition to Afghan security lead that will reach a culmination in 2014,” he said in response to a question.
US ‘gratified’ over lifting of Haqqani’s travel curbs
