HYDERABAD, Nov 29: The US Consul General Ms Kay Anske said on Thursday that her country wanted to see Pakistan march towards democracy and President Pervez Musharraf’s decision to take off uniform was the first step in that direction.

Ms Anske, who was on a day’s visit to the city during which she held meetings with Sindh University officials, district nazim, office-bearers of Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI), and attended a lunch, expressed pleasure at Pervez Musharraf’s taking oath as a civilian president and hoped he would soon lift the emergency.

In a brief talk with journalists after the lunch hosted in her honour by PPP leader Makhdoom Rafikuzzaman at Hyderabad Gymkhana, she said that the state of emergency needed to be lifted to ensure the elections were held in a transparent manner.

She said that it was quite obvious that political rallies could not be held under emergency. The politicians languishing in jails also needed to be released, she added.

In answer to a question about restrictions on media, the consul general said that democracy was unthinkable without a free press and observers from USA and other countries would definitely witness the process of general elections in Pakistan.

Ms Anske, who was accompanied by Matthew Burnt of political and economic section of the US Consulate General, said the main purpose of her visit was to meet with the leaders of public opinion and civil society organisations of the second most important city of the province to get first hand knowledge of the prevailing political and economic situation.

Grower leaders including the president of Sindh Chamber of Agriculture Syed Qamaruzzaman Shah, Mehmood Nawaz Shah and Ghulam Mohammad Akhund who were also at the lunch apprised the US diplomat of their problems.

They told her that they had to incur huge losses due to delay in the start of crushing season and also discussed the possibility of growing oil palm trees in Pakistan’s coastal area.

The PPP leaders discussed with her the promulgation of emergency and curbs on media and judiciary and expressed scepticism about transparent elections.

In her meeting with the HCCI members, she said that her country was providing assistance to Pakistan in health, education and economic sectors. Under an agreement recently signed between the two countries the United States would help Pakistan in the development of small and medium enterprises, she said.

She said that more than 60 American companies were working with Pakistani entrepreneurs and American Business Council and commercial section were cooperating with Pakistani businessmen to ensure they participated in the commercial shows and trade fairs in her country.

Ms Anske gifted 23 valuable books to the University of Sindh on her visit to the varsity where she was briefed by Pro-Vice Chancellor Dr Rafiq Ahmed Shaikh, deans of faculties, heads of departments and institutes, registrar and controller of examinations about the academic and research activities of the university.