KARACHI: The US State Department at a press briefing on Thursday avoided answering a question about comments made by Senator John McCain regarding extension of the tenure of Army Chief General Raheel Sharif.

A question posed to State Department spokesperson Mark Toner was not answered as the reporter was told by Mr Toner that he did not want to comment.

“According to Senator McCain, he wants to see Gen Raheel Sharif continue as chief of army staff so that military operations may continue in the tribal area or other parts of the country. You want to comment on that?” the reporter asked during the briefing in Washington.

“I don’t,” Mr Toner replied. “We welcome, as I said, Gene­ral Sharif’s comments ... I would simply state that it is in the US long-term national inte­rests to support Pakis­tan’s efforts to combat terrorism and violent extremism, and build a more stable and democratic society. I’ll leave it there.”

The reporter’s question appears to be based on the July 9 report by a local television news channel, in which Senator McCain was misquoted as saying that Gen Raheel should get an extension.

The original headline of ARY News’s web report, which read “US Senator John McCain calls for Gen Raheel Sharif’s extension”, was quickly amended, but a clip of an ARY News correspondent interviewing Mr McCain was aired on TV.

In the short video, correspondent Sami Ibrahim asks the senator: “He [Gen Raheel] will be off the screen in a couple of months. What would you do if you were in place of Nawaz Sharif?”

Senator McCain’s response does not touch upon the much-debated issue of an extension: “It’s hard for me to say what should happen and I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to say what should happen within the decision making inside the government of Pakistan.”

When the journalist presses again, Mr McCain responds by saying: “General Raheel Sharif is an outstanding leader and I hope that he will be able to continue to serve the country in these very difficult times.”

Salman Iqbal, Chief Exe­cutive Officer of ARY, told Dawn.com that the reporter who had interviewed Mr McCain believed that the senator meant “extension” when he said “continue”. He did acknowledge that the web report was amended to include the senator’s exact words, and that the word “extension” was removed.

Soon after the clip was air­ed, senior journalist Mur­taza Solangi on Twitter shared the text of a clarification he said was emailed to him by the senator’s spokeswoman.

The text reads: “I hope Gen Raheel continues to serve the people of Pakistan. Any future role for Gen Raheel is entirely up to the civilian government of Pakistan.”

The development comes as the question of General Raheel’s retirement is hotly debated by the Pakistani media ahead of his scheduled retirement in November.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2016