WASHINGTON, June 16: President Gen Pervez Musharraf is an agent for “positive change” in Pakistan but if there are issues with Islamabad, the US will not hesitate to “speak out” about them “in a respectful manner,” says the US State Department.

The department’s endorsement for Gen Musharraf’s leadership preceded an important meeting between the president and two senior US diplomats — Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary Richard Boucher — in Islamabad.

“We believe that President Musharraf is an agent for positive change, not only in the region, but for Pakistan,” spokesman Sean McCormack told a regular briefing in Washington.

Reports in the US media, however, claimed that in their meetings with President Musharraf, US officials have conveyed Washington’s desire to see the Pakistani leader guide his country to free and fair elections, and eventually quit his post as army chief.

“He is the one who had pledged to resolve this issue of the uniform and holding civilian office. I was only repeating … what he had said,” said the spokesman when reminded of an earlier statement in which he had said he hoped Gen Musharraf will put aside his uniform before the general elections in Pakistan.

“It's not a condition of the United States. It’s a self-imposed condition by President Musharraf,” said Mr McCormack.

In his earlier statement the spokesman had also said that he believed Gen Musharraf would seek re-election from parliament after the elections later this year.

His statement was observed carefully by both opposition and government politicians who had indicated that the president could seek re-election from the current parliament.The US spokesman slightly modified his position from his latest remarks, saying ultimately it’s the people of Pakistan who will “decide when those elections are held, how they are held and all that goes on around them.”

He added: “What we are calling for are free, fair and transparent elections so that the will of the Pakistani people is reflected in the results.”

Mr McCormack rejected the suggestion that there’s a shift in the US policy towards Pakistan because Washington is now preparing for the possibility that Gen Musharraf may not be able to hold on to power for long.

Pakistan, he said, was a “modernising state” committed to economic and political reforms, and President Musharraf is the one who has led that way.