KARACHI, May 8: US Ambassador Anne W. Patterson has said that the depth of anti-Americanism in Pakistan, especially in the middle class, has surprised her because Pakistan’s long-term interests are aligned with “ours and with those of other western countries”.

“I suspect that those who oppose American engagement in Pakistan have a limited understanding of how our partnerships -- economic assistance and financial interactions -- changed the lives of everyday Pakistanis in real and positive ways,” she said at a meeting with corporate leaders here on Thursday. The meeting was organised by the Management Association of Pakistan.

“It appears that people who come up with the most fanciful conspiracy theories do so in an attempt to distract the public from the true causes of extremism and poverty.”

She warned that the increasingly prosperous middle class would be the first to suffer because extremists were gaining ground. “Extremists have gained ground during the past two years,” she said.

Ms Patterson assured her country’s support for the new democratic government which was facing the enormous challenges of rising fuel prices and food costs.

“We also want to dispel rumours that the United States only works with your military. This is not true,” she said, adding that Pakistan was the third largest recipient of American assistance in the world. She said that security assistance “is an important part of our engagement with Pakistan”.

“Your military and security personnel and their civilian employees have been specifically targeted by militants,” she said, adding that more than 1,000 people had been killed last year.

“America is your partner in this fight and we seek to support you on several levels.”

Ms Patterson clarified that the US money for combating militancy did not go directly to military and was deposited in central government’s account.

She said her government was also engaged in a number of other programmes to improve Pakistan’s security, which included $300 million direct assistance to Pakistan’s military, purchase of defence systems from the US, refurbishing and building of 150 border outposts. “We also donate equipment to military and law-enforcement agencies.”

She informed the audience that the US had trained more than 6,000 Pakistani police and security officials over the past five years.

“It is not as simple as it appears to be,” was the response of the US ambassador when she was asked by one of the participants to share her country’s views on the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline project. She did not agree with the questioner that it was simply an economic project of tripartite cooperation of the countries of the region.

She was apparently not amused by a question relating to her government’s perception about President Pervez Musharraf being a factor of stability, and urged for moving ahead with democratic process rather than getting stuck with one issue.

“Not on the cards now,” was her spontaneous reply when asked about the possibility of Pakistan-US nuclear technology cooperation in civilian areas.

She was confident that a change of guards in White House after the next presidential elections would not result in a big change in the US policy towards Pakistan.

She said Pakistan was now a poppy-free country and the US was engaged in legislation for setting up reconstruction opportunity zones in tribal areas which would help in creating jobs for tribal people.

She denied that Washington was forcing Islamabad to use force at the expense of social and economic development. “Let me assure you my government would not pursue such a foolish policy,” she said, adding that her country had been assisting Pakistan in developing the tribal areas for years. “We have built more than 500kms of roads and 800 small irrigation and electricity schemes in Fata.”

“The scope and scale of our investments in Pakistan should serve as indications that the US is taking a long-term view of our relationship,” she added.