ISLAMABAD, Aug 16: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has given a firm commitment to the United States that he would abide by the Constitution on the issue of his uniform, a senior US official told reporters here on Thursday.

Asked if he believed his words, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard A. Boucher said: “Yes, I do”.

Mr Boucher said that in their wide-ranging talks on Wednesday, President Musharraf also expressed commitment to holding fair and free elections. The US, he pointed out, was providing funds and experts to ensure that.

“We told the Pakistani government to make the whole election process very transparent by correcting the voters’ list”, he said, adding that “the elections will make stable transition from military rule to civilian government”. He said the Election Commission of Pakistan should remove weaknesses in the electoral system and hold open and credible elections by having in place accurate electoral rolls.

The US is paying for transparent ballot boxes.

Mr Boucher said he had met opposition politicians and discussed the importance of fair and free elections for establishing a credible democratic system in Pakistan.

He denied that Washington was facilitating any deal between President Musharraf and PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto for a new political set-up.

Asked if it was Secretary of States Condaleza Rice who advised President Musharraf ‘not’ to impose emergency, Mr Boucher said he did not like to answer political questions, but added, “at the very outset we want to see a smooth transition in Pakistan.”

He said: “We have a relationship in which leaders of the two countries talk freely.”

When it was pointed out that Ms Bhutto did not have good record of curbing terrorism and extremism, Mr Boucher said: “It is not a political issue, it is a national issue to develop a strategy to deal with the serious issues.”

He admitted that it was not an easy task to deal with extremism and it required good governance, education, health facilities and development in the tribal areas.

“To deal with violent people is not easy, it requires a comprehensive task, it is painstaking job but we will have to make best efforts in the tribal areas of both Pakistan and Afghanistan. And we see a commitment on the part of Musharraf to deal with terrorism and extremisms.”

He said the United States was providing $750 million for the development of tribal areas, particularly to ensure adequate health and education facilities.

Responding to a question about the latest statement of the State Department spokesman relating to US action inside Pakistan, he said the spokesman repeated what the US president and secretaries of state and defence had said earlier about acting against Taliban and Al Qaeda in Pakistan.

“We are all partners and if either of us has credible and actionable intelligence we will consult each other to take the action”, he said.

But he did not rule out the possibility of unilateral US strikes against Taliban and Al Qaeda men inside Pakistan.

“If there is threat to the United States and Pakistan, we will work together against those who are killing both the Americans and Pakistanis,” he said.

Asked about the new US legislation against Pakistan, Mr Boucher said the Bush administration would put up a good report about Pakistan in the US Congress because of Pakistan’s sacrifices in the war against terrorism.

Asked about the delay in the finalisation of Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs), Mr Boucher said that the Bush administration had prepared a legislation which was currently going through various procedures.

“And we hope that it will go though in the Congress very soon”, he said, adding that these zones would provide considerable employment opportunities in the tribal areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The products made in these zones will have duty free access to the United States. About Afghan refugees in Pakistan, he said he saw a great deal of cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan over the issue and tripartite meetings were being held to assess from where these refugees should cross the border.

He said that US Deputy Secretary of State Mr Negroponte would visit Pakistan in September to hold “strategic dialogue” for strengthening cooperation in science and technology and meeting Pakistan’s growing energy needs.

The issue of ROZs, he said, was also expected to be finalised during Mr Negroponte's visit.