WASHINGTON, Oct 3: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in Washington last November, the US State Department said. Spokesman Sean McCormack confirmed the meeting but refused to comment on his appointment as President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s successor in the army.

He said that officials at the Pentagon have had “some long-term interaction” with the general. Another State Department official told reporters that the United States was “comfortable with him”.