Maintaining distance on the political developments in Pakistan, the US has once again said that it is up to the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto to decide on her future political steps.
"This is an issue that she (Bhutto) will decide for herself. In terms of the issues before Pakistan's political system, with that, again, these are internal matters. These are things that Pakistanis need to work out. Our understanding is that there's no legal bar to her to return to the country," Tom Casey, deputy spokesman at State Department, said.
Casey was replying to a question whether Bhutto who will be at Capitol Hill on Tuesday will be carrying any kind of message or taking back any kind of advice from the secretary of state on her returning to Pakistan.
"Certainly, we would expect that, if she returns, any issues that were related to that will be dealt with in accordance with the rule of law and Pakistan's Constitution. And that's what we want to see happen," he said.
"There are issues that are currently before the Supreme Court about the election. There are concerns, including ones that had been raised by our embassy, about the arrest of a number of political figures," he said adding, what is important is that there is a political process under way, but that political process needs to be conducted and dealt with in accordance with Pakistan's laws and Constitution.
"That's certainly what we want to see happen. And that's certainly our message to any of the players on the political scene there," Casey said.
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