The United States reaffirmed on Wednesday its support for Pakistan's effort to fight Islamic extremists, and stand to recognize sovereignty of the country.
"The Pakistanis are once again engaged in very serious efforts to go after Al-Qaida and Taliban in their midst ... We're going to do what we can to support them," White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters.
"Our policy toward Pakistan and toward bin Laden and Al-Qaida have been pretty consistent ... obviously Osama bin Laden remains somebody who is a priority for us," he said.
Snow made the remarks after the Democrat presidential hopeful Barack Obama said in a statement that if elected president he would be ready to order military strikes against Al-Qaida in Pakistan, even if Islamabad objects.
In response, Snow reiterated that the United States will recognize Pakistan's sovereignty.
"We recognize the sovereignty of the Pakistani government and realize that they're putting on a serious push," he stressed, adding that Islamabad has 100,000 troops policing the country's lawless tribal frontier areas.
What the spokesman said was believed to play down tensions over Washington's drive to hunt Islamic extremists in Pakistan.
Last week, the Pakistani government criticized the United States for its threatening warning to consider the use of military force, if necessary, to stem al-Qaida's growing ability to use its hideout in Pakistan to launch terrorist attacks.
Any possible U.S. action inside Pakistan would be "an irresponsible act," said Pakistani Foreign Office spokesperson.
Source: Xinhua
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