US officials press Pakistan on free elections

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ISLAMABAD, Jun 14 (AFP): Top US diplomats are visiting Pakistan this week for talks with key anti-terror ally President Pervez Musharraf on holding free and fair elections due later this year, officials said Thursday.
US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher were expected to steer clear of a political crisis over the suspension of Pakistan's top judge.
But Boucher-who Wednesday met Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri and members of Pakistan's election commission-said the United States wanted the upcoming general election to be fully democratic.
"The elections should be free, fair and transparent. They should meet international standards," the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan quoted Boucher as saying at a reception in Islamabad late Wednesday.
Boucher said that American observers would help monitor the election.
He also discussed the election process with MPs from the government and the opposition.
Negroponte, the former US Director of National Intelligence, was due to visit Pakistan later in the week for talks with Pakistani leaders, a US official said on condition of anonymity.