US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday granting asylum to embattled Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was not currently under consideration by the United States.
"That's not an issue on the table, and I just want to keep our focus on what we must do with the democratic government of Pakistan," Rice told Fox News on Sunday when asked if Washington would give the Pakistan president asylum.
She spoke as Pakistan's ruling coalition readied impeachment charges against Musharraf and gave him two days to step down.
Asked if it would be in the best interest of Pakistan to have Musharraf resign, Rice said: "This is a matter for the Pakistanis to resolve. "We have been supportive of democratic elections that took place in Pakistan. In fact, advocated for them." She said the United States had showed its support for the new government, citing President George W. Bush's recent meeting with Pakistani premier Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Rice said "President Musharraf has been a good ally" but that Washington had disagreed with his decision to declare a state of emergency. A spokesman for Musharraf - who seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1999 and went on to become a linchpin in the US-led "war on terror" - has repeatedly denied that the president is going to resign.
But attorney general Malik Qayyum, a close confidant of Musharraf, said the president would wait until the impeachment motion is filed before choosing a course of action.
The United States and its European allies are anxious for Pakistan to resolve the political impasse so it can renew the fight against Taliban and al Qaeda militants in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, where nearly 500 people have died in the past week.
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