US, UN hail peaceful resolution of political crisis; say No 'coercive diplomacy'

WASHINGTON - The United States and the United Nations Monday welcomed the reinstatement of Pakistan's Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to his position, with Washington dispelling an impression that the decision came under pressure from the Obama administration, insisting no "coercive diplomacy" was employed.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood credited Pakistani leaders for the peaceful resolution of the political crisis. While encouraging calming of tensions and a violence-free resolution of the heightened tensions, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her phone calls neither made any demands of the Pakistani leadership nor used any coercive diplomacy.
"All the credit goes to the Pakistanis, this is not something that the US helped bring about, this was something the Pakistanis decided needed to be done.," the spokesman said at the daily briefing.
He hailed the Pakistani leaders for resolution of the issues, saying they "acted in the best interests of the Pakistani people."
Wood said the tensions were diverting the Pakistanis' attention from their principal enemy, which is Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
"So the Secretary felt that she needed to make these phone calls. We are very pleased to see that the Pakistani leadership has taken the decisions which are moving the country at least back to a path toward reconciliation."
The spokesman strongly rejected the suggestions that the top U.S. diplomat threatened Pakistan with any American assistance cut-off. The Secretary (Hillary Clinton) made no demands at all, no threats at all. The secretary was expressing the views of the U.S. government on how we wanted to see the crisis resolved. And that's exactly what happened."
"In the end these were the decisions taken by the Pakistani leadership -And I think it is important to recognize that. And only the Pakistanis could bring themselves back from the brink (of political violence), it's not something that the United States could have done."
"The solutions were Pakistani solutions to the problems that the country faced. And we welcome those decisions. They are important for moving the process of reconciliation forward in Pakistan. There is still lot of work to do. This again was something done by the Pakistanis," he said in response to a series of questions.
Wood said the political situation in Pakistan in the face of planned protests by the Opposition political parties had been a concern to the United States and said it was a difficult and charged weekend. "The important thing is they have taken the decision - the justices have been reinstated."
Wood added the important thing now is to move forward to bringing about further reconciliation among Pakistanis and getting back to a real substantive political dialogue.
Questioned if the US has taken any position on the issue of the Supreme Court's decision on disqualification of PML-N leaders Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif or a review of the verdict, the spokesman said it is a decision for the Pakistanis authorities to decide. "That is a decision that is going to have to (be for) the Pakistani authorities. That is not an issue for the United States to decide."
"We have expressed our opinion with regard to the importance of there being reconciliation in Pakistan and the importance of taking the necessary steps to move the country toward further reconciliation." He said the issue of governor's rule in the Punjab provinces is also an issue for the Pakistanis to decide.
UNITED NATIONS
Meanwhile, at UN Headquarters in New York, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also hailed the developments in Pakistan.
"The Secretary-General welcomes the defusing of tensions in Pakistan as a result of measures including the government's decision to reinstate Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry," his spokesperson Marie Okabe said in a statement. "He sees these actions as positive steps towards national reconciliation".
The American press generally portrayed President Asif Ali Zardari's decision, which came in the wake of massive nation-wide demonstrations, as the weakening position of the Pakistani leader and a victory for Pakistan's legal community.
The Obama administration's special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, said the United States applauded "the statesmanlike act by President
Zardari and hope that it will help defuse a dangerous confrontation so
that Pakistan, with the help of its many friends, can address the
nation's pressing and urgent needs."