WASHINGTON (PAN): The Obama administration, insisting it was not backing any candidate in the upcoming presidential elections, has voiced its readiness to work with any government that emerges victorious in the polls scheduled for August 20.
"We value the fact that this is an election that is run by the Afghan government for the benefit of the Afghan people, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs PJ Crowley said here on Tuesday.
At a daily State Department press briefing, he told a questioner: "We look forward to working with whatever government is formed after the election is completed."
Asked about talks with Taliban fighters, Crowley said it was an issue that needed to be addressed by the government of Afghanistan, which has repeatedly asked militants to abandon their armed struggle and join the political process.
"This is primarily an issue that needs to be addressed by the government of Afghanistan. Obviously, we are pledged to work closely with them on the security front, on the development front, on the economic front, and on the political front," he remarked.
"But I think we should make sure lets get through the election first, and then we'll be able to see, once there's a new government in place, what it decides to do," Crowley said, adding the State Department would be deploying hundreds of civilians to Afghanistan in the coming weeks.
"This is, as the secretary has described, a whole-of-government effort. So it is obviously the State Department and NGOs, it is Agriculture, it is other aspects," he observed.
"We think we have constructed an effective plan going forward.  It's sequenced carefully based on what the military is trying to accomplish to expand security into places in Afghanistan where weve not had a presence before. So we think it's carefully sequenced here," Crowley concluded.
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