White House: Pakistan elections fair

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. officials hope Pakistan's new government will "work with us as partners in counter terrorism," a White House spokeswoman said Tuesday.

"(We) hope that the new government, once it's formed -- whatever form that process takes -- at the end of the day that we hope that they continue to help work with us as partners in counter terrorism," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said during a news briefing. "The threats from extremists is just as grave and very immediate for the people of Pakistan, as evidence by some of the violence there recently."

Pakistanis Monday rejected the party of U.S. ally President Pervez Musharraf in parliamentary elections.

The White House believes the elections have been "largely fair" and people could be confident in their vote, Perino said.

Musharraf was asked by the Bush administration to oversee elections that could help restore Pakistanis' confidence in their government, Perino said, and it appeared he did.

During a State Department briefing, spokesman Sean McCormack said, "Whatever the outcome, you have a number of different political parties that have in one form or another expressed a deep interest and abiding commitment to fighting violent extremists and fighting terrorists."