WASHINGTON - Amid calls by some international organisations for Pakistan to return to moratorium on death penalty, the United States has said it was Islamabad's internal matter.
"Well, clearly this is an issue for Pakistan – a decision for Pakistan," State Department Spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters at the daily press briefing on Tuesday.
"It’s not really ours to weigh in on," she said in response to a series of questions.
"We have been in close contact with all levels of the Pakistani government. As you know, the President (Barack Obama) and the Secretary (John Kerry) both spoke to Prime Minister (Nawaz) Sharif and has stood ready to provide assistance in the wake of that horrific attack, but nothing on that specific for you.
Pressed by a correspondent that human rights bodies are asking Pakistan to go back to the moratorium on executions, Harf said, "Yeah, we just don’t have a position on that to outline for you."
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reinstated death penalty after last week's deadly attack in Peshawar, killing 150 people — including 134 schoolchildren. Following that order, six executions have been carried out.
Asked to comment on the grant of bail to Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, who was allegedly involved in the Mumbai attacks, Harf said the US was "concerned", but noted that the Pakistani government had pledged its cooperation in bringing the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice. "We urge them to uphold that promise."
At this point, the correspondent asked her whether the US still saw Pakistan discriminating between good and bad terrorists to which the State Department spokesperson reiterated that the US was concerned by media reports that Lakhvi had received bail.
"We have worked very closely with Pakistan on counterterrorism. More Pakistanis are victims of counterterrorism, I think, than anywhere in the world. So clearly it’s a shared threat, but when we have concerns like this we’ll raise them," Harf added.
Harf dismissed a question regarding reports that the US may not target Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Omar, saying she had not seen those reports. "I don’t think that’s something for the State Department to speak to," she said.