US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that Pakistani people have suffered tremendously from terrorist attacks. No country should have to suffer such acts of terror.
Briefing the media in Washington on Tuesday, Matthew Miller said that the United States and Pakistan have a shared interest in combating threats to regional security. We support Pakistan’s efforts to combat terrorism and ensure the safety and security of its citizens in a manner that promotes the rule of law and protection of human rights.
He said that our partnership with Pakistan on security issues includes our high-level counterterrorism dialogue, including funding robust counterterrorism capacity-building programmes and supporting a series of US-Pakistan military-to-military engagements.
Replying to a question, he said that we are extremely concerned by reports of mob violence in Swat. We share our condolences to the family of the victim and we wish a speedy recovery to those who were injured in the mob violence. We are always concerned by incidents of religiously motivated violence. Violence or the threat of violence against another person is never an acceptable form of expression.
We continue to urge Pakistani authorities to respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all and we make that clear both publicly and privately and this includes freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of association, and the right to peaceful assembly.
Replying to another question he said that we have long made clear that we oppose any attempts to crack down on people’s access to the internet, access to information all around the world.