Asked whether the elections in which Musharraf's allies were routed have "weakened" his clout, White House spokesman Dana Perino only said, "well, we'll have to see".

"I think that what we can say is that they (the polls) seem to have been largely fair and that people were able to express themselves, and that they can have confidence in their vote," she said in a briefing in Accra in Ghana as US President George W Bush arrived there on the fourth leg of his five-nation tour.

Noting that "President Musharraf's party has conceded that they lost seats in that election", Perino said "now the next step on the path to democracy is establishing what that new government will look like".

"In democracies you have situations sometimes where your party loses in the Parliament or in the Congress, as President Bush knows very well, since in 2006 the Republicans lost a majority in the House and the Senate. And we've continued to work as a strong, functioning government... and I think a country like Pakistan can get there," she said when asked to comment on Musharraf's "standing" in the aftermath of polls.

"We asked him (Musharraf) to try to get the country back on the road to democracy and it appears that he has done that with these elections," Perino said.

"I think what President Musharraf has shown is an ability to provide for the country a chance to be confident in their government and confident in their democracy enough that they can go ahead and concede that they have lost seats, but continue to work together for the good of the country," Perino said.

In the State Department, deputy spokesman Tom Casey said "Pakistan has taken a step towards the full restoration of democracy," something the US wanted to see happen.

At a briefing later, chief spokesman Sean McCormack, as did his colleague with the travelling White House, refused to be drawn into any inferences for American foreign policy based on the developments in Pakistan or get into a debate on the possible gains and losses for Washington.

The officials said the US will look forward to working with Musharraf and "whatever government flows from these elections" and expressed optimism that Pakistan will continue to be its "partners in counterterrorism" as that is only in the best interests of the country.

"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," McCormack said.

Referring to the Pakistan People's Party, he said it "feels acutely threat from violent extremists and terrorism, having had their party leader recently assassinated. Other moderate forces within Pakistan's political system have pledged to work against violent extremists".

He urged the "moderate forces" to work together for deepening Pakistan's economic and political reforms and remain committed to "fighting violent extremists and terrorists in the region and on Pakistani soil".

"This is in the long-term interests of Pakistan and the Pakistani people," he added.

Perino, on her part, said "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 counterterrorism."

"We are going to continue our work with President Musharraf and whatever that new government may be on goals of our national interests. And we have a deep national interest in fighting violent extremists, breaking up those terrorist cells that may either operate from or from time to time operate from Pakistani territory," McCormack said.

"Fundamentally, regardless of who's sitting in the prime minister's chair or the foreign minister's chair or the defence minister's chair, primarily, that's our interest, is remaining committed to the Pakistani people," he said.

On if the US would urge opposition parties to work with Musharraf, he said "We have and will continue to urge moderate political forces within Pakistan's political system to work together to strengthen and broaden Pakistan's democracy".

Emphasising that "any instances of fraud should be taken seriously and reported", the State Department spokesman said the US will also look to see what the electoral process looked like through the eyes of outside observers, but reiterated that "we will look forward to working with President Musharraf and whatever government flows from these elections".

McCormack was asked to comment on a statement made by the leader of the PPP that the party is not interested in working with any member of the Musharraf government.

"We'll see. Again, let's let Pakistani politics play out according to their rules and the results of the election. I would expect that there are going to be a lot of statements in the period of the next week, and even after that, a lot of political posturing. I'm not going to get drawn into it."