“We have always said he is a friend of ours and he needs to be treated with respect,” the Dawn daily quoted an unnamed State Department official as saying.

“He is a free man, he can go where he wants,” said the official when asked if the US administration would allow Musharraf to live in the United States, particularly because it might no longer be safe for him to be in Pakistan.

Asked if the US will give Musharraf a visa, the official said “I don’t see any reason why he would not qualify for a visa. I don’t know where he wants to go.” The State Department official also said now that the political leadership is firmly in control, the US does not want any ambiguities about ISI’s role in the war on terror.

“I think it is going to be very important that every organisation, every institution, is completely lined up to protect the nation,” he said explaining how Washington expected Pakistan’s political leadership to fight terrorism.

“That means there can’t be any ambiguities about ISI anymore,” he said.

Asked if there were ambiguities about ISI’s role in the war on terror, he said: “Sure, there have been for years.”

“We are concerned about what Pakistan is able to accomplish in the war on terror,” he said.