WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday telephoned the successor to slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto to express US support for Pakistan's upcoming elections, a spokesman said.
Rice also called Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, to express her condolences, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.
"In the last hour or so, she's had the opportunity to call Mr. Zardari, former Prime Minister Bhutto's husband, as well as Amin Fahim, who is her successor now as the head of the Pakistani People's Party," Casey said.
"Those calls were to express her sympathy and condolences in light of this attack," he said.
"But we very much believe that the best way, as the president said, to honor former Prime Minister Bhutto's memory is for the democratic process in that country to continue."
Casey added that "to have some kind of postponement or a delay directly related to it in the democratic process ... would be a victory for no one but the extremists responsible for this attack."
Rice said in a statement that "Ms Bhutto's passing is a great loss for Pakistan. I knew her as a woman of great courage and had been impressed by her dedication and commitment to democracy and to the future of Pakistan itself. "
She also urged "the Pakistani people, political leaders, and civil society to maintain calm and to work together to build a more moderate, peaceful, and democratic future."
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