Washington: Expressing concern over the two assassination bids on President Pervez Musharraf, US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said that the US still has confidence in the Pakistani leader and is standing behind him.

"We still have confidence in Pervez Musharraf and we are standing behind him," Powell said.

Asked how concerned he is about the stability of Pakistan in the aftermath of the two assassination attempts on Musharraf, Powell told 'The Washington Post', "I am still confident that President Musharraf enjoys broad support within the country."

"There are extremists and we are deeply concerned at both of those attacks, and the President has spoken to President Musharraf and I have spoken to him a couple of times. I spoke to him over the weekend. And it just shows that there are those who will resort to terror to try to impose their ill-will on their own people."

On Iran, Powell said, "We should keep open the possibility of dialogue at an appropriate point in the future. We still have concerns about terrorist activities, of course, and there are other issues with respect to al-Qaeda and other matters that we will have to keep in mind."

"I would hope," said Powell, "that the Iranians, and especially North Korea, would lean back and take a look at what Libya did.