Washington: The US has said that the Pakistani authorities' "courageous" action in averting a "horrific explosion" near its consulate in Karachi shows that international counter-terrorism cooperation is working.

J Adam Ereli, the Deputy Spokesman of the US State Department, in his press briefing yesterday (Mar 15, 2004), praised the "very alert and courageous action" of those involved in detecting and responding to a bomb near the US consulate in Karachi.

"I think this shows that counter-terrorism cooperation is effective and can work," he said.

Asked whether this was a kind of a warning in advance for US Secretary of State Colin Powell's planned visit to Pakistan, Ereli said, "I won't speculate. I would note that Karachi has been the scene of bombings for some time. So, there is unfortunately a pattern of this kind of activity.

"So I think that should be taken into account when you are sort of trying to figure out why."