Washington: The United States has condemned the Lahore blast which claimed 26 lives saying Washington will continue to work with Pakistan government to help move forward the democratic process in the country.

"This is a terrible, tragic act of terrorism. We condemn it. And we certainly extend our condolences to the families of those who lost their lives or were injured in this incident", Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey said.

"I think it just goes to show that there continue to be individuals in Pakistan who are intent on subverting the political process in that country and who have no interest in seeing that the Pakistani people have an opportunity to develop a democratic system; in fact, believe that the way to proceed is through violence", he said.

Speaking at Foggy Bottom, Casey said, "We are going to continue to work with the government of Pakistan, as well as with all the major political parties there, to be able to help move forward the process of Pakistan's democracy, particularly as we look toward elections in February."

The Deputy Spokesman declined to get into the issue of the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid writing a letter to the President George Bush slamming his administration on how it handled the things in Pakistan in the aftermath of the killing of the former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

"I hadn't seen the letter. And in as much as it's directed at the president, I will let the White House respond to it", he said. "We are going to continue to serve what is US national interests, Pakistani interests, as well as broader interest of the international community, and continue to work with them as they seek to confront Taliban and al Qaeda-supported individuals on Pakistani territory", he added.

Source : PTI