Islamabad: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led coalition government has sent an unambiguous message to the US that any mess with the newly-elected democratic dispensation by President Pervez Musharraf will not be tolerated.

The Nation quoted well-placed sources as saying today that PPP leadership, however, held out a categorical assurance to the Bush Administration that the new government would not create a situation leading to unceremonious exit of Musharraf.

Two senior US State Department officials -- John Negroponte and Richard Boucher-- who dashed to Pakistan last week unscheduled and met a number of coalition government leaders, were also told that the new government would counter terrorism and extremism through political means.

Based on that understanding with the US, Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani has announced to tackle terrorism issue as number one priority of the new government, sources said.

The coalition leadership also told the two US officials that the new government would review award of unprecedented 40-year-concession of Pakistan's lone deep sea Gwadar Port to a Singapore-based company, sensing that it was carried out in haste and without following laid down procedure.

The PPP coalition partners -- the PML-N, ANP and JUI-F feared that the Singapore-based firm was handpicked while there were two other major competitors including Hong Kong-based Hutchison Ports Holdings and Dubai-based DP World.

Source : UNI