U.S. concerned over election violence in Pakistan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State CondoleezzaRice said on Wednesday she was concerned about electionviolence in nuclear-armed Pakistan and hoped a new governmentwould include "moderate voices."

Violence has intensified in Pakistan in the run-up to theFebruary 18 election that was delayed from January 8 after theassassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in a gun andbomb suicide attack on December 27.

Rice told U.S. lawmakers she believed Pakistan's leadersunderstood there needed to be an election that inspiredconfidence, but she was concerned over violence ahead ofMonday's poll.

"It is not going to easy. We all are concerned about thepotential for violence. We are all concerned, of course, aboutthe potential that at least there will be pockets where theremay be problems with the elections," Rice told the SenateForeign Relations Committee.

A roadside bomb blast hit an election campaign convoy onWednesday, killing two people and wounding three in Pakistan'snorthwestern Swat valley.

"But I think we have to keep pressing and encouraging andinsisting that this is an election on which a lot is holding.They have got to inspire confidence that people got to votefreely," she said.

The United States and others are increasingly uneasy at theprospect of instability in a nuclear-armed Muslim state, thatis fighting militants linked to the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

Washington and others are pressing for Pakistan's newgovernment to be more inclusive of moderate leaders and theUnited States had been pushing Bhutto to form a partnershipwith President Pervez Musharraf before her death.

"Once the elections are over, the key is going to be tobring about a government that can again inspire, that there area wide range of moderate voices that have been integrated intoit," said Rice, without expanding further.

Rice met Musharraf on the sidelines of the World EconomicForum in Davos, Switzerland, last month and urged him then toensure the elections were free and fair and that any newgovernment be inclusive.

The February 18 poll is meant to complete a transition tocivilian rule in Pakistan.

Musharraf, who took power in a military coup in 1999,imposed emergency rule in November and some limits on civilrights remain in effect despite a formal end to the crackdownin December.

The Bush administration has been under strong pressure fromthe U.S. Congress to cut aid to Pakistan or impose restrictionslinking democratic reform to funding levels.

Rice has made clear the Bush administration has no plans tocut back on aid, pointing to the importance of Pakistan infighting terrorism. Washington has given Pakistan about $10billion in aid since 2001.

(Reporting by Sue Pleming, editing by Jackie Frank)