Musharraf's revelations are serious, says US

The United States today said it is taking seriously revelations by former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf that aid provided by America for the war against terrorism was diverted during his tenure to strengthen defences against India.

A state department official said the US takes all such allegations seriously and there is a procedure to investigate any violation, diversion of its aid by any country.

But the official refused to confirm if any investigation in this regard was in place with respect to Pakistan.

At the same time, he said, the allegations were not specific and as of now the US was not aware of any such violations.

"This is former president who has made these allegations. We take seriously any allegations like this. But simply we don't have the details to be able to respond to the allegations," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters at his daily press briefing when asked about the latest revelation from Musharraf.

In an interview to a Pakistani news channel, Musharraf admitted that he had violated the rules governing the use of the military aid, but justified his action, saying he had "acted in the best interest of Pakistan".