Nusrat Shahbaz (right), the wife of former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif, and her son Hamza Shahbaz, in Lahore. (AFP)

Washington, Sept. 18 (PTI): The US has insisted that there is no ?deviation? in Pakistan President Prevez Musharraf?s commitment to step down as army chief by the end of this year.

?We have no cause to believe, based on what has been said and done in the last several days, that there is any deviation from that commitment,? state department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said yesterday reacting to Musharraf?s interview to a US daily where he said he may renege on his commitment.

Musharraf told the Washington Post that ?the vast majority? of his countrymen want him in uniform as they fear he would be weakened without it.

the Pakistan President said the conditions in the country have changed since he promised in a nationwide televised address last December to leave the army.

When queried about the general?s statement, Ereli said: ?I don?t know if that?s a new quote or an old quote. Our information is that there is nothing ? there has been no new development on this issue since yesterday when a government spokesman retracted statements to the effect that President Musharraf had decided not to leave the military uniform.? ?Our understanding is that President Musharraf?s decision on his military future has not been taken,? he said.

The spokesman said the US? position ?hasn?t changed? on the issue and if it comes up during Musharraf?s visit to the US next week, Washington will ?reiterate? its views.

Sharif kin in Lahore

Three relatives of former Pakistan Prime Minster Nawaz Sharif returned to the country from their exile in Saudi Arabia today after the government allowed them to come back.

Nusarat Shahbaz, wife of Sharif?s brother Shahbaz Sharif, arrived in Lahore along with her two daughters from Jeddah where the entire Sharif family lives in exile, reports reaching here said.

She along with her daughters was sent back last year after they stayed in Lahore for a few months. Shahbaz himself was sent back when he made a vain bid to come back to Lahore from London a few months ago.

The permission to Nusrat was seen as an attempt by the government to establish working relations with the Opposition parties before Musharraf officially announces his decision to retain the post of chief of army.

The Pakistani army said today it had tightened the noose around hundreds of al Qaida-linked foreign militants hiding in a rugged mountainous region near the Afghan border.

?Around 600 to 700 foreign militants are still in the tribal area,? said Major General Niaz Khattak, the operational commander in Wana, the main town of South Waziristan, 400 km southwest of Islamabad.