Graig Crouch [sic], US embassy spokesman in Islamabad, rejected a statement by Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal's (MMA) deputy Parliamentary leader in the National Assembly, in which he demanded the expulsion of Ryan C Crocker, US ambassador to Pakistan, from the country. Mr Crouch said Mr Hussain's claim of American interference in Pakistan's religious and constitutional affairs was incorrect. "The US ambassador is not concerned with the passport issue," he said. Mr Crouch added that the Pakistani government had issued passports without the religious column in October 2004, prior to Ambassador Crocker's arrival in Pakistan. He noted that the Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman had also stated that the passport issue was Pakistan's internal affair.
In response to whether he had demanded the expulsion of the US ambassador, Mr Ahmed said: "We maintain that anyone's interference in the religious and constitutional affairs of Pakistan will not be tolerated" and added that this diplomatic decorum was globally acknowledged. "The US follows a dual policy because on the one hand they term the uniform issue an internal matter of Pakistan and refuse to interfere while on the other hand they interfere in our religious affairs", Mr Ahmed noted.