Ready to work with new House - president

Washington: Embattled President Pervez Musharraf said in a newspaper column published on Friday that he was ready to work with the newly elected parliament to fight terrorism and build a stable democratic government to promote long-term economic growth.

"Because these goals are shared by the vast majority of Pakistanis, I am certain we can and will accomplish them, and I stand ready to work with the newly elected parliament to achieve these objectives," Musharraf wrote in a column published in the Washington Post on Friday.

Success in the efforts to build democracy and a strong economy and to fight extremism were still tied to the United States's continued support, he wrote.

Difficult task

"I would ask Americans to remember that building democracy is difficult in the best of conditions. Doing so in a complex country such as Pakistan - with its uneasy political history, with its centuries-old regional and feudal cleavages, and with violent extremists dedicated to the defeat of democracy - is even more challenging," he said.

The US had welcomed Monday's election as a step toward restoration of democracy and expressed hope for continued cooperation on counterterrorism.