US presidential candidates told to tone down diplomatic rhetoric

The US State Department has asked probable presidential candidates to remain silent on sensitive diplomatic issues.

Washington, Aug 4 : The US State Department has asked probable presidential candidates to remain silent on sensitive diplomatic issues.

"Those who wish to hold office can speak for themselves, and whoever is elected in 2008 and comes into office in 2009, will then be in a position to talk about what they intend or plan to do," said Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey.

Casey had unusually harsh words for Republican Tom Tancredo who threatened to bomb the Saudi cities of Mecca and Medina to deter attacks on the US, if elected as President.

"It is absolutely outrageous and reprehensible for anyone to suggest attacks on holy sites, whether they are Muslim, Christian, Jewish or those of any other religion," Casey told reporters, shaking his head in disgust.

"To somehow suggest that an appropriate response to terrorism would be to attack sites that are holy and sacred to more than a billion people throughout the world is just absolutely crazy," he said.

Tancredo's statement prompted angry reactions among Muslims in countries deemed critical to the fight against Islamic extremism, notably Pakistan where US intelligence believes al-Qaeda has regrouped.

First it was Barack Obama's talk of dialogue with dictators and invading Pakistan to kill militants, then it was Hillary Rodham Clinton refusing to rule out the use of nuclear weapons to that end, The Nation reported.

At the State Department, diplomats fear that Tancredo's remarks, coupled with those of Obama and Clinton will be seen as a broader trend of animosity by US politicians to Muslims, officials said.

ANI