'Hard to imagine reconciliation with Haqqani network'

US special representative Richard Holbrooke acknowledged Pakistan's efforts in fighting the Haqqani network in North Waziristan, adding the United States will not turn away from Pakistan again.

Holbrooke was speaking to the media on Sunday, where he stated that the US is not against reconciliation with militants, but with the Haqqani network it is "hard to imagine."

Earlier, Holbrooke had stated that Pakistan should be wary of committing to an Iran-Pakistan natural gas pipeline because anticipated US sanctions on Iran could hit Pakistani companies.

While sympathetic to Pakistan's energy needs, the US special representative to the region, Richard Holbrooke, told reporters that new legislation, which targets Iran's energy sector, is being drafted in the US Congress and that Pakistan should "wait and see".

"Pakistan has an obvious, major energy problem and we are sympathetic to that, but in regards to a specific project, legislation is being prepared that may apply to the project," he said, referring to the pipeline. "We caution the Pakistanis not to over-commit themselves until we know the legislation." Pakistan is plagued by chronic electricity shortages that have led to mass demonstrations and battered the politically shaky government of President Asif Ali Zardari.

The $7.6 billion natural gas pipeline deal, signed in March, doesn't directly deal with refined petroleum products and was hailed in both Iran and Pakistan as highly beneficial.

The US has so far been muted in its criticism of the deal, balancing its need to support Pakistan, a vital but unstable ally in the global war against al Qaeda, with its desire to isolate Iran.