WASHINGTON (PAN): There has been progress in Afghanistan and Pakistan in tackling extremism, the US said, but urged both countries to work together.

 We have worked hard to fundamentally change our relationship with Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Both countries have made progress and both countries have acknowledged that more needs to be done, the state department spokesman, P J Crowley, told reporters at his daily news conference on Monday.

He pointed to discussions Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, had last week in Afghanistan and Pakistan which he described as direct, constructive and candid.

 But she raised concerns respectfully and honestly in public and in private, for example, in Kabul, emphasizing the need for Afghanistan to improve its capacity and continue to root out corruption that undercuts domestic support for the Afghan Government, Crowley said.

Likewise, in Pakistan, she emphasized the need for the Pakistani government to continue its strategic shift against insurgent groups and ensure that insurgent groups are not being supported by elements within Pakistan who continue to follow an old mindset that conflicts with Pakistans own security interests, he said.

Crowley said the US would continue to work with Afghanistan and Pakistan to deny Al Qaeda a safe haven and to defeat insurgents on both sides of the border.

Responding to the leaking of thousands of previously unseen military and intelligence documents about the Afghan war, Crowley said it was unlikely they would undermine either the USs relationship with Pakistan and Afghanistan or relations between those two countries.

He pointed to a historic transit trade agreement signed last week in Islamabad between the two countries as evidence of their evolving partnership, but said both were aware they needed to do more.

Crowley said the US had alerted President Hamid Karzai and Pakistans President Asif Ali Zardari when US officials were first contacted by the media some days ago to comment on the leaked documents.

Obviously, from our standpoint, we continue to investigate the source of this leak and also to assess the impact that its had on our security, Crowley said.

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