U.S. State Department contends it didn't ignore Bhutto's security

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The State Department denies it ignored security dangers surrounding former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto when she returned to Pakistan.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters in his office Monday that the United States had concerns about Bhutto's security before and after she returned to Pakistan. And he disputed claims made Monday in the Washington Post and other newspapers by columnist Robert Novak that security issues had been ignored.

In his column, Novak wrote, "The assassination of Benazir Bhutto followed two months of urgent pleas to the State Department by her representatives for better protection. The U.S. reaction was that she was worried over nothing, expressing assurance that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf would not let anything happen to her."

–From CNN State Department Producer Charley Keyes