Pakistan pledges to back U.S. terrorism fight

Pakistan pledges to back U.S. terrorism fight

ISLAMABAD (Reuters): Pakistan military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf, under pressure for backing Afghanistan's Taliban movement, on Thursday pledged full cooperation against terrorism to U.S. President George W. Bush.

"Pakistan has been extending cooperation to international efforts to combat terrorism in the past and will continue to do so. All countries must join hands in this common cause," said a formal statement.

"I wish to assure President Bush and the U.S. government of our fullest cooperation in the fight against terrorism," Musharraf said.

The spokesman for the foreign ministry said U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell had discussed Tuesday's attacks on the United States with Musharraf on Wednesday. He said Pakistan had pledged support for U.S. efforts against those responsible.

The Taliban are sheltering Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, who is a chief suspect in the attacks on New York and Washington.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates are the only countries in the world to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Pakistan is the only one to have an embassy in Kabul.

Pakistan has always denied persistent reports it is arming and advising fighters for the Taliban, who emerged from the religious schools of Pakistan in 1994 to sweep over most of Afghanistan despite a lack of military training.

But it has faced increasing international pressure over its public diplomatic support for the Taliban, who have refused to turn over bin Laden to face U.S. charges that he blew up two U.S. embassies in 1998.

In the wake of the latest attacks, Musharraf has gone to extremes to demonstrate his support for the United States. While never mentioning the Taliban or bin Laden, he has appeared on television twice to condemn the attack.

"We strongly condemn this barbaric and heinous act of terrorism, which will live in memory as a most heinous crime against humanity," Musharraf said in the latest statement.

Musharraf finds himself in an awkward position, with Islamic parties inside his country warning him not to help the United States against the hardline Islamic government in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has offered its full cooperation to the United States to fight terrorism, following Tuesday's attacks on Washington and New York, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Thursday.

It quoted Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz, as telling journalists in Washington that he had extended the offer during contacts with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.

"He said he extended the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's full cooperation to fight terrorism," SPA reported.

"The kingdom stands firmly along with fellow Arab and Muslim countries to (help) uncover the identity of those who perpetrated such acts," SPA quoted him as saying.

In a phone call with U.S. President George W. Bush, Chinese President Jiang Zemin offered to join an international war on terrorism, state media said on Thursday in Beijing.

Jiang's pledge on Wednesday night echoed those from other world leaders as the United States seeks to build a coalition of its allies, Russia, China and Muslim states following the devastating attacks on New York and Washington.

But analysts said cooperation between China and the United States on terrorism raised a host of tricky political questions.

They remain deeply divided over definitions of terrorism, military intervention overseas and relations with nations identified by the United States as "state sponsors of terrorism". China stresses international dialog to tackle the problem and strongly opposes what it calls interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

Its strategy is driven in part by fear of intervention in Tibet and its western region of Xinjiang, where pro-independence Islamic activists have staged attacks and bombings.

China has close ties with North Korea, Iraq, Libya and Sudan, accused by Washington of sponsoring terrorism.

And many Chinese analysts blame the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on U.S. "hegemonistic" foreign policy.

Bush spoke with leaders of the four other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- Britain, China, France and Russia -- on Wednesday in an effort to "rally the world".

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell called for a multi- faceted attack on diplomatic, military, intelligence and law enforcement fronts.