WASHINGTON, May 13: US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld praised Pakistan’s contribution to the war on terrorism on Monday, rejecting published reports that US officials are chafing at Islamabad’s reluctance to attack pockets of Al Qaeda and Taliban forces in tribal areas of the country’s northwest.

Rumsfeld expressed understanding for President Pervez Musharraf’s apparent reluctance to allow military operations in the Northwest Territories, where Al Qaeda and Taliban remnants have fled from US-led forces in Afghanistan.

“We have been very pleased with the cooperation that President Musharraf has provided the United States with respect to the war on terrorism in many, many facets and respects, almost from day one,” Rumsfeld told reporters after meeting Indonesian Defence Minister Matori Abdul Dajalil.

“As to why they don’t do additional things ... the answer is self-evident,” he continued. “They’re a sovereign nation. They have tribal areas that they have respected historically at the federal level. They are currently working out ways that they can deal with the tribal organizations so that, in fact, the Al Qaeda or Taliban can be routed out.”—dpa