August 27, 2002	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Saani 17,1423

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WASHINGTON, Aug 26: Pakistan and the United States have cooperated productively in the war against terrorism, but so far there have been no talks on deployment of the US troops in the country, a State Department official told Dawn on Monday.

A senior US general had suggested on Sunday that planners of anti-terrorism operations need to consider operating in countries bordering Afghanistan.

Pakistan has denied holding talks with the United States about deploying the US troops in the country.

“We are having effective cooperation with the countries around Afghanistan but we are not talking about deploying troops,” the State Department official said on condition of anonymity.

He said Gen Tommy Franks, chief of the US Central Command and head of US forces in Afghanistan, was not talking about the deployment of troops in Pakistan when he spoke on Sunday about the need to fight the Taliban and Al Qaeda fugitives hiding in the country.

Asked if Pakistan had felt the need to seek US troops for fighting terrorists, the official said the United States did not talk about the needs of other countries. “We leave it to the countries involved to talk about it.”