October 31, 2003	Friday	Ramazan 4, 1424

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WASHINGTON, Oct 30: US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca has said that Pakistan has provided “excellent” support in the fight against terrorism and President Pervez Musharraf even ignored his critics in supporting the United States.

“Despite skeptical public opinion and bitter criticism from a coalition of opposition parties, President Musharraf has maintained Pakistan’s policy of supporting US operations, with practical results,” she told a briefing of the House sub- committee on Asia and the Pacific on Wednesday.

“Our two nations have coordinated with intelligence, law enforcement, finance, and military authorities to successfully apprehend well over 500 suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban operatives,” she said.

This includes Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the Sept 11 conspirator Ramzi bin Al Sheibh, she added.

Congressmen Greg Meeks and Dan Burton also supported Pakistan during the briefing.

“Pakistan ranks fourth in the world in the amount of terrorism related assets frozen, and the government of Pakistan is working against terror groups and has recently increased their patrols, operating now in the mountainous, historically off- limits, Pakistan-Afghan border,” Ms Rocca said.

The State Department’s ambassador-at-large and coordinator for counter-terrorism J. Cofer Black also praised Pakistan for its recent operations against the Taliban and Al Qaeda elements in the FATA and said it was “an unprecedented” move.

Ms Rocca said that groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohmmaed were a serious threat to Pakistan, adding the US government was closely monitoring their activities.

Pakistan, she said, had taken steps to curb cross-border terrorism in Kashmir but the US administrations expects Islamabad to do more.

“We look to Pakistan to do everything in its power to prevent extremist groups operating from its soil from crossing the Line of Control.”

She described India as “another close ally of the United States in the war against terror” and said that New Delhi was also “a victim of terrorism,” a phrase that would be interpreted in both Islamabad and New Delhi as an expression of support for India’s claim that Pakistan was sending terrorists into the Indian territory.

The US administration, she said, was working closely with the government of India to help them prevent terror attacks on Indian soil.

Replying to a question from a pro-Indian Congressman Fleomavaega, Ms Rocca said the Bush administration was confident that both India and Pakistan have “good controls” on their nuclear weapons.

Instead of taking sides, she said, the US government was using its relations with both India and Pakistan to curb tensions between South Asia’s two nuclear neighbours.