March 07, 2008	Friday	Safar 28, 1429

WASHINGTON, March 6: Admiral Michael Mullen has said that his meeting with President Pervez Musharraf in Rawalpindi earlier this week was “just a courtesy call” and he did not take any message for him from the Bush administration.

Briefing reporters in Washington on Wednesday evening on his visits to Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan, Admiral Mullen said that Pakistan was involved in a “tough fight” against the militants and the United States was willing to help them win the conflict.

“Actually it was a courtesy call on President Musharraf,” said the admiral when asked why did he meet the Pakistani leader. “And it really was tied to my visit. It wasn’t any more significant than that. I didn’t go there with a message to take to President Musharraf.”

This was his second meeting with President Musharraf and army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in 30 days, causing speculations in the US and Pakistani media that the admiral might have gone with a message from Washington for ending the current political stalemate.

The US military chief, however, insisted that his talks with Mr Musharraf were “really just about reinforcing the relationship and the commitment to the mutual struggle” that the two countries were engaged in.

“The Pakistan military is in a tough fight against terror, especially in the border regions,” Admiral Mullen said, referring to the border with Afghanistan. “And they’re working very hard to better prepare themselves for that challenge. I reiterated my sincere desire to help them in whatever ways I could, whatever ways we could, when and where asked to do so.”

The most important part of this trip, he said, was re-emphasising the significance of “military-to-military relationship” the two countries had. “So more than anything else, it was to do that.”

Admiral Mullen said that in his meetings with Pakistani military leaders, he also discussed the military support and training facilities the US was providing to Pakistan.

He rejected the suggestion that he visited Pakistan also to seek permission for the deployment of US troops in the country and to discuss the possibility of increased US attacks on militant targets inside Pakistan.

“I didn’t bring any plans to add any certain number of troops to do anything. And we really didn’t have any significant discussions about operations on the border specifically with any kind of attacks,” he said.

Admiral Mullen said his discussion with Gen Kayani focused on fostering a long-term relationship and not on operational details.

“They certainly understand they have some significant internal problems with the suicide bombings which continue,” he said. “We’ll assist and work hard to train their trainers if they want us to do that. And that’s kind of where we left it.”Admiral Mullen also rejected the suggestion that Pakistan did not have the capability of countering the growing threat of terrorism.

“They’ve — not unlike us —trained to a conventional fight for many, many years,” he said. “They now know they’ve got an internal extremist challenge that they have to adjust for.”

The Pakistani military, he said, will need more time to adjust to this change and the US needs to “show patience and support” while they do this adjustment.

“I’ve had discussions with the (Pakistani) leadership along those lines. And given that it’s going to take some time, there’s not going to be an overnight solution. I believe they can do it.”