September 09, 2008	Tuesday	Ramazan 8, 1429

WASHINGTON, Sept 8: The White House said on Monday that the new civilian government in Pakistan fully supported the US anti-terrorist strategy and was also participating in US-led actions against the militants.

“And I would also point you to the fact that this Pakistani civilian government is now more fully stood up and stabilising and taking more action along with us,” said White House Press Secretary Dana Perino when asked to comment on the latest US missile strikes in the tribal belt.

Earlier, a reporter reminded her that while the White House was refusing to comment on US or Nato’s military actions against the militants, it should acknowledge that Washington has decided to step up military strikes at suspected terrorist targets.

“I know you’re not commenting about the details of these reports, but why shouldn’t we conclude that there’s a pretty dramatic escalation of coalition operations in that border region over the past month or so?” the reporter said.

“What I would point you to is the increased cooperation between the Pakistanis, the Afghans, and the United States, and also our Nato allies; and everybody recognising that this is a fight we need to have,” said Ms Perino.

She then noted that the new civilian government in Pakistan was stabilising itself and as it did so, it also was backing and participating in US-led actions against the militants.

At the State Department, spokesman Sean McCormack, when asked to comment on the latest missile strikes, said: “I’ve seen a lot of … news reports about strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, I’ll refer you to the Pakistani government for any comment.”

Mr McCormack said that the Pentagon was already investigating a similar US missile attack in Afghanistan which is believed to have killed dozens of civilians.

Asked if the strikes in Fata will further complicate an already difficult situation for the new Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, the US spokesman said: “We offer our congratulations to president-elect Zardari.

“We look forward to working with him, as well as Prime Minister Gilani, on areas of mutual interest.”

Further defining the areas of cooperation between the US and Pakistan, Mr McCormack said: “And certainly one of the main areas is our common fight against terrorism.”

“Do you feel that you have a partner in Mr Zardari?” he was asked.

“I think we’ve had good discussions with him, as well as his government, and look forward to working with Mr Zardari on issues of counter-terrorism,” Mr McCormack said.

“I think they have a healthy appreciation for the fact that this is a common fight. You know, these attacks and this violence are being directed not only in Afghanistan, as well as other places outside of Pakistan, but it’s being directed inward.”

The State Department spokesman recalled that only last week shots were fired at Prime Minister Gilani’s motorcade and some hit his car too.

“So they have a healthy appreciation for what’s at stake here. And we have good cooperation with this government in fighting terrorism,” he added.