September 14, 2008	Sunday	Ramazan 13, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Sept 13: Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar said on Saturday that the United States had assured Pakistan that it would not violate the country’s territory in future.

Talking to reporters, he said the US could not make any achievement in the war against terrorism without the cooperation of Pakistan.

The statement from the defence minister has come after the killing of about 60 people, including women and children, in frequent attacks of the US planes on the tribal areas.

The minister said the US would not succeed in its search for Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden through attacks.He said the arrest of Osama would have no impact on the forthcoming presidential election in the United States.

He claimed that there were no confirmed reports whether Osama was alive or dead.

In reply to a question, he said Pakistan was playing the role of a frontline state in the ongoing war against terrorism.

He said that if any terrorist had taken refuge in Pakistani territory then only the Pakistan army and law-enforcement agencies would take action against him and no one would be allowed to cross the border.

The minister asked the US to provide any information it had about the presence of terrorists in the tribal areas to the Pakistani authorities and the Pakistani troops would take action against the extremists.