October 30, 2008	Thursday	Shawwal 30, 1429

WASHINGTON, Oct 29: The United States said on Wednesday it was ready to discuss Pakistan’s “very serious problem” with extremism anytime authorities there wished to, but vowed no let-up in counter-terrorism efforts.

Declining to comment specifically on suspected US strikes along the border with Afghanistan, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said: “We are committed to working with Pakistan to beat back what is a common enemy in the terrorists.”

President George W. Bush believed that “Pakistan has a very serious problem” with extremism and that authorities there “recognise how serious that problem is”, said the spokeswoman.

“We remain very concerned but we remain willing to work with them,” she said, underlining that Pakistan had “very serious issues when it comes to their economy as well.”

However, Ms Perino spurned any suggestion that US strikes were fueling resentment against the United States and stoking extremism, denying “that we incited that, that it was our fault that terrorists attack. “Terrorism is something that needs to be confronted,” she said. “The Pakistanis themselves, the innocent Pakistanis, they also deserve to be protected from terrorists and so we’ll continue to work with them.”—AFP