LUXEMBOURG, June 6: European Union anti-terror coordinator Gilles de Kerchove has urged member nations to help Pakistan’s new government combat terrorism, and in particular Al Qaeda, more effectively.

“It’s a tremendous challenge,” he told reporters after briefing the EU’s 27 interior ministers in Luxembourg. “We have to help this government act quickly to help lower the pressure militants are putting on it.”

In a report to the ministers, de Kerchove noted that Al Qaeda is active in Pakistan’s western border area and that Pakistani and European extremists continue to keep in contact.

He said that helping Pakistan deal with the problem would help stabilise a volatile part of the world, but also enhance security in Europe.

Hundreds of mainly Arab Al Qaeda militants took shelter in Pakistan’s tribal belt after US-led forces toppled Afghanistan’s Taliban regime in 2001 following the September 11 attacks on the United States.

“It’s above all about evaluating our budgets to see if we can do more,” de Kerchove said.

“I’m currently examining, along with the European Commission, what we can do in terms of prevention in Pakistan in education, in the madresahs,” he said, referring to religious schools often blamed for fomenting extremism.

He said the EU must “as a matter of priority” finance projects to help prevent terrorism in Pakistan and the region, and find ways to develop “further synergies” between its aid programmes and improving Pakistan’s security.

De Kerchove said that he had received “complete support for my positions”, notably from Britain, France, Poland and Portugal.—AFP