TASHKENT, Feb 24: US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Tuesday that the United States was pleased with the arrests of suspected Al-Qaeda militants by Pakistan and praised President Pervez Musharraf.

Pakistani military officials said up to 20 people, including some foreigners, were arrested Tuesday in operations in tribal areas along the Pakistani-Afghan border.

"President Musharraf has been increasingly helpful and cooperative," Rumsfeld told reporters here. "They have been cooperating along that difficult Afghan-Pakistan border."

"More recently they have been aggressively working with the tribal leadership in that region, and the United States and all coalition countries appreciate that cooperation," he added.

"And certainly we're always pleased when there is an effort, a strike that is successful in capturing additional Taliban or Al-Qaeda or terrorist activity along that border," he said. -AFP