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WASHINGTON Pakistans top brass is united in the battle against extremists, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said, playing down accounts that intelligence elements were on the other side.
Qureshi, on a visit to Washington, said Pakistans year-old civilian government has been able to control the powerful military and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.
I think theyre on board, Qureshi said in an interview aired late Tuesday on public broadcaster PBSs Charlie Rose Show.
I think the present leadership in the ISI, the present army chief of Pakistan, are very clear that these elements are no friends of Pakistan, Qureshi said of the extremists.
Pakistan was the chief ally of Afghanistans extremist Taliban until the September 11, 2001 attacks, when then military ruler Pervez Musharraf shifted gear to make Islamabad the key partner in the US-led war on terror.
The US Congress has insisted on verification that Pakistan is fighting extremists as a condition for a five-year, 7.5 billion-dollar aid package approved last week.
The Obama administration and congressional leaders hope the aid package to build schools, roads and democratic institutions will help ease rampant anti-Americanism, although some Pakistanis resent the conditions.-AFP
