Musharraf assures Blair of cooperation
ISLAMABAD, July 14: In a telephonic conversation with the British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday evening, President Gen Pervez Musharraf assured the British prime minister of Pakistan’s fullest support and assistance in the investigation of July 7 terrorist acts in London. Gen Musharraf expressed his shock and oferred heartfelt condolences on behalf of the people and government over last bombings, which had resulted in the death of over 50 innocent people.
Prime Minister Blair thanked the president and the government for their unequivocal support. He appreciated the crucial role Pakistan has played in the international fight against terror.
STRAW CONCERNED: British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Thursday expressed concern over what goes on in some madressahs, in Pakistan, after it emerged that one of the London bombers had attended one.
Shehzad Tanweer, 22, who carried out the bombing of an underground subway train at Aldgate, east London, was said by his uncle to have gone to a madressah in December last year, wanting to learn to recite the Quran by heart.
“We are concerned about what goes on in some, though not all, of the madressahs in Pakistan,” Straw told reporters in London, adding that the concern was shared by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
Mr Straw said there was a major reform programme underway in Pakistan to provide secular education alongside the religious schools, as well as “intensive and increasingly substantial co-operation” between the UK and Pakistan on counter-terrorism.
He refused to reveal details of any contacts with Pakistan officials over the London bombings investigation.
Straw was the first to claim that the bombings — the deadliest on British soil since World War II — bore the “hallmarks” of Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network.—APP / AFP