WASHINGTON, Sept 8: The United States has said it will fully back any action that President Gen Pervez Musharraf takes to capture Osama bin Laden and that there is no doubt about Pakistan's commitment to fight terrorism.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said this when asked at a briefing on Tuesday evening whether the US administration was 100 per cent behind President Musharraf's efforts to catch Osama.
"Let me put it the same way, perhaps quickly. Yes," said Mr Boucher. He rejected the suggestion that there were differences between President Musharraf and his generals over Pakistan's role in the war against terror and some Pakistani generals opposed the campaign to catch Osama.
"The United States and Pakistan are allies in this fight. President Musharraf is determined that his country needs to take a more moderate course; it needs to fight against terrorism," said Mr Boucher.
"And indeed, the evidence - what you can see, yourself, on the ground is that Pakistan has, again and again, sent troops into harm's way to try to eliminate the terrorists that might be taking harbour in parts of Pakistan," he added.
"Whether it's sooner or later we would not relent until Osama is caught," said the spokesman when asked to comment on the reported remarks of State Department coordinator for counter- terrorism Joseph Cofer Black that the US and its allies have moved closer to capturing Osama in the last two months.
Supporting Mr Black's statement, Mr Boucher reminded reporters that more than three-quarters of Al Qaeda's key members and associates have already been detained or killed. "Osama is a fugitive from an international coalition that will pursue him until he is brought to justice," he added.