by Bronwyn Curran
ISLAMABAD, Aug 23 (AFP) - President Pervez Musharraf Monday assured visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai that Pakistan would not allow militants to use its territory to disrupt landmark presidential elections in Afghanistan.
"Anybody trying to carry out terrorist activities in Afghanistan or to disrupt election process or to create law and order problems, will not be allowed from Pakistan, we will act against them," Musharraf told official media after talks with Karzai.
Remnants of the ousted Taliban and their allies have vowed to disrupt the October 9 polls.
The "Pakistan army is operating very strongly against Al-Qaeda, we know that they are on the run, they are dispersed and displaced from a number of valleys, which were their sanctuaries," he said referring to operations along the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.
"They are weakened and on the run -- there is a possibility these elements are crossing the border. But nobody should doubt the intentions of Pakistan, its security agencies, its intelligence agencies," he said, according to state media.
"They are doing their best to prevent any terrorists operating from Pakistan into Afghanistan," Musharraf said.
"At the same time, we should also not think that everything is happening from Pakistan - there are people operating within Afghanistan, carrying out terrorist acts."
Karzai also told reporters Pakistan and Afghanistan have a "common commitment to stamp out terrorism," state-run Associated Press of Pakistan said.
"The two neighbours would strengthen capability and cooperation in the field of intelligence and the forces on the ground," it quoted the Afghan leader as saying.
Karzai, heading a top-level ministerial delegation, flew into Islamabad for a two-day visit at Musharraf's invitation to discuss cooperation in rounding up militants and boosting economic ties.
In a one-on-one meeting ahead of formal talks between the two sides, Karzai and Musharraf "reiterated the two countries' common commitment to fighting terrorism in the interests of sustainable socio-economic development of the region," an official statement said.
They "resolved to further enhance the relationship between two neighbouring countries," it said.
Welcoming the Afghan president, Musharraf said he hoped Karzai's meetings with the Pakistani leadership would help in further broadening bilateral ties, the statement said.
"He assured Karzai of Pakistan's continued cooperation in the reconstruction of Afghanistan."
Earlier Karzai accompanied by Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri headed to the foreign ministry for talks.
"Pakistan fully supports ... the endeavours of President Karzai for national reconciliation, reconstruction and development," Kasuri told reporters.
The visit coincided with a fresh operation by Pakistani security forces in a tribal border region in which four Al-Qaeda-linked foreign militants were killed, military officials said, adding that troops also apprehended two militants including a foreigner.
A week before his visit Karzai made a thinly-veiled attack on Pakistan, accusing Afghanistan's "neighbours" of allowing militants to cross the border to wage attacks.
"I ask them not to allow terrorists to enter our country from their territory because their country's security depends upon the security of the country in Afghanistan," he said in an Independence Day address.
Afghan leaders accuse Pakistan of not doing enough to stop hundreds of Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters finding sanctuary in remote border regions from where they are believed to plot and launch attacks inside Afghanistan as part of an insurgency against Karzai's government.
Pakistan denies aiding the militants and says its extensive army operations to flush out fighters from the frontier area are proof of its commitment to eradicating them.
On Tuesday Karzai will address the Institute of Strategic Studies, a state-run think tank in Islamabad, before meeting outgoing Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat.