Armitage says US to work more closely with Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told Pakistani leaders that the Bush administration would work more closely with Islamabad during its second term in office, officials said.
Armitage, making his first trip to this key US anti-terror ally since President George W. Bush was re-elected on November 2, reaffirmed "America's commitment" to building strong ties with Pakistan, the foreign ministry said.
At a meeting with President Pervez Musharraf he said the priorities of the Bush administration for the next four years included "further broadening the bilateral relations with Pakistan in economic and security fields," it said.
Accompanied by US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca, Armitage earlier met with Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri and held formal talks with Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar.
The discussions focused on the situation in Afghanistan and Iraq and peace moves between Islamabad and New Delhi.
"The US government would not only maintain continuity in its policy towards Pakistan but strive towards enhancing US-Pakistan relations in economic and commercial spheres," Armitage was quoted as saying in a Pakistani foreign ministry statement.
The United States was looking at ways to accelerate its interaction with Pakistan, the statement said.
"Pakistan and the US as coalition partners, would continue to cooperate in the war against terrorism," it added.
Khokhar conveyed Pakistan's desire to promote "a solid, broad-based and long term relationship with the US encompassing cooperation in areas of investment, trade and defence."
The two sides also discussed progress in peace talks between Pakistan and India, and peace and reconstruction in Afghanistan after last month's landmark presidential polls.
Armitage said Musharraf's proposal to consider various options to resolve the long-standing, thorny Kashmir dispute with India was a "way forward".
"I think he has caused a great deal of thinking both in India and Pakistan about the way forward," Armitage told state-run television.
The foreign ministry statement said Armitage expressed satisfaction at the engagement between Pakistan and India.
Armitage flew to Islamabad late Monday on a two-day visit, his second to Islamabad this year after one in July.
Foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan said Monday Pakistan wanted "stable, durable and longer-lasting relations with the United States."
He said Bush's re-election allayed "concerns and apprehensions" in Pakistan about the continuation of its relationship with Washington.
Al-Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States prompted a foreign policy turnaround by Musharraf.
He abandoned Afghanistan's Taliban rulers within days and gave Pakistani air bases, corridors and intelligence to US forces to help overthrow the hardline regime which had sheltered Al-Qaeda.
Musharraf's army has since arrested more than 500 Al-Qaeda suspects and handed over a majority of them to the United States, including prized trophies Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, Ramzi bin al Shaibh and Abu Zubayda.
This year it arrested some of the new generation of key Al-Qaeda leaders.
Some 70,000 Pakistani troops remain in the border region and rugged tribal belt on the Afghan frontier hunting down Al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants.
Washington has rewarded Islamabad with debt cuts, massive aid boosts and trade privileges.
The appreciation has gone beyond the economy to apparent tolerance of the sweeping powers wielded by Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999.

11/09/2004 - 12:36 GMT - AFP