Pakistan, Britain push for uprooting cause of terror

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf (R) walks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair inside 10 Downing Street in London Monday. Musharraf is on a two-day visit to the United Kingdom. PHOTO: AFP

At a press conference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf stopped short of repeating remarks that the world was "absolutely" less safe because of the way the US-led war on terror was being conducted.

Though Musharraf backed "fighting terrorism head-on militarily," he said there needed to be a "strategic long-term" approach that included the resolution of political disputes and ending poverty and illiteracy.

"I'm very sure that the situation in the world now is ripe for resolution of these political disputes," he said.

In Washington on Saturday, Musharraf said US President George W. Bush had agreed that resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict was "the core issue" of the war on terrorism, but a senior White House aide disputed his assessment as going too far.

Blair, who preceded Musharraf to the White House on November 11, expressed "complete" agreement with Musharraf.

"We have got to take every action that we can ... to fight terrorism militarily, but we would be foolish to ignore the causes upon which terrorism preys," such as political disputes, Blair said.

Pakistani journalists said the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Pakistan's conflict with India over the disputed territory of Kashmir were at the heart of the problem, both of which the two leaders discussed.

Though he declined to go into details of their talks on how to proceed with the Palestinian-Israeli problem, Blair said: "I think the next period of time is absolutely crucial."

"If we don't seize this opportunity now, it may not come for us again."

Britain has expressed optimism following the death last month of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who had been considered by Israel and the United States as an obstacle to reviving peace talks.

Critics worldwide say that US-support for Israel and the US-led invasion of Iraq, actively supported by Blair, have stirred Arab and Muslim anger and made the war on terror more difficult.

Bush, backed by Blair, has stressed that spreading democracy through the Middle East would remove problems breeding terrorism.