Bush 'very pleased' with Pakistan's Musharraf
President avoids criticism of Pakistan's efforts to
catch bin Laden
Saturday, December 4, 2004 Posted: 10:50 AM EST (1550 GMT)
Presidents Pervez Musharraff and Bush , both dressed in the now familiar NWO "black suit uniform", talk to the media Saturday.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. President George W. Bush offered no criticism Saturday of Pakistan's role in the still-unsuccessful hunt for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, even though Pakistan's army is pulling back from the region where the terrorist mastermind is believed hiding.
After an Oval Office meeting with Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Bush said, "His army has been incredibly active and very brave ... flushing out an enemy that though they had found safe haven."
Bush characterized Musharraf as "a determined leader to bring to justice not only people like Osama bin Laden but to bring to justice those would inflict harm and pain on his own people. ... I am very pleased with his efforts."
Pakistan's army said last month it was withdrawing hundreds of troops from the tense tribal region near Afghanistan. The decision to pull back from the South Waziristan area come after several military operations by thousands of troops against remnants of bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization and its supporters in recent months.
The architect of the September 11 attacks against the United States, bin Laden has been on the run since U.S. forces invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 and drove out the Taliban rulers who harbored al-Qaeda militants.
Between 7,000 and 8,000 Pakistani forces were deployed in a three-pronged offensive in the eastern reaches of the rugged region last month. U.S. military forces remain largely on the Afghanistan side in hopes of capturing or killing any al-Qaeda operatives crossing the border.
Bush's agenda for the talks with Musharraf had included several sticky issues, among them:
The unsuccessful manhunt for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, which the Pakistan army indicated last month was being downgraded.
Pakistan's nuclear-armed, often-hostile relationship with neighboring India, the world's largest democracy.
The illicit nuclear trafficking of A.Q. Khan, the Pakistani scientist implicated in selling his country's nuclear secrets to Libya, North Korea, Iran and possibly other countries.
Musharraf's own backtracking on a pledge to relinquish his military post.
Musharraf, whose visit was to congratulate Bush on his re-election, also had unanswered wishes for the administration.
He has repeatedly urged Washington to engage more aggressively in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He was expected to raise with Bush the need to help resolve that dispute as well as issues of poverty and illiteracy important to Muslims.
Despite such potentially irritable differences, nothing has dampened Washington's view of Pakistan as a crucial ally in the war on terror. In particular, Bush repeatedly cites Pakistan's capture of al-Qaeda suspects, several of whom have been handed over to U.S. officials.
Musharraf scheduled a meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell later Saturday.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/04/bush.musharraf.ap/index.html
Saturday, December 4, 2004 Posted: 10:50 AM EST (1550 GMT)
Presidents Pervez Musharraff and Bush , both dressed in the now familiar NWO "black suit uniform", talk to the media Saturday.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. President George W. Bush offered no criticism Saturday of Pakistan's role in the still-unsuccessful hunt for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, even though Pakistan's army is pulling back from the region where the terrorist mastermind is believed hiding.
After an Oval Office meeting with Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Bush said, "His army has been incredibly active and very brave ... flushing out an enemy that though they had found safe haven."
Bush characterized Musharraf as "a determined leader to bring to justice not only people like Osama bin Laden but to bring to justice those would inflict harm and pain on his own people. ... I am very pleased with his efforts."
Pakistan's army said last month it was withdrawing hundreds of troops from the tense tribal region near Afghanistan. The decision to pull back from the South Waziristan area come after several military operations by thousands of troops against remnants of bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization and its supporters in recent months.
The architect of the September 11 attacks against the United States, bin Laden has been on the run since U.S. forces invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 and drove out the Taliban rulers who harbored al-Qaeda militants.
Between 7,000 and 8,000 Pakistani forces were deployed in a three-pronged offensive in the eastern reaches of the rugged region last month. U.S. military forces remain largely on the Afghanistan side in hopes of capturing or killing any al-Qaeda operatives crossing the border.
Bush's agenda for the talks with Musharraf had included several sticky issues, among them:
The unsuccessful manhunt for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, which the Pakistan army indicated last month was being downgraded.
Pakistan's nuclear-armed, often-hostile relationship with neighboring India, the world's largest democracy.
The illicit nuclear trafficking of A.Q. Khan, the Pakistani scientist implicated in selling his country's nuclear secrets to Libya, North Korea, Iran and possibly other countries.
Musharraf's own backtracking on a pledge to relinquish his military post.
Musharraf, whose visit was to congratulate Bush on his re-election, also had unanswered wishes for the administration.
He has repeatedly urged Washington to engage more aggressively in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He was expected to raise with Bush the need to help resolve that dispute as well as issues of poverty and illiteracy important to Muslims.
Despite such potentially irritable differences, nothing has dampened Washington's view of Pakistan as a crucial ally in the war on terror. In particular, Bush repeatedly cites Pakistan's capture of al-Qaeda suspects, several of whom have been handed over to U.S. officials.
Musharraf scheduled a meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell later Saturday.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/04/bush.musharraf.ap/index.html
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