Blair and Musharraf vow to boost terror cooperation

LAHORE – British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf pledged yesterday to bolster cooperation in the West’s ‘difficult global struggle’ against Islamic extremism.

Blair, after holding talks with Musharraf in Lahore, said Britain would more than double funding for the fight against radicalism in Pakistan, with the bulk of the money targeting madrassas or Islamic schools. General Musharraf and the British premier, who is making his third visit to Pakistan since the September 11, 2001 attacks, also agreed that defeating Taliban insurgents in neighbouring Afghanistan was crucial.”This terrorism that we’re facing…has been a long time growing and it’s going to take a long time to defeat it,” Blair told a joint press conference with Musharraf in the eastern cultural hub.Musharraf was an “example for the future of Muslim countries the world over” because of his anti-terror stance and the talks “opened another chapter” in Britain’s relations with Pakistan, which were at their best ever, he said.”We are going to be doubling our support over the next three years for the programme of enlightened moderation that President Musharraf has led,” to 480 million pounds he said.Blair said the West and its allies were “in the midst of a difficult global struggle” against Islamic extremism and warned that the only way to win was to back moderate forces in countries including Afghanistan and Iraq.General Musharraf said the fight against the Taliban needed the international community to focus on politics and development aswell.Nampa-AFPGeneral Musharraf and the British premier, who is making his third visit to Pakistan since the September 11, 2001 attacks, also agreed that defeating Taliban insurgents in neighbouring Afghanistan was crucial.”This terrorism that we’re facing…has been a long time growing and it’s going to take a long time to defeat it,” Blair told a joint press conference with Musharraf in the eastern cultural hub.Musharraf was an “example for the future of Muslim countries the world over” because of his anti-terror stance and the talks “opened another chapter” in Britain’s relations with Pakistan, which were at their best ever, he said.”We are going to be doubling our support over the next three years for the programme of enlightened moderation that President Musharraf has led,” to 480 million pounds he said.Blair said the West and its allies were “in the midst of a difficult global struggle” against Islamic extremism and warned that the only way to win was to back moderate forces in countries including Afghanistan and Iraq.General Musharraf said the fight against the Taliban needed the international community to focus on politics and development aswell.Nampa-AFP