Brown vows to support Pakistan over terrorism

BRITISH prime minister Gordon Brown pledged yesterday to help Pakistan “break the chain of terror” after holding talks with president Asif Ali Zardari on security in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.

Brown’s visit to Islamabad was the last leg of a tour of South Asia aimed at calming tensions between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India, which have been running high since the attacks last month which left 172 dead.

He said Britain would work with the government in Islamabad to ensure that terrorists were denied safe havens in Pakistan, pledging £6 million (€6.69m) to help it tackle militancy.

“Through these measures we hope to do more to break the chain of terror that links the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan to the streets of the UK and other countries around the world,” Brown told reporters, with Zardari at his side.

The British leader stressed terrorism was a global problem and said three-quarters of the most serious terrorist plots investigated by British authorities had links to al-Qaida in Pakistan.

Earlier in New Delhi, he met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss security in the region after the Mumbai attacks, which New Delhi has blamed on “elements” in Pakistan.

Brown said his meeting with Zardari had reassured him of Pakistan’s determination to act against those responsible for what he called a “human tragedy on a terrible scale”.

He also stressed Pakistan was itself a victim of terrorism, having suffered 50 suicide attacks this year alone.

“We have to help Pakistan to root out terrorism in its own country... all of us suffer when terrorists are active and are able to impose their will,” said Brown.

At least one British national died in last month’s attacks on India’s financial centre, and Brown said he had asked Zardari to allow British police to question Pakistani suspects.

“I asked Manmohan Singh this morning if he would allow the British police, if they chose to so do, to interview the person arrested as one of the suspects... I have similarly asked President Zardari,” he said.

“We all have an interest in discovering what lies behind the Mumbai outrages.”

Pakistan has arrested a number of suspected militants, including two leaders of the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, while the lone surviving gunman, a Pakistani national, is being held in India.

Brown, who left Pakistan after the press conference, met Zardari hours after Islamabad said India had twice violated Pakistani air space on Saturday, drawing a swift denial from New Delhi.

Zardari sought yesterday to downplay the incident, saying the Indian fighter jets only “slightly entered Pakistani soil”.