Rumsfeld vows to aid Pakistan's 'legitimate defence needs'

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld assured Pakistan the US would help the predominantly Islamic nation meet its “legitimate” defence needs, a Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman said today.

Rumsfeld gave the assurance when he met with President Gen Pervez Musharraf on a swift stopover in Pakistan yesterday during a tour that has also taken him to Iraq and Afghanistan, spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani said.