Alonzo
11-19-2006, 08:27 PM
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Sunday that brokering an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal would help diminish the anger fueling Islamic militants in places outside the Middle East, such as Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Blair, speaking after a meeting with Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf, said more aid, moderate Islamic role models and a lasting resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were key to defeating Islamic extremism.
"This global extremism is an ideology that exploits grievances. So what we have to do is at the same time as we are taking on the ideology, we have to take away those elements of grievance," he said.
Musharraf, meanwhile, told reporters that local militants in Pakistan were backing Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, and that his government's efforts to cut off that support had not achieved "100 percent success."
"The Taliban problem is an Afghan problem ... being supported by elements from this side," he said. "We need to put our house in order on our side."
The comments were some of Musharraf's strongest yet on the Taliban and al-Qaida militants operating along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding. Pakistan has come under increasing pressure from the United States and Afghanistan to do more to stop the militants from moving across the porous frontier.
Musharraf, who switched his country's support from the Taliban in Afghanistan to the United States following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, also stressed the importance of a broader Mideast peace plan to fighting extremism.
"This knot of terrorism will be untied through first resolving the Palestinian dispute," he said.
In addition, the Pakistani leader said Afghanistan needs reconstruction aid similar to the U.S. Marshall Plan for the rebuilding of Europe following World War II, especially in the country's southeast, where the Taliban has been expanding its support among residents.
Blair's office said $10.5 billion in Afghan aid was pledged at a London donor's conference in January, but the problem was putting the infrastructure in place to spend the money.
Sunday's meeting between Blair and Musharraf, crucial players in the U.S.-led war on terror, led to the signing of a pledge to double to $910 million a three-year aid package to fund moderate Islamic schools and other projects in Pakistan. About $38 million would be released immediately for poverty alleviation work in the country, Blair said.
The threat from homegrown extremists was a problem Britain shared with many nations, Blair said. The July 2005 bomb attacks on London's transport network that killed 52 commuters were committed by four young Muslims who had grown up in Britain.
"In the end, the security measures are in place, but they only take you so far. We have got to win hearts and minds," Blair told Pakistan's Geo TV.
Three of the four suicide bombers in the London attacks had family ties in Pakistan and had visited this country. Officials have warned of hundreds of young Muslims moving between Britain and Pakistan to train, plan and raise funds for terror plots.
"We begin to win when we start fighting properly and I think we are now fighting properly — but we have got to do more," Blair said after the talks with Musharraf in the eastern city of Lahore. "Where there are people standing up for a different way forward, we have to back them."
"This took a generation to grow and it will take a generation to defeat," he said.
Blair's comments followed an interview Friday with Al-Jazeera's English-language channel in which he appeared to agree with broadcaster David Frost's claim that operations in Iraq had "so far been pretty much of a disaster."
His office said Blair had made a "straightforward slip of the tongue," and had only "half-listened" to Frost's question.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061119/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_blair
Blair, speaking after a meeting with Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf, said more aid, moderate Islamic role models and a lasting resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were key to defeating Islamic extremism.
"This global extremism is an ideology that exploits grievances. So what we have to do is at the same time as we are taking on the ideology, we have to take away those elements of grievance," he said.
Musharraf, meanwhile, told reporters that local militants in Pakistan were backing Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, and that his government's efforts to cut off that support had not achieved "100 percent success."
"The Taliban problem is an Afghan problem ... being supported by elements from this side," he said. "We need to put our house in order on our side."
The comments were some of Musharraf's strongest yet on the Taliban and al-Qaida militants operating along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding. Pakistan has come under increasing pressure from the United States and Afghanistan to do more to stop the militants from moving across the porous frontier.
Musharraf, who switched his country's support from the Taliban in Afghanistan to the United States following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, also stressed the importance of a broader Mideast peace plan to fighting extremism.
"This knot of terrorism will be untied through first resolving the Palestinian dispute," he said.
In addition, the Pakistani leader said Afghanistan needs reconstruction aid similar to the U.S. Marshall Plan for the rebuilding of Europe following World War II, especially in the country's southeast, where the Taliban has been expanding its support among residents.
Blair's office said $10.5 billion in Afghan aid was pledged at a London donor's conference in January, but the problem was putting the infrastructure in place to spend the money.
Sunday's meeting between Blair and Musharraf, crucial players in the U.S.-led war on terror, led to the signing of a pledge to double to $910 million a three-year aid package to fund moderate Islamic schools and other projects in Pakistan. About $38 million would be released immediately for poverty alleviation work in the country, Blair said.
The threat from homegrown extremists was a problem Britain shared with many nations, Blair said. The July 2005 bomb attacks on London's transport network that killed 52 commuters were committed by four young Muslims who had grown up in Britain.
"In the end, the security measures are in place, but they only take you so far. We have got to win hearts and minds," Blair told Pakistan's Geo TV.
Three of the four suicide bombers in the London attacks had family ties in Pakistan and had visited this country. Officials have warned of hundreds of young Muslims moving between Britain and Pakistan to train, plan and raise funds for terror plots.
"We begin to win when we start fighting properly and I think we are now fighting properly — but we have got to do more," Blair said after the talks with Musharraf in the eastern city of Lahore. "Where there are people standing up for a different way forward, we have to back them."
"This took a generation to grow and it will take a generation to defeat," he said.
Blair's comments followed an interview Friday with Al-Jazeera's English-language channel in which he appeared to agree with broadcaster David Frost's claim that operations in Iraq had "so far been pretty much of a disaster."
His office said Blair had made a "straightforward slip of the tongue," and had only "half-listened" to Frost's question.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061119/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_blair