Bush divides allies in war on terror

ISLAMABAD - Seeking to bolster America's main ally in the "war on terror", President George W. Bush made his first visit to Pakistan under intense security yesterday as a new al Qaeda tape upped the tension.

But Pakistani discomfort was visible at the new strategic alliance the United States is seeking with India, its historical rival.

In an effort to prevent mass protests against Bush's visit, the Pakistan authorities went so far as to place the former cricket star, Imran Khan, who is now a political opposition leader and was planning to lead a protest march, under house arrest.

The President spent barely 24 hours in Pakistan, after a visit to India that was nearly three times as long.

There was no televised address to the nation, as there had been in India, and Bush came with no offer to match the civilian nuclear technology sharing deal agreed with India last week - a deal seen in the region as acceptance of the country as a member of the "nuclear club".

Instead, there was a press conference at which Bush said bluntly that part of the reason for his trip was to ensure that President General Pervez Musharraf remained committed to the war on terror.

"Part of my mission today was to determine whether or not the President is as committed as he has been in the past to bringing these terrorists to justice," said Bush, adding almost as an afterthought: "And he is."

Musharraf and the Pakistan establishment may be friendly to the US, but on the streets anti-American sentiment is intense.

Bush was visiting just weeks after a US airstrike on a Pakistan village - intended to assassinate the deputy al Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri - killed 14 civilians, including several children. And demonstrations against the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad have turned anti-American.

Yesterday in a new audio tape, Zawahiri called on Muslims to attack the West, urging similar strikes as those against New York, London and Madrid in recent years.

He also called on Muslims to boycott all countries where the cartoons had been published - specifically naming Denmark, Norway, France and Germany - and said that Muslims should prevent the West from "stealing Muslims' oil".

"[Muslims have to] inflict losses on the crusader West, especially to its economic infrastructure with strikes that would make it bleed for years. The strikes on New York, Washington, Madrid and London are the best examples," he said.

Zawahiri and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden are believed to be hiding in Pakistan.

Musharraf yesterday was at pains to stress his country's alliance with the US, repeating the phrase "strategic partnership" several times. "We have today laid the foundations of a very firm, very strong and long-term relationship."

This was a leader trying to reinforce a carefully nurtured, special relationship with the US that he sees slipping away to his rival India.

It is a far cry from 2003, when Bush designated Pakistan a "major non-Nato ally" for its part in the war on terror.

Pakistan is not about to lose the US as an ally, or even see any real lessening of American support - it remains far too vital to the war on terror.

But Pakistan is extraordinarily sensitive to any disparity with India, and there is no doubt that last week India was offered far more.

Analysts say Bush is diverting US attention towards the emerging economic threat of China, and Pakistan is paying the price. The White House sees India's fast-growing economy as a counterweight to China.

The US says it cannot offer Pakistan a nuclear deal like the one it has agreed with India, under which America will supply India with nuclear fuel and share civilian technology, because of the proliferation scandal in which Pakistan's chief nuclear scientist, AQ Khan, sold nuclear weapons technology around the world.

Bush's visit was largely confined to the presidential palace in Islamabad and the heavily fortified US Embassy, where he spent the night.

Just two days ago an American diplomat was killed in a suicide bombing at the US consulate in Karachi.

- INDEPENDENT, additional reporting Reuters