Pakistan leader wants a crackdown

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf, who this week ordered sweeping raids against Islamic militants after the earlier London bombings, has urged Britain to crack down with equal zeal on home-grown extremists.

In a national address, the Pakistani leader vowed to jointly fight terror with Britain, saying the London bombers could not be called human.

He said Pakistan and Britain would "stand together in this struggle and fight against terrorism to the end until we emerge victorious against them and eliminate them".

In a defiant message to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, he switched to English to stress the suspected bombers had been "born, bred and educated" in Britain, where militants were operating "with impunity".

"We certainly have a problem here, which we are trying to address very strongly," he said.

"But may I say that England also has a problem which needs to be addressed."

The spotlight fell on Pakistan after it emerged three of the four suspected London bombers had visited the country, and Musharraf, a key Western ally, has been under pressure from London and Washington to act against militants.

Police are still interrogating the 228 suspected Islamic militants detained in Pakistan in raids that have sparked anger and led to calls for protests today, the Muslim day of prayer.

However, amid the raids since Tuesday, Pakistani security sources said they had made no arrests of bombing suspects.

The British High Commissioner in Islamabad denied claims that the "al Qaeda mastermind" of the attack had been captured.

It was widely reported on Wednesday that a suspect named Haroon Rashid Aswat was being questioned by police in Pakistan.

But at a memorial service for the bomb victims, Mark Lyall Grant said: "Let me take this opportunity to clarify that there have not been any arrests in Pakistan since July 7 related to the London bombings."

* Leaders from Australia to Morocco yesterday vowed to unite against terrorism after the latest bombings.

Tetchy relations with France were put to one side, traditional allies such as Australia, Canada and Ireland rallied behind Londoners, and the European Commission vowed to press for anti-terrorism measures across the bloc.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who was with Tony Blair during an official visit to London when the news broke, said his country would stand steadfast with Britain.

- REUTERS