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West must back Pakistan against militants: NATO chief
By David Beasley
ATLANTA | Mon May 9, 2011 5:16pm EDT
(Reuters) - Western governments must work with Pakistan to increase the fight against Islamic extremists on its border with Afghanistan, despite questions raised by the killing of al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil, NATO's secretary general said on Monday.
Adding his voice to the security debate following the May 2 killing of bin Laden by U.S. commandos in a northern Pakistani town, Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he saw "no alternative" to cooperating with Pakistan in the war against terrorism.
In a speech to the World Affairs Council in Atlanta, the head of the 28-nation Western military alliance expressed appreciation for the efforts so far by Pakistan's military to fight Islamic militants in its border region with Afghanistan.
"But I think more could be done," Rasmussen said.
"We should support those forces in Pakistan that realize that the real threat against the Pakistani society comes from terrorism and extremism," he added.
Rasmussen spoke after Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani rejected allegations that the killing of bin Laden near Islamabad showed Pakistani incompetence or complicity in hiding the al Qaeda leader.
The NATO secretary general acknowledged the revelation that bin Laden apparently had been hiding in Pakistan for several years raised "a lot of questions that have to be answered."
But he said he was confident Pakistan's own government was interested in finding convincing answers to these questions.
"My bottom line is that we need strong cooperation with Pakistan. If we are to assure long-term peace and stability in Afghanistan and beyond, then we need positive engagement with Pakistan," Rasmussen said.
The NATO leader also defended the alliance's efforts in Libya to protect civilians against attack by forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and called for political pressure to complement the Western military effort.
"We can do a lot through air campaigns, but we cannot 100 percent guarantee that a rogue regime like the Gaddafi regime does not attack its own people," he said.
"He uses snipers. How can we prevent snipers from attacking innocent people through an air campaign? It's simply not possible," Rasmussen said.
The stalemate in the Libyan rebel war to unseat Gaddafi has presented Western powers with a dilemma over whether to offer covert aid to the rebel cause.
Rasmussen said a military campaign alone would not resolve the conflict in Libya.
"We will keep up the military pressure, and in parallel, I think we should step up the political pressure to further isolate the Gaddafi regime and support the Libyan opposition," Rasmussen said.
"That combination of strong military pressure and increased political pressure, I'm confident that will lead to the breakdown of the Libyan regime," he added.
NATO aircraft have bombed Libyan government military targets and enforced a no-fly zone since March under a U.N. resolution. But this has not kept scores from being killed in government attacks on areas of rebellion in western Libya.
West must back Pakistan against militants: NATO chief | Reuters
