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| Pakistan, UK Agree on Forming Joint Anti-Terror Group |
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Pakistan and Britain have agreed to set up a joint body to cooperate in fighting against terrorism and organized crime, said a joint declaration issued on the occasion of British Prime Minister Tony Blair visit to Pakistan on Sunday. "President Musharraf and Prime Minister Blair agreed to strengthen the regular dialogue between the two governments through establishing a Joint Working Group between the Interior Ministry of Pakistan and the Home Office in the United Kingdom to strengthen cooperation on counter narcotics, counter terrorism, illegal immigration and transnational organized crime," the declaration said. The first meeting of this Working Group will take place in Islamabad in January 2007, it said. The president and the prime minister reiterated their determination to counter terrorism and extremism in all its forms and manifestation, according to the declaration. "The prime minister warmly thanked the president for Pakistan's important role in helping to foil the Heathrow bomb plot in August 2006," said the declaration. President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Tony Blair held talks in Lahore on Sunday focusing on bilateral relations and international issues. Blair, who arrived on Saturday, offered President Musharraf the United Kingdom's full support in countering terrorism, including the exchanges on forensic training, investigating the financing of terrorism, and the sharing of crisis management expertise. Musharraf welcomed the cooperation between Pakistan and the United Kingdom on counter-narcotics, and expressed the hope that it would lead to more prosecutions of high value targets. On Afghanistan, the two leaders reaffirmed the importance of bringing stability and economic progress to that country. "They recognized that security is crucial to Afghanistan's progress, and pledged to work together with government of Afghanistan and other international partners, to curb the violence through effective action against the militants," said the declaration. The two governments will contribute on a sustained basis to implementation of the Afghanistan Compact including on economic reconstruction and counter-narcotics. Blair paid tribute to the statesmanship of President Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in seeking to resolve outstanding issues, including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, between India and Pakistan. The British prime minister noted the progress that had been made by both leaders since the establishment of the Composite Dialogue in January 2004 and welcomed the meeting of the two foreign secretaries as part of that process on November 14, 2006. Both the leaders also underlined the need for resuming the Middle East peace process at the earliest opportunities for a just and lasting settlement of the Palestine dispute. (Xinhua News Agency November 20, 2006) |
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