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Bush confident Musharraf can crack down on militants

WASHINGTON: United States President George W. Bush said on Thursday said he was confident in the ability of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to crack down on militants at the Afghan border and cooperate with the United States. He said he expected Gen. Musharraf to take “swift action if there is actionable intelligence inside his country”.

Mr. Bush refused to address whether the U.S. troops would go into Pakistan without permission from leaders there. “We spend a lot of time with the leadership in Pakistan talking about what we will do with actionable intelligence,” said Mr. Bush.

“Am I confident they [terrorists] will be brought to justice? My answer is, ‘Yes I am.”’

Gen. Musharraf, a key ally in Washington’s fight against terrorism, is under growing U.S. pressure. But he is under considerable pressure at home too.

He has seen dwindling popular support amid a failed bid to oust Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary — an independent-minded judge likely to rule on expected legal challenges to Gen. Musharraf’s bid for re-election to another five-year term. Gen. Musharraf also has been beset by rising violence, particularly following an Army raid to end the takeover of the Red Mosque in Islamabad, an operation that left many people dead. — AP

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