Clinton adds to pressure on Pakistan

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WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday renewed calls on Pakistan to eliminate safe havens that militants use
to launch attacks into Afghanistan, while calling for better US-Pakistani ties.

"We're certainly making clear that we want to see an end to safe havens and any kind of support from anywhere for terrorists inside Pakistan," Clinton told reporters.

"And we also want to continue to work to put our relationship (with Pakistan) on a stronger footing," the chief US diplomat said as US-Pakistani ties appeared worse than ever.

The Pakistani government and opposition leaders on Thursday closed ranks against increasing US pressure for action against the Al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, refusing to be pressured into doing more in the war on terror.

The group, based in Pakistan's north Waziristan frontier district, was
founded by former CIA asset Jalaluddin Haqqani and is run by his son
Sirajuddin. It is blamed for attacks on US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.


Despite the "serious questions" that Washington has about Pakistan's
support for militants, Clinton said, "we have a lot of interests that are in common, most particularly the fight against terrorism." (AFP)