Bush reassures Musharraf over attack warnings

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - US President George Bush telephoned Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf yesterday to reassure him after US threats of unilateral action against Al-Qaeda on the Islamic republic's soil, a statement said.

The call from Bush to his embattled ally in the "war on terror" comes after recent statements from US officials, and Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, warning of possible US strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas.

"President Bush stated that the United States fully respected Pakistan's sovereignty and appreciated Pakistan's resolve in fighting Al-Qaeda and other terrorist elements," the Pakistani foreign ministry statement said.

"He said that such statements were unsavoury and often prompted by political considerations in an environment of electioneering. He agreed that such statements did not serve the interests of either country," it added.

Islamabad has been angered by a string of what it has called "irresponsible and dangerous" warnings by US officials who claim that Pakistan's tribal belt has become a safe haven for Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.

Obama weighed in on Wednesday, saying that if he is elected president he would order US forces to hit extremist targets in Pakistan if Musharraf failed to act. Islamabad called his comment "sheer ignorance".

But Bush's administration has also ramped up the pressure.

Senior US State Department troubleshooter Nicholas Burns said last week that Washington would retain the option of targeting Al-Qaeda in the Pakistani-Afghan border areas in some circumstances.

A few days earlier the White House's top counter-terrorism official Frances Townsend caused a stir by refusing to rule out a similar military incursion.

The comments have been alarming for a close ally that has received billions of dollars in US military aid since abandoning support for Afghanistan's Taliban movement after the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

The foreign office statement said Musharraf also raised the issue of recent legislation on funding for Pakistan adopted by the US Congress on the implementation of the 9/11 commission's recommendations.

He "expressed concern over elements that reflected negatively on the Pakistan-US bilateral cooperation and relations."