Pakistani official defends anti-terrorism efforts

LONDON (AP) — Pakistan’s prime minister on Thursday defended his country’s efforts in fighting terrorism, saying he didn’t believe Osama bin Laden was in Pakistan and that Pakistani security forces had been successful in tackling terrorism within the country’s borders.

Yousuf Raza Gilani, who was meeting with his British counterpart Gordon Brown in London, was responding to Brown’s demands earlier that Pakistan needed to do more to find bin Laden.

“I doubt the information which you are giving is correct because I don’t think Osama bin Laden is in Pakistan,” Gilani said at a joint news conference.

“Pakistan is fighting the war on terrorism, and we have a good intelligence and defense cooperation with the United States,” he said, adding that the U.S. and Britain have not provided any actionable intelligence about bin Laden’s purported whereabouts.

Gilani also signaled his country’s cautious response to President Barack Obama’s new policy for Pakistan and Afghanistan by declining to endorse the U.S.-led troop surge. He said his government needs more information about Obama’s plan to expand the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan and at the same time increase aid to Pakistan.