NATO Chief says no alternative than to work with Pakistan

Atlanta: The head of NATO called on Western governments to continue to work with Pakistan against extremists. The advice came in wake of United States and Pakistan trading thinly-veiled critiques of each other's operations. Amid growing US pressure for Pakistan to take action against militants, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen called for a positive engagement from Islamabad to ensure stability in Afghanistan.

Rasmussen said despite questions raised by the killing of al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil, he saw no alternative to co-operating with Pakistan in the war against terrorism In a speech to the World Affairs Council in Atlanta, head of 28-nation Western military alliance expressed appreciation for the efforts so far by Pakistan's military to fight Islamic militants in its border region with Afghanistan. "But I think more could be done," Rasmussen said. "We should support those forces in Pakistan that realize that the real threat against Pakistani society comes from terrorism and extremism. It is really a security problem for our troops in Afghanistan that terrorists have safe havens, and thats a fact, in Pakistan. We have to deal with that and its in our mutual interest to deal with that.