Pakistani president snubs Brown

Monday, 27 April 2009 5:27 PM

By politics.co.uk staff

A press conference scheduled between Gordon Brown and Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari has been cancelled shortly after the prime minister's arrival in Islamabad, reports suggest.

Rumours are swirling among the prime minister's entourage that the cancellation is a protest about the arrest of twelve men - 11 of them Pakistani students - on suspicion of terrorism.

All the men were released last week, and the 11 students were handed over to immigration authorities.

In an interview with The Guardian after the arrests, Asif Durrani, Pakistan's deputy high commissioner to London, voiced anger at Mr Brown's statements on the matter, saying the primeminister appeared to be "pointing a finger towards Pakistan".

Prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani held the press conference with Mr Brown instead, in a move Number 10 said was "entirely appropriate".

During the press conference, Mr Brown faced angry questions about the arrests.

"We welcome the pakistani students who are studying in our country," Mr Brown stressed. "But wherever there is a concern we need to take action."

Mr Gilani said: "We had a concern and we have discussed that whatever information is shared with us, we will examine it."

In Mr Brown's last meeting with the Pakistani president, just a fortnight after the Mumbai attacks, he held a joint press conference with the president where he pledged support and offered co-operation to Mr Zardari.

The visit follows a trip to Kabul where Mr Brown held a meeting with Afghan president Hamid Karzai.

The prime minister unveiled new plans to deal with Taliban insurgents operating in what he described as "a crucible of terrorism" on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

On a visit to Helmand province he said greater effort would be directed towards the region from where two-thirds of terror threats to the UK emanate.

Mr Brown was eager to point out that although the problem exists in a cross-border region there was no single solution and the problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan would have be dealt with in different ways.

He said: "There is a crucible of terrorism in the mountainous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"Our approach to those countries is different but must be complementary. Our strategy for dealing with this breeding ground of terrorism will mean more security on the streets of Britain."

This is the first visit the prime minister has made to country since announcing troop reinforcements in March.

The UK will be providing 700 additional troops along with a further £15 million in aid to the war-torn nation ahead of upcoming elections in August and October.

Aid to the troubled region will also be redirected towards dealing with the problems across the border in northern Pakistan.

In 2009/13 Britain will provide a proposed £510 million to Afghanistan and £665 million to Pakistan in aid.

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