Islamabad:
In another attempt by the US to get Pakistan to act against the Taliban, US special envoy Richard Holbrooke met Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday.
The meeting was over shadowed by threats by a Taliban commander who said the group will carry out two suicide attacks per week in the country unless Pakistani troops withdraw from the Afghan border region where militants are based and the US stops drone missile strikes.
The threats highlight the danger to Pakistan in cooperating with Washington and the difficulty for Holbrooke in getting them to do so as he makes his first visit since US President Barack Obama unveiled his new strategy for Pakistan and Afghanistan late last month.
Pakistani citizens have held protests denouncing recent militant attacks, but there is widespread skepticism that cooperating with the US in its fight against al-Qaida and Taliban militants will improve Pakistan's security.
Holbrooke, who is Obama's top envoy to both Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived Monday to meet with senior government officials.
Anne Patterson, US Ambassador to Pakistan, also took part in the meeting with Zardari and Gilani on Monday evening.
Holbrooke and Mullen arrived from Afghanistan, where the US plans to send thousands of additional troops this year to fight Taliban and al-Qaida militants who often launch attacks from Pakistan.
The meeting was over shadowed by threats by a Taliban commander who said the group will carry out two suicide attacks per week in the country unless Pakistani troops withdraw from the Afghan border region where militants are based and the US stops drone missile strikes.
The threats highlight the danger to Pakistan in cooperating with Washington and the difficulty for Holbrooke in getting them to do so as he makes his first visit since US President Barack Obama unveiled his new strategy for Pakistan and Afghanistan late last month.
Pakistani citizens have held protests denouncing recent militant attacks, but there is widespread skepticism that cooperating with the US in its fight against al-Qaida and Taliban militants will improve Pakistan's security.
Holbrooke, who is Obama's top envoy to both Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived Monday to meet with senior government officials.
Anne Patterson, US Ambassador to Pakistan, also took part in the meeting with Zardari and Gilani on Monday evening.
Holbrooke and Mullen arrived from Afghanistan, where the US plans to send thousands of additional troops this year to fight Taliban and al-Qaida militants who often launch attacks from Pakistan.
