The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Washington

Concerned by Afghanistan's worsening insurgency, US President George W. Bush is expected to quiz Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in talks this week about his new government's counterterrorism strategy or, as some experts see, the lack of one.

Bush said ahead of the talks Monday that he was "troubled" by the movement of extremists from Pakistan to Afghanistan-both Washington's allies in the "war on terror"-and would discuss the threat with Gilani, who is making his first White House visit since he took over the helm in March.

Gilani is also scheduled to meet with popular Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who warned last summer-and repeated the threat a week ago-that he would send in the US military unilaterally if Islamabad did not act against Al-Qaeda targets.

"I think Gilani has his work cut out for him in terms of explaining how his government intends to get a handle on this problem, which is not only a Pakistani problem but a problem for the international community as well," said Lisa Curtis, a former State Department advisory and ex-CIA analyst. She said while Bush was expected to demonstrate support for Gilani's democratic government, he would seek an explanation of how it was dealing with the "burgeoning terrorist safe haven," now extending into settled areas of the North-West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan.

"We have not seen a real focused (counterterrorism) strategy by the new government-a strategy that the US has confidence in," said Curtis, now with the Washington-based Heritage Foundation.

"I think the militants are the ones who are gaining from whatever Pakistan is pursuing at the moment," she said.

Afghan and Western officials have long said that the Taliban and Al-Qaeda have been able to regroup in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal areas after they were expelled from Afghanistan in 2001 in a US-led invasion.