Cheney makes surprise visit to Pak

Islamabad: US Vice President Dick Cheney made a surprise visit to Pakistan on Monday for talks with President General Pervez Musharraf on efforts to stabilize neighboring Afghanistan.

Cheney arrived on Monday morning and went straight to Musharraf's office in Rawalpindi, just south of the capital Islamabad, for talks on bilateral and international issues, a senior official in the president's office said on condition of anonymity because he is not an official spokesman.

It was unclear if Cheney joined the same talks held Monday between Musharraf and visiting British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett.

Cheney praised Pakistan's contribution in the war against terrorism but he also communicated his ‘apprehensions’ about the possibility that the Taliban is regrouping in Afghanistan to launch a spring offensive against coalition forces there, the official said.

Musharraf reiterated Pakistan's ''firm'' resolve in the war against terrorism and said that Pakistan, Afghanistan and the coalition forces must ensure close coordination to jointly tackle any such possible attacks, the official said.

The New York Times, citing unnamed sources, reported Monday that President Bush has decided to send a tough message to Musharraf, warning him that the Democrat-controlled Congress may cut off funding to Pakistan unless it gets more aggressive in hunting down al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives in its country.

The Times report did not mention Cheney's visit to Pakistan and it was not known if the vice president conveyed such a message to Musharraf.

But unnamed senior administration officials told the newspaper that Bush decided to take a tougher line with Pakistan after concluding that Musharraf is failing to follow through on commitments to maintain the hunt for militants that he made during a September visit to Washington.

US officials want to see Musharraf do more against suspected Taliban and al-Qaeda hideouts in Pakistan's remote border regions and to prevent them from mounting cross-border attacks.

Cheney was in Oman on Sunday after leaving Australia, where he had spent three days on a tour to thank the government for contributing troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. He had earlier visited Japan and Guam.