Rabat, July 19: Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf wound up a two-day trip to Morocco stressing the need to boost the international fight against terrorism. The anti-terrorist struggle "is everybody's business and every country in the world is part of the alliance against this phenomenon of which Pakistan has been a victim," Musharraf told a press conference yesterday after ending his talks with Moroccan leaders.
The Pakistani President said he had presented his condolences to the King of Morocco following the Casablanca attacks on May 16 that claimed 44 lives including 12 attackers.
Since joining the fight against terrorism launched by the United States in the autumn of 2001 the Pakistani authorities had arrested nearly 500 alleged members of the former Afghan Taliban regime and the al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden, cracking down hard on local Islamist groups, Musharraf said.
His talks with King Mohammed VI had also covered the Middle East and other international questions, he added.
Musharraf said he was pleased with the "fruitful" talks he had had with the Moroccan ruler, expressing the two countries' desire to boost their political and economic relations.
Earlier, Pakistan and Morocco signed agreements covering Islamic affairs, science and the environment.
Morocco was the third and last leg of a North African tour that had already taken Musharraf to Tunisia and Algeria. Bureau Report