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Bush hosts President Musharraf
Camp David, June 24:US President George W Bush today met his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf and is understood to have underlined the need for easing tensions between India and Pakistan.
Camp David, June 24:US President George W Bush today met his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf and is understood to have underlined the need for easing tensions between India and Pakistan.
This was the first meeting between the two leaders after India announced fresh peace initiatives with Pakistan and nearly a fortnight after Bush met Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani at White House.
Bush had also backed Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's peace initiative and had particularly refered to his speech in Srinagar which provided political space to Pakistan.
Bush-Musharraf meeting took place at the US President's Camp David retreat. Before the meeting, a televison channel said Bush would be stressing the importance of easing tensions with India.
A radio channel said Musharraf is the seventh foreign leader whom Bush has honoured this way among the dozens of leaders he has received.
President Bush said on Tuesday al Qaeda's leadership had been dismantled but it could take years to finish the job of crushing militant networks.
"We dismantled the chief operators of al Qaeda," Bush told a joint news conference with Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
"Slowly but surely we're dismantling the networks," Bush said. "It could take a day, or it could take a month, it could take years."
Washington blames Osama bin Laden's militant al Qaeda network for several attacks on U.S. targets, including the Sept. 11, 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center in New York. Reports linked al Qaeda to suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia last month.
Musharraf told the news conference bin Laden may be moving between Afghanistan and Pakistan in a "treacherous" border area. "The possibility of his (bin Laden's) maybe shifting sides on the border is very much there," he said.
US President George W Bush has ruled out any immediate sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, making it clear that it will not be a part of a $3 billion package announced for Islamabad.
"In the package that we discussed, the five-year $3 billion package, half of that money goes for defence matters of which the F-16 won't be a part," Bush said at a joint press conference at Camp David after he met Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. The response came when a reporter referred to media reports quoting Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani saying after his recent visit to the US that Washington had given an assurance that it would not sell F-16s to Pakistan.
Pakistan had paid for 28 F-16 jets, which has been stalled in the wake of the 1998 anti-nuclear sanctions against Islamabad.
Bush said he would work with Congress on a $3 billion economic aid package for Pakistan and announced he would sign a Trade and Investment Framework agreement with Islamabad. Bureau Report
Bush had also backed Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's peace initiative and had particularly refered to his speech in Srinagar which provided political space to Pakistan.
Bush-Musharraf meeting took place at the US President's Camp David retreat. Before the meeting, a televison channel said Bush would be stressing the importance of easing tensions with India.
A radio channel said Musharraf is the seventh foreign leader whom Bush has honoured this way among the dozens of leaders he has received.
President Bush said on Tuesday al Qaeda's leadership had been dismantled but it could take years to finish the job of crushing militant networks.
"We dismantled the chief operators of al Qaeda," Bush told a joint news conference with Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
"Slowly but surely we're dismantling the networks," Bush said. "It could take a day, or it could take a month, it could take years."
Washington blames Osama bin Laden's militant al Qaeda network for several attacks on U.S. targets, including the Sept. 11, 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center in New York. Reports linked al Qaeda to suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia last month.
Musharraf told the news conference bin Laden may be moving between Afghanistan and Pakistan in a "treacherous" border area. "The possibility of his (bin Laden's) maybe shifting sides on the border is very much there," he said.
US President George W Bush has ruled out any immediate sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, making it clear that it will not be a part of a $3 billion package announced for Islamabad.
"In the package that we discussed, the five-year $3 billion package, half of that money goes for defence matters of which the F-16 won't be a part," Bush said at a joint press conference at Camp David after he met Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. The response came when a reporter referred to media reports quoting Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani saying after his recent visit to the US that Washington had given an assurance that it would not sell F-16s to Pakistan.
Pakistan had paid for 28 F-16 jets, which has been stalled in the wake of the 1998 anti-nuclear sanctions against Islamabad.
Bush said he would work with Congress on a $3 billion economic aid package for Pakistan and announced he would sign a Trade and Investment Framework agreement with Islamabad. Bureau Report