WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- If Vice President Dick Cheney delivered a get-tougher message to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf over terrorist sanctuaries, the White House isn't saying.
Spokesman Tony Snow, asked Monday about a verbal prod reported by The New York Times, would only say the conversations were confidential, but an expected spring offensive in Afghanistan by the Taliban was expected and was obviously discussed by the two leaders.
"I'll let others characterize it (the substance of Cheney's remarks to Musharraf)," Snow said. "We have not been saying it's a 'tough message.' What we're saying is we're having a - the vice president is meeting with President Musharraf because we do understand the importance of making even greater progress against al-Qaida and the Taliban."
Cheney paid a surprise visit to Islamabad early Monday and then to Afghanistan while on a tour of Asian countries. The New York Times Monday quoted unidentified administration officials in Washington as saying he was telling Musharraf he had to get tougher in the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban along the country's Northwestern frontier with Afghanistan or the new Democratic-controlled Congress could cut aid.
The message was decided upon following a determination that the two terror groups were regrouping and preparing in Pakistan's violent and uncontrolled frontier tribal areas for a spring offensive in Afghanistan against the government of Hamid Karzai and NATO forces.
Musharraf is considered by President Bush a valued ally in the overall war on terror. But Pakistan's internal politics are volatile and the frontier area difficult to control. Last year Musharraf's government withdrew what forces it had in the area because of tribal hostility. Tribal leaders promised to crack down on any al-Qaida and the Taliban, but don't appear to have done so in any significant fashion.
"Now the Taliban are trying to gear up for a spring offensive, and we intend to be working with the Pakistanis to become increasingly effective at dealing with those threats," Snow said.
