UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush on Saturday announced $1 billion in new aid for Pakistan, the United States' most important ally in the U.S.-led offensive in Afghanistan.
"Pakistan's efforts against terror are benefiting the entire world and linking Pakistan more closely with the world," Bush told reporters. "The United States wants to help build these linkages. I've authorized a lifting of sanctions and over $1 billion in U.S. support. I will also back debt relief for Pakistan."
Bush made his comments after his bilateral meeting with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, whom he praised as a leader who showed courage, vision and leadership in the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
Musharraf has been under increasing pressure from some Muslim countries to withdraw his support for the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has allowed the United States to set up within its borders the command and control operations for the war effort against Afghanistan's Taliban regime.
The military action was launched Oct. 7 in response to the Taliban's refusal to surrender Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden and members of his al Qaida organization. Washington says bin Laden is the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks that claimed the lives about 5,000 people, including the citizens of some 80 countries.
Musharraf called the freshly brokered deal the "dawn of a new era of relationship" between Pakistan and the United States.
The Pakistani president said he was grateful to the U.S. president for his concern about Pakistan and his desire to assist Pakistan in the "true difficulty" it has been facing. As a result of U.S. airstrikes against Afghanistan's Taliban regime, refugees have streamed across the border into Pakistan. And rising anti-American sentiments among Taliban supporters in Pakistan have led some political analysts to wonder whether Musharraf will be able to hold on to power, particularly with moderate Taliban supporters as members of his inner circle.
The two leaders said they also discussed humanitarian aid to help the Afghan people survive what could be a brutal winter and the long-term plan for Afghanistan once the Taliban are no longer in power.
During his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly earlier in the day, Bush vowed to work with development banks to rebuild the country and work with the United Nations to support a post-Taliban government.
"We discussed ways to accelerate our progress in Afghanistan against al Qaida and the Taliban. We also discussed our humanitarian efforts to help Afghans through the winter. And we spent time on the need to work together for long-term reconstruction of Afghanistan once the Taliban no longer hold power," Bush said.
The meeting with Musharraf ended for Bush a day filled with foreign diplomacy and an afternoon of bilateral meetings with members of his international coalition.
The president held brief talks with Madagascar President Didier Ratsiraka, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic, Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi. The leaders expressed their support for the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism, senior Bush administration officials said, as they pursued talks on issues of trade and regional stability.
Bush's speech was the first opportunity for him to address the global community as a whole since the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Bush told the United Nations that while the United States appreciated expressions of sympathy and condolences, it was time for them to take action and assist in the fight against terrorist activity. He also warned that bin Laden and al Qaida were attempting to obtain weapons of mass destruction, a move he said that would threaten civilization.
He said the United Nations spelled out one step for action. On Sept. 28 the U.N. Security Council stated that every nation had a responsibility to crack down on terrorist financing. Last week the United States announced it had disrupted two critical terrorist financial networks, al Taqwa and al Barakaat, which funneled millions of dollars in cash to al Qaida.
Bush dismissed the assertions that the attacks were done in the name of religion, saying that the assaults were funded with drug dealing and that the terrorists were encouraging murder and suicide despite the fact their professed faith of Islam forbids such acts. He warned that terrorists sought to overthrow governments, destabilize entire regions and that they were likely planning more attacks.
"Every nation has a stake in this cause. As we meet, the terrorists are planning more murder, perhaps in my country, or perhaps in yours," Bush said.
Bush's bilateral meetings were wrapped around a luncheon and session with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan who said he was pleased with the American president's first speech to the global body. The two leaders discussed humanitarian aid to the Afghan people, the continuing conflict in the Middle East and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, the centerpiece of upcoming talks between Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Crawford, Texas, next week.
On Sunday, Bush is scheduled to meet with Congo President Joseph Kabila, whose father was assassinated after an attempt by Congolese rebels to oust him from office.
Bush then plans to accompany Annan to the site of the World Trade Center collapse, also called "Ground Zero." The two leaders plan to participate in a memorial service, where a list will be read of the countries that lost citizens in the Sept. 11 attacks.
