UK Lacks Counter-terror Policy, Says Musharraf

Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, claimed yesterday that Britain lacked a long-term counter-terrorist strategy and argued that Islamist extremism was a home-grown problem for Britain rather than his country's responsibility.

Speaking before meeting Gordon Brown in Downing Street, and in response to persistent British criticism of his record on counter-terrorism, Musharraf set out the shortcomings he sees in the UK's efforts to deal with militant young Muslims, pointing out that all the July 7 2005 bombers were born in the UK.

"We have adopted a five-point strategy. You need to adopt a similar strategy to curb this kind of tendency in youngsters, who tend to become terrorists, because merely getting hold of them and punishing them legally does not solve the problem or get to the root of the problem," he said.

He listed the five elements of Pakistan's counter-terrorist strategy: curbing the propagation of extremism in mosques; restricting the publication of extremist literature; banning extremist organizations; stopping the teaching of militant Islam in schools; and bringing madrasas (religious schools) into the mainstream.

He singled out the radical Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir. "We have banned them in Pakistan, yet we are blamed [and they say] we are doing nothing," he complained. "You haven't banned them yet. So why blame us?"

British officials say there is no evidence that Hizb ut-Tahrir in Britain is involved in terrorism. A Downing Street source said: "We need to find the balance between freedom of speech and freedom of religion, and the need to prevent violence."

Musharraf met Brown for a working lunch, where the two discussed Pakistan's elections on February 18 as well as joint counter-terrorist strategy. Musharraf said later he had taken the opportunity to explain "how we are trying to take a holistic approach" to the terrorist threat.

A British official said the Pakistani leader had not been as "robust" in his discussions with the prime minister as he had been in public, but added: "We have a regular exchange with Pakistan on counter-radicalization and counter-terrorism. We think it's a very productive exchange and we both learn a great deal."

At a press conference after the meeting, Brown said British security experts had recently visited Pakistan to explore ways of improving counter-terrorist cooperation. The group, drawn from several government departments, looked at how to upgrade security at airports and ports and improve forensic techniques in Pakistan.

The two leaders also discussed the flow of British militants to Pakistan for terrorist training, but Musharraf rejected any idea that the flow meant Pakistan was at the heart of Britain's terrorist problem. "All the people involved in the incident [the July 7 attacks] were born, educated, bred in the UK." He suggested that the roots of the problem could lie in the alienation of Pakistani youth in Britain.

His remarks appeared to be a reaction to persistent European criticism of his handling of the transition to democracy in Pakistan and of his record on counter-terrorism, particularly after the escape from Pakistani custody last month of Rashid Rauf, a British citizen wanted in Britain for murder and his role in an alleged plot to blow up planes flying out of London.