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| | GEO Pakistan | | Britain promises more anti-terror aid to Pakistan | Updated at: 0556 PST, Monday, December 15, 2008
 ISLAMABAD: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged more counter-terrorism help to Pakistan on Sunday, revealing that three-quarters of terror plots investigated in Britain linked back to al-Qaida supporters in the country.
Brown traveled to Afghanistan, India and Pakistan over the weekend to visit British troops and bolster cooperation between India and Pakistan in the wake of the deadly Mumbai attacks that killed more than 160 people.
But his strongest message was delivered to Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari, whose wife Benazir Bhutto died last year in an attack launched by extremists.
Zardari faces a daunting challenge of tackling poverty and extremism in Pakistan as he tries to shore up support in the tribal regions and within his own government. Bhutto repeatedly alleged that Pakistan's security services had long-standing ties to extremist elements.
"The time has come for action and not words, and I want to help Pakistan and other countries root out terrorism," Brown told reporters in a joint news conference with Zardari.
Britain would offer Pakistan counter-terrorism equipment for detecting bombs and explosives at airports. It would also contribute $9 million to lure youths away from extremist activities by offering them educational materials and programs.
Brown discussed similar assistance with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier Sunday, including a better system for sharing intelligence.
Although British and American intelligence agencies helped thwart a trans-Atlantic airliner attack in 2006 — a plot that had links to Pakistan — fewer success stories have been attributed to intelligence information out of Pakistan or India.
The nuclear rivals fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 — two of them over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, whose status has emerged as a recurrent theme in the radicalization of young British Muslims.
Despite a peace process that began in 2004, tensions remain high and intelligence sharing has been limited. India has blamed the Mumbai attacks on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba Islamic group, straining relations even further. |  |
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