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Asked if he envisaged US combat troops and Pakistani forces operating together, Gates said: “If the Pakistanis wanted to do that, I think we would.” ‘Act of war’ Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said Gates’s suggestion would anger most Pakistanis.

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Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, has said the United States is prepared to send troops to Pakistan to fight alongside the country’s forces against Islamic fighters.

“We remain ready, willing and able to assist the Pakistanis and to partner with them, to provide additional training, to conduct joint operations, should they desire to do so,” Gates said on Thursday.

He also made it clear that his country was open to providing more direct assistance.

Asked if he envisaged US combat troops and Pakistani forces operating together, Gates said: “If the Pakistanis wanted to do that, I think we would.”

‘Act of war’

Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said Gates’s suggestion would anger most Pakistanis.

He said: “The Pakistani people believe that it is only their armed forces that are able to handle the continued violence in the tribal region.”

“Musharraf himself said that if foreign intervention is applied, it would be construed as an act of war.

“But ultimately, the government believes that an end to the conflict is via a political solution – not a military one – and it should not be dictated from overseas.”

The US military is under strain from fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the Bush administration says it is concerned about the ongoing clashes in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

Safe havens

US officials have alleged strongholds bordering Afghanistan have become safe havens for Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters.

The United States already helps train Pakistani forces. Its efforts include a programme to coach and equip the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force recruited from tribal areas.

Washington has given nuclear-armed Pakistan around $10 billion in aid since 2001 when Islamabad dropped support for the Taliban movement in Afghanistan and joined the US’ so-called “war on terror”.

US operations in Pakistan would be highly sensitive politically for the government of Pervez Musharraf, the president, and Gates said it would be up to Pakistani leaders to take public opinion into account when considering any US assistance.

Gates said only a small number of US troops would be involved in any joint operations with Pakistani forces to target al Qaeda, but he did not give a figure.

‘Continuing threat’

Pakistani forces have clashed over the past week with militants in the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border.

Nearly 150 fighters and more than 20 soldiers have been killed in the fighting.

Admiral William Fallon, the top US military commander for the region, held talks with Kayani in Pakistan this week.

US officials say they are worried by the militants in the border region not just because of fears for the stability of Pakistan but also because al-Qaeda could use the area to plot attacks further afield.

“I think it would be unrealistic to assume that all of the planning that they’re doing is focused strictly on Pakistan,” Gates said. “I think that that is a continuing threat to Europe as well as to us.”aljazeera

, Voice of a Nation

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